Selling work

[gmarq]

Has anybody had any success selling work online? I've been thinking about E-bay but I'm still unsure. I would like to hear of others experience in this matter. Thanks, Greg

[Mitchell]

Some suggestions here:

make a living at carving

Selling your work

Selling carvings

[susieq]

gmarq,
Just from what I have seen on ebay, you probably won't do as well as getting your work into a small gallery. A gallery will usually mark up your piece to double your price...they usually get half the selling price. It sounds like a lot but even paying the gallery half of the selling price, I am making far more with a carving than I used to get setting up at a local show. It is worth it to me.

Having a website is nice too. After many years of just selling through the gallery, I finally have a website. An old former customer of the gallery found the site, contacted me through it and bought a piece earlier this year. I am pretty sure that customer will be back. But without the gallery my work would never have been seen to the extent that it is now. I do recomend checking around for a small gallery to handle your work. It has been a positive experience for me. Best wishes.

[JIM QUILICI]

Greg,
i don't sell my stuff ....I give it away.... and what I have seen on ebay 98% of the carving sold there, the price they get they are giving their carving away, seen some good carvings go for $1.50 or less.
Jim

[mark yundt]

I'm not particularly savvy about E-bay,,but is it possible to have a reserve? Try a piece or two and see what happens. Sometimes you just have to do something to see how it works out.My son just sold a bag of wine corks and got 90 bucks for them,,just for not throwing them out,,,who would have thunk it??

[Nancy-G]

I live out in the country and could not get $50 for a carving at a local show.

I mail carvings to a city gallery and they've sold for up to $2,800 each .... Sure, I get "only" 50% of that selling price but GOOD GRIEF !!!!! I'll happily take it.

BUT -- I spend a lot of money buying carvings on eBay so I'm not knocking that. eBay and galleries are both grand places to do business if you are careful and know how to use them.

[whittleguy]

First let me say that I consider myself a hobby carver. I mostly carve Santas. And it is not unusual that I sell all the Santa's that I carve.

I have sold on Ebay, Craft Stores, and my own website.

My idea of selling on Ebay was to draw views to my website. In my opion, with a few little tricks, it's pretty easy to sell Santas on Ebay. But to really make money, it's not that easy.

First, you need to be fast, which I'm not. You need to be able to turn out carving quickly. Ebay shoppers are looking for a bargain. If that's your style, with a few tricks, you can sell carvings.

Craft Stores and I assume, other gallerys as well, depend a lot on the location of the gallery. I have sold quite a few carvings this way but because of the area of the gallery and the commission due to the gallery, it was not real profitable.

The website fits my style. All of my carvings are done for me! If someone then wants to own them, that's great. If not, that's great too, cause I carved them for me anyway.

Occasionally I do carve a Santa on request. These are not as enjoyable for me, because I tend to adjust my design as I progress. I guess I'm saying that I can't even copy myself all that well. And I'm alway wondering if this is what the client really wants.

What draws me to carve? I can't wait to see what my next carving will look like. As I said all my planning takes place with a knife in my hand.

[Eddy-Smiles]

I tried to seel some of my hand carved fishing lures on ebay and I had no luck at all. Too much competition. Like Jim said, everyone wants something for nothing.

[Nutmeg Designs]

I too tried ebay and it was a flop. it cost to much to set each item up just for people not to buy. and if you open a store which if cost affective people can not search for your stuff in the general search. So i don't bother any more with ebay. Find local shops or do your own art fairs (not craft).

[revnate]

I only have 3 carvings to my name (on my avatar) that I have finished. I think I will keep them. I am a long way from selling, but I have checked out ebay. Looks like stuff goes too cheap for works of art.