hey bag ladies and beg dudes I'm Sarah
Lawson from so sweetness thanks so much
for joining me for ask Sarah my weekly
Q&A chat so the main event is how to
sell handmade bags so I have a panel of
five lovely ladies who sell bags across
all areas so in-person at craft fairs
and holiday Mart's on their own websites
on Etsy through consignment Instagram in
Facebook groups so we've got all areas
covered tonight super excited for this
chat and we're gonna be answering your
questions live during the second half of
the show so I hope you'll join us
through the whole chat it's gonna be
really informative and a lot of fun so
before we get started on that as
promised I have the minikin season 2
sneak peek for the night every Sunday
and Tuesday on the live shows through
the end of October when minikin season 2
comes out on October 31st I'm gonna have
a sneak peek on every live show so
tonight's sneak peek is actually the
shortest pattern of the bunch it's
called the Epicure pouch and it's
actually only 1/8 step pattern so
there's only a very limited amount of
fabric pieces to cut out for this
project and it's got this lovely metal
frame on the top so this is an 8 inch
frame the pattern will also work with a
seven and a half inch frame which is
another common size and it just opens up
it's really easy to insert with screws
so perhaps if you've installed a twist
off before it's kind of a similar
application to that and there's no
pockets on the inside but I think this
would be an adorable gift especially for
a bridal shower for all the bridesmaids
and I made mine with a lovely bark cloth
fabric so I feel like it has a really
nice vintage vibe when paired with this
frame so again this is the Epicure pouch
one of the 13 patterns and videos that
will be coming out October 31st in
minikin season 2 all right so let's get
started again tonight's topic is how to
sell your handmade bags and I have my
five panelists panelists with me today I
admit I have never sold a handmade bag
but years ago when William was a baby so
this is over 10 years ago I did sell
burp cloths on Etsy because when I
learned to sew as an adult burp cloth
just being a rectangle where the only
thing that I could so at the time I was
selling them for $9 on Etsy they were
backed with minke they had really nice
fabric on the front and I had no idea
about pricing my things I was just
trying to price them low enough so that
people would would purchase them and I
could at least sell some and now I know
better that that's not the best strategy
but as I was talking on Instagram live
if you joined me before then getting
paid what we're worth is really
important so that's why I wanted to have
this topic tonight so we can talk about
the ins and outs of selling items and at
the end of the day make sure that we're
getting paid what we're worth so I'm
gonna introduce my lovely panel starting
with Dina before I start having everyone
introduce themselves I also wanted to
remind all of you viewing out there that
I have links to all of my panelists
shops or their main site of business in
the description so if you want to check
out their links after the show and and
see what they're doing and what they're
making and what they're all about please
do that after the show will start with
Dina though if you could tell everyone
the name of your business and how long
you've been selling handmade items for
sure
thanks hi everybody I'm Dina my business
is DB mmm more than a pretty case and
right now my website is actually I'm
switching to a new website this week so
you'll see it there but I'm not selling
anything at the very moment but I've
been making cake bags and musical
instruments and also straps for a little
over five years and then this year I
just am now you know kind of shifting my
focus into kind of regular bags and
wallets and you know some things that
are a little quirky and different but
not necessarily for musicians awesome
Thank You Dina all right so we have two
Christie's with us tonight we're gonna
start with Christy with a C so Christy
if you could tell everyone the name of
your business and how long you've been
selling handmade items for I um I'm
Christy stole dryer I run love love you
so and I've been selling since about
2013
on etsy mainly baby items but I throw it
back all the time I and lately a lot of
acts that are shown through Instagram
and Facebook a lot of times I get a lot
of inquiries there as well so I kind of
sell all over but mainly on my Etsy site
as time allows all I'll post some extra
things over there awesome Thank You
Christy all right so next up is Bethany
so Bethany what's the name of your
business and how long have you been
selling handmade items for hi um I've
been sewing for about three years and
the name is five stitches basically just
because it's my husband and I are three
girls so went off of that but um yeah
just fairly common story just started
staying home with the girls and pick it
up it's something to do and fell in love
with it excellent all right Thank You
Bethany all right now the Christy with a
k-rock baby scissors how long have you
been selling handmade items for um in
January it'll be nine years oh wow
that's awesome my gradual ations thank
you awesome all right next is Shannon
tell everyone the name of your business
and how long you've been selling
handmade items for hi I'm Shannon I own
Shannon created and I've been selling
handmade items for coming up on four
years okay excellent thank you okay so I
have my own list of questions so we're
gonna get to my questions first and then
we'll throw the ball out to all of you
I already saw tons of really good
questions in the comments so we'll get
to as many questions live as we can so I
want my very first question is and again
we're gonna go for the second question
down the same line one at a time but I
want to know what type of bag or
accessory is your biggest seller so for
example is it a certain style of clutch
a zipper pouch what type of bag is your
best seller and Danny's gonna load a
couple of photos as we go through each
person so Deena if you could tell us
what types of things are your best
sellers and
we'll see a couple photo examples of
Dena's work up on the screen as well
yeah so that's a good question I I've
been doing a lot of custom work the last
five years those bags one of them is for
a bass guitar others electric guitar a
lot of people when they want something
really different they want it to be
custom I just started making these new
bags like the one that just showed up
this has been a pretty good seller
online thanks I've noticed that I have
different best sellers in person at
fairs and stuff than I do online like
completely opposite so it's a mystery I
have some bags I've never sold it affair
but they attract attention so I take a
bunch of them with me and then I put
them in my shop online and they sell out
in a day so I you know it's uh yeah it's
kind of hard to get a hold of like what
really sells well or sometimes I'll sell
a bunch of ukulele bags all at once I
don't know why
and then none for like two months so
okay yeah I'm saying
awesome thank you okay what what about
you Christie Christie with a see what
type of bag or accessory is your biggest
seller so I didn't make I still make a
lot of baby
um items here are some just like
clutches that I've sold at fairs I don't
sell that online but I've sold them in
fairs and I make like a very basic pouch
I mean no interfacing just pul and an
exterior with like some type of
heavy-duty like exterior like a canvas
or something and it's very easy it's
fast high-margin and it's what I've
stuck to me mainly because it's high
margin low a low amount of time but at
fairs if I do like a craft fair I will
sell like these little coin pouches
would you just use scraps for because
people that just walk around and lots of
times kids come by they pick up these
little coin pouches and it's just like
one like the nice things and of course
like I am actually I just did one what
is it last weekend sold all of my Moto's
large side Moto's
I sold all those because I always pair
them with Cork and people just like them
and just anything different it's funny
like one of the things that a husband
had mentioned he was like wow there's a
lot of different ways to make a pouch
aren't there like yeah there's
definitely a lot of different ways and
so anything that has always been a
little bit different or you know just a
different shape they always tend to sell
a lot faster in person
yeah online I just don't post a lot of
them I post like my basic offering
online but I've have had baby bags like
large sizable baby bags sell online that
I couldn't sell in person because they
were so expensive so when you when you
mentioned about throwing there was
something different in the pouches that
you were selling in person like we saw
that picture with a little bit of
leather in there is is that what you
mean by throwing something yeah just
like a different sheet okay
yeah different style of course the cork
is a big seller just because it's still
so different even though we as bag
ladies and bag dudes have seen it all
the you know seen it for a while the
market hasn't and so when they come
across that people just they are just
floored and they always want to know the
background what is core you know is it
like the wine you know the stuff and the
wine and you know especially if you have
like the fun rainbows stuff it really
attracts like kids and a lot of and a
lot of people that come to these type of
markets cuz they're always looking for
something different okay awesome Thank
You Christie alright so what about you
Bethany what type of bag or accessory is
your biggest seller mine is just a very
simple wristlet that I self it's just a
self drafted pattern but very simple and
the two-tone one there this pictured is
definitely the most popular
but it's a very very fast so for me and
so I keep it at a low price point so
that it's a good gift for people to buy
as gifts but anyway it's a very quick so
for me and I love making it because you
can make the combination anything that
you want that's awesome yeah I try to
keep yourself interested while you're
sewing so many right that's right - all
right how about you Christy Rock baby
scissors what is your best seller um
definitely right now project bags um so
together or Bionic gear bags and then
what's on the screen out on the rock
star bag Thank You Sara
they're definitely the rock star bag I
made the first one and it just people
went crazy for it so and I think I just
posted one yesterday in your Facebook
group it was number 84 oh and another
one on my table that's finished right
now on - the inside binding and then I
have another one that I have to make
tomorrow so awesome
yeah I I I actually have a sew together
bag from Christy so I can see that that
that would be popular in her shop and
also the craft bags I've seen you on
Instagram making a lot of craft bags
lately those look really cool oh yeah
tons of them okay so what about you
Shannon what is your best seller
I find that my best sellers tend to go
in cycles right now it's mostly backpack
and sling bags that backpack right there
on the screen is definitely a popular
one these days especially with school
coming back in session um I have found
that the park hopping bags like this
size has been very popular lately but it
does tend to cycle so right now it's
it's backpacks and sling bags and
wallets are only as good - awesome
awesome okay alright so let's let's get
on to some more questions my next
question is how did you decide how to
price your items so let's let's kind of
change it up the order up a little bit
let's start with you Shannon how do you
how did you decide how to price your
items and I know you use a lot of custom
fabrics so
does that change things for you at all
yeah it does I use a lot of like these a
lot of custom printed fabric which costs
me more and therefore that does end up
being passed on in my Christ's point for
me it is a matter of determining how
long something takes me to make you know
we need to be paid for our hourly wage
for our labor that's I mean anybody can
buy the fabric but we bring our our
talent and our time to it and so I will
often what
how did is what the market will support
to you whether or not I'm going to sell
something I wish I had like a formula
for you some of these other ladies
probably do they're probably better yeah
yeah that's a good that's a good point
does anyone on the panel use a certain
formula like a hard formula they send of
hours and cost of materials does anybody
use a formula you do sign it to you yeah
I have I'm kind of a dork so I have I
have spreadsheets I like putting my
supplies that I've a little drop downs
and so at that I say okay you know how
much are my supplies gonna cost and I
count like every little bit rectangle
ring whatever because those little
things this is what I noticed when I was
not when I was just kind of picking like
oh okay well I guess I'll do $100 or
whatever but then I tend to like over
complicate things I'm like oh but it
would look cool if I just added this and
you know added that and put this and
that nut and then by the end of it
you've added like $20 worth of you know
extra hardware so yeah I keep track of
all that and time and I actually just
recently also I was like you know I'm
going to be a business and not just
because I'm not a wage worker I'm not
just working for my my own wages I have
to also invest in my business and so I
joked but seriously said I now put in an
extra percentage for reinvestment so
that I can actually buy a new machine or
you know upgrade my equipment in some
way or just sell those little things
that don't make it into the price
normally
so yeah I know do everything in my
spreadsheet because I've heard in the
past and I don't know if this is like um
just a Miss but I've heard cost of
supplies times three does that seem kind
of on track with your pricing or anyone
else in the group pricing yes I
definitely heard using that cost of
materials times three okay that's a good
rule of thumb but you should really
track everything I'm a spreadsheet girl
too yeah I mean like and I know that we
buy things like on sale some is like
full retail and then you know there's
like different prices so I do an average
of how much I spend okay I know some
people put in retail amounts but I want
actually want to know like what what my
real margins are and take that into
account but like I always also take when
pricing like I also take into the into
account the entire portfolio because
there are certain things that you're
eating that you can make much higher
margin on and there's some things that
like if you use your calculation you're
like yeah the markets not gonna be able
to bear it you know they think oh I try
to balance out because there's some
things that like I have a ridiculous
margin on and that's why I keep making
it and then then I can go a little bit
lower in some areas like I guess I'm
gonna guess the zipper pouches that you
mentioned where your high margin and
your baby bags probably your low margin
is that right
yeah okay got it got it alright so while
we're we're kind of moving in the
direction of my next question and
Christy kind of touched on that but I
want to also know do you purchase
supplies at wholesale wholesale only a
combination of wholesale and retail or
only retail and why so let's let's start
with Christy with a case so are you
buying supplies wholesale at all or how
is that working for you interfacing and
hardware is all you know in bought in
bulk
including
needles oil for my machine all supplies
really um but fabric no fabric I buy
retail usually from Mike Hawthorn
threads or you know somewhere like that
just cuz I've never been able to pay
that upfront cost of starting you know a
1500 ollars flat you need upfront you
get an account it's not always just done
the fabric retail but everything else is
bought in bulk okay I mean like hundreds
of pieces at a time would you mind
sharing your source where you're buying
your hard purse hardware from um I get
rectangle rings and some swivel clasts
from tantalizing stitches on Etsy I get
my magnetic snaps on Amazon because they
are crazy cheap um woven interfacing
from got interfacing my flex foam you
know by the 60-inch on the big role from
overstock cuz it's crazy cheap and yeah
everything else is just Etsy or
Amazon random little stores here and
there and mean bags has some really
really fancy hardware so okay awesome
how about you Bethany and then honestly
for I buy my cork from you yep and then
the inside is usually just a basic
lightning I use you know they'll have a
lot for it so it's just any fabric that
I can find and it can be random for what
I do so I use my you know coupons widely
a Johanna temple just buy a bulk of
something on 60% coupon or something
okay yeah that makes a lot of sense to
their awesome okay how about you Shannon
I know you're buying the custom fabrics
but are you buying other supplies
wholesale
you I am another one that used this guy
interfacing for my interfacing I buy
that in bulk
I didn't buy wholesale through Emmeline
I love her hardware it's that to me has
been trying to find the balance because
you want high quality hardware not just
cheap hardware so I definitely get some
on Etsy purse supplies RS on Etsy sells
really nice flat cast struck sliders and
things like that that I like my fabric a
lot of it is the custom fabric so that's
anywhere from you know 22 to 35 dollars
a yard so that really depends on what
that is I don't I don't buy that
wholesale but you buy my interfacing and
my hardware in bulk and wholesale when I
can okay okay yeah so it seems like
across the board certain things
everyone's buying wholesale and others
like the custom fabric paying the full
price for and there's a few other points
that I wanted to touch on I mentioned at
the beginning of the chat that basically
everyone on the panel is selling items
in different ways like they have
different focus like consignment
facebook group and I wanted to start
with you on this question Shannon so can
you explain a little bit about what your
focus is and how do you like doing that
and because it's the Facebook group I
thought that was really interesting is
it a private group and how do you
conduct selling your items in the
Facebook group it is not a private group
it's a public group although I do have
to approve members so that I in you know
you get a weird request sometimes I mean
you know you run a Facebook group so I
do have a member of Groupon but it is it
is a public group and I I did sell on
Etsy for a while but I found that my
traffic was going lower man I like the
Facebook group because people can have
their notifications on and they can they
can see you know when they want to see
it when what I'm selling I do my custom
stalking my custom slot stockings on
Facebook which is really nice it kind of
a first-come first-serve
and then I also do ready to ship sails
and it gives me the opportunity to give
people a heads up before something is is
posted so I can post two or three days
in advance hey be here at eight in my
time and I'm gonna load you know what I
have ready to ship and you can come on
and claim it and so it's it's been a
really great platform for me to sell I
do some on Instagram not a lot but it's
been a great opportunity for me to
interact with my customers and be able
to really figure out what they want and
and what the best way to sell what they
are looking for so I follow up question
to that when you said custom stocking
does that just mean you post in the
group that you have different slots for
custom orders or what what exactly does
that entail yeah that's actually been a
little bit nuts this year I mean as as
I've been selling longer my customer
base is grown which is great but there's
only one of me and so I can only take so
many custom orders and so I do every
eight weeks or so I'll open ups I call
them custom slots so sometimes I will
open up slots for like okay I'm going to
sell I'm gonna take orders for X number
of speed well leave this bag um but when
I open up my custom slots its I will you
know anything with you want with
whatever fabric you would like so it's
not limited to bag type or fabric type
or anything like that it's just a open
you can order whichever bag you would
like and is that at a flat rate since
they're you choosing whatever fabrics
they want and potentially the hardware
do you price them based on whatever
things that they're adding that might be
extra or more expensive I do I have I
have an album in my group I'm photo
album of kind of a basic price list or
because I do sell more than one kind of
bag and so it's it's a price list of
this is the basic price if you want to
add custom fabric it's this much more if
you want to add
you know rainbow hardware it's this much
more if you want to add so it does it's
a starting point at least for people and
with my custom slots I'm able to talk
with people one-on-one so that if they
do want to add something you know more
customized than I do adjust the price
accordingly you know depending on how
much more work and know which what cost
goes into it okay oh good that makes a
lot of sense thanks for information okay
so how about you how about you Christie
Christie rock baby scissors what's your
what's your focus area and how's that
working out for you I really don't have
you know me and Deena or actually
talking the other night and she's gonna
help me you know get my own little
spreadsheet going cuz I really just kind
of throw a price at the wall and see how
the item sells there is no rhyme or
reason behind my pricing I don't know is
there I usually just there a certain
area on the internet that you sell the
best on like for example Instagram or I
only sell on I see any more I do want to
keep Oklahoma someone messages me on
Facebook or Instagram or emails and like
send me you know a message on Etsy I
like to keep it all in one place um yeah
Deana actually just talked to me into up
in the prices on you know some of my
more structured bags she's like you were
really low balling yourself you know
that's why you're broke all the time oh
yeah cuz you know I was just you know
laying everything out for you know and
she said that she would help me a song
I'm looking forward to seeing where I'm
going wrong and what I'm doing right
yeah cuz you saw a lot of very detailed
very detailed bags I do they yeah and I
think 85% about of my workload is
customs so I just I want to make sure
I'm paying myself what I should be
paying myself okay alright good points
alright so what about you Bethany where
is your focus as far as where you're
selling the bus and how's that working
for you um I I mostly like
to deal with shops that are within my
areas that I can I like to just kind of
walk into stores and see what a shop is
like and if I could make something that
would fit their store so I do a lot of
just blind calls and will take in a cup
you know some of my product that I've
done and then if I feel like I don't
have something that would fit that shop
I'll get an idea of what what they do
sell and then I'll just make something
and take it back in and say you know
would you be interested in this and most
businesses the standard is 50% wholesale
or if they buy it from me or even
consignment so that scares a lot of
people when you are talking about
selling bags but I tend to make products
that I know I could sell for Pidgey
percent because I it's such a good area
where I live to just find little niche
shops and boutiques and so there's a lot
of opportunities but you gotta have to
expect that it's gonna be fifty percent
so that's why I try to keep my items too
small quick projects and I think I saw I
think I saw from your facebook page
because I follow you on facebook but
hallmark I believe is one of the story
doors that you sell to so I thought that
was very interesting yeah it's actually
based in Kansas City the headquarters
here and so they really have yeah
so there's several homework storage
around here in Kansas City and they've
really taken an interest in local
vendors so right now they're they do
focus on and they really enjoy taking on
local vendors but again that's that is a
50% thing and so I try to would I make
with them I make sure that it could be
something I could still make a profit
with but still be really quick to make
and okay okay so that's that's why the
wristlets are sensitive I guess very
interesting so they do they call or
email you their orders when they need to
reorder how does that work it's just
consignment and
I'm able to take what I want and also it
works out great because I can test out
products and then there's also a local
store called made in KC that also does
local vendors but they buy from me
wholesale so it works out great to be
able to test out stuff with hallmark and
then you know see whatever works I can
try the other store gotta anyway I love
I love mass production I like being able
to just make 20 or 30 of something at
once and you do it so fast
awesome awesome thank you and that's
very interesting about the casaya
consignment so christy from love you so
actually has to leave us in two minutes
Christy before you leave I was wanting
to ask you what do you feel is the most
important thing that you've learned as a
seller so is it about pricing your items
is about coming maybe coming up with the
best type of item or is about the social
media what do you think is for you the
most important thing that you've learned
that has helped you grow as seller of
handmade items patience it takes a while
it takes a while to you know build up
your credibility for people to like
understand the quality that you are
putting into your bags so sometimes it
you know not everyone can see it online
I get a lot of people in person and once
they see like the quality then they
understand you know some of the pricing
and then you know then it's like the
word of mouth that that comes in but
that and just to enjoy what you like cuz
I I mean I've made a lot of things but I
don't I mean I've made a lot but I sell
very little there has to be some type of
enjoyment in it because I
yeah there's certain things I just once
it's asked of me that I lose some of the
enjoyment and so I picked certain things
where I know I can make it churn and
burn it and I still enjoy awesome well
thanks so much for joining us Christy
thanks for being on the hunt
having me I got to put the babies to bed
good night Chrissy bye okay so I'm gonna
ask this next question to the panel as a
group and feel free whoever has the
answer to the question I'd like to know
do you have a lot of repeat customers
there are a few names um she actually
just put an order in again last night
but yeah I have I think three or four
ladies that I'll see their name you know
every couple months so that's really fun
to know that they like your stuff enough
that they just keep coming back it's
it's a big compliment yeah I've had
several people to that musicians tend to
play a lot of instruments or have more
than one of the same instrument even so
I've had people come back I tease them
if they have collections now of you know
gig bags I wonder what they look like
you know going through an airport or
something I came back but it's been fun
to that now that I've you know I'm
trying to do this switchover I'm kind of
in the middle of switching over to these
sort of regular bags and a lot of my gig
bag customers were have been my very
first regular bag customers so yeah
there's yeah yeah I have some people I
think might the record is six bags one
person with six bags although it's who
were those I think gifts yes she has for
herself and then two more for her
boyfriend
awesome I do have quite a few repeat
customers but I find that because I I
offer several different bag styles and I
try to come out with a new bag style
every now and then that people they want
to try the new bag and so I do have
quite a few repeat customers okay so I'm
gonna jump over to my next question if
you do custom orders the first part of
the question is what is your lead time
meaning the time it takes you to from
when they request the order till when
you deliver it and you take a percentage
down for example 50% down when they
order it and 50% down when they
completed or you take the whole money
amount up front we'll start with you
Shannon since you're still on the screen
I hate when I take a custom order I do
custom orders in two different ways so
when I take a custom order my lead time
is at the beginning of the year it's
like six to eight weeks this time of
year it's more like twelve just for
Christmas orders it gets busy so I will
and I do require full payment upfront
and when I do the custom fabric I'll
often take a pre order for the fabric
and of course those of you there in the
custom fabric world knows that it takes
the fabric anywhere from like 12 to 16
weeks to get to me
so in that case I do take a 50% deposit
I require a 50% deposit up front with
the rest do and I have fabric in hand my
lead time part of it depends on the time
of year um but it's right around it
averages about 8 weeks
awesome what about you Bethany what's
your lead time and do you take a
percentage down when you're doing orders
or custom orders yeah I do require full
payment and if it's people I know I tend
to hard about that but I usually give
about a six-week okay all right like
doors okay yeah awesome what about you
des stores are the priority for me yeah
that makes sense what about you Dean
Deana what's your lead time and do you
take payment full payment upfront my
lead times vary but I you know I'll take
I'll take customs just for a certain
amount of time and I also kind of
differentiate between custom and
made-to-order
so made to order is a model or design I
already have you know drafted out I've
already designed it and they're just
choosing their fabrics from my
collection so those will be a little bit
faster but usually I you know about four
bags later than I should I'll stop
taking a customer made to order because
I realized my big time has just gotten
ridiculous oh my oh I got to catch up so
I'm really bad at this actually though I
continued five years I'm still bad at it
alright what about you Christy
um yeah like I said a lot of my workload
is custom my lead time is six to eight
weeks normally um you know natural
disasters like hurricanes you know can
put you a little bit behind so okay so I
had two more items and then we're gonna
open it up to questions from the live
audience my two questions where do you
use licensed fabric for your items and
the second part of the question was do
you use social media tools like the Etsy
seller app if you saw on Etsy or if you
promote listings like on Facebook so
let's just go back down the line we'll
start again with Christie to use
licensed fabric and you use social media
tools I use licensed fabric when
requested for custom orders um you know
xcs gonna yank your shop if you get you
know too many violations so like I don't
sell anything you know Marvel Doctor Who
anything like that you know is ready to
show um you know I think I'm trying to
sell off the last of the stock that I
have made up but you know mostly it's
just whatever the person wants and it's
all designer fabric so it's free to use
and you won't get in trouble I mean I do
use the Etsy app um I'm big on Instagram
I love Instagram I have my Instagram
then post stuff to Facebook now because
I kept forgetting to post you know stuff
on Facebook um but yeah I love I love
the social media aspect of it and my I
think my business is growing because of
it you know and I try to stay really
active and you know make friends with
you know the fabric designers and other
bag makers you know and just you know
build those good relationships yeah I
think their relationships are really
important I know Allison glass you have
a relationship with her in regards to
getting new fabric and all that right
yeah sometimes and me and chin text here
and there and you know that's always
really exciting and
you know and and then I've become
friends with you and you know we've
talked on the phone like normal people
and you know it's a lot of fun you know
whenever someone asks you to make
something you know with their fabric or
their new bag pattern it's it's really
good it's nice for me you know to know
that I've worked hard on cultivating
these relationships and building my
brand and people are trusting my brand
and Christy mentioned the Etsy seller
app even though I don't sell handmade
items I sell
cork fabric and other things on patterns
and on Etsy
the Etsy seller app is huge I try to
update my Etsy seller app every day
which the epsy seller app has an aspect
of social media to it so I post an
update which is a photo kind of like an
I feel like it's kind of like an
Instagram photo and that photograph is
sent out to all the people that follow
my shop on Etsy so that's a really
important tool I noticed the difference
when I wasn't posting for about two
months as far as my Etsy sales even
though Etsy isn't my biggest proportion
of sales I noticed when I wasn't posting
on the Etsy seller app and when I did
post again the sales went back up so
that's super important if you're looking
to saw on Etsy but let me get that
question over to the other three on the
panel Bethany
do you use any portions of social media
and do you use licensed fabric I use
Instagram and Facebook as far as license
fabric it's just if it's requested okay
but not typically I do make like some
city royal keychains you know but it's
not a look that's specifically requested
I don't okay alright what about you Dena
oh no so everything I make is on with
those Lascaux you know the Dutch wax
print fabrics so that's you know my my
thing my niche
I do get requests sometimes I usually
say no the only sort of fabric I ever
did once was for a kid's music class and
the parents all got together
to get a guitar case but the teacher
using the kids artwork so that's not
licensed fabric but that was my one
exception in 500 years and as far as
social media yeah I like Instagram I've
been really trying to like I've been a
bad Instagram her for several years now
but I'm really trying now to post you
know at least a few times a week and I
have gotten I'm actually moving off of
Etsy it's been nice while I've been
there but I'm actually moving off of
Etsy because I realized that I was
driving my own customers like that I got
through Facebook or Instagram or in
person to Etsy and so then you get into
that thing of wait a minute I'm paying
the fees but I'm knowing you know so I
just saw my organic sort of breach on
Etsy dropped a lot with some of these
policy changes so yeah it's a it'll be
sad but I'm moving more to Instagram and
Facebook and off of Etsy that's a good
point that Deena made Etsy has the fees
the seller fees as well as the fees for
you know the payments and so Dena made a
good point she was posting to Instagram
and Facebook and or in-person and
sending people to Etsy where she would
have to pay these fees so that's a
really good point and on that note we're
gonna jump to the live questions Danny's
gonna put some questions on the screen I
know there's tons of really meaty
questions coming through Jennifer says
how do you manage yourself your raw
goods inventory so the goods that you're
using for your custom orders does anyone
have a system as far as managing that
and what you have in stock I just go by
site all my hardware is in clear drawers
on the thing behind me I think behind my
head um but yeah if something isn't full
I order it if my foam is getting low I
order it I don't have any you know I
don't keep track of anything
electronically okay I admit I do the
same thing with my cork and all that
stuff does anyone use a spreadsheet as
far as keeping track of their inventory
I'm bad about that - I just keep the
little sticker you know that has like it
says what it is on the front of the bin
and then like Christie said it gets low
I go okay the sticker down order more
yeah sounds easy okay Dan you want to
post another I saw you had another one
up there it's not gonna go esta says
what payment style do you use to use
PayPal Square or something else I'm
assuming everyone uses PayPal right is
that correct right I use PayPal because
I mean I think for the same reason
everybody does it has buyer and seller
protection on both sides that you don't
get with square or anything else I mean
Etsy does have its own seller and buyer
protection which is great too if they
use the Etsy check out but for me I use
PayPal exclusively does anyone use
anything besides PayPal oh sorry go back
where in person actually they I don't
know if it's still going on but it might
be check through their website or
through Etsy even because now they're
associated with square but they had a
deal recently where your first thousand
dollars in fees not in sales and fees is
waived when you sign up and so I did
that so all summer I haven't been paying
fees when I sell it you know craft fairs
and festivals and things like that so
busy squared yeah so if anyone isn't
familiar with square because I use it
when I teach at an in-person event
square is a little credit card reader
that you use with your cell phone and it
gives you the ability to swipe or if the
card credit card has a chip insert the
chip into your credit card reader and
you can take payments in person and it's
really nice because it's kind of like
you have your own little cash register
with you well as far as credit card
payments
I think the fees first striper about the
same as PayPal last I checked it was I
think thirty cents a transaction and
then 2.9 percent of the your intake fee
so really reasonable and easy to use for
for taking payments in person okay many
whele says you guys are inspiring
question I want want to open a shop to
at
see do you recommend Etsy or a personal
website I personally just started my own
website just due to fees and I like
being able to just personalize it make
it my own it equals out to be about the
same in the long run and I feel like
it's more professional-looking to have
your own website do you feel the traffic
that you're sending over to your own
website is due to your social work on
social media do you feel like that's
accurate
okay yes and I feel like don't place
like Etsy if they were to go to look for
a wristlet you type in wristlet on Etsy
and they could end up on somebody else's
shop instead of your own so I feel like
you you opened yourself up to
competitors if you are on it zero
there's other sites where as with my
site you know they just come they're
coming strictly for my product what
about you Christy I had a little bit of
an issue I had my own website like I own
my domain um and when I had my online
store up
I tried first with GoDaddy and then with
Weebly built really nice pretty stores I
didn't sell anything for almost a year
on my website so I finally just stopped
you know I stopped paying the fees it
seemed like everyone wanted to go to
Etsy cuz Etsy is what people know for
handmade items okay so so they're
familiar they feel comfortable using the
website I gotcha
exactly okay all right I see another
question coming through from Donna Lynn
she says postage is so expensive is USPS
or UPS or FedEx the bus or cost
effective do you know what do you use
you know I use a combination of I mostly
used Postal Service but sometimes with
large heavy packages if they're going
far enough across the country then UPS
will be less but I if I have a large
package I'll check both but for as a
default I usually just use
the Postal Service okay you know we get
discounts between either through Etsy
are also PayPal and there's even a way
even if you haven't done a transaction
through PayPal if you just google it you
can find that you can still actually
print shipping labels through PayPal
which is nice because then you'll get
that commercial rate for the shipment so
I used to do that in the past I believe
the website is PayPal calm backslash
ship now I blue ship now I think so
Shannon what are you using for shipping
you're finished bags I use pretty much
exclusively USPS my packages
I have shipped a couple of really big
orders have the orders with UPS but as a
rule
USPS is the most cost effective and I do
ship quite a bit internationally and you
Pia USPS is still the most
cost-effective for me even
internationally okay what about you here
yeah he's due to Christie what about you
Bethany yes same here okay yeah I we
ship obviously if you've gotten a
package from us you'll notice we ship
USPS as well we use stamps comm so
there's a plugin for our website but you
can also use their service separately
and the app but that's what we
personally use for shipping okay Tamra
says thank you all for the great info if
this is your main job how many hours a
week do you find yourself sewing to keep
up with meeting orders when this
business is study that's a great
question
Bethany since you're on the screen you
want to answer that one first how many
hours a week sure I work should I get to
stay home already just because I still
have a couple small girls at home but um
it's probably about it's a good maybe
four or five hours a day that I'll spend
just breaking it up it's not all at one
time but you know hopefully print our
and also they'll take a nap for an hour
and also and then in the evenings
usually a couple hours so okay it's
usually broke up it's never all at one
yeah diamonds yeah what about you
several hours a day what about you
Christy how many hours a day
my question kind of made me laugh and
probably for sad reasons um
sewing is both my work in my hobby I
love it I sew for probably nine or ten
hours a day and at night if I'm bored I
will get up and so if the boyfriend is
gaming if he's out doing something um I
will start sewing you know I'm I worked
till one in two o'clock in the morning
sometimes I put in 16 17 hour days so
I'm I'm probably not person people
should strive to be like when it comes
to working I have a you take the
weekends off or is that not an issue for
you yeah I probably shouldn't work an
insane amount I really do all right this
is my job this is my money this is my
livelihood this is how I pay my bills
this is how I feed my kids so I don't
see it as overworking I see it as me
busting my butt to provide for me and my
kids so I hear ya yep how about you Dina
so I I I do have also another job some a
researcher and and I do contract stuff
like consulting so sometimes I'll be
really busy with that stuff and I might
only so a couple days a week and then I
have periods where I'm not doing that
and so then this becomes my main job and
then yeah it could be a lot of overtime
a lot of hours sewing but I don't know
I've always been one of those people I
want to stay up at night you know at
five o'clock in the evening I'm like oh
I'm gonna stay up and I'm gonna finish
that bag and and then you know I put my
daughter to bed and on my you know
everyone's well before a fair festival
something in person I like yeah I made
it your time you know
yeah like I just don't have that late
night I use it's gone
what about you Shannon how many hours a
day or I'm with Christy I probably
shouldn't answer that question I'm gonna
go with all of them that's how many
hours of David right it's probably a bad
time of year to ask me that question
because I am neck deep in like Christmas
stuff yeah hey I'm working a solid 12
hours a day right now but normally I
only so when my kids are in school so
it's about probably six or seven hours
okay all right that makes sense
Chris says do you have a business
license or LLC Shannon what do you I do
have been I am not enough but I do have
my business license and all the tax
paperwork all that taken care of yeah
okay what about you Bethany I do it was
a requirement for some of the stories
that I was into okay Christie
um yes my name is trademarked so I paid
for that I have my business license you
know my federal tax ID my state tax I
pay a lot of taxes yes everything is
legit awesome how about you Gina
you have also business license I was
know Elsie for a few years and then it
just didn't seem like it made much of a
difference for my you know niche so I
let that go but still the business
license yeah I don't think I had an LLC
for the first two or three years I I
think the advice that I got was hold off
on an LLC until you were more
established because the LLC does have
its upfront costs as well as yearly
costs and yep you want it I guess you
want to make sure that you're where you
want to be and you want to continue
doing it before you file for that
because then there's extra expenses that
come
LLC that's my viewpoint at least um
Betty says what do you use to manage
taxes or any other software that you
like to use like maybe QuickBooks so for
me I use QuickBooks Online I tried to do
it myself but I could not because I'm
not a numbers person so we have a
bookkeeper does anybody else use
QuickBooks or something different in
QuickBooks I like that I use it online
too I like that it's cloud computing so
I don't have to have it all stored on my
own system which is nice for storage
space and things like that and it's nice
that it exports to all of the tax
software that I use I use GoDaddy um and
my mom's an accountant so at the end of
the year I just send everything to her
so yeah I also use QuickBooks it's nice
because I was also using GoDaddy and
then I did my taxes with TurboTax and if
you do the self-employed with TurboTax
they actually give you a free QuickBooks
self-employed account so that was nice
that it all just plugs in at tax time so
yeah is everybody doing their tip their
books money on a monthly basis or how
often are you going in there and
actually I know there's like an
automatic export I see Christie laughing
so I don't know if I shouldn't ask you
I should say on top of it a little bit
more but you know like if I'm using
personal money like if I don't have my
PayPal business card with me or
something like that and I'll just use
cash or my debit card I'll keep the
receipts in a special pocket of my
wallet and I probably should you know
add them into my bookkeeping on a weekly
or monthly basis but no I usually wait
till January or February and then it's
like that mad crunch like oh no I have
50 receipts in my wallet so let's go and
you know spend two days adding
everything in so I could be more on top
of it but at least I saved the receipts
you know I have the information so
that's why you should get a business
account that's one thing I would
definitely recommend for people it
doesn't cost anything open
his bank accounts because then if you
use a bookkeeping thing like you know
GoDaddy or QuickBooks or whatever you
just link your business accounts to it
and it automatically populated and so
all I have to do is go in every couple
weeks and it will have some transactions
that it doesn't know how to categorize
and I just say okay anything that comes
from so sweetness is supplies or
whatever and then in the future it will
always categorize that correctly and
it's just so much easier and it's not
all mixed in with your personal finances
I cannot stress that enough because when
I first started my business I was using
my personal account for personal and
business and it was a nightmare and it
cost me a lot of money to have a
bookkeeping accountants get everything
straightened out please do yourself a
favor have a separate account at your
bank for business and separate account
for personal and keep them separated so
don't be using your personal account for
you know going to Joanna's use your
business account get a separate card
it's really important I know it sounds
like a simple thing but literally it
cost me a lot of money to get it
straightened out and fixed and many days
spent with tears just because it was
taking so long and took a lot of my time
also so yeah just keep everything
separate do yourself a favor I know what
I'm doing tomorrow
[Music]
all right Jacqueline says for the online
sellers what kind of overhead costs you
have to run your site and advertise so I
know I'm not selling handmade bags but
there's hosting for the website we have
plugins on the website they do different
things that cost money once in a while
we do an advert on Facebook that cost
money does anybody else use other things
that I haven't mentioned or want to
elaborate and what other costs that are
involved for any kind of online selling
I've done a few promoted listings here
and there but other than that I don't do
too much advertising I actually just got
an email from Google AdWords that I
hadn't spent money with them in 15
months so they closed out my account I
don't I don't like to pay too much to
advertise you know I'll post when I'm
having a sale here and there and it
either works or it doesn't
you know I mean the only thing I would
say is just to remember like if you're
pricing your stuff for online sales or
whatever just to remember to include
things like oh okay you're gonna give
PayPal 3% you're gonna give that si 5%
you're gonna you know just those because
those little things kind of sneak up on
you and then you realize at the end of
the month or the year like oh I didn't
because you had you go oh I'm making
eighty five dollars off of that but
really you're making seventy six or
whatever so it's make sure you account
for your shipping supplies your coupon
cards if you do those to your business
cards your clear poly bags your mailing
poly bag sure you know UPS or USPS will
send you a lot of their priority boxes
for free I mean you have to account for
all the other stuff ribbon and wrapping
paper if you tie yourself up really
pretty you know that has to be accounted
into your shipping costs and
unfortunately I didn't that didn't occur
to me until this year but I have a $1
handling fee on all of my items you know
to go towards the poly bags and business
cards and all that good stuff
interesting another question how do you
trademark your name and logo does anyone
have their stuff trademarks I do you do
it through your individual state and
it's something you have to upkeep I know
in Louisiana it was yearly I'm not sure
I we just moved on to South Carolina
four months ago I haven't done it here
yet so I'm not sure what the maintenance
is here okay it's usually really cheap I
know in Louisiana it was very cheap to
get trademarked
okay excellent I see a question from
Lisa coming through
mailchimp and keeping email lists with
advertising so does anyone use a
newsletter to send out information to
their customers and if you do which one
nice one hmm I don't either
okay well it I use a MailChimp is a good
one I use me add me me just because the
pricing once you get a lot of newsletter
subscribers was cheaper for manmini but
either MailChimp or men me me they're
both really easy to use I think it could
potentially be a good idea to collect
email an email list because that's a
list that you completely own yourself I
watch a lot of marketing videos and for
example followers on Facebook followers
on YouTube
I mean Instagram I think we all know
that all of our followers are not seeing
every single one of our photos but your
newsletter is sort of a targeted market
generally a good percentage of your
newsletter followers do actually see and
open the newsletter so these newsletters
are a good idea and I think meant
MailChimp has a certain amount for free
so a good idea especially in person
events also you can collect email
newsletter email subscribers for that
it's a good idea something to think
about for especially repeat customers
Janna says what machines do you use
alright so let's start at the top of the
list Shannon what's your sewing machine
that you use mainly at least do I have
to pick just one
my it depends on what I'm doing
obviously my piecing work I I have a I'm
a fan of Bernina I love their machines I
think they're beautiful and they run
really well and also a jukey I noticed a
couple of these ladies are sitting in
front of their duties and you know I
have the duty serger really a difference
on what I'm doing my my main machine
that I use is a Bernina 7 series then
uzuki also ok what about you Christie on
jupe 2010 q okay how about Sheena have
so hey yeah I mostly used my Dookie it's
a DN you 1541 it's a beast
but I was I was drooling earlier over
Beth's cylinder our machine so that's my
next that's my dream machine is to have
an industrial cylinder what about you
what do you I see that you cut back
there yes Dukey 8,700 and then a
cylinder arm that's from the leather
company it's a class 26 and it just came
on a fully mounted and it was 1800 so if
anybody is able to get to Springfield
leather company in Springfield Missouri
they have him available there and I'm
sure they could ship him somehow I don't
know but I'm sure could be shipped to
Iceland it was a great deal on it and it
wasn't even on sale that's just their
regular price Nicky says what is the
difference between custom and
made-to-order
and anybody can answer that on the panel
um to me it's the same thing so for me
the difference was that made to order is
something I've already designed a bag
for so I made you know gig bags for the
most part so I have this Prado ukulele a
tenor ukulele a rustic guitar full-sized
half size these are made to order
because the people choose the fabrics
they want from my collection and I make
that bag design for me custom is when I
go literally back to the drawing board
I get the measurements of their
instrument if it's something unusual I
need a tracing and I literally design
the bag around those measurements in the
shape and this the weight tonight you
know decide what kinds of foam and all
this stuff I'm gonna be teaching soon
actually that's for me you know what I
call custom okay yeah so because you're
making it for specific items
I gotcha okay good question okay so on
that note we're gonna end that there I'm
sorry we couldn't get to all of the
questions I know there were some really
great ones coming through feel free to
ask the question later on in the
Facebook group and maybe we can continue
the conversation there and other people
can chip in but I want to thank my panel
so much I know Kristy left already I
want to also thank Dina
any Kristy from Rock baby scissors and
Shannon thank you so much for joining me
tonight thanks for sharing your
information and answering questions I
really appreciate it and I hope that
this was helpful to some of you out
there that were considering making
handmade items and selling them or maybe
you already do and you just needed a
little bit of extra you know incentive
to keep going with that so thanks
everyone so much this has been ask Sarah
I'll see you again next Tuesday at 7
p.m. Central Time have a great rest of
the week and happy sewing bye everybody
thank you thank you it's nice meeting
you guys