a comment and a question

[ozarkgypsyart]

hola :) i'm very new at the group thing soooo my comment is, thank you all so much ! i've read thru tons of posts and learned so much. i've been inspired and encouraged. you guys helped me find a free site ( ozarkgypsyart.tripod.com still under construction) to set up so i don't have to hand out 4 foot long business cards. and so much more. anyway, thank you for having this group and for having us all here :) now, the question. i have trouble pricing my things, i've always had that trouble. i see what similar things sell for but i could never imagine selling mine for that much. everytime i relist ebay suggests i lower the starting price but another ebay artist wrote me saying i have them priced much to low. i'm pretty good at bartering with my art, been doing it for years, but just putting a flat money price or starting bid is beyond me lol thanks again and muco blessings :) juli

[artistjillian]

Hi Juli. Welcome. Glad you've found all helpful. I'll try to get to your site... good for you! :) My 'rule of thumb' re pricing is to sell it at a price that you are not going to cry over. If you sell at any less you are paying people to take them off your hands. I want us all to respect our art and treat them like the one of a kind miniature masterpieces they are. To put things a bit in perspective. If you went to a greeting card shop to buy a card you would pay several dollars for a mass produced card, wouldn't you? Surely a one of a kind item is worth far more. To work out a price, maybe look at some that might be similar to yours. Compare start and finish prices. Don't choose the lowest starting price! That's how I feel about it, anyway. ~Jillian

[artistjillian]

Great site to start with. :) Congratulations.

[aligatorsue]

Juli , I know how you feel , I have trouble with the pricing as well , every time I list a card for .99 I loose out , you figure you have to pay the ebay fee , and what does that leave you with 0. Sooooo I am going to stop doing that as well , I recently sold one for .99 and thought the bid would go higher but did not , and then lost out on the shipping cost as well , shame on me , we learn from our mistakes .I shipped to Uk and the post office messed up with the calculations and I shipped one for .83 and then found out the next day that the .99 card I was shipping to Uk was going to cost 1.70 ouch I am nervous now I hope these previous card do not come back or get charged for my customer to pay more postage , how inconvenient for them . Thankfully I added a little something extra in the envelope as a gift of appreciation. So Jillian do you have any advice for me to make good for my poor customer in Uk who may have trouble due to the post office messing up with the prices? I would hate to get a negative feedback for the stupidity of my work ...

[artistjillian]

Well, there is no way I have all the answers, all the solutions, but I DO love the saying ... 'don't worry about it, it may never happen'. I don't mean to make light of it. But it might be smooth sailing all the way. Even with goof ups, most people are reluctant to give a negative. Wait and see, and if there is an issue, ask here, again. PS. On a 99 cent card, you not only have ebay costs but sometimes also PayPal expenses that you have to 'cover'. It like paying someone to take your art cards away from you. 😞

[ozarkgypsyart]

hi sue :) i also lost money on aceo's for .99 but i just chalked it up to experience and getting a seller rep and getting my art out there. it was cheaper than advertising :) on the postage due possibility ... when i have any doubt about anything like that i email the buyer (or seller) right away and just explain the situation and see what needs to be done to make it right. as a buyer i've had postage due a few times and if the seller was courteous and the items were as they should be i didn't mind paying a little extra at all. plus adding something extra like you did ... course people are different but i bet it will be just fine. juli

[ozarkgypsyart]

thank you jillian :) i've actually advised people the exact same thing lol but i can't get it to apply to me. i always worry i'm charging to much and end up not making enough. it'll work out tho, i'm sure of it. i don't paint to make money but i do need to make money lol it's a catch 22. juli

[cdeeryart]

I agree with Juli on writing to give your customer a heads up. That goes a long way with a buyer, to know you care enough about them to let them know ahead of time of a possible problem. Regarding pricing your art...my take on it is the higher value you put on it, the more respect it will gain from buyers. Most of my aceo's take me at least 3 hours of steady drawing. While I enjoy selling my art, I don't enjoy practically giving it away. When I first started listing ACEO's, my standard listing price was $7.99 plus $1 shipping. My starting bid now on most is $11.99...what I consider to be more than fair for the time and effort put into it. If one doesn't sell after 2 listings, I usually keep it for freebies to give to regular buyers as an added bonus, or to hand out locally to get people interested in ACEO's who might not know of them. Like Jillian says...don't just give your hard work away.:) Cyndi

[gereeofmountainair]

I just bought one on ebay that was listed for 50 cents and I paid $1.25 plus $1.00 shipping. I received it today and it cost the seller $4.55 to send it express mail! What's wrong with this picture? Thanks for the advice, Cyndi. I think starting at $7.99 and moving up to $11.99 is a great plan. The two listings rule seems practical too. Thanks for the great discussion! Geree PS A friend told me her sales were down because of tax time approaching. I am experiencing decreased sales lately, too. Anyone else?

[kengillam]

As I've said before I don't think the ACEO competitions with a starting price of 99 cents does not do any favours for any of us. List at sensible prices. Ken

[artistjillian]

This group does not, and never will, do 99 cent competitions for ACEOs. I still think that low prices make people think that that is all art cards are worth. However, I do recognise that people can list at whatever they want.

[aligatorsue]

Thank you all for the great advice , and I am no longer worried about the shipping , I emailed the buyer right away and explained , and I think it will be okay . Also as far as the other card goes ,I will not list again at .99 I learnt my lesson on that one . I knew in my heart it was worth much more, and figured I would stimulate bidding if I listed lower, but I'll tell ya the cookie crumbles differently sometimes. You are all very right , we put allot into our artwork , and to sell ourselves short is not acceptable.

[ozarkgypsyart]

what's are .99 cent competitions ? sue, don't feel bad about the .99 cent cards, we're all learning everyday and without help we just have to try and see what's right. now we know :) juli

[impressionsoftexas]

Amen! Linda

[ozarkgypsyart]

thank you cyndi :) advice with examples helps me a lot juli