Are you ready to sell?

Yellow and Blue Heart Favour or Proposal Box by Nice Day Designs

Today I posted a packet with 8 Purls of Colour items to Limerick to be (hopefully sold) by Ruth from Nice Day Designs at the Etsy Ireland pop-up shop at the Catherine Street Cultural Dig on 13-15 May 2011. I am really excited about this fabulous opportunity to display my knitwear somewhere else in Ireland! It's also great to see something happening that we've talked about at team meetings and on the blog for some time, namely our own pop-up shop.

Thanks Ruth for not letting this opportunity slip by!

 You're amazing by Lucky Rainbow Designs

Of course it is scary to part with something I've worked on for some time and give it into somebody else's hands, but since I am not a natural-born seller and far too precious about my own creations, it was high time that I did send off a few of my pieces to be displayed and sold elsewhere. I am supposed to sell my knitwear, not just make them and then put them into a storage box!

However, this opportunity yet again makes me realise the question of being ready to sell. I haven't been blessed with many sales on Etsy - most of my sales and commissions happen through friends and family - so I somehow still haven't really managed the whole aspect of presentation and packaging.

 Brown paper package in red ribbon card by Paperpennies

Well, since my funds are lower than certain celebs' necklines, I never invested much money into wrapping paper, little gifts and packaging material - and on top of this just ran out of business cards. My parcels are created with cheerfully recycled materials, which suits me because I like doing my bit for the environment. But I am so unprepared - when a sale happens, then I start rushing around, looking for envelopes, looking for a Belfast card to add to the piece, scrambling for tissue paper and bits of yarn to wrap everything nicely - leaving my studio in total disarray and myself in a total frenzy. If there suddenly were a big rush on my shop, I think I'd run for the hills (and probably would have to collect leaves as wrapping material...).

Vintage cameo Grecian girl wall plate pin dish by Irish Bounty

Preparation is the key! You have to be prepared to sell, have envelopes, thank you cards and wrapping paper ready before a sale, and not end up in a frenzy once you get the lovely 'Etsy transactions' message. Maybe being prepared is sending a strong message to the sales fairy in the sky and she will whip out that cornucopia, overflowing with sales vibes...

 Heading to Limerick...

Somehow your head has to be in sales mode to be an Etsy Success! poster girl, so I need to tackle the aspect of getting ready and preparing for the sales, and also to stop clinging to my pieces as if my life depended on it. Sending the parcel off was a big step to do so. I had to be prepared, organised, think about the pieces I was going to send, write the descriptions and prices on sales tags and make sure that everything was included, because once the parcel was sent, I could not rely on a last-minute stroke of creativity to compensate for the fact that I had forgotten something. I also did for once not allow myself to be distracted by a sudden urge to knit another (and very special) item for the parcel.

Now the parcel is away and I feel inspired and ready to sell...


To send your own parcel to Ruth for the wonderful opportunity to show off and sell your pieces at the Etsy Ireland team pop up shop, check out the blog article on the Catherine Street Cultural Dig and email her at ruthcrean@yahoo.ie