Pose doll quandry – a question and a bit of insight into my insanity
I’m so glad that people like my little dolls and snap them up quickly. However, I am worried about disappointing customers/friends when dolls sell out in less than a minute.
I will always have limited quantity runs of my dolls – I’m just not a high-volume kind of gal. If you saw my workflow you would laugh – I’t’s like, “make a shoe, eat a sandwich. sew on some pom-poms, watch RPDR…”
I like setting a price that I think it is fair, but I think eBay might be a more practical format to sell in, since it gives people a chance to at least bid if they want an item badly enough.
To be completely honest, the goal of these sales is not to make a profit – I make way less per hour on crafts than I would making websites. Crafting though, is very theraputic for me and trust me, I need it right now (work is stressful and if I’m not careful I will get depressed and get nothing done). Ff I don’t sell what I make, my house will fill up with knick-knacks, and I hate to dust.
I’ve received a couple of requests to sell “preorders,” but the truth is that this is not a format I am comfortable with. The quantity I can produce is directly related to how creative and inspired I’m feeling, and that motivation disappears as soon as I have orders to fill. It starts to feel like work, which defeats the purpose!
What do you think is fair? etsy? eBay? quit my jobs and make dollies all day? 
March 7th, 2009 at 2:28 am
Your style is so cute! You described exactly how I feel about being creative and making things. It is nice to know that other people feel that way too.
March 7th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Maybe try ebay next time and see how it goes? Or put 2 on ebay and 2 on etsy? I’m sad I totally missed seeing them up on the site but way to go selling out in a minute!
March 7th, 2009 at 10:00 am
They are all so wonderful! I’m bummed I missed them because of work. I totally know how you feel about crafting and work – I take forever to make things too, so I don’t like to do preorders or commissions either. It makes it feel like a factory and takes the joy out of crafting at my own pace.
You should try eBay just to test the waters!
March 7th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
I think ebay would be fairer (more fair?) in that fans of your dolls who may be at work, and can’t sit by their computer to snipe in the middle of the day (or night), could simply put in their bid and–well–may the highest bidder (who most values your work) win.
If you’re concerned about ONE person outbidding everyone else on every doll and you want to spread the wealth, can you make those kind of restrictions on ebay? Does ebay let you do private auctions by invite only, then you could auction them off one at a time and not invite the first winner back for the next auction?
Not sure of the best answer–I loved the dolls but am minding my budget (hello recession) so decided to go without, and just enjoy your wonderful photos, and be inspired.
Looking forward to seeing your next creation,
Michael
March 7th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I don’t think you should worry so much! If you were going to make enough for every friend/fan of your work, you’d have to do at least 200. I think the fact that there were so few and you took your time creating them makes them that much more precious. I don’t know why, but I think these are too nice for Ebay – I think they are well-suited to Etsy.
March 8th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Ebay sounds awesome. Totally support it.
March 9th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Thanks for your feedback, guys! there was a little mix-up with one of the last sales, so I have the opportunity to try eBay sooner than I thought – she’s up now!
March 16th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
I’m repeating myself for the illionth illionth time but geebus, it makes me so happy just to know you’re blogging again so I can seeeeee your words and work. <3 <3 <3
SuperLOL at your work-timeline-breakdown. Mine is like, think about crafting think about crafting think about crafting, start to put together supplies, think more about crafting while reading more crap on the internet, turn on sewing machine light, sew a few seams and then go make dinner. Feckso!
April 4th, 2010 at 9:02 am
nice to see you on blog