HIYA - Im thinking of buying a buisness advert here on MN (im a regular!!) & selling on ebay. Could you have a look and tell me if you think my stuff would sell & decide prices and stuff... (long!) ...

[kitsandbits]

Hullo

Im not looking to start an empire, lol - just maybe raise some extra for christmas.

Ithink they would make great christmas pressies.

Basically I buy wooden letters and paint them.

Ive added some examples below (and some other examples of my drawings that i could use in the designs) Like the spiderman one.

Im thinking I would ask the buyer to order the wooden letters themselves (i would supply link to the site i use) and then they pay for them and have the letters sent directly to me.

They choose the design.

Then I would charge per letter - depending on the size of the letter (they range from an inch high to 8 inches high!)

The ones I have below are 6 inches high.

What do you think? Ive only done these for friends and relatives as presents.

I also have a 'sea side' theme Ethan, but dont have pics yet as its on my cousins wall.

And if they may sell what should I charge?

Thanks in advance!

space theme TYLER

detail TYLER

detail TYLER 2

JADE

detail JADE

DEXTER cowprint

little sheriff canvas

cactus canvas

SPIDERMAN

GREEN GOBLIN

why not try schools and fairs first, and maybe go to high end nursery shop and ask if you can have a display in their shop (commission based). Also saves the P&P!
Think it is a difficult product to sell without seeing it to justify the money.

Ebay is a lot of work to set up plus with all postal strikes now might not be the right time to start as you will have loads of disgruntled customers.

Maybe its not worth it then

What you must realise is that they cost around £2 a letter to get to me

so im not gonna spend all night painting them individually for £1 a letter am I?

they are big letters.

I know people WOULD pay that, its just directing my sales towards them IYKWIM

Your paintings are lovely. I like the canvas ones, so maybe you could concentrate more on them?

How much would you charge for one of them & what sizes would you do?

I do think that £6 per letter & £3 p&p is expensive. I wouldn't get dd one without getting ds one. There are 4 letters in each of their names which is £48 before you even consider postage.

And would it be £3 no matter how many letters/nameplates were ordered?

Is it worth tring etsy, the craft site do you think? I can see why you can't sell them cheaply, it's the same for lots of handmade things, but I do think people whose children have long names will baulk at that. Not all of them will, of course, though

trying etsy, sorry.

But surely images of Spiderman etc are copyright protected?

Yea I thought so, so if I did, i would order them in myself

I wasn't saying yours should be £4, I was saying that yours are fab and £6 is a bargin.

I do realise that they are large letters and that they cost £2 to get to you, and that you want to see some profit. But £6 a letter is still an awful lot of money for what you are offering.

£45 for seven painted letters is extortionate - at £20 I might consider it, but at £45 I wouldn't even look.

Have you tried sourcing the letters from elsewhere? Or maybe even using an electric jigsaw to make your own? Might cut down your initial outlay a bit and make the letters a more affordable proposition.

kitsandbits - think you ar very talented, whis i was that creative

had a look at the letters and linked to an online store who does similar things to yours....ie. decorated single letters, door plaques etc. and your prices seem pretty much in line with theirs
6" letter = £8
But thats seems a bit steep for me. Is there anyway you could lower your costs? as someone else suggested possibly find an alternative and cheaper lpace to buy letters??

also wish i could type and spell at the same time!

here is a good site with personalised letters. They used to be called something else (can't remember tho!) and I have bought quite a bit from them, the standard is really high. They charge £4.99 per patterned letter so in line with your pricing. Unfortunately unless your child has a short name (like mine! ) things like this are expensive, but well worth it. Good luck!!!!!!!

kitsandsbits have you heard of a home shop called AU NATRALE? i bought a large wooden letter from there a few weeks ago for £1.50, about 6 inches. they didnt have all the letters of my dd's name so just bought her initial.
if you could find a shop that stocks them, would save you on p&p charges.

i love your work, you obviously have a great artistic streak.

Ah, theres an aunatural near me, ill try there - would save alot on p&p.

thanks