Grand Opening!


Remember back several weeks ago when I told you all how excited I was to finally have my website set up for ecommerce?  I had put a couple of things in that shop as a test, and one of my loyal customers went and and purchased one of the necklaces. She paid. And then, she ordered it again, and paid again because it looked as though the necklace was still in her cart.  Each time she went back to the website, the necklace was still in the shop, showing it was available for purchase, and still showed that it was sitting in her cart.
              hrmph.
She tells me what happened. I have to refund her $, and manually go into the website to remove the sold item because the website company has not been able to establish inventory control for their ecommerce sites. Yep, I know. How aggravating!??
                                 double hrmph!

So I'm in a pickle at this point. What do I do with a website that looks really cool, but doesn't have the ability to have an accurately working ecommerce shop?? Nothing!! I cancel the ecommerce fees, and start from scratch. AGAIN. What is this now, attempt #3 at having my own website?? You must be sick to death of this by now. And I'm sure you are asking the one question in your head- why would you want to sell somewhere else besides Etsy.

Well, the easiest answer is the FEES. I am sick to death of paying the fees, and as a seller who lists often and sells consistently, I owe the folks at Etsy a small fortune at this point.
Am I going to break up with them completely? no, probably not. I am not really to sever all ties but it will be nice to list and not have to pay hefty fees. Also, I do get some traffic from Etsy as far as new customers go, so there's that.

Now for the good stuff. I have opened a new shop, well- how could I not, right?! It's super fabulous, easy- I take paypal!, eye catching. Well, take a look yourself!


All of the pieces shown at the top of this post, are now listed in my new shop. 
The shop is linked on my website, when you click the shop link at the left, it will take you there automatically. Please bookmark it as an additional venue for my work. THANK YOU!

Comments

  1. How frustrating for you! I hope this is finally the one! Good luck :) I am going to go check it out! If it does work well in the inventory control department, let me know, I am having the same problem and I am looking for a new provider.
    Hugs
    Marie

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  2. I had to close my Wix website shop because there was no way to control inventory, shipping charges or prevent international orders. Frustrating? Um, yes.

    Go Lorelei!

    Cheers,
    Madge

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  3. how crazy about the Website purchases..Bcartel is interesting, andrew has a shop and i've always wondered exactly how it works..
    how do people find your work( well not yours of course, but generally)
    so you are keeping the website..but not selling off it,
    using BC as the shop linked to your display website?
    i have a website..poor little neglected thing..BC might work for my sculpture pieces..i'd be interested to hear your experiences with this new shop..the idea of not getting hit with fees from all directions would be very nice.

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  4. Wow. Your new site is lovely and very easy to navigate. Congratulations:-).

    Have I told you yet how much I love your jewelry? I just want to be clear.

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  5. Hello everyone!
    I am reading you blog Lorelei and I must say that I adore your jewelries. They are really inspiring! Reading about this trouble with etsy and fees I thought that I must prompt your attention to artfire.com. It is a similar marketplace as etsy but the listings are free even for basic members. I think it's worth checking it out, and eventually build a beautiful shop there with the many powerful tools they are offering. Hope this helps!
    promirta

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  6. Anonymous9/03/2010

    Congrats on your website, Lorelei! It looks beautiful -- just like all your work. The kinks will eventually work out ... they always do.

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  7. Lorelei, I had looked at Big Cartel also, a while ago.
    One thing I'm not too crazy about on that site is- as far as I could tell- there's no record of sold items.
    Speaking personally, I like seeing previously sold items as a customer and seller since it helps me keep track or get a better idea of what type of work that artist usually sells.
    Nevertheless, it's a great shop and best of luck in your new endeavor!

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  8. I am so sorry to hear about your problems with the site. To be honest - what a crappy web-consultant would build a shopping site that works so badly for shopping? They can't have a clue. I mean, there are tons of readymade scripts that takes care of all what you are asking for! Don't pay them or ask for your money back! Sooooo unprofessional! I know - i've been working in that business myself. Not writing code, but art direction and interface design. I could recommend you a bunch of good bureaus here in Sweden that could help you. I just don't understand what the problem is. It must be able to solve.

    Well, Etsy has their fees, yes. But it works also!

    Good luck with it all. I'm off to check out your new places now.

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  9. Way to go, Lorelei!

    I had looked into Big Cartel when Andrew opened his shop. I knew that one day I would want to have an ecommerce part of my own site, but what I really wanted my Wix for was as an interactive gallery for people to view my work and learn about me. And I really wanted the ability to do it all myself rather than relying on someone.

    I just put a few items up for sale in my little Etsy shop on Wed and when I get more in there I will announce it. I did consider all the fees, but for now it is the right thing for me, so that I can have the potential traffic and the exposure as well as the control.

    I don't have the name recognition that you do, so I am sure that people will find you, I just wonder about getting traffic there when you are just starting out. I will be interested to see how that works for you and I thank you for sharing your experiences with all of us. You are always an inspiration.

    I wish you the best! But I know that it will be a golden opportunity for you.

    Enjoy the day!
    Erin

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  10. Hm, hope I didn't come across toooo hard in my previous comment. I DO get so very worked up when people are unprofessional in their work. How can they demand money if they don't deliver? Should be forbidden. Well, you understand I have strong feelings for this topic ...

    Again, good luck with it all!

    All my best!

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  11. i am so glad to have found you again. I love your jewelry...current and wearable and just a little different, without being odd! I love how you use really new things. I have noticed you in magazines. now that I have seen your site.

    My daughter and I are trying to figure out separate Google readers...we share the same blog...so this might be confusing.

    We are less that a half year old and do primarily repurposed jewelry. I also love paper crafts and my daughter loves antique clothes. We both adore garage and estate sales and flea markets. Come and visit if you would like!

    http://katsuijewelry.blogspot.com

    Suz

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  12. I have the same problem with my website (I go through Register.com). I contacted them about the inventory problem and was told that I would have to pay $55 a month (instead of the $19.95 a month that I pay now)..It's just not worth it to me, so I just have to delete my items as soon as they are sold (if possible!), haven't had to much trouble doing that but it IS a pain! Your new website looks great by the way :)
    Kristy Abner

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  13. I like the new Jewellery site the best now. Its great and to the point! I think your cloud twin is on My Blog lol!

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  14. I love your new website! I have my Wix site linked to my 1000 Markets site, but it would be nice to be fee-free! At least 1000 Markets doesn't charge for listing. They only charge for sales.
    I hope this new solution will be the answer for you!

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