Monday, April 03, 2006

Ebay

People really piss me off with their attitude to 'labels' on clothes.

I offer my hand made excellent quality knitwear for sale on Ebay. I have just removed a load I had for sale. Why?

Well first week they didn't sell, I put them back on at a lower price. Then when i thought about it, I decided to hell with it and removed them altogether.

I sold very well between August and December last year. I shall wait until then to put my stuff on Ebay. Gives me plenty of time to knit them.

Anyway, back to attitudes and labels. I have seen second hand, crap made and crap cashmere selling for big big money on Ebay. Don't these people have any sense of quality? NO THEY DO NOT. They just bid high because of the NAME.

Yet my highest quality cashmere either gets no bids or low ones.

Doesn't make sense.

8 comments:

Annie said...

I had some of the same problems with ebay...folks thought of it as a personal garage sale, which I suppose it kind of is. Isn't it funny that folks will pay big money for expensive things willingly under the right circumstances (in a high end shop, when things are really nice just not on sale) but put stuff in an atmosphere where the same people might be able to save a buck or two (ebay, the sale bin) and they behave like sniveling Scrooges...scrounging for every penny and crabby about every perceived slight. Sheesh.

Fred said...

Its the old chestnut wooly thinking of "big name = good quality" and anything outside this bracket isn't.

Anonymous said...

Most people shopping Ebay tend to be bargin hunters. If you did well selling later in the year then I'd definately hold off till then. I think too many people see the words "handmade" and don't bother to look and see the quality in the work.

Anonymous said...

Have you tried etsy as an alternative to eBay ? It's all handcrafted work, so might well be a more appropriate environment for your work.

I haven't looked too closely at the rules and requirements, or how successful the sales are, but I believe the charges are less than eBay, with a much lower listing fee.

But never undersell your work, wherever you choose to place it.

Anonymous said...

It is appalling. People are stupid and like a bunch of sheep that would all jump to their death if the first one did so. Actually, dumber than sheep, at least sheep give us beautiful wool fibre.

I started sewing and knitting at 15 so that I could have clothes that no one else had; I have never understood this mania to pay through the nose to become a walking advertisement and see others dressed exactly like me, actually I’d be horrified if I found myself in the same room as someone wearing the same clothes! Thank god there are some individual creative types left around!

Are you clear in your advertising, saying things like?

Hand fashioned by professional knitter / designer
Highest quality cashmere
Professional, meticulous finishing
Beautiful one of a kind NEW item for that unique person
Higher quality than most labelled knitwear etc. etc. bla bla ….

Doesn’t ebay have a” new” category now?

Did you create a boutique?

Are there other outlets – in France Priceminister seems to sell more new, high-end stuff?

You’ve probably tried all this already,
What can one do about the stupid majority?

Carole

Anonymous said...

Hey Colin,

Just read your comment on your blog about selling things on eBay and I
must say that I agree with you 100% but I would never sell anything on
eBay ever ... too much trouble with PayPal.

PayPal have appeared on Watchdog for 2 or 3 wks and the problems are
all the same ... the seller loses their article, money everything
because PayPal is finding in favour of the Buyer. So anyone using
PayPal please check the article on PayPal on the BBC site in the
Watchdog part. I try not to miss Watchdog.

btw Colin that puppy looked gorgeous!!! I love dogs with all of me ...
they have saved my life several times over the past 25+ yrs.

Take care
Hugs
Anne

steel breeze said...

Don't take it personally, Colin. Ebay is sometimes just an online car-boot, or it could just be seasonal - despite the continued cold, ppl are probably looking towards summer now. Why not build up a collection and try again in the autumn? I for one would definitely take a look!

Anonymous said...

Colin -

How about creating your own label?

Tracy