Expert: James Dillehay - 5/12/2005

Question
Hi James,
I hope you don't mind but I have several questions to ask.
I want to start a small home base arts and craft business.
1. Can I use retail arts and crafts store as my resources to buy items from then turn around and resell the items along with my added creations to other gift shops. Is that possible to do?

2. Is there a chance of me being sued for doing that?

3.If I wanted to sell my items on e-bay is that profitable way to start my business.

Answer
Stephanie

1) You can buy arts and crafts and resell them in your store. Many craft galleries and shops do this.

2) I'm not an attorney, but I cannot see why anyone would sue you for this. It is the way most craft shops operate. If you are concerned about copyright issues, there is a great site with free info at: http://www.starvingartistslaw.com/

3) eBay may be profitable or not, but there is research you can do quickly to find out. For example, I typed in the phrase "handmade jewelry" at Ebay.com awhile back and was shown over 150 auctions.

The next step is to go down to the links on the left hand side of the page and click where it says "Completed items". When I clicked, I was shown 300 + auctions completed in handmade jewelry items.

Ebay allows you to then sort the listings by "highest price". Now you have a list of what items are selling best online and the prices people are willing to pay. This is the first part of your research.

Based on the prices you see, if it looks like you can profitably sell your own pieces on Ebay, you can examine winning auctions for tips on how to construct auction pages which stand a chance of winning sales.

Please note, I am not suggesting you start selling on Ebay. That decision is up to you based on what you learn from doing research that answers your questions. At least the research will give you what you need to make an informed decision.

Hope this is helpful,
James

For more help on eBay, you may want to own a copy of my book, "Sell Your Crafts on eBay" available through www.craftmarketer.com