I'm the proud owner of a FABRIC and craft SHOP.
02-13-2009, 06:29 PM
#31
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: MIchigan
Posts: 527
I am setting the same thing up right now. I do have some on ebay and working on a web site. Later tonight I am ordering the accucut go and will sell appliquate (wrong spelling lol)
Bougt a new camera tonight so will be up and running this week. I already have some fq's ready. PM me if you would like to know about them.
Linda D
SCRAPS4LESS
Bougt a new camera tonight so will be up and running this week. I already have some fq's ready. PM me if you would like to know about them.
Linda D
SCRAPS4LESS
02-14-2009, 03:57 AM
#32
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 422
Originally Posted by Ruth Camp
To save you all Miranda does not do this anymore :?
02-14-2009, 04:00 AM
#33
Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: In the middle of a mess...
Posts: 20,025
Originally Posted by auntluc
Originally Posted by Ruth Camp
To save you all Miranda does not do this anymore :?
02-14-2009, 04:46 AM
#35
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 422
Originally Posted by tlrnhi
Originally Posted by auntluc
Originally Posted by Ruth Camp
To save you all Miranda does not do this anymore :?
02-14-2009, 04:55 AM
#37
Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 7
I've been running an online business for about 4 years now. Before that I did do the Ebay thing. We ran the business out of our basement for years - we are now in Texas (no basement - so it is in the garage!) I really enjoy doing it and the money is good. However, there are a few things that can really come back to bite you.
A few of the things I've learned that may help.
Make sure the fabric stays dry and clean - our old basement would get humid so we had to keep the fabric up higher and in a back room where it stayed fairly dry.
Fabric is heavy, you will need decent shelving. Ikea or Sam's Club usually have good shelves cheap. Beware, it takes up a lot of space. Right now I have between 500 and 600 bolts. We also have quilting books, patterns and notions. They all have to have an item number and space.
Ebay changes their fees frequently and you have to make sure that your pricing is going to get enough profit to sustain the business.
Paypal (which is owned by Ebay) can really be a pain. I don't accept or use it personally or professionally anymore. Luckily, JP Morgan Chase helped me out when Paypal tried to withdraw $1300 or I would have been out of luck. I shipped overseas, had a customs receipt and delivery confirmation, verbal confirmation from USPS on their toll free number that the person had picked up from customs. Paypal wanted an electronic confirmation that they could pull up online and wouldn't accept anything else. They tried to take the money out of my bank. Since then I've had to fight them through credit reports and dun notices, etc. They've finally given up after 3 years. They have also been successfully sued by the attorney general in a few states.
Yahoo has a service where you can set up an online store and accept credit cards. That is who we used when we first started. The fees are lower than ebay and you can get your own domain name in order to start building name recognition. Newsletters, marketing and all are included. There are several places online where you can do that. Look around.
Don't promise 100% satisfaction because there will always be someone who tries to send back cut fabric that sells like cigarette smoke. We don't take returns (unless there was a flaw in the fabric & usually I notice when cutting.) Most people don't expect smaller stores to do returns and it will cost you too much in shipping and fees.
Start lining up fabric vendors - remember sales reps get paid on commissions so when they come out to show you their fabrics, they are not inclined to show you the sale stuff (where you make the most profit.) They want you to buy the new lines - no matter how ugly cause they get the best paycheck that way. For example, most fabric comes on a 15 yd d/r bolt. They are generally about $4 to $4.75 per yd wholesale plus freight. You have to add enough to the price to make a profit, pay Ebay fees, credit card fees, put capital back into the business and hopefully pay yourself. Now do you see why so many places sell fabric for $9 to $10 per yd?
I know a lot of this sounds hardhearted but you really have to keep these things in mind. If you only want to do Ebay and make a few hundred a month that is fine. But if you really want to develop a business that will sustain itself then you have to consider that from the beginning. If you build an Ebay store you want to do it in a way that if you leave Ebay then your customers know your name and will follow you. For instance, if your store on Ebay is I SELL FABRIC then you would want to register the domain name ISELLFABRIC.com so that customers can follow you across. Make sense?
Beware, a lot of brick and mortar stores will not like you if they know you run an online fabric business. And a lot of online owners will not help you out. I do quite well and think competition is fine but apparently that is the exception to the rule.
Anyway, if you have more questions, let me know.
Julie
A few of the things I've learned that may help.
Make sure the fabric stays dry and clean - our old basement would get humid so we had to keep the fabric up higher and in a back room where it stayed fairly dry.
Fabric is heavy, you will need decent shelving. Ikea or Sam's Club usually have good shelves cheap. Beware, it takes up a lot of space. Right now I have between 500 and 600 bolts. We also have quilting books, patterns and notions. They all have to have an item number and space.
Ebay changes their fees frequently and you have to make sure that your pricing is going to get enough profit to sustain the business.
Paypal (which is owned by Ebay) can really be a pain. I don't accept or use it personally or professionally anymore. Luckily, JP Morgan Chase helped me out when Paypal tried to withdraw $1300 or I would have been out of luck. I shipped overseas, had a customs receipt and delivery confirmation, verbal confirmation from USPS on their toll free number that the person had picked up from customs. Paypal wanted an electronic confirmation that they could pull up online and wouldn't accept anything else. They tried to take the money out of my bank. Since then I've had to fight them through credit reports and dun notices, etc. They've finally given up after 3 years. They have also been successfully sued by the attorney general in a few states.
Yahoo has a service where you can set up an online store and accept credit cards. That is who we used when we first started. The fees are lower than ebay and you can get your own domain name in order to start building name recognition. Newsletters, marketing and all are included. There are several places online where you can do that. Look around.
Don't promise 100% satisfaction because there will always be someone who tries to send back cut fabric that sells like cigarette smoke. We don't take returns (unless there was a flaw in the fabric & usually I notice when cutting.) Most people don't expect smaller stores to do returns and it will cost you too much in shipping and fees.
Start lining up fabric vendors - remember sales reps get paid on commissions so when they come out to show you their fabrics, they are not inclined to show you the sale stuff (where you make the most profit.) They want you to buy the new lines - no matter how ugly cause they get the best paycheck that way. For example, most fabric comes on a 15 yd d/r bolt. They are generally about $4 to $4.75 per yd wholesale plus freight. You have to add enough to the price to make a profit, pay Ebay fees, credit card fees, put capital back into the business and hopefully pay yourself. Now do you see why so many places sell fabric for $9 to $10 per yd?
I know a lot of this sounds hardhearted but you really have to keep these things in mind. If you only want to do Ebay and make a few hundred a month that is fine. But if you really want to develop a business that will sustain itself then you have to consider that from the beginning. If you build an Ebay store you want to do it in a way that if you leave Ebay then your customers know your name and will follow you. For instance, if your store on Ebay is I SELL FABRIC then you would want to register the domain name ISELLFABRIC.com so that customers can follow you across. Make sense?
Beware, a lot of brick and mortar stores will not like you if they know you run an online fabric business. And a lot of online owners will not help you out. I do quite well and think competition is fine but apparently that is the exception to the rule.
Anyway, if you have more questions, let me know.
Julie
02-14-2009, 06:09 AM
#38
Administrator
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Southeast Georgia, USA
Posts: 9,096
thank you, julie, VERY much for that useful information. there are at least a few of us here who haven't yet worked up the noive to jump into our own businesses ... but who secretly hope to someday.
your offer of expertise is worth its weight in gold. :P
your offer of expertise is worth its weight in gold. :P
02-14-2009, 09:42 AM
#40
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Posts: 6,884
Julie, thank you for the information! Running a business is a LOT of work! :?
I, too, did not note the date of the original posting and reading through the thread saw that Miranda DOES NOT DO THIS ANYMORE, but there were postings after that that were not aware of that message.
Comprehension is not always easy! :?
I, too, did not note the date of the original posting and reading through the thread saw that Miranda DOES NOT DO THIS ANYMORE, but there were postings after that that were not aware of that message.
Comprehension is not always easy! :?
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