constructive criticisms

[irishkelly74]

Just wanting some feedback on a few things. Why is it that the things we feel will be big successes in the eBay world ( alot of watchers, bidders...) turn out the opposite and the pieces that we dont expect to do as well seem to be the "winners". Does anyone else have this experience? I have 2 pieces on right now that I worked so hard on and have maybe 2 watchers and no bids. I guess I am just wanting some constructive criticism on either my auctions, pricing, photos... or do I just need to be patient? ha! You can check out my auctions and leave me any answers or advice. THX!!

[fashco]

there's no crying in ATC & ACEO Enthusiasts!!

[irishkelly74]

Thank you! I am going to change my auctions and get away from the red text on black background idea. I always think everything looks good with a dark background but I never thought about the text being hard to read. Thanks for all of your thoughts.

[shellrose]

Thanks, Anthea for the very, very nice comment. That sure made me feel good!! And, thank you too, Mean Mick...That is exactly the kind of critiques I need. I guess I am experimenting with the outlining (something I don't normally do) just to give it a "storybook feel." I remember some books I loved as a kid using a lot of outlining. Anyway, I figured once I started the series in that style, perhaps I should keep doing it so they will all be obviously from the same series. Whew...no tears! 😉

[heather*fox*art]

I agree. I can never seem to predict what will be the multiple bids item. I think I can, because a similar one went for a decent amount previously. Then it only gets 1 bid. It's just infuriating. I have a designated spot on my wall for head pounding! :) -Heather

[mreas]

The way I have always dealt with criticism (constructive and otherwise) is to say: (sometimes to myself, sometimes not--which caused me a lot of grief in school)"Yeah, well, what do YOU know?" Someone recently called an illustration "pale" I fumed about that for quite a while. pale=subtle? pale=weak? pale=sickly? pale=delicate? All criticism should be taken with a grain of salt (and a band-aid or two). Insightful, valid, applicable, helpful, useful, enlightening criticism is hard to come by. -Mean Mick

[art.st]

ALL OF MY SALES WHICH HAVE OCCURRED UNDER MY FIRST id sorry for caps.... saraht2904 ______________________________________________________ See my ME page and go to the spot for links and YES I have lots of work to do to improve my store which at this very moment sits IDLE!!!! AND my store must be stocked soon so I am feeding the elves tonight for the stocking marathon to be completed between Saturday and Sunday nite!!! Small paintings by me have sold for 100-125 USD with NO watchers just bidders...some buyers remove you from the watch column the minute they put your item in their bidding column. AND I am WITH Rob on this issue of really bizarro listing layouts... My eyes are old and IF the print is too small and TOO complicated with rules ...AGAIN I hit my back button or even my OH I am tired of EBAY for the day button LOL YES headaches must be avoided!!! lol:) oops too tired to edit ...have to run feed the elves!!!!

[art.st]

heh Beadtail-Renee great ME page and I must convert a closet to a special work area!!!! thanks! Sarah

[art.st]

Hi Emma!:)

[art.st]

Kelly, "mediums" still refers to those people who work in seances... the word media still works best to descibe "mediums" so mixed media... acrylic is better than "acrylics" >>>>Works on canvas, paper and panel<<<< is better than saying much else. If you use canvas boards call them panels...really! :)

[beadtailrenee]

My closet (work space) is actually the one under the stairs! Very tight quarters! Converting a walk-in closet might be nice! The best advice is take a good photo. I have seen blurry and far away ones that I just skip over. Don't get long winded on your rules. Know that most ebayers are good - I put my rules on my about me page and then sometimes mention in the auction "click on about me for rules that apply to every auction" If you love what you are doing it shows in your work - so does talent. Try to create things no one else has yet. Think of ways to expand on what the trends are.

[daughterofgaia]

Hi folks, just joined. I joined a 'constructive criticism' group and hung around for a few weeks...asked for feedback on a few things and no one answered, so I left that list. I'd *love* to see a constructive criticism thread as a regular feature. I can't tell, for some reason, what box of yours the posts are referring to. I looked at the others, and I must say that your time/love box is *very* nice. I get the feeling that people are put off by what they perceive as high shipping prices. I looked at a drawing the other day that was priced at $9.99. Then I clicked on the 'calculate postage' box, and the cheapest was $38 and change, from whatever midwestern state it was to Connecticut. So I wrote the guy, "Nice drawing! Is there any reason why it should cost that much to send it here?" He wrote back with all this passionate stuff about how he wants to protect it, blah blah blah...I realized after that the size of the thing wasn't even in the listing. Maybe it was huge... If there's a way to minimize reactions to postage, it might be a good thing to include in the listing. As far as the other things go, you're competing with massive numbers of similar ACEOs...although you do include popular elements in your works. I'm glad I don't have to make a living doing this; I've just started to be able to create what feels like me, and it would be frustrating if I knew I could only make the money I need by putting popular images (wings, cats, crows, hats) into my works. In any case, your cards, etc. are well done; there are just too many of them on eBay for all of them to sell. God, I'm wordy today 🙂 Anyway, can I put some of my stuff up and get some honest (cringe) criticism? Thanks, May