My Swim In The 'Bay

If you’ve been following my blog, then you know that last week I dipped my toes back into the eBay pool to test the waters.  I’d been on eBay quite a bit earlier in my lampworking career, but didn’t find the success I’d originally been hoping for with some of my earlier designs and pieces.

With the advent of my new “male” pendants, I thought I’d give this a try again to see how they would be received.  Since they’ve been pretty popular on Etsy, it was time to give “The Bay” another shot.

Last night, the auction for “Joseph” completed with six bids and multiple bidders.  To say that I was pleased in the response would be an understatement.  While I doubt that I’ll be using it as often as I used to for sales, it would appear that there is a market that I can tap into there too.

Any source of new customers is good, right?

Of course it is!  This morning I found a very nice letter from my buyer who is very excited and happy that he won.  The e-mail also included this wonderful bit of encouragement:

“If this beautiful multi-colored penis was created on a whim, I encourage you to make more!  The others who bid against me would certainly appreciate being able to have one of their own!  What a splendid way to celebrate the beauty of the male member!”

I took a chance last week and struck out to expose my work to a new audience and gained a brand new customer with the potential for a few more in the wings.  If I hadn’t tried it, I might never have found them.

I guess the moral of the story is to get out of your marketing rut and try something new.  For the cost of a few bucks, I was rewarded with a wonderful new customer and some new ideas on how to make my shop work for me!

Remember, try new venues (or older ones that didn’t work in the past), new mediums and anything you can think of to bring in those customers!

Needless to say, there are more penis pendants coming and this won’t be the last auction on eBay!

Now to figure out how to skinny down the cost of the listing fees and still get noticed! 

More on that later!

Dipping My Toes Back Into The 'Bay!

So, why am I nervous?

Maybe it's because I've been down this road once before without much success.

Maybe I'm afraid that this item won't sell either and it will be a waste of my time and energy.

Maybe it means that my work is, which I love, is just not that great.

Maybe I'm just chronically insecure.

So why did I bother in the first place?

I listed an item because I have something new and didn't see anything like it out there currently.

I listed an item to give it a shot and see what the response is like to it.

I listed an item to prove that my own doubts would not derail my ambition.

I listed an item to help publicize my Facebook page for these items and maybe get some new fans.

I listed an item because I figured if it didn't work, I'd still have my item and I'd only be out a couple of bucks and week's worth of watching and waiting.

I listed an item because I was curious.

As you can see, the potential benefits outweigh the doubts, so now I've just got to wait and see what happens. Wish me luck!

Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion! Same ByHand Time, Same ByHand Channel!