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So, last year i bought lovely letterpress New Years Cards for my team from the same artisan i've used for the past three or four years. And then i made a bunch of cards for me at Zazzle (and created a "store").
I was procrastinating (terribly[1]) yesterday afternoon, and had spent time looking for a place to have a pleasant day/afternoon off with my team. How can i get a picnic lunch? Whole Foods. What sort of things can we do? Putt-putt, museums, picnic at a winery, visit a grand country home.... Ah yes, New Years cards, i recalled, let me just place an order for those and get that out of the way. So I went to Cambpell Raw Press - - and there's nothing new. Feeling a little petulant, (because swear there was a confetti card pictured on the site just a few days ago), i poked around in Etsy.
Nothing quite captured the elegance i want in the card for my staff. Lots of cute, lots of clever, lots of very cluttered: nothing quite right. Well, i could make the card, right? The main issue is the printing: i don't want the joys of un jamming the home printer, nor do i want to buy a ream of cotton rag paper to make cards. I don't want obvious folded letter sheets laser printed.
Zazzle, it seems, has "Invitations" which can be on linen or "felt." That's not going to be letterpress, but it might feel like quality. I grabbed one of my Dover reference books and selected a Turkish peacock, uploaded that, grabbed one of Zazzle's fonts -- and that looks as good as many of the Etsy cards, but with the sense of style i'd want.
Now, i could improve that design: instead of the stark black for the peacock, i would choose a blue grey, and i'd highlight one or two feathers of the peacock in bright peacock blue. I'm not sure what i think of the font.
I don't think i would find it ethical to sell the Dover peacock on Etsy, but i ponder whether moving to selling my own creations (like the 2012 crochet motif) on Etsy, printed by Zazzle, would be an entrê into selling there. For example, i need seven staff new years cards and can make use of a few more. That means the minimum ten cards is all i need ($1.70 each). I can buy 25 cards ($1.44 each). If i wanted to sell cards on Etsy as five for $10... well, i guess it's not algebra but a simple sum
Cost: 5*1.44 + postage + Etsy posting fee + Etsy sales fee = 8.75
Thus a 1.25 profit per set of 5 (which doesn't really cover my time to wrap and ship, probably). I'd also be saving $2.60 on my own 10 which gives a "profit" of 6.35 if i don't try Etsy. (I'm not including any Zazzle profit.) I'm risking, if the cards didn't sell in four months, the outlay of 22.20.
I'm underestimating the shipping total, but for this round i've supplies sitting around i could use for packaging.
My usual purchase for cards is ~$30: just buying from Zazzle saves $13.
Hmm, some Etsy shops sell single cards for $4 each. "Professionally printed." Hmm.
Well, that was an intriguing exercise. But i'm just PROCRASTINATING AGAIN.
Conclusion: if i like these particular peacock cards from Zazzle for myself and think the quality worth a nice Etsy markup, i could consider slowly developing a collection of my own work that i could sell on Etsy (more likely photography than line art). It's clear Zazzle isn't the cheapest printer, but they do small quantities.
I am not considering just selling from Zazzle: their "market" is a nightmare.
I know some of you have sold cards elsewhere or sold on Etsy: please feel free to advise me.
[1] Although if one notes i was working at 7 am, it wasn't really a terrible procrastination
I was procrastinating (terribly[1]) yesterday afternoon, and had spent time looking for a place to have a pleasant day/afternoon off with my team. How can i get a picnic lunch? Whole Foods. What sort of things can we do? Putt-putt, museums, picnic at a winery, visit a grand country home.... Ah yes, New Years cards, i recalled, let me just place an order for those and get that out of the way. So I went to Cambpell Raw Press - - and there's nothing new. Feeling a little petulant, (because swear there was a confetti card pictured on the site just a few days ago), i poked around in Etsy.
Nothing quite captured the elegance i want in the card for my staff. Lots of cute, lots of clever, lots of very cluttered: nothing quite right. Well, i could make the card, right? The main issue is the printing: i don't want the joys of un jamming the home printer, nor do i want to buy a ream of cotton rag paper to make cards. I don't want obvious folded letter sheets laser printed.
Zazzle, it seems, has "Invitations" which can be on linen or "felt." That's not going to be letterpress, but it might feel like quality. I grabbed one of my Dover reference books and selected a Turkish peacock, uploaded that, grabbed one of Zazzle's fonts -- and that looks as good as many of the Etsy cards, but with the sense of style i'd want.
Now, i could improve that design: instead of the stark black for the peacock, i would choose a blue grey, and i'd highlight one or two feathers of the peacock in bright peacock blue. I'm not sure what i think of the font.
I don't think i would find it ethical to sell the Dover peacock on Etsy, but i ponder whether moving to selling my own creations (like the 2012 crochet motif) on Etsy, printed by Zazzle, would be an entrê into selling there. For example, i need seven staff new years cards and can make use of a few more. That means the minimum ten cards is all i need ($1.70 each). I can buy 25 cards ($1.44 each). If i wanted to sell cards on Etsy as five for $10... well, i guess it's not algebra but a simple sum
Cost: 5*1.44 + postage + Etsy posting fee + Etsy sales fee = 8.75
Thus a 1.25 profit per set of 5 (which doesn't really cover my time to wrap and ship, probably). I'd also be saving $2.60 on my own 10 which gives a "profit" of 6.35 if i don't try Etsy. (I'm not including any Zazzle profit.) I'm risking, if the cards didn't sell in four months, the outlay of 22.20.
I'm underestimating the shipping total, but for this round i've supplies sitting around i could use for packaging.
My usual purchase for cards is ~$30: just buying from Zazzle saves $13.
Hmm, some Etsy shops sell single cards for $4 each. "Professionally printed." Hmm.
Well, that was an intriguing exercise. But i'm just PROCRASTINATING AGAIN.
Conclusion: if i like these particular peacock cards from Zazzle for myself and think the quality worth a nice Etsy markup, i could consider slowly developing a collection of my own work that i could sell on Etsy (more likely photography than line art). It's clear Zazzle isn't the cheapest printer, but they do small quantities.
I am not considering just selling from Zazzle: their "market" is a nightmare.
I know some of you have sold cards elsewhere or sold on Etsy: please feel free to advise me.
[1] Although if one notes i was working at 7 am, it wasn't really a terrible procrastination
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