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I'm a sponsor for the Random Creative Art blog and they recently mentioned Move the Needle in their sponsor love post. Here's a screen capture from the website:

If you're interested in being a sponsor on this blog, you can click here.

How to Sell Stuff Online

This is a guide to how to stuff online other than handcrafted items. Let me know if you find it helpful.

1) Choose what you're going to sell.
Start by looking around your house for items you don't want anymore. Besides your own items, you can ask friends or family if they have any items they want you to sell (you can keep some of the profit or see if they want to donate the items to you).

After selling your own items, you can try getting stock from other places. Start by looking at vintage shops and garage sales. You can also order wholesale which is a little more complicated, but is basically buying items in bulk for cheap and selling them for a higher price. I won't go in to detail about wholesale here, but you can find more info on wholesale if you research it.

2) Choose where you want to sell your item.



EBay - EBay is a good to sell general misc items you have because almost anything can sell there. There is a large audience on EBay so it makes it one of the best places to sell items. The fees can add up so I wouldn't recommend selling cheap items. I sold coupons on EBay for a while (they sell pretty well), but I ended up spending more on listing fees than the coupons.

Half - Half is run by EBay, but you sell media items for a set price - textbooks, books, music, movies and games.

Amazon - Amazon is another good websites to sell on. You sell items at a set price like Half. I find that books sell really well here. They also have a Trade-In section where you can sell items and get an Amazon.com gift card in return.

ePier - ePier is an auction website similar to EBay, but the fees are lower. The downside to sites similar to EBay is they get less traffic.

WeBidz - On WeBidz, you pay a one time fee of $5 and all listings are free.

3) Organize items in categories and write descriptions of items.
Once you have your items, organize them in to categories if you have a lot of items. Write descriptions and determine the price value of your items. In your descriptions, be detailed and honest. Write about any flaws with the item if it's used. Also, include basic information about the item (you can usually just Google your item and get a description of it). At the end if your description, you can say something like, "Contact me with any questions" so viewers know they can contact you for more information.

The find the price value, see what the retail value of your item is. I think half of the retail value is usually a good place to start an item listing or sell it for. Also search for the item on EBay or wherever you're selling to see what other people are selling it for. You can see what the lowest price is and set your item for about the same or a little bit lower to help it sell.

4) Take good photos
Photos are important to help an item sell. They let the buyer know details about the item. It helps to have more than one photo (some with details/close up, from different angles, etc.) of an item, especially if the item is expensive or large. For some items, like books, you can just use a stock photo. If it's heavily used though, I'd recommend having your own photo so buyers know the exact condition.

5) List item, sell it and ship it
Once an item sells, you'll have to ship it. Try to ship using the most inexpensive shipping method. First class is good for small, light items. Media mail is the best option for books, DVDs, and CDs. If you have a heavy item, I'd recommend one of USPS's flat rate shipping options. The seller should have to pay for shipping so make sure to choose the right shipping option when you list it.

When you actually ship the item, make sure it's packaged well so it doesn't get damaged. I use the USPS Schedule a Pickup service because it's the easiest way to ship a bunch of packages out without having to leave your house. This option is good if you make a lot of sales or have really heavy/large packages.

Once you sell a few items, you'll get to know what sells well and what doesn't. If something sells really well, you might want to consider opening a small shop or continuing to sell the item/buy wholesale, etc.

Do you sell anything online (besides on Etsy)?

Earth Day - Upcycled Items

Happy Earth Day! Yesterday, I posted about entries from my personal journal that use recycled materials. These are some upcycled items in my shop:

Balloons Birthday Greeting Card



This greeting card was made using paper from a vintage magazine I found. I think it was from the 1950s/1960s.

Upcycled Swan Flyaway Journal



This was an old children's book I had. I like to upcycle the pages too in my journal entries.

Hope Floats Movie Upcycled Journal



This journal uses the cover of an old VHS tape. I found the tape at a thrift shop.

You can see all upcycled items in my shop here.

Earth Day - Upcycled Art Journaling

Earth Day is tomorrow. I like to experiment with ways I can be earth friendly with my art and I try to upcycle items in my artwork and crafts. Wikipedia describes upcycling as "the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials".

I love to art journal and I like to use scrap materials such as old book pages, magazine cut outs, newspaper, old tissue paper and other flat materials. Here are some examples:











You can see more of my art journaling on my Flickr. Do you ever upcycle items?

Earth Day - Gardening Inspiration

Earth Day is this Sunday, April 22nd. Earth Day is meant to celebrate Earth's natural environment and increase awareness of enviornmental issues. In celebration of Earth Day, the next three entries are going to be about Earth Day and upcycling materials. I thought I'd post some gardening inspired photos today since it's earth related:

 You can see more gardening inspiration on my Pinterest.

Spring Items

Springtime is here! Here are some spring themed items in my shop:

Green Bird Journal



Rounded Pink Cherry Tree Greeting Card



Black and White Flower Collage Greeting Card



Green Leaves Coptic Stitch Mini Journal



What kind of things remind you of spring?

How to Start a Mailing List

If you run an Etsy shop or any type of business, it's a good idea to have a mailing list. A mailing list lets people who are interested in your business get regular updates through their e-mail. This blog post is a tutorial on how to start your own mailing list.

Using MailChimp


I use MailChimp for my mailing list because I think it has a lot of good features. Once you're signed up, go to the Dashboard of your MailChimp account. Click "Create a List" to start a new mailing list.

Creating Good Content
Click "Campaigns" to start sending emails to your mailing list. You can start writing an email ahead of time and save it as a draft or schedule it to mail out on a certain date. Once you send out an email, you can use the "View Report" button to see statistics about it. Here are some tips for creating good emails:

*Have a nice design. MailChimp makes it easy to create a professional looking mailing list. Have your logo at the top and include a link to your website and social media sites.
*Make your emails simple and not too long. Write important updates about your business and include a couple photos.
*Decide on a set time to send out emails - such as once a month and once a week - and stick to your schedule.
*I always like to include discount codes for my Etsy shop just for mailing list members. This helps promote your shop and gives something special to your viewers.

Here is an example of one of my email updates.

How to Promote
You can subscribe to my mailing list on the side of this blog or by clicking here. Here are some tips for promoting:

*Put a mailing list sign up on your website, blog, Etsy shop, etc. so people know they can sign up.
*At craft shows, get a sheet of paper for people to write down their emails to sign up for your mailing list.

If you run a business, do you use a mailing list?

Inspiring Blogs

I love to read blogs to get inspired. Here are some blogs that I've been reading lately:

A Beautiful Mess

This blog run by a fashion designer and boutique owner. I love the fashion and DIY ideas on this blog. I also love the layout and the name of the blog.



Blog posts to check out:
Hand Stamped DIY Pony Print Dress
Make Your Own Tea Bags
What it's Like to Own a Vintage Boutique?


Cupcakes and Cashmere

I love the mixture of beauty, home ideas and cooking on this blog. I love the simple layout of this blog and like that she has videos sometimes.

Blog posts to check out:
Mac & Cheese Cups
Mirror Collection
How To: Braided Bun


The Jealous Curator

The Jealous Curator is a blog of inspiring artwork. As the logo on the top explains, the blog has artwork that makes you think "I wish I thought of that". I think the owner of this blog chooses a lot of really original pieces and I'm always looking for new artwork that inspires me.



Blog posts to check out:
Sharon Arnold
Jane Mount
Paul Davies


Chocolate Covered Katie

I've been a vegetarian for years and I decided to go all the way vegan recently. I love eating vegan, but I have a hard time with desserts. This blog is all about vegan, healthy desserts. Some of the ingredients sound weird, like using beans in cookies, but the recipes turn out nicely.



Blog posts to check out:
Brownie Batter Dip
Chocolate Cookies Filled with Pumpkin Pie
Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies


Bubbly and Bean

Bubbly and Bean is another inspiration blog that has lots of creative ideas and crafty things.



Blog posts to check out:
Vintage Vinyl Record Dessert Stand
Homemade Dog Treats
5 Ways to Melt Away the Winter Blues

What blogs do you like to read?

Books Wishlist

These are some books on my wishlist. They are mostly nonfiction:

Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre by Jack Zipes



This book is about fairy tales and why some work and others don't. I saw this in a YouTube video where someone said she read this book for a class. I thought it'd be interesting to read just for fun.

Spirit Junkie: A Radical Road to Discovering Self-love and Miracles by Gabrielle Bernstei



I learned about this book through a online community called Her Future which the author runs. I love the attitude the author has on life and I'd be interested in reading this book because I love self help books.

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule by Isa Chandra Moskowitz



I'm trying to go vegan. I find it hard to make good vegan desserts so I want to try some recipes from this book.

Don't Worry, Make Money: Spiritual and Practical Ways to Create Abundance and More Fun in Your Life by Richard Carlson



I have Richard Carlson's original book "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff". It has tips for dealing with life and how not to make a big deal out of little things. This book uses the same kind of tips, but it's money related.

Feel free to recommend me any books or tell me what's on your book wishlist/bookshelf.

Vacation Themed Items

With summer approaching, it's a good time to start planning for vacations. Here are some travel themed items in my shop:

Bird Travel Greeting Card




New York City Map Wavy Greeting Card



Map of the World Travel Greeting Card



Wavy Brown Paris Map Greeting Card



Do you like to travel?

Easter Nail Art Inspiration

Here are some nail art ideas to do for Easter. If you need step by step instructions on how to do nail art, YouTube has a lot of good tutorials (just search for "nail art").







Do you like to paint your nails?

Easter Items on Etsy

Here are some Easter inspired items on Etsy not from my shop:

You Are my Easter Bunny Drawing



Easter Egg Bath Bombs



Plantable Seed Paper Butterfly



Nursey Art Happy Bunny Print



If you have an Etsy shop, do you have any Easter items?

Easter Items in My Shop

Easter is coming up (it's on April 8th this year). For the next few days in my blog, I'll have Easter themed posts.

Here are some Easter greeting cards in my shop:

Pink Bunny Easter Greeting Card



Gold Bunny Easter Greeting Card



Basket of Eggs Easter Greeting Card



You can see all items in my shop here. You can also get 15% off any purchase in April by using the coupon code "BUNNIES" at checkout. Do you shop for Easter?

April Fool's Day

Happy April Fool's Day! This card in my shop would work well for April Fool's:

Joker Greeting Card



The card was featured in this treasury:

April Fool

Do you like to pull pranks for April Fool's?