RockingRuralMo
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2022
Posts: 129
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Post by RockingRuralMo on Jul 22, 2023 13:34:11 GMT -5
Hello Everyone!
Last year I decided that setting up some kind of business infrastructure for my lapidary work needed to be a Summer vacation goal (I'm a teacher. Lots of stuff gets put off til Summer.) It's getting awkward when people ask "what do you do with your rocks" and all I can say is "well I sit around and stare at them like a weird dragon with its treasure." Summer is officially here now, so I need to get on that.
My goal is to sell slabs and bare cabs. (Or at least list some so I can lend the sheen of fiscal legitimacy to my hobby.) There aren't any very large cities near me. I have some friend-of-a-friend connections to a wire wrapper and a silversmith that I'll try to share some work with, but I need something more.
What outlets do you recommend for someone starting out? Etsy? Ebay? Local shows? (Are those feasible on a teacher's schedule?) Are there jewelers' guilds I could market to? I'm not trying to steal anyone else's market share, but would be grateful for any tips or advice experienced voices could offer.
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Post by stardiamond on Jul 22, 2023 15:27:00 GMT -5
I sell cabs on Etsy. eBay is no longer cabber friendly and most of the sellers except over seas have moved on. The only benefit to a local show is socializing. If you make nice stuff you will be competing against those who sell low end. To have your own site, a person needs a huge reputation and advertising costs so people can find you. Selling slabs on eBay is good, but eBay scares me.
I like Etsy because they do a lot for the seller, payments, discounted shipping labels and ease of use. I am a hobbyist and I sell not for income but to fund the hobby. The more I sell the better rocks I can buy.
Some Etsy sellers have moved to facebook. No fees, no tax, the wild west. I would list there if I was income driven. I resist because it is kind of clubby. I buy a lot of slabs and rough on facebook.
A large percentage of my sales are to silversmiths; large orders and repeat buyers. I price reasonably and give one of them a quantity discount. I give the other free cabs with an order. I didn't market to them, they found me.
Except for those who just collect, cabs are to make jewelry. Many cabbers here also wire wrap so they have a finished product to sell.
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Time
starting to spend too much on rocks
Making something positive out of COVID restrictions by learning to create jewelry out of stones.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 154
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Post by Time on Jul 22, 2023 15:56:01 GMT -5
You can advertise lapidary related items for sale on this site. There are some requirements a member needs to meet before they can sell though. The type of items are things that would appeal to another hobbyist. That would be rough rock, slabs, tumble candidates, equipment, tumbled stones in bulk for those that do shows, and maybe lots of cabs. This is normally more of a wholesale rather than retail environment.
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,523
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Post by RWA3006 on Jul 22, 2023 17:00:02 GMT -5
Hello Everyone!
I sit around and stare at them like a weird dragon with its treasure.
I do a lot of that with mine. I'm good with it.
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Post by liveoak on Jul 23, 2023 6:23:08 GMT -5
I've been on the fence about the same issue- selling. Personally, I think in person any craft sells better, as you have the spontaneous buy, as well as the visual candy for people to see. But,I also don't live in a big city (thankfully), so have also been looking at choices on-line.
There are a couple of smaller craft venues out there (Etsy like, but much smaller)- my only experience (from a couple of years ago) is that you need to have and bring social media contacts along. In other words if you have a large social following that you can send the website info as a starting point, that will help. I found that the amount of people lurking/looking to find things is small. If anyone knows something different I'd like to hear as well.
Patty
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Post by Mel on Jul 24, 2023 19:03:14 GMT -5
I found that the amount of people lurking/looking to find things is small. I found this to be very true when I was selling tumbling gear. I did a lot of advertising by posting on old school physical community bulletin boards and the like. I feel like this was helpful because a lot of my customers are old school rock hounds and not so much for Facebook etc. It was a LOT cheaper too. I also put the word "lapidary" on the anything I posted because it sounds fancier than "rocks", it attracted people who knew things, and if someone didn't know what lapidary was, then they'd probably learn something even if they didn't buy from me. Good luck!
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