Coast Chimes: New, Free Shipping

Artist-made Sea Glass with Handcrafted Brass Chimes
Coast Chimes: Now with Free Shipping

For a long time I have paid most of the shipping on my orders to the USA and Canada, but not all the cost. I thought that people would not object to pitching in a bit, as postage is so high. But the trend on the internet has been more and more towards 'free' shipping. Recently Etsy has been rather aggressively urging their sellers to offer free shipping, or discounts, which I think is a little too bad, but I guess they know what they are doing.

So to continue selling on Etsy, I realized I had to probably offer free shipping. That means that the same goes for my website. So now all orders to the USA and Canada ship no additional charge. 

See all the great works on Coast Chimes, and enjoy the free shipping.

Glass and Copper Wind Chime, the Start

Large Glass and Copper Wind Chime, Coast Chimes

I made my first glass and copper wind chime, quite similar to the one pictured above, and listed it on eBay about 25 years ago. eBay was new, and no one had ever seen a wind chime like this before. I listed it at .99 cents, and the bidding went crazy. It ended up somewhere north of $250, and I knew I was onto something. Shortly after, the second glass and copper wind chime I made and listed repeated the bidding frenzy, and I really knew I was onto something. In the following years things have not always been so easy. It does turn out that nothing stays the same, and this is especially true concerning the internet! With all the improvements in technology, how funny that selling something like my wind chimes has actually become much, much more challenging. I am so pleased that back when I started out it was actually simple to sell something like my wind chimes on line. Anyone starting now would be in for a much more difficult task.

The inspiration for my first glass and copper wind chime came from a customer. At the time, I was selling some single pieces of beach-style glass, with a little copper work. This woman emailed and asked if I could make her a wind chime out of my glass. I told her that would not work-- the glass would break. A little later it came to me that I could use glass for a top section, with chimes hanging beneath the glass.

Now, so many years later, I have numerous designs (and still thinking of new ones!), and also work with beach stone and driftwood. Indeed, one of the most enjoyable parts of my job is to take a long hike along the beach, looking for materials and dreaming up new ideas.

Eventually eBay went to the dogs, at least for high-end quality handcrafted works like my wind chimes. Etsy came into play just at the right time, and continues fairly strong, despite occasional bumps. My first website, made about 20 years ago and unbelievably rough, has gone through many transformations, and last week was reborn as a Shopify store: Coast Chimes

Handmade at Amazon Blues

I have the Handmade at Amazon Blues

I was so excited to receive an invitation for Handmade at Amazon. Amazon promised millions of potential customers and a strictly handmade site. A dream come true!

I believed Amazon had the expertise, the capital, the client base to do an absolutely brilliant job. My only concern was whether I would have enough time to fill orders and still make things!

Yep, I was one happy thrilled fan of Handmade at Amazon... before it opened.

Several months post launch not so much.

What happened?

First, let me stress that there are apparently many crafters and artists currently experiencing success on Handmade at Amazon. You can read their glee on various forums, and I am happy for them. However there are also many who are becoming disillusioned. Like me.

I don't know why some are so successful while others suffer utter failure, and for a few reasons I am not willing to take any more time to figure it out. Here's why.

I am dumbfounded that one of five primary categories while listing,  'Outdoor and Patio,' does not appear on amy of the main shopping menus. Since this is the category I list in, I believe this is a primary reason my listings are not seen. Invisible. My stats are dismal: far worse than any other site I have ever participated in, including my own little website.

I invested considerable time attempting to improve my visibility, all for naught. Also, creating or editing a listing is painful on Handmade: nightmarish listing templates. I have been on a dozen different sites, and this is by far the most terrible listing and editing experience yet.

Even worse— my pictures show up desaturated; they look awful. I found others were experiencing this too. After emails and phone calls to Handmade at Amazon support, a very nice, knowledgable support person phoned. She acknowledged that my pictures look worse than on other sites where I use the identical images, but she said after talking with Amazon engineers there is nothing Amazon plans to do to improve this issue. For handmade, pictures are what sell. Bad pictures mean low sales, no matter how many people see your work, and even more so when almost no one is seeing the work. Most disheartening.

Finally, the corporate atmosphere (all business, no soul) seems stifling. Something is missing here, from an artist point of view. You are encouraged not to get in touch with customers, you must answer question (even if your shop is on holiday mode) within 24 hours or face penalties, you must ship by the promised time, no excuse,  you must accept all returns (with the exception of custom orders) and pay for the return shipping if you sell internationally (even if the customer just changes their mind). That's all great for the customer, and I always do whatever I can to please my customers, but on Amazon it seems there is always a threat hanging over the seller's head. Of more concern is the way Amazon has 'trained' their customers: a quick look, buy with one click understanding that you can return whatever with no problem, expect your order to arrive instantly. It sounds like some sellers are 'enjoying' numerous returns.

So it turns out that the Handmade at Amazon has not lived up to my high expectations... not even close. Most distressing are the images showing poorly,  the lack of traffic, and the atmosphere.

I do want to say something very positive about Handmade at Amazon:  They have wonderful 24/7 email and telephone seller support. I have never had to wait more than a short time for an email response, and most often I get a telephone call from a knowledgeable pleasant support person. First rate. If only the site was that good!

Another good thing is some of the positive  spin off effects the entire experience has had, benefiting indirectly my Etsy store and my Coast Chimes website. More about that soon.

Although deeply disappointed I am not giving up. A few sales trickle in from those who do somehow manage to stumble across my listings. And I know Amazon is still tinkering. Who knows? Maybe they will fix it. I hope so.

Etsy Collection: Most Popular

Click on the picture to see it larger.

Natural Pacific beach stone wind chime with five antiqued copper chimes. Click here (Etsy) for more information.

I was having a look at my statistics from Etsy, the art and crafts site, this morning, and noted that out of my 113 listings, the one above has the most 'hearts.' A 'heart' means someone likes and marked the listing. I can see why: I also really like my beach stone works.

This one being on sale for a very good price may also have something to do with the number of hearts it has received. In fact, the price is so good I am surprised no one has grabbed it yet.

Driftwood

Natural Pacific driftwood~ naturally beautiful. The beach stone clapper produces sweet music against these heavy copper chimes. For more information, or to buy, Click here.

The other day I posted a driftwood wind chime (see below) and it sold within hours. So here is a different one.

The first wind chime sold off a site called Etsy. If you have never explored this arts and crafts site, it is well worth having a look. My own corner of Etsy can be found by clicking here.

Etsy seems to be increasingly popular for both artists and art collectors. It is the only site I have found (and I have tried many), outside of Ebay and my own website, with much action as far as sales. It is also a very user friendly site, both for browsing and for listing things for sale.

Made Etsy Home Page !

Etsy is a neat, upbeat arts and crafts site. I've always wanted to be on their homepage (who wouldn't?), but that's like winning the lottery. Well, what do you know, I made it tonight. Nice way to start the weekend.