Looking for Advice
 

My daughter is thinking seriosuly about starting an On-Line store. She has always had a dream of having a shop for crafts such as quilting, knitting, crochet, etc. Right now she has a full time job, but like to start small and go from there. If you have any advice, input, or information on how to get started, besides just "jumping in head first", please pass it on. Right now, nothing is unreasonable.

She might want to test the waters using a site like etsy where she can set up a "shop" without investing in her own web site that she has to built or have built for $$$. Etsy gets lots of visitors who go there to shop on line so hopefully customers will find her.

I also would suggest Etsy and there are plenty of other sites as well. Zibbet, bluejay and yardsellr to name just a few. I get more sales on Etsy but also list on Zibbet and bluejay because they are free to list so I don't lose anything. There are also some facebook pages for crafters. Starting small without investing a lot of money might be better for her. She could learn a lot from the communities on these sites that would help her a great deal. Etsy has newsletters for their sellers that have loads of great ideas.

Etsy has lots to offer, BUT that being said the prices vary widly. For example, there is a king size Bargello listed for $179. You can barely buy fabric for that amount. Good luck!

I have had NO luck on Etsy..it seems that you need to keep spending without results to get anywhere...I am going to try Craigslist and a few craft shows

I think it helps to have a lot of technical expertise yourself on how to set up a website. Having a good website is a huge piece of setting up a successful online business. A lot of people pay to have this done but a lot of those websites are not very good.

Maybe your daughter could start with eBay? There is a way to set up your own store on eBay. Seems to me that would be a reasonable transition to setting up an independent website. Not sure what the costs involved are, though. That would be part of the research necessary to develop a business plan.

HP.com has free classes on how to build your own web site if she is interested.

I would suggest Etsy over Ebay, I sell on both. On etsy, you have to be active in order to get your items found. Join teams, join circles, favorite other people's items, etc. Ebay does not have any way to drive traffic to your listings.

Most importantly, tell her not to quit her full time job!! Good luck!

Is she wanting to sell crafting supplies or finished items?

Yes, please start with Etsy or Ebay.

She needs to formulate her business plan and get a good idea of what her startup costs would be if she wants an independent site: What will be her hosting costs? Can she build and maintain her own site or will she have to hire someone to help her? How is she going to attract people to her site (ad $$ and search optimization)? Is she going to sell her own stuff or sell for others? How will she maintain inventory? et. etc. etc.

Do not quit your job. Running a business, whether on line or real, is a lot of work and expense.