our etsy plot.

we have tried so many things over the years....and every year..... ebay, mall booths, shows, all kinds of different ideas and promos in the store....lots of different marketing ideas..... so many things havent worked.... even after lots of thought and the best effort we could come up with, most things just dont make it.......but thats how we get to the good ideas.....

... now one of our new ideas is actually working pretty well ..its not a big money idea, but in this economy we have to be grateful when an idea reaches someof its potential.......

...the new idea is OUR ETSY PLOT http://www.gypsymarket.etsy.com/ .... the idea is :

.... to sell vintage parts and pieces / suppplies to the the altered artists, the junk artists, the steampunk people, the gothic artists, the scrapbookkers...junk art robot builders....etc etc .. ...

.....to have the price at nothing below 20$...we cant afford to work for a 5$ sale. ...

.....to offer big piles of raw materials .... mostly antique...i figure there are some buyers out there who would like to get the real thing for their projects....and thats what i might have or can find....

anyway its actually working.... we have sold over 80 groups.... i still have very limited understanding of how people navigate thru etsy..you can put in lotsof search words....so many that it seems like a big blur.....its nothing like the detailed and focused ebay search engine....but it seems to be working for us ....

also i love expoloring on etsy....and seeing al the neat things artists are making....

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back at the store

WE HAVE BEEN SELLING PRETTY WELL AND IVE BEEN ORDERING......
I NEEDED PLACEMATS AND FLOWERS AND PILLOWS FROM ONE COMPANY....OUT OF ABOUT A 400$ ORDER I GOT 2 APRONS AND 3 FLOWERS... ABOUT 70$...LUCKILY I MADE REALLY BIG ORDERS FROM THEM IN JAN, SINCE THEY HAD THIS PROBLEM LAST YEAR TOO....INITIALS...GF...

WITH ANOTHER COMPANY I MADE A GREAT DECISION WHEN I SAW THEIR BOOTH IN CHICAGO AND BOUGHT HEAVILY.........VERY NEAT METAL FLOWERS...THEY HAVE SOLD OUT FOR US AND ITS ONLY JUNE...SO I TRIED TO reORDER AND THEY ARE COMPLETELY OUT....BIG LOSS ON THIS ...

ANOTHER NICE BIG ORDER DID COME ALMOST COMPLETE....BUT WITH ABOUT 6 LANTERNS WITH BROKEN GLASS...... NOW THATS WHEN ITS NICE TO HAVE A GOOD REP WHO VALUES YOUR BUSINESS...ONE OTHER DRAWBACK WITH THIS ORDER.... IT WAS ON A TRUCK AND 2 PALLETS....BUT IT CAME ON THURSDAY, WHEN WE ARE CLOSED..... I WAS OUT IN THE GARDEN AND SAW THE TRUCK.....WE ALWAYS TELL THE COMPANIES NOT TO SCHEDULE US ON THURSDAYS....BUT I GUESS THEY DIDNT PASS ON THE MESSAGE to the trucker .....LUCKILY JON SAW IT TOO and we both got to the parkinglot before he left, and WE UNLOADED THE BOXES ONTO OUR BOX TRUCK....ABOUT 50 BOXES....

another company is offering a great dating program...90 days and percents off for big orders..... dating gets me in trouble..... in the antique world it was always cash and carry no credit....you never left the auction owing any money...the spending was very closely related in time to the money coming in...thats the rhythm im used to......so then comes these companies and the dating programs...it sounds good and i do it some.....but it does mess up our money, with that debt lurking in the background.... of course in the antique only days i didnt have to buy all the christmas that we need now....

ANOTHER COMPANY SENT ME ABOUT 20$ OF STUFF....MAKING THE SHIPPING ABOUT 50%....THAT IS SO WRONG.... I REALLY TRY TO SAY NO BACK ORDERS.....DO THEY GET THE MESSAGE?do they even look? how do you prove it when you order on the phone? MY MESSAGE to myself IS DONT ORDER FROM THEM AGAIN...

AND THEN THERE ARE THE SALES REPS .. A NEW COMPANY is approaching me .she wants my order., im willing.......SHE WANTS TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT A MONTH AHEAD....I CANT DO THAT..maybe the rest of the world can plan a month ahead but i dont... ... THATS HOW SHE SCHEDULES ...SO I DONT KNOW HOW THATS GOING TO TURN OUT....I TOLD HER TO CALL ME CLOSER TO THE TIME..she acted like that was very wierd.....

we have 2 more big orders coming this week....creative coop....and a big metal garden order...
retail and smalls are whats keeping us going right now....so thats what im buying....
thats about it with us and the companies this week..
things seem to be getting quite a bit better around here..