Reducing the volume: crafted stuff

[mizarchivist]

I've been making beads and other related craft things for - good god- 15 years.

I have Too Much Stuff. For the past few hours, I've been cleaning up my storage boxes and I now have:

• 15 small to medium bags of beads- (holds between 10-30 beads, depending on the size of bead and bag)
• About a dozen hemp and bead necklaces that I produced in college and have weathered well, but seriously. I am not the hippie chick I once was.
• 20 or so winged creatures that I don't need to keep. Mostly butterflies
• 2 pair of horns, one blue sparkle, one earthy pink/red
• Random 1-2.5" diameter designed things that were theoretically going to be pins, but I over-estimated the interest in pins. Transforming them into fridge magnets seems a better choice? 

So, first of all- is there anyone out there who would like to get a bargain basement deal on this- or barter- or...?
I have a theory of putting this stuff into fresh bags, marking them for about $5 each, and having a basket of them at Arisia. Or putting them on Craigslist. Any other theories to dispose of these are welcome.

Comments

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

If you're not interested in creating an Etsy store for yourself, do you know anyone who already has one and would be willing to sell your stuff from there?

[mizarchivist]

I'm just a little familiar with Etsy, yes.

My luck with Etsy for the past 3/4 of a year has been such that it didn't seem like the best first choice. The notion of making it Go Away Now (or very soon) seemed very desirable when I hit post. However, it is a very low risk method of trying to get rid of stuff, tis true

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

Etsy is -great- for selling supplies. I do far better selling supplies there than selling finished work. I think a lot of Etsians like to support other Etsians, so they do it by purchasing their supplies on Etsy.

Or, you can bring them to your friendly neighborhood bead store (http://lushbeads.com/) and we can have a destash sale. I take a wee cut, and you get the rest. :-)

Because you rock

[mizarchivist]

do your customers dig on big ol' sculpey beads?

Now that I've had time to ponder, perhaps I'll give Etsy a shot- I've not tried to sell supplies, so... why not? Do you think $3-7 per bag is the right ballpark?

And I'm grateful for the option of Lushifying them, too.

If I do Etsy, I'll need to take pictures. I'll send you a link to them after I shoot to give you an idea about what there is and we can keep talking

Re: Because you rock

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

I have no idea if my customers would want big ol' sculpey beads, but hey, they are beads. :-D Some of my customers wander across the hall to visit my friend Liz and buy her smaller polymer beads, but it depends on the person. At worst: you bag them up, I take them for a day, none of them sell, and I return them to you to sell on Etsy, which you are planning to do anyway. :-)

My friend Liz sells 30 small beads for $5 a bag, so your prices sound fine. Hunt the supplies section on Etsy for sculpey or polymer clay beads, and see what the going rate is.

List 2-3 bags a day, instead of all of them at once. It is more annoying for you, but it spreads out your offerings in the Supplies category, so people are more likely to stumble across you. I've had my best luck listing 2-3x a day...after a week or so of that, I was getting 1-2 sales per week.

Re: Because you rock

[mizarchivist]

I'm putting 2 up tonight to see what happens- given I have about 15 bags of them and I have no idea when I'm going to see you, may as well. I can always pull them from Etsy when I bring them up to you.

Thanks for the encouragement!

[shut-it-already.livejournal.com]

Blue horns?
I might totally want those! :)

[mizarchivist]

Right on! I can make that happen for you. You know, if you wanted.

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

need horns! earthy ones. will be in boston first week in november.

[mizarchivist]

That works out! I'll keep the earthier ones for you. I think they'd blend in with your hair nicely ;)