Finance woes

[bladespark]

Well, the way my bnak does things has screwed me over yet again. Nothing much I can do about it though, other than change banks, and I've got a feeling that the problem that shot me down is going to be a problem no matter where I go.

Anyhow, I'm looking to raise some money once again. I have a whole heap of furry stuff I can sell off, but I've had little luck with furbid, or with cosplay.com, or evey with e-bay. I'm wondering if any of you folks have any good ideas on selling tails and ears, or on auction selling in general. Any tips on how to go about things? I hear all of the time about people making all this money selling things on e-bay, I see auctions get into bidding wars and go for ridiculous ammounts, meanwhile I'm trying to sell really quality stuff, and none of it gets so much as a nibble of interest. What gives?

Eh, this is as much an angst post as anything, but I really do want to know if any of you have any bright ideas. Specifically, I really want to sell a 5 tailed kitsune tail, a white persian cat tail, and my Suesscat tail, ears and top hat.

Comments

[aurora77]

If you're going to go the eBay route, make sure that you build up your feedback with smaller, less expensive items first, that way people who go to bid on your more expensive items know that they're not working with a flakey seller.

Also, advanced search is your friend. Search on completed items and see what received bids and what didn't. Quality pictures, good descriptions, the right keywords, and the appropriate category are all important. Also make sure you state your policy. Have a simple and clean layout. Even a table with a solid color background and a font like Tahoma make a big difference in the way things look. Know your audience. What will they be searching for? When is a major Con coming up? Start posting ready-to-wear items about 1.5 to 2 months before a major con. (I've seen the vintage rockabilly clothing feeding frenzy just before Viva Las Vegas and taken advantage of it, so it can work with the right crowd.) Know the buzzwords. Post a link to your site to show off your other works.

Quality pictures and the right keywords in the title are probably the single most important points with eBay.

If you have questions or want help reviewing an item description, I have a lot of experience with it and would be happy to take a look. ^.^

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice. I think part of my problem has been the photographs. I need to sit down and get some better ones. The other problem is that, to my knowledge, e-bay doesn't have a section for costumes year-round, just near Halloween. I never know where to list things...

[arazia.livejournal.com]

Just something I've noticed on Furbid... it tends to come and go. Stuff that I couldn't sell six months ago, I might be able to sell now. Usually, I end up reposting the same auction for about three to four weeks and if it doesn't sell, then I give up and try again later.

As for your auctions, I've taken a look at a lot of them and been really impressed. You do offer a lot of interesting stuff, and I'm surprised you don't get more of a responce. The metal accent piece auctions were just really cool. Unfortunately I don't have any scaley characters myself. Sometimes it's tough when you need money and the world doesn't want to cooperate.

Anyways, I'll be watching your current head-auction. It'll probably go out of my price range, but we'll see. I wish you all the best of luck in getting the cash you need.

*mew*