As I've stated many times I love Etsy, it's a fantastic site with much to offer. The forums are a great place to connect with other sellers and buyers. It's a great help resource, and the posts can make you laugh and sometimes send you to near tears. It's been a great year on Etsy with over 600 sales and 100 percent feedback. Etsy's seller fee's are quite reasonable compared to Ebays, but yet each month the fee is getting higher, mostly with needing to renew items to not get buried in the search pages, renewing pays off when it comes to making sales, but if i renew a $5.00 item 5 times it becomes less than a $4.00 item, and those little bitty 20 cents add up quickly. This would be my main problem with the way Etsy is set up, I do wish they would offer a flat rate fee comparable to Artfire.
I love the flat rate fee at Artfire, it makes so much sense. If you rented an actual brick and mortar space, you wouldn't be charged more for having more inventory or sales, you pay your monthly rent irregardless of your earnings. I don't know about you but the idea of keeping more of my cash is strongly appealing!
I will continue on Etsy, because I love it so but will try to establish a viable business on Artfire too it seems to be a wise business move for me.
If you haven't visited Artfire I encourage you to take a browse..it's a wonderful site for handmade and vintage
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Meaning of Vintage The Debate Goes On
Does anyone really know what the word vintage truly means ? I agree it is overused and often used inappropriately. Many words have tried to replace vintage when it comes to online venues, words like retro , mid-century, mod amongst others, but they aren't as effective as the V word.
There are many , many, and many discussions arguments and down right arrogance amongst people in the Etsy forums on this issue.
According to the Free Online Dictionary by Farlex vinatge is:
vin·tage
play_w2("V0108300")
(vntj)
n.
1. The yield of wine or grapes from a vineyard or district during one season.
2. Wine, usually of high quality, identified as to year and vineyard or district of origin.
3. The year or place in which a wine is bottled.
4.
a. The harvesting of a grape crop.
b. The initial stages of winemaking.
5. Informal
a. A group or collection of people or things sharing certain characteristics.
b. A year or period of origin: a car of 1942 vintage.
c. Length of existence; age.
adj.
1. Of or relating to a vintage.
2. Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic.
3. Old or outmoded.
Will we ever agree on the meaning of vintage? probably not, I believe vintage means something different to each age group. There are many who feel items from the 80's are not vintage, yet in the 80's we who were raised in the 80's considered the 60's vintage (can't remember the term used then for vintage) . So now it's 2009 and the 80's items will come into play as collectible vintage , being balked by those of us in our 40's....Is it the fact that if we say the the 1980's is vintage is admitting we are getting older....or that we really don't want stone-washed blue jeans and big hair to come back in style.
The heated debate will go on in the forums, people will argue that their vintage is better than others.
From the meanings above my heart agrees with "Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic" and in that case vintage can have many meanings, what appeals to one person will not appeal to everyone, so if you see a vintage seller doing really well selling 1980's glam, and you're not moving your antique 1940's dinnerware, it doesn't grant the right to complain.
In four short months 1990 will be allowed on Etsy, it will be allowed to be called vintage and the debates, discussions and flagging will continue in the forums.
There are many , many, and many discussions arguments and down right arrogance amongst people in the Etsy forums on this issue.
According to the Free Online Dictionary by Farlex vinatge is:
vin·tage
play_w2("V0108300")
(vntj)
n.
1. The yield of wine or grapes from a vineyard or district during one season.
2. Wine, usually of high quality, identified as to year and vineyard or district of origin.
3. The year or place in which a wine is bottled.
4.
a. The harvesting of a grape crop.
b. The initial stages of winemaking.
5. Informal
a. A group or collection of people or things sharing certain characteristics.
b. A year or period of origin: a car of 1942 vintage.
c. Length of existence; age.
adj.
1. Of or relating to a vintage.
2. Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic.
3. Old or outmoded.
Will we ever agree on the meaning of vintage? probably not, I believe vintage means something different to each age group. There are many who feel items from the 80's are not vintage, yet in the 80's we who were raised in the 80's considered the 60's vintage (can't remember the term used then for vintage) . So now it's 2009 and the 80's items will come into play as collectible vintage , being balked by those of us in our 40's....Is it the fact that if we say the the 1980's is vintage is admitting we are getting older....or that we really don't want stone-washed blue jeans and big hair to come back in style.
The heated debate will go on in the forums, people will argue that their vintage is better than others.
From the meanings above my heart agrees with "Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic" and in that case vintage can have many meanings, what appeals to one person will not appeal to everyone, so if you see a vintage seller doing really well selling 1980's glam, and you're not moving your antique 1940's dinnerware, it doesn't grant the right to complain.
In four short months 1990 will be allowed on Etsy, it will be allowed to be called vintage and the debates, discussions and flagging will continue in the forums.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
For The Love Of Boho
There seems to be alot of different meanings to boho, I love boho it's my favorite in vintage. I did an Etsy search searching for shops to feature in my Boho blog. Honestly it was very disappointing , there was 374 pages in the search and I found very few items that met my definition of Boho. Maybe I'm the one with the wrong impression of what Boho is.
I have opened a shop on Artfire called "Little Bit Boho" I am so excited to designate an entire shop to boho and will be working on building my inventory over the next few weeks. If you have a different opinion of what Boho is please feel free to comment.
You can find the first three boho items at http://www.artfire.com/users/littlebitboho
$15.00 and Under
The following items were found on Etsy through searching Boho , each defines the term Boho to me.
The beautiful boho dress can be found at http://www.violetfolklore.etsy.com/ . It is priced at $48.00 .
Boho Macrame Medallion Beaded Necklace http://www.zanzibargains.etsy.com/ is a great example of boho accessories. A steal at 6.99.
If I didn't already own 2 dozen handbags I would've ordered this great boho straw bag. This is an incredible find at $14.00. this is from http://www.landpiranhavntg.etsy.com/
Last but not least a true 1970's Painted Ceramic and Wood Bead Necklace . $23.00 You can visit this shop at http://www.whimsicalvintage.com/
Thanks for reading todays boho blog, not everyone loves boho, so be sure to check back for the next blog when I search for vinatge pink!
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