Trade Secrets Thursday-Online Shopping

For most of the articles that we've done here for Trade Secrets Thursday we've shown you real shops in Ireland that sell supplies. But the reality of most crafters, especially those with any internet savvy, is that they buy their supplies online. I still try to support local business when I can, but sometimes the price and convenience of shopping on the interent outweighs the desire to shop locally. All of us here at Etsy Ireland are trying to sell our products so that means trying to get the best deal possible with our materials. So we can then pass on that value to our customers, making are items more affordable. Here are a few of my favourite shops online to buy from.

Lupin
Lupin is run by the lovely Laura Howard from Gloucester in the Uk, she is a total crafty addict who makes the most beautiful felt brooches on woodland creatures. She also has a wide selection of felt, ribbon, buttons,ric-rac and much more. I love buying from here because I know I'm going to get a quality product, delivered on time with no hassle. I'm also addicted to her fantastic blog. With over 3000 sales on her etsy shop, and much more from her main website, she is one on those success stories we keep hearing about. All by the age of 27, not too shabby Laura!

KungFuCowGirl
This isn't typically what you would call a supply, but I buy hundreds of 1" buttons off this lady as free promos to give with my orders. I attach the small badges to my Moo cards and I hand them out at craft fairs, this tactic has really helped me spread the word of my brand locally. I also get my pocket mirrors and 2.25" buttons made up from this shop. Jennie is really easy to work with, which is exactly what you want when you are getting custom orders done. I've been shopping with her for over two years, and probably spend nearly $1000 in her shop, she is definitely one of my favorite sellers on Etsy.
(one thing to be careful of, if you are ordering large quantities into Ireland you will probably be taxed, not something you want to be surprised by when the postman calls to your door)

Nancy Gems

Nancy Gems is one of those shops that sells a bit of everything. What I use them for is little velvet baggys for my pocket mirrors, but they have great display boxes ,findings for jewellery,gemstones etc. At over 700 listings in their shop I'm sure there is something for everyone there. It's not top quality materials we are talking here, just cheap and cheerful, but nice packaging, that can make all the difference when you are sending out your orders. I spent days researching on ebay trying to find the cheapest supplier for velvet bags, and I was so surprised to see that the cheapest person was on Etsy. They have really reasonable shipping prices, and surprisingly fast delivery considering it comes all the way from Hong Kong.

Big Fish
BigFish is someone I used to buy a lot from before I became a button supplier myself. I think she has an amazing range of products and quite a few different shops specialising in different areas. Her buttons are very high quality, and I think that's why she is a little pricier than other shops, but I always loved that she sells mixed bags of specific colours. She also has a really fun blog that I read quite often. You should also check out her craft shop, I think her work is SUPER CUTE!

There's a few of my favourites, what are yours?? Leave some comments and share your top sellers.

Posted by Nice Day Supplies