Saturday I went to the Tour de Clay kiln openings in Tampa. I was so surprised to meet a fellow blogger, John Bauman, at the first stop. I had no idea John was one of the guest potters at Glenn Woods and Keith Herbrand's. I recognized John's pottery from reading his blog. We had so much to talk about: writing, blogging, etsy, marketing, and pottery as a profession.
Here are some random photos taken at some of the other stops on the tour. I learned if I spend time taking photos I don't have time to enjoy the pottery or talk to the potters so I limited my photos this time. That's Ira Berhans demonstrating throwing and the next is a shopper at the Rising Sun Pottery kiln at Peter and Joshua Streit's studio.
I decided to open an Etsy store some time ago, but kept putting it off. I seem to have turned into a bit of a procrastinator this past year. After reading recent blog posts about Etsy and talking with Tracey and then John, I vowed to forge ahead. I've set up a few basics to the store, but now need to figure out how to accept payment and put some pieces in the shop for sale. I also need to work on a better banner; I just quickly put up one to fill in the spot. Tips are always appreciated.
Gosh, is he that tall or are you that short?
ReplyDeleteMust be nice to share thoughts with someone with your passion.
Glad you enjoyed.
Hi Patti, thanks, I guess it's a little of both. I am 5 ft 2 in and not sure how tall John is, probably about as tall as Gary, who is 6 ft, 2 in. maybe taller as I seem to remember looking way up while talking with him.
ReplyDeleteI met John last month in North Carolina. Nice guy, great pots, and I'll wager he is glad to be in Florida instead of Indiana right now.
ReplyDeleteHi Dennis, thanks, I don't know about that, tomorrow is supposed to be low of 25 and high of 40 here, crazy weather around the whole USA. It's warmer where Gary's cousin lives in New Hampshire.
ReplyDeleteHow fun to meet yet another potter/blogger!
ReplyDeleteStay warm Linda I see it is going to be cold there!
Hi Meredith, thanks, yes colder here than it's ever been, wish we had your fireplace here, would be nice to curl up in front of a fire.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great day! I love Johns blog too! Some advice on Etsy-only accept PayPal since it is so easy to fake a money order or bad check these days. Make sure you charge enough for shipping. Get a scale and the post office can give you a sheet on shipping costs. The first 5 or 6 sales I made, I lost terribly on shipping. The other option is charging a little more for the piece and then shipping included.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see your work up-and good luck!
Hi Annie, thanks so much for your advice. I'm checking into a paypal account and think I'll include the cost of shipping with the item to make it easier to maintain the shop. I'll get the shipping rate from the post office today and get a scale. I once guestimated shipping and it was much more expensive than I thought. Pottery and then packing materials can sometimes weigh more than I think. Where is your shop? Your blogger profile doesn't show it. I'd love to visit and heart something.
ReplyDeletehow great to meet john! i love his pots.
ReplyDeletejeff and i have separate etsy shops (we set them up before we were a couple). haven't had too much success...jeff's has been moderate...but we didn't work it too much until recently. i have lost a dollar or two on shipping but didn't worry about it because selling through etsy i still came out with more money in my pocket than if the sale was through a gallery.
i use paypal and will accept checks.
I have been on Etsy for three years, and am fast approaching 800pottery sales. As far as payment goes, you can accept Paypal, money orders, checks. You won't get many MO or checks, but they do provide more flexibility for buyers; people that buy pottery are not likely to forge MO or checks. In four years of selling at fairs and on Etsy, I have never gotten a bad MO, check or charge.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get a Paypal acoount, you will be able to link it to your Etsy sales, and then use it to print shipping labels. After you enter the size and weight of the package, it will calculate the postage for you, depending on your shipping method (First class, Priority, etc.)
Many include the shipping in the cost of their items, but if you are going to deduct shipping on your income tax, as a business expense, how are you going to know how much to deduct? You need to be able to have a total to deduct and use for figuring expenses, profit, loss, etc. It might be easier that way, but then, why doesn't Amazon do it that way if it's so easy? I feel that AMazon ard professional sellers, so if I want to be a pro, I should at least do some of what they do, business-wise.
It can be fun, it can be maddening, but you will do well, and I hope so, You're such a nice person, and always have something great to post on your blog and elsewhere, that I hope you will do well on Etsy. Stick with it!
I have been on Etsy for three years, and am fast approaching 800pottery sales. As far as payment goes, you can accept Paypal, money orders, checks. You won't get many MO or checks, but they do provide more flexibility for buyers; people that buy pottery are not likely to forge MO or checks. In four years of selling at fairs and on Etsy, I have never gotten a bad MO, check or charge.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get a Paypal acoount, you will be able to link it to your Etsy sales, and then use it to print shipping labels. After you enter the size and weight of the package, it will calculate the postage for you, depending on your shipping method (First class, Priority, etc.)
Many include the shipping in the cost of their items, but if you are going to deduct shipping on your income tax, as a business expense, how are you going to know how much to deduct? You need to be able to have a total to deduct and use for figuring expenses, profit, loss, etc. It might be easier that way, but then, why doesn't Amazon do it that way if it's so easy? I feel that AMazon ard professional sellers, so if I want to be a pro, I should at least do some of what they do, business-wise.
It can be fun, it can be maddening, but you will do well, and I hope so, You're such a nice person, and always have something great to post on your blog and elsewhere, that I hope you will do well on Etsy. Stick with it!
Sounds like a fun day! Congrats on your Etsy Shop and best of luck with it! PayPal is definitely the way to go! Stay warm!
ReplyDeleteHi Michele, thanks, I'll have to check Jeff's site and favorite him too. I think it's probably one of those things you have to work constantly, more computer work unfortunately. Do you wait for the checks to clear and then ship?
ReplyDeleteHi Marguerite, thanks, I am looking into setting up my paypal account now.
Something really strange is happening with blogger comments today - I have a comment in my email inbox which shows up twice, but doesn't show here?
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope I haven't neglected to respond to comments in the past here on my blog because I deleted an email and then the comment wasn't in the post. If I have I apologize for that. I will copy and paste the comment I received which I mentioned above in this group of comments.
Thanks to everyone who comments here I really appreciate all of your encouragment, comments, and advice.
so far sales have been through paypal... i think i would wait for the check to clear before shipping unless it is frequent etsy buyer who has had lots of positive feedback.
ReplyDeleteHere's the post that was in my email but no on blogger:
ReplyDeleteI have been on Etsy for three years, and am fast approaching 800pottery sales. As far as payment goes, you can accept Paypal, money orders, checks. You won't get many MO or checks, but they do provide more flexibility for buyers; people that buy pottery are not likely to forge MO or checks. In four years of selling at fairs and on Etsy, I have never gotten a bad MO, check or charge.
When you get a Paypal acoount, you will be able to link it to your Etsy sales, and then use it to print shipping labels. After you enter the size and weight of the package, it will calculate the postage for you, depending on your shipping method (First class, Priority, etc.)
Many include the shipping in the cost of their items, but if you are going to deduct shipping on your income tax, as a business expense, how are you going to know how much to deduct? You need to be able to have a total to deduct and use for figuring expenses, profit, loss, etc. It might be easier that way, but then, why doesn't Amazon do it that way if it's so easy? I feel that AMazon ard professional sellers, so if I want to be a pro, I should at least do some of what they do, business-wise.
It can be fun, it can be maddening, but you will do well, and I hope so, You're such a nice person, and always have something great to post on your blog and elsewhere, that I hope you will do well on Etsy. Stick with it!
Posted by Phil to Blue Starr Gallery at 12/13/10 1:03 PM
Hi Michele, thanks, not sure I want to take checks since I would have to go to the bank and keep checking to see if the check cleared.
ReplyDeleteHi Phil, thanks for all your information about etsy. I figure on shipping I'll have to have a guestimate for what ever the packages cost, I may do more thinking and looking around before I decided on this part. Thanks for your input it's been very helpful.
Hi Linda,
ReplyDeleteIt was great meeting you at Glenn's studio. What a nice surprise!
Thanks for posting the photos. Because I was part of the tour, I didn't get to see the other studios. The artist's party on Saturday night was fun -- it was there that I got to meet some of the others. I had a wonderful meeting with Danny Meisinger http://www.spinningearthpottery.net/ Every time we'd been at shows together, we'd both been too busy to visit. We had lots of common friends and lots to talk about.
Etsy was the topic of the weekend, it seemed.
It was also nice to re-connect with Ira. We'd been set up near each other at the Naperville Riverwalk Art Festival and at the Madison "On The Square". His was the only other gallery I saw -- Glenn took me there on Friday night before the tour.
This blogging world has offered me the chance to meet more fellow potters than ever before (Hi Dennis!).
John
Hi John, thanks, hope you made it home safely. I had a hard time just getting around to all of the studios before the end of the day and I had to get back here for a party, wish I could have spent longer at each location. I've opened my etsy store, but not officially yet as I am working on my banner and paypal and the particulars, hopefully soon I'll post some work. I'll check out Danny's site. So glad to have met you; it's a small world after all through blogger that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOh John, I didn't recognize Danny's name, but I remember his face from seeing his ads in Ceramics Monthly his large pieces have always amazed me.
ReplyDelete