So, here it is… the last post of my series about wholesalecrafts.com. Once again, this is MY point of view and other artists may have (and certainly have) other points of view.
Those who make a lot of sales are saying this is the best thing that ever happened to them.
Those who do not make any sale are saying this is a waste of money.
And between those 2 extremes, there are a lot of space to navigate.
So, if you are reading this post and have some thought to share, your comments are welcome.
First, there is something important I forgot to talk about: the customer service.
It has been my experience that the team is really helpful and committed to please both artists and buyers. They are always here to answer questions, help, give advices. In short, I feel that they care! and that’s a big plus in the balance.
This site and the concept behind it are unique. As far as I know, there is no equivalent out there. There are a lot of pros and cons as to be on this site. Everything is not perfect over there, but to me so far, the pros are outweighing the cons and as long as they do, I’ll still be there.
There are a few things I could bring into the light, but I choose to focus on the positive. I still keep an eye on the negative to make sure I keep it under control, but I mainly focus on the positive, which is my general philosophy in life.
There are many ways for an artist to make a living out of their work. And from where I stand, wholesale should be part of it.
But wholesale is a commitment and is not made for everyone. All types of work are not made for the wholesale market. For example, this plate that took you 8 hours to decorate with tiny elements using tweezers may have to go on an art show, not wholesale. And if the thought of making another one of these red bowls just make you throw up, maybe wholesale is not for you.
There is a big myth about wholesalecrafts.com that it’s like to kill. Many artists think that being there is the end. I know, I was one of them.
You are in, you upload you photos, and you just sit here waiting that orders pour in. Because we all want to spend more time in the studio, and less time doing promotion. After all, we are artists, not marketing gurus.
Something that twist my panties is the kind of testimonial, prominently displayed on the site, that says something like “in one hour of being up on the site, I’ve got an order that paid for my yearly subscription”. Yes, it may happen, it has happened. Once in a while, beginner’s luck shows up. Then, when did the next order arrived?
If this type of feedback makes sense on a marketing point of view (afterall, let’s not forget that wsc.com makes a living out of artists’ dreams), it gives a false sense to new artists that all we have to do is be there. Just sit and wait. Because when it does not happen, frustration kicks in.
It happened to me. After 3 months, no order. Not one. Nothing, nada, rien, zilch! so, it made me think about what I was doing wrong. I reviewed my work, started to advertise, and my first order came in. Followed by another, and another…
Being there is not the end, it is just the beginning!
You’ll have to work on your products (is it what buyers are looking for? how are my photos? my prices?) and on yourself (how is my artist statement? how do I present myself to buyers? do I have the guts to make it?).
You’ll have to advertise and to stay on top of your market.
And then, if it does not come right away, you’ll have not to throw the towel. Many artists told me it takes two years before making it. Right now, I think it takes more time.
The secret is to keep your name out there, in front of the retailers.
Since we are talking about the retailers… I believe that the majority of the retailers you’ll meet on wsc.com are not what I would call art galleries. They are mostly gift shops, moms and pops, flower shops, spas, kitchen stores…. not all are 100% handmade in America. There are some art and crafts galleries, but a minority.
However, no business is too small. I do not mind who orders, as long as they order and they are correct in business (he, if I want to make sure about who is represented next to my work, I can go back to consignment, isn’t?). But it gives some pointers as to the type of work that will make it in this environment.
Right now, the trend is all about items at no more than $15 wholesale, especially jewelry. Average order is between $150 and $200.
So, if you are a new artist, my advice to you is to get ready to hang in there, not get discouraged, think out of the box, not put all your eggs in the same basket and be smart!
I learned a tremendous amount of things about the business of wholesale, about my work and about myself. Many things that are going to help me move further in my career.
The series is now complete, but I’ll put some updates and news as they come.
I hope you enjoyed it and once again, if you have questions and/or comments, please feel free to reply to this post.
A bientôt!!
Patricia
© 2009 – Unleash the Spirit of Glass!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Do they provide any information on how many people are browsing through the different artists, or do they keep that kind of thing under wraps. Selling artwork wholesale is certainly an interesting perspective to think about. Thank you for the post
Hi!
Thank you very much for your comment. Yes, I do think that wholesaling our work is something to think about for the long run.
To answer your question. For a long time, you were able to see other artists’ counters but this is not available anymore. You have 3 types of counters:
- the general hits: how many times a retailer has stopped by your page (visits by other artists do not count),
- unique hits: how many times a new retailer visited your page. For example, if your general hits = 50 and unique hits = 40, it tells you that 40 buyers stopped by never came before, and that one or more of these 40 returned up to 10 times.
- hits by item: how many times a particular item has been viewed.
If you adds up all your hits by items, it is generally lower than your general hits. It tells you that buyers have been attracted to your page (by advertising, for example) but decided to not look at details. Maybe this was not what they were looking for….
You can see other artist’s hits by item, but not general hits or unique hits.
The opinions are shared about that… some think this should stay private, while some others think this may be of help.
I do think this may be of help. When an other artist gets a lot of hits, it says that they must do something right. The point is not to copy, but to learn. What kind of work do they propose? did they run an ad recently? how long ago did they joined?
Unfortunately, this opportunity has been removed a few months ago. The official reason: it was a bug (yep, a 10 years old bug LOL).
In general, there is huge lack of statistic data about the site’s activity. This always has been my pet-peeve… I am not a statistic junky but I believe that more data would help us grow our business. Right now, I feel like a fungus… trying to grow in the dark!!!
We basically know how many new buyers register each month (which is alarmingly low), how many orders are placed on the site. That’s all. We do not know how many are actively using wholesalecrafts.com, how many are opening their weekly newsletter, how many go on the site every day…. but I would bet this is way far off the 17.000 registered.
Hope that helps!
Patricia
Hope that helps…
Patricia