How to Profit Selling Your Work on eBay

hen people learn that I make art quilts, they often suggest that I sell them on eBay, regaling me with triumphal tales of successful eBay sales and purchases. But does it really work?

Certain types of items do seem to fetch high prices on eBay. Recently completed auction listings show final bids of $60,000 for an antique folk art table, an antique scrimshaw whale’s tooth for $17,600, and an oil painting of a ship for $9,000. However, I discovered that 84 percent of these high-end auctions have no bids at all.

When you search the site for contemporary handcraft items, prices drop precipitously into the less than $500 category. Yet, some artists report that they earn a living by selling their work only on eBay. How do they do it?

Case Studies Of Artists On Ebay

Lampworked glass beads offered by Kathy Mead and Jinx Garza on eBay.

Kathy Mead (gazin) and Jinx Garza (Jinx.Garza) both make and sell lampwork glass beads on eBay. (I am including the artist’s eBay User ID names, so you can see their work for yourself.) Both artists say eBay is the exclusive — and very successful — outlet for their work.

Lampwork is a very active area on eBay with thousands of items for auction at any one time. Mead quit her previous career as a graphic artist and is now supporting herself on her eBay sales. Garza says, “Prior to eBay I had been selling through galleries and bead bazaars. Through eBay, my work has reached Evil Eye [glass bead] collectors whose support has allowed me to focus on making my favorite kinds
of beads.”

Garza says her work has improved because she’s able to concentrate on one type of bead. “I’ve been able to master techniques that I might never have discovered had I continued producing a variety of styles.”

Folk artist Marti Stockinger (Martiloo) and artist Deb Malewski (CountryColours) both create hand-painted items for the home. “I sell only on eBay,” Stokinger says. “I really like the venue of eBay. There is a lot of unusual publicity surrounding their site. [EBay] also strives to uphold principles of commerce which are in alignment with my own.”

Malewski says she used to do a lot of shows, in addition to running her own store and designing for publication. “I am slowly cutting back on my shows and closing my store,” she explains, “as I can make as much or more on eBay without leaving my home.”

David Walsh (bowlmaker) used to sell his turned wooden bowls and flower vases at arts and crafts shows in the area of his home in Pennsylvania. “I am a full-time bowl maker and have been making wooden bowls for over eight years,” says Walsh. “I have been selling on eBay since November 2002 and I already have many repeat customers online.”

Prior to going on eBay, Walsh also sold through galleries across the country, including the Renwick Gallery at The Smithsonian. “At present I sell 100 percent through eBay,” he says. “Some of my previous gallery customers now buy from me on eBay and several new galleries started picking up pieces regularly. The prices I get on eBay are equivalent to the wholesale prices, and often better, than I would get at shows.”

Quilt artist Mickey Depre (mdquilts) says that her sales on eBay act as “giant business cards.” Depre has always made small quilts as studies for larger works and saw an opportunity to sell these “samples” on eBay. The result has been a marketing plus for all her work. People who buy her small pieces on eBay often contact her to purchase larger works. Others who have bought from her have had their guilds hire her as a teacher. Traffic at her Web site has increased tremendously, and her workshops are booked three years ahead.

Though she sees prices being somewhat depressed in the current market (from a previous high of $75 for an 8x8-inch piece to a current price of $50), Depre feels that contact with hundreds of people who see her work on eBay is still worth the lower return on these pieces.

Ebay auctions are not successful for everyone. Many artists try posting auctions of their work only to have no bids or watch their item sell at a ridiculously low price. Susan Shie (luckyshiepie), a quilt artist and painter, says she sold “about nine works” before deciding she was depressing the prices for her works.

“ Buyers might think they’ll just hold off ’til I put a piece on eBay and buy it there, cheaply,” says Shie. “Also I was getting people offering to buy ‘something like’ the one that just sold, at that [same] price. [Artists] need a good, fair income from art making. I do it both because I adore making it and because I need to support myself.”

Tips For Selling On Ebay

So, should you try eBay for your work? Like any other business venture, successful selling on eBay depends on doing the research, putting in the hours and being patient through the start-up period. Here is a list of tips from artists who have found eBay to be a very successful venue.

Folk artist Marti Stockinger sells handpainted work like this exclusively through eBay.

Spend time on eBay looking at which items are popular. Register and bid on some auctions. EBay depends very heavily on its system of feedback. People will be hesitant to do business with you until you build up more than 10 positive feedback transactions.

Do some reading. I found “eBay for Dummies” very helpful in understanding how eBay works. And there are other books out there too. Check out eBay’s chat rooms and listings to get a feel for what kind of help and information is available for free.

Carefully read the descriptions of eBay’s rules and regulations. Figure out how to make eBay’s fee structure work for you. “In the beginning, I followed the common wisdom and started my auctions between $28 and $38,” says Garza. “But in doing my homework, I learned that the listing fee for auctions $25 to $49.99 is $1.10, while the listing fee for auctions starting between $10 and $24.99 is $.55. So, while a 55-cent difference may seem trivial, by starting an auction at $28 instead of $24, multiplied by 200 auctions a year, I would be throwing away $110! My auctions closed at an average of $70 regardless of whether they started at $28 or $24.”

Look for auctions of items in your field. Which items are getting bids? Do you make something similar? One thing that successful eBay artists all have in common is a relatively inexpensive product that they can produce in quantity. People go on eBay looking for bargains.

It’s also necessary to be able to have several auctions going constantly in order to build a following, so that repeat bidders can always find your work. “Maintain a constant presence,” says Garza. “Shoppers will eventually stop looking for you if their search keeps coming up empty.”

EBay is huge, so the biggest challenge is enabling bidders to find you. “The trick, the most important thing, is finding the category that will enable people to find you,” says photographer Larry Berman (bermanart). “Be very careful with the key words [in your title]. The title is critical for people to find you.”

As in any arts business, visuals are very important. Stockinger recommends using a gallery picture. “It’s only 25 cents [per auction] and makes it so much more likely that you will get someone to come to your auction,” she says.

Garza concurs. “Shoppers are more likely to bid on auctions that have sharp, bright photos that show the item from different angles … it’s worth the investment to get the camera and software that help make the best Internet presentation.”

Quilt artist Mickey Depre says her eBay sales act as “giant business cards” for her business.

Customer service is always extremely important. Negative feedback can kill your chances of becoming successful. A major factor in having happy customers is staying organized. There are a lot of services to help run your eBay business. Berman uses Auctionworks.com but stresses that he’s had to become more organized to manage his eBay business than he ever needed to be in 30 years of doing shows.

“ Treat eBay as a serious professional sales venue,” says Walsh. “Realize that people who buy on eBay are probably more sophisticated than most customers. Several of my eBay buyers previously bought my work at the Smithsonian. They are computer savvy, pay promptly and are rarely a problem.”

Successful eBay sellers also stress the need to learn how an eBay sale differs from a sale at other venues. Garza explains it best. “A common piece of advice for new eBay bead sellers is to set your starting bid at the minimum amount you would accept. Unfortunately, this well-intentioned advice is shortsighted … a savvy seller will start with a tantalizingly low price. I’ve heard beadmakers say that starting auctions at $1 demeans the craft … clearly they don’t understand the eBay shopper and the art of getting a deal … my Evil Eye beads fetch five to 10 times more on eBay than I had been charging at craft shows!”

And finally, have patience. Successful eBay artists have developed a devoted following that looks specifically for their auctions. “Expect to have to pay some dues,” says Mead. “My following developed by them bidding and receiving my beads, then they came back for more.”

Martha Sielman is a fiber artist in Connecticut. She can be reached at msielman@snet.net.cotia.