yourgreatfinds: A Photo Shoot and Where to Set Up Shop?

Yesterday, we started a series of photo shoots for all of my on line stores. A few of the photos are below. As we composed shots I got to thinking that this time last year, I had two stores, ebay and my new etsy store. Here I am one year later, with a declining ebay store due to a failed ebay search engine, google search dropping ebay and lose of customer confidence due to security breaches.

Boy have things changed! I now have 6 shops! My etsy stop is doing great and I have learned how to promote and be involved in many groups were we promote each other and help customers find us and make the transition from ebay to etsy. Etsy's treasuries are a brilliant thing and help so much getting the word out about your store and they help shoppers find what they are looking for.

One Kings Lane has been an amazing experience and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be a OKL vendor. I get to be more diverse in my buying trends, take more chances on very stylized pieces as well as show-pieces. This website is beyond beautiful and I love shopping for this store. As a shopper, you have to act fast though as items are only offered for 7 days and they go fast.

I am very excited about my 11Main shop. You will see a fully open site coming soon. It is beautiful and offers the buyer the chance to really get to know each seller. It will be a place where we can be friends and get to know each other, just like when I had a brick 'n mortar shop. Every seller and item is hand-picked and juried so you, as a buyer are protected and can buy in confidence.

My shopify website is my big challenge for the coming season. I am learning about SEO and how to help it show up when you are searching for what I have to offer. Google has yet again changed and there is so much to learn. It seems that it does not work as well as it used to. Just this week, I was looking for topiary trees for my yard. Looking for a nursery in my area that had them and could deliver. Google totally failed. I had to call the grower for a referral the old fashioned way.
I am also trying storeenvy and I love the pop-ups that storenvy is doing. Perhaps one day I will be doing a pop-up near you!

It is very clear that in 2014 and moving forward that selling online means selling on more than one platform. ebay is no longer the king and both sellers and buyers have dispersed to their nitch sites. It seems that when I ask random people about their concept about buying online, Amazon is for new and etsy is for vintage and handmade. This leaves a huge opportunity for growth on other platforms. Are you ready? I am preparing...Here's a sneak peek at some of our photo shoot.

****Update**** January 21,2015. I have learned so much since this post was originally written.
Storenvy, no action. I did not do anything else with it. Great idea, not working for me and my customers.

11 Main, I have wonderful finds in that store and no traffic. As a buyer, I think that 11 Main has some work to do getting more diverse and quality sellers. So as a buyer, please be patient with 11 Main. They are working on it.

My Shopify website is doing very well. I am working hard to get the inventory level filled back up and bring some low to mid-range priced items to the mix. Look for fresh finds and low prices on those finds soon.

Ebay is still dying a slow death. I would rather offer my collections on a website that does not micro-manage me. They treat sellers terribly and attract mean customers who steal from sellers. It is stressful to sell on that website. I am over it...after 17 years.

Etsy is doing well. It is a great place to shop? YOU BET! Etsy has the more fabulous finds. Etsy has wonderful vintage, great handmade and a close community that makes buyer there a wonderful experience. Etsy's smart phone app? Fantastic!! My daughter sells 100% from her iphone. Her photos, listing and shipping are all done from a phone. You can find her at "herroyalshyness17".

I also opened a new website called "The Vintage Jewely Chick". It is a fun experience and people are finding me now and we are still building the website. I am learning so much!

Reaching for the sky in 100% vintage jewelry. I spent a good amount of time at shopping malls over the summer. I saw a huge amount of new costume jewelry with high prices. I love Lucky Brand, wear their clothes all the time, but the costume "Indian" turquoise pieces are just that, copies. Why buy this when you can have the real, thing, vintage, one of a kind that has value?Thumbs up for vintage!!