I wasn't sure where to post this exactly, but it's been on my mind for a long time now. I'm hoping to one day sell scrapbook supplies (as well as other digital products), via a blog.
Does anyone else do this? How do you sell your pieces? I know there's Etsy, but is there other platforms? I'd love to see other business blogs, if you care to share.
Thank you!!
If you're meaning DIGITAL supplies you're going to be making... then people do create their own stores, but most of them sell through major digital scrapbook stores to save themselves money and time for creating I'm sure. I'm not a designer but I'm sure some of the other ladies/guys who are will give you more information as to where and what techniques they use to sell their creations.
If you're referring to IRL scrap supplies and trying to get rid of the things you no longer need or use? I've never actually seen them for sale on a blog per se', but that doesn't mean people haven't done it. I sell/sold some of mine on local FB groups (although not too much went this way). I also sold some through SB item sale groups, but sometimes they are frustrating to follow the crazy rigid rules some of them have. I still use my scrap stuff for scrapping, mixed media art, crafts, etc. so I didn't sell everything not even 1/4th of it. LoL If you are deciding to sell stuff let me know, I'm always looking for stuff.
haha
If you're looking to start up for yourself, I recommend a mix of a WordPress blog, WooCommerce, and a Paypal merchant account. It'll cost you a little to set up on your own domain name ($10-12/yr), but the big expense is hosting at around $60/yr. Choosing the right theme and doing a little customization on it can be free if you have some idea what you're doing with web coding or choose a theme that's got a good customization interface. Your biggest challenge will be getting traffic to your site, but participating in the blog trains and designer challenges here and posting freebie links to Pinterest and Facebook helps a lot with that.
Yes, sorry, I meant digital supplies.
I guess I'm on the right track with my research then, with Wordpress/Blogger, eCommerce and PayPal. I just didn't know if there was better ways. I like coding, but there's a lot of trial and error with it and a ton of saving backups. I was considering linking a Facebook page to my blog and use that for one part of advertising, as well as Pinterest.
Thank you for your help!!
I sell a little bit of everything in my Etsy shop. Scrapbook kits, papers, quickpages, printable tags, etc. I'm the oddball here in that I don't scrap in real life, but I've loved designing graphics for years so when I needed a place to land and learn how to make scrap graphics, I settled on DigitalScrapbook.com. I love designing papers and have recently discovered junk journals, because people sometimes use digital papers and elements to create those.
I also sell at Creative Market, The Hungry JPEG, and Design Bundles. Items there must be for commercial use, so I mostly have just papers at those stores.
I've avoided selling from my website just because of tax stuff, mainly the VAT for buyers in Europe. But I've never really looked into how much of a hassle that really is!
I use all the social media right now - Instagram, Pinterest (join group boards for more exposure, too), Facebook, and Twitter (my least favorite). I'm on Tumblr, too, but I just post new products from Etsy there. Thankfully, the stores and even Wordpress makes it really easy to share, tweet, post, etc. when you have new products to share.
There's a couple of private groups for designers on Facebook if you'd like an invite. They've been so helpful and encouraging in learning all kinds of things.