So You Want to Sell Hairbows on Ebay.....

A Humorous and Honest Look at where to start........

The In's and Outs and Loops of a Hairbow business.

Why I feel qualified to write this...................

First of all I would like to state that i am very new to the EBAY bow circus but I am not new to the Rodeo.  My dear friend sold the cutest little doodadds you ever saw on EBay for many years and I was at her house all the time anyway, so I Helped.  She started making tiny little crafty doodadds and selling them at art shows for .50 cents each. The really complicated doodadds sold for 4 dollars.  Usually she made about what it cost to rent the booth.  She decided it was not worth her time to go to another show but had boxes and Boxes and BOXES of Doodadds stuffed in every crook and nanny of her home.  She had this new thing called the Internet and she and I would spend Hours giggling and laughing about this coool site called EBAY.  Some days we made an effort to view almost Every item up for auction that remotely attracted our attention.

One day on a lark because her high tech hubby had bought a little marvel called a DIGITAL CAMERA we decided it would be fun to see if she could get rid of some Doodadds on EBay.  So we took a picture of 6 doodadds and waited for her husband to come home and load them up for us.  I didn't have Internet yet, there were no gallery pictures and If you had a picture of your item a camera appeared next to the listing.  There were not a lot of pictures at the time because the procedure was you took a camera, loaded a roll of film, took the pictures, developed the pictures then scanned them into your computer.  They were fussy, dark, odd colors and by today's standards Horrible.  Imagine our surprise when every doodadd sold!  Not only that...but one doodadd sold for 24.95 and she would have made exactly 4 bucks on it in real life.  We were Hooked.

I got internet and the second thing I did was sign up for ebay....the first thing I did was call her and ask how to Get to Ebay.

So for a long time, I vicariously lived the life of an ebay seller.  I learned that keeping track of who you had sold what too was not as simple as it sounded.  I discovered that if you Sell a doodadd you can bet it will slip behind something and you will spend hours trying to figure out what happened to it.  I learned that most people on Ebay were just the most fun wonderful exciting bunch of people you could ever hope to call friends.  I also learned that there is always someone who can just make the whole mess not worth it if you let them.  I learned that Ebay could be a wonder of fun and a nightmare of headaches all rolled into an ever more complex system.  My friend eventually let the headaches get to her and decided to go back to school.  I bought stuff on ebay. 

My daughter was born and I started making bows for her.  They were not very good but better than the ones I could buy.  I spent a lot of time learning what worked and what didn't and people did make comments about my little home made bows.  A few years ago people started asking if I would make THEM one.  I would smile (thinking of dragging out all that junk to make a bow, crying because it looked awful ...starting over or removing tiny stitches from ribbon or overcooking the polymer clay....and hating every moment except when it was Finished and she liked it) and I would reply, "not for 50 bucks."  Now as time went on and my bow mess grew, I did make them for a few people.....then a few more......then it got to be so many I Had to start charging for them.  And people would pay me.....and little girls were going to church, school, shopping etc in a Bow I had made them.  It was the best feeling in the world. 

My mom had sold stuff at craft shows when I was a kid......so I started there.  Now understand, no two bows came out exactly the same...I was not good enough to offer a Set.  But strangely people bought them and wanted cards and ordered more.   And once I really started trying, I got busy.  I decided that I should look for hairbows on Ebay and see if anyone else made them.  I was such an innocent bow lady.

Ha....I was floored.  Many of them were soooooo much better than mine. (not all of them ,mind you ,but I tend to look at the very best and compare....nothing like setting yourself up for a little emotional kick in the teeth every now and then)   And look at all these instructions.......

Just about this time, I got a huge order in For a pee wee cheer squad.....with 200 girls.  I had never made that many and they didn't have to be alike exactly but they should be within a Range of similarity.  I panicked and ordered bow instructions. (from the lady I most often compared myself too because hers went for FABULOUS PRICES) I was thinking I would find all these time saving tips and advice for pricing along with exact Ebay instructions.  Well, I did get some useful advice, but there were no great secrets or magical ointment included in the pages that would make my fingers work faster or my ribbon cost less. 

 If I had never made a bow before they would have been invaluable, but I didn't like many of the methods feeling them to be not as good as my own.  (and I met another bow lady...who had also made bows for years already.... at an art show and we compared her several sets of instructions to mine and both of us admitted some disappointment. But both of us were long in the tooth at making simple bows and they would have been terrific for someone who needed to KNOW that there are websites that sell ribbon cheaper than craft stores )  But after this huge order....my bows did improve significantly.  Partly , they got better due to tidbits I Did find in the instructions......but mostly because I had now made over 1000 bows in the last 2 years. Looking back now, that's not very many.

So you think you want to sell Bows on EBay........Where do you start?

If you have never made bows, buy a set of instructions.  Search all the thousands of Sellers until you have found the one you think Makes the prettiest bows.......buy Those instructions if possible or ask her if She owns a set of instructions she recommends.

Now that said.....I will say this.  With small differences they all seem to be very similar to each other.  Yes this one believes in this method and that one advises another way all for valid reasons.  Once you have made a few, You will discover things are easier for you doing it your own way which may or may not be another persons way.  (In English I am saying that SOME  instructions complicate the steps a great deal and you will find that if you do it several times....you may realise that alot of the steps are truly just filler.  Also for me, I have extra steps, that I would not think of leaving out because if you do, the bow is no where near as well made as it is claimed to be.)  Please don't think for one second your going to make an 8 piece stacked loopy on your first try......you don't need better instructions....you need practice.

Now......... Go Make 1000 bows.  Throw the first 200 away or donate them to a shelter, church bazaar or somewhere else you won't have to ever look at them again.......because YOU WILL BE EMBARASSED Later if you keep going, No matter how beautiful you think they are at this moment!!!.  (Trust me on this one.)

Where to Sell your other 800.....

Next you should get some cards printed up. On your computer if possible.  Don't spend alot of money...because your logo will evolve over time and the name you picked first may not be what you end up with......leave yourself room to adjust especially if there is someone with the exact name you Like on Ebay.  Lots of Stay at home Moms are doing this and "cute little girls name" Bowtique simply may have already been spoken for.  As long as you can remember it, the name is not that important.

Give the cards to every person you know and let them know you are making hairbows.  Go to shops parading your girls and any you can borrow from the neighbors with your work in their hair.  Drop them a card.  They may call you.  Hand them out at grocery stores TO ANYONE who complements you......And DONT FORGET GRANDMAS....they are the ones who can usually Afford to by your bows in quantity and are always looking for gifts that will go over with the little ones like dynamite.  Bows sell Bows.  If you are too shy to market your work every way you can....don't do this.  I am in a small town and there are 26 bow ladies in my area that I KNOW about.  (Make friends with those in your area because there are plenty of little heads to go around and they will often let you know the best art shows to go to etc.)

Give them away for Xmas, Birthdays, charity.....yes it will cost you the ribbon and your time.....But it is the cheapest advertising you can do.  And you simply can't buy that learning experience. 

BUT I WANT TO SELL ON EEEEEEEBAAAAAYYY!

AlllllllRight.  Down to that.  I am not telling you Don't sell on Ebay.  What I am telling you is Ebay is very saturated with Bows right now. (You probably could not start a business in a more competitive place.....and you are setting yourself up for an emotional kick in the teeth if you think that your 10 little bows will stand out and be so dazzling they will overlook your slightly out of focus dark pictures to stop and bid 30 bucks when there are 13,492 other offerings in this category TODAY alone.  So before you spend 26 hours figuring out how to put 10 bows on ebay.....and 26 hours is not meant in a row and is a low number unless your pretty ebay savvy.....it takes me alot longer sigh......Start off looking at Ebay as another learning experience.

First Bow Lady Secret.........Don't fall apart if you just spent 28 dollars listing your most wonderful work and NoT ONE of them sold.  In the mean time you saw one Set of bows sell for thirty bucks listed by "I have been here forever and have a customer base Boutique".  Don't wrap your heart up in having finally Listed something and taking it for granted that You Will be discovered.   It simply may not happen.  Keep your chin up if your serious because EVERY SINGLE one of the bow ladies Started somewhere and have been in your shoes.  Ebay is not the place it was even 2 years ago.  The competition has skyrocketed, the scams are everywhere and people are terribly cautious and should be.  If you  (like me) have a new screen *name , you just had to have to match your business name.......in Ebayers eyes....You are now a newbie and perhaps not trustworthy.  Your bows either won't sell or will sell for practically nothing......it can be a Huge let down, traumatic and so disappointing for many that they just give up...never to return.  

Second secret is.....Don't count on Ebay for income.  In your mind you have told yourself you want to make money online...everybody else is.  Now look at their feedback.  Are they really?  In the old days everything you put up on ebay seemed to go for crazy prices......it still does...but it is a buyers market right now so the crazy is low and not as much fun if your the seller.  Every buyer has heard their buddy brag about how they paid 4 cents for a 1957 whizzer doodle in mint condition worth 4 thousand dollars today.  Just like every seller has heard the opposite story of wonder about the Bidding wars that brought 800 dollars on the doohicky he bought at a yard sale for a nickel.  Please.  Sure some of those things have happened....It is what makes EBAY fun....It is what Hooks you.....but it is not the norm. 

Now lets have a serious conversation about your competition.

The bow ladies I have spoken to from Day One have been the most Fun group I have EVER found on the Internet.....that is honest.  They will honestly try to help anyone with a specific question......Where to you get your boxes.   How can I improve the looks of this auction.  Does anyone know how to such and such.  However with that stated, they are also very busy with their lives and their purpose is not to write you a 20 page how to manual if your too cheap to pop for their instructions.   They can be very Cliquish and that brings up another issue that hurts many feelings.

Bow Groups.  First you must understand that some of the "launch groups" as they are called have been around a long time and they are a group of say 10 or 15 ladies who live within a certain radius of each other and THAT's why your can't join their party.  Others have a bit more of a theme type party going on and if you don't conform to their exact rules you don't get invited either.   One or two are just run by some Bow Crow who wants to boss everyone else around and promote how perfect she is while insisting that only Her bows are the True artwork.   Some simply want someone who has sold a certain number of bows before they will consider you.....they don't want to invite people who only stay for a month or six.  Don't worry about those groups at first.   It does not mean you are unloved.  I have heard so Many hurt feelings over these bow groups and yet there is no reason for you to feel that way. 

 For the most part, These ladies are busy making bows....they don't have the time to peruse 14 thousand bow listings a day to reach out and make you feel welcome. 

 If you want to feel welcome, try a Group that is about friendship for people who make bows such as Bow Geeks.  they will take anybody.......yep even Me.   

 And ,as far as the launch Group.....well I know they have a bigger customer base and they launch Themes which is fun or a pain depending on how busy you are at that moment (many require you to do so many launches a year)  But when they launch 25 bows with the same idea, say the Hamburger bow, how does that make you stand out when you have just created a whole Bow-K of bows that are similar?  

But do find a group of Some sort of sellers because if nothing else it's great to have a laugh a 3 am when you can't sleep and you discover that someone else is equally awake.  Its also nice to hear that other people ON ebay Like your Stuff....even when it has no watchers and no bids.

It SOLD..........Booooohhooooooooooooooooooooooohooooooooooo!

ok now the fun part.......you just worked 3 hours on the most wonderful bow in the universe. You spent over 8 bucks on ribbon and doodadds. You spent another 45 minutes taking a picture of it from every conciveable angle and 20 minutes listing it and fussing over the discription.  You listed it for .99 cents because you have heard and seen things that start at that price go very high.   So every 4 minutes you click back on My Ebay for the duration of the auction.  Exactly 4 people have looked at your add and one person has bid.....99 cents.    It sits there........and at the last possible second a snipe comes along and a bidding war breaks out.......Your bow sells for $1.07.    Now they pay you with paypal....on a credit card and they want to know if you will discount your shipping.       

3 hours at 7 bucks and hour.....    21 dollars

ribbon                                            8 dollars

nearly another hour ebay                 7dollars

box to ship bow                                  .30 cents

postage                                              3.25

Ebay fees                                              .30 cents

Paypal fees                                             .66 cents

gas to go to post office                  3.24

gas to go to post office again because you forgot the box in your excitement......3.47

Equpment cost to sell on ebay                                                                        3.25

(camera, computer, internet service, glue, housekeeper, ribbon storage containers, wire, clips, electric etc) this amount devided by the number of bows you sell each month amortized over the length of time your business opperates....for instance if you 800 dollar camera is used for two years.

So it Cost you $42.93 to sell your bow.

         you recieved $1.07 plus $3.25 for postage =  $4.32 profit.........oh minus  expenses    42.93 -4.32 = 38.61

CONGRATULATIONS  IT ONLY COST YOU $38.61 to sell that bow.   Ahhhhhhhh the joys of Ebay.  How many can YOU afford to sell?

Now you see why there are So many bow instructions For Sale!

Anyway, that does not mean you cant Do this.  It just means you should really understand what you are actually getting yourself into. 

If I have made you laugh, it makes my day.  If I made you think...it made yours.

Until I can think of something else to rattle on about

Have a great day

Lynn at BowDacious Fru Fru........Bowfrufru  for short.