Redheaded Jill

My friend and I were discussing our dreams today. She mentioned she wants to open a shop that sells a very specific style/theme of artwork.

We broke down the different online platforms and where she should consider starting.

EBAY: What I sell on ebay is primarily dishes. I sell a lot of dishes that are no longer in production so when a customer breaks a plate or chips a bowl they might come to my store for replacement pieces. My brother sells a lot of electronics, old games/game systems, and dvds. My mom sells a ton of baby blankets and toys. This platform to me is about either finding a bargain or finding something that isn’t made anymore. If I were going to sell artwork or something hand made, unless it was a popular sought after artist, I would choose a different platform. Ebay is more of a yard sale thrifty store vibe. (I think you CAN sell handmade things, but I’m not sure how much success people have doing it.) You also get discounts in shipping, which is a plus.

ETSY: I also sell on etsy, this is where I sell a lot of vintage and hand made items. I also sell hand made cosmetics. This platform is a little swankier. I look at it like a boutique where people look to spend a little extra AND are willing to spend a little extra. Etsy is a decent place to sell artwork, but the site is pretty overrun with stores and it’s hard to get recognition without affiliated social media helping you make sales. One bonus to selling on etsy is the discount you get in shipping.

INSTAGRAM: I do not have an IG store, but I do follow a lot of IG stores. You can also link another website to your IG to get people to visit your store. I think IG is the place for new sellers to go. I follow lots of account who sell directly in their posts. They’ll say, “DM me for product, first come first serve. Venmo me within 24 hours and it’s yours. X shipping for all items.” It’s super easy and the customer can speak to you directly. If you have a thriving shop and get overwhelmed with DMs and making posts then moving to a bigger platform would be a safe decision. But for small shops just getting started I think IG is the way to go. You can also do lots of advertising with reels, stories, posts, etc…

FACEBOOK: I have zero experience selling on facebook. I find the platform too confusing to keep track of, even if you have a business page, and I rarely make sales through facebook. I will say facebook ads might do a lot to draw attention to your website or etsy shop, but you have to know how to work the algorithm.

Build Your Own Site (Squarespace or Wix): I think unless you are making significant money this isn’t worth it. It costs a lot of time and money to keep up a website of your own. I have tried it with help and I just lost interest because it was too much $$. To me Etsy is already a well put together platform so I just sell there. It would be a dream come true to have enough customers that I could have a personal website (aside from this one) but I’d still be making/packaging the products myself. To me this option is impractical.

Are there any platforms I left out? Where do you buy things? Do stores have success selling on Twitter? Tiktok? (I don’t use them so I’m not sure.)