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desertmountainbearI see that Facebook has now a storefront app. You can have a store page, sell your work right from there, and then take payment through paypal. It appears to be free. What will they think of next. I love facebook. (till they start charging anyway)
http://www.facebook.com/payvment?v=wall
Joanne
Back Road BearsHow did I miss THAT????? AWESOME!!! :dance: :dance:
The Littlest ThistleOoh, cool
Newcastle, OntarioJoanne, if you scroll down the page on the left, it says "This application was not developed by Facebook" Do you know who is behind it? It sounds wonderful but I'm a little leary thee days.
desertmountainbearIt is through a company called payvment. Apparently it is not so new. Many people are using it. The actual money transaction is not done of facebook. You are redirected to paypal. Which is a secure server.
I have now started looking into it a bit more. I would like my husband to try it, he sells license plates.
There is a fellow bear artist, one of my fb friends that is trying it, Wayne Lim. He works under the name Wayneston Bears. His store looks pretty nice.
Here is the link to the developers
http://www.payvment.com/facebook/
Joanne
Newcastle, OntarioJoanne, I just took a look at Wayne's store - looks very nice. It can be another good option for a lot of artists, especially since it's free. That's why I like selling off of my blog - no fees like on Ebay or Bearpile. I like Bearpile and the cost is minimal, but if there are places to sell for free, as you say, why not 
I'll stick with my blog as long as it keeps working. I think that's why Ebay has gone down the tubes, as well as because of all the changes. The fees are way up and people have been developing other places to sell for less cost or no cost. It's taken a couple of years, but it's happening and I think Ebay may have had to raise Final value fees to keep their level of income. They may live to regret all of their changes and they can't go back, because they have alienated so many sellers.
hugs,
Brenda
Back Road BearsYou know, i've been thinking about getting rid of my website... keep the domain name but not the hosting. With all the layout options on Blogger it looks like you can have a multiple page blog and I've seen a number of people listing and selling their goods on a blog page that looks like a regular website, paypal buttons and all. And then there's all the FB opportunities, including this storefront which looks great! And of course Bearpile, Etsy, etc. I could just have my domain name point to my blog. No more hours doing website updates and all. Once I have my blog set up right it should be easy to update. Have to give this some serious thought and really plan it out first.
Newcastle, OntarioDaphne, I wish I could get rid of my website - Penny designed it and she disappeared from the face of the earth. I don't know how to take it down. I think blogging opened up so many retail options for artists and I really believe customers like seeing what your life is like. I think you would do well selling from your blog!
Joanne,
I think many of us would welcome an alternative to ebay. The problem at the moment is how to get people to come to your site. For facebook I know you can invite people but at the moment I don't see how it is better than just selling from your website? Facebook is keeping it pretty secret, I know it's just a beta test, but I'd be interested in how they propose to make this a viable market?
desertmountainbearI will not give up my website. I sell from there. I don't make enough bears to have a store. But there are many people on facebook. If you have a fan page people join. They see others join and they join. You don't have to invite or respond to a friend request with a fan page.
I have sold bears just by posting pictures on facebook.
I think this might just work for someone who has multiple bears for sale. If you belong to bearpile you don't really sell from there. You are sent an email and then the sale is arranged. So this would be just one more place to have a bear seen. If it sells there you just mark it sold wherever else it is listed. It would be a place that would not be moved down the line as more things are posted. It would be on your page for anyone to see at anytime they go to your homepage. It would not be up to facebook to make it a market place. It would be up to the bear maker to use their fan page to drum up business. Facebook fanpages definitely do that.
I use facebook, bearpile, my blog, my website, here and anywhere else I can think of to promote the bears.
Newcastle, OntarioJoanne, I totally agree that you have to be on multiple playing fields these days, to even have a chance for sales. I list on my blog first, then on Teddy-talk and Daphne's Artists Bears for Sale on Facebook - I always put a link to drive traffic to my blog. My blog is hooked up to Networked blogs on Facebook, so as soon as I update it, it shows up on Facebook. I also list on Twitter, and put pictures up on The Bear Artists Guild and Flickr. It a bear doesn't sell in a few days, I move it to Bearpile, Etsy or Ebay. It's a lot more work than just listing one auction on Ebay, but it's the only way to go these days. I think it was Daphne that said on another site that marketing your bears now takes almost as much time as making them and it's true. I never have more than one or two to sell so a store front wouldn't be great for me, either. I still haven't done a fan page on Facebook. I sort of think Networked blogs have worked for me so far. I also have my blog listed in Paula's Top 100 Bear Artists blogs, and I've noticed that when I blog a fair bit, it translates into a higher spot on the top 100 and it gives me more traffic. But you have to do it regularly, not sporadically. I know myself, if I check someone's blog several times and don't see at least one update, I don't tend to go back. The only down side for me is hubby thinks I'm married to my computer! :crackup: :crackup:
Joanne, it's a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Hugs,
Janice
Well I guess I have catch up 
Right now I have my website (which REalLy needs updating!) and I sell on ebay and on bear pile. My newest project has been creating my Cat Gazette that I send out to customers once a month. I created the Gazette because, like most of us, I have so little time to create pieces and the cats are soooo time consuming! I thought about facebook but I wasn't sure I could keep up 
I know how people get upset when a blogger doesn't keep up with messages and I was afraid that would happen with facebook. Twitter seems out of the question. I don't even have a cellphone and I seldom answer my home phone because I always seem to be in the middle of something.
EJ's CraftsThanks, Joanne for this. I didn't know that FaceBook did that and I will have to look into it. I would not give up on my website because I have too many different things to sell. My new website, which I have only had a few months is great and I am getting more traffic than even on it. It only costs me $9.99 a month and I can update it easily. Not like the old one that I had to have the webmaster do changes.
My blog has few friends and I know it is because I don't update it enough. I spend so much time of the computer now with social networks that I never get to the blog. Sales from all the social networks works for me because more people see my work and will then go to the website to buy.
desertmountainbearI don't post a lot on my fan page. Only when I have something to show. I don't think people notice or care that you are not posting a lot there. But it really is a great place to get a whole lot of people to see and take notice. I keep a separate fan page because I do post personal stuff on my regular page. I don't post there often either but I just don't think a lot of strangers really care about seeing pictures of my daughter.
Facebook is good Karen, there are a lot of collectors there. I have 200 blog followers, but I have 300+ fans on the fan page. Most I do not know. That many potential buyers, and it is a lot quicker to post there than a blog. Don't get me wrong I love blogs and blogging.
I really like having a website...even if it is not cheap. I use frontpage and can update easily. I also sell on bearpile, etsy, and artfire. I have a fb fanpage. I have not been updating my blog lately because we are getting ready to move and that is taking time away from bear making. I have sold from all venues. I will probably set up a store on fb after the move. It is time consuming but we all know, it's important to be "out there".
I have decided to give the facebook storefront a go. I have to at least try it since it's free.
I have a fan page on facebook, which is linked to my twitter page and my blog so I only have to post to facebook and the others automatically update for me.
I make my bears in my spare time as I have a full time job, so linking the three together like this saves me a lot of time.
desertmountainbearHi Kat, Please keep us informed as to how it goes. I would love to hear more.
Joanne
I will do. I only set it up yesterday, so fingers crossed it works well.
FenBeary FolkMe to Joanne, thought it was a great idea..........................my only gripe is lack of shipping options :(
