Dear all,
Our neighbour Cindy was not able to log on due to the changes on the website, so she wrote to Sabina directly - but I think this is definitely worth mentioning to all of you: see below. The website www.etsy.com really seems an interesting online store. Do you know anything about it, have any experience with it? There is a little fee of 20 cents per 4 months attached. I'll be coming up for the first 4 months :)
Best, Angelika

cindyhoong wrote:

Hello Sabina,

I tried to get back to you a few weeks ago. Unfortunately NABUUR was busy with the new site and I was not able to log on. Then I was distracted by other issues ...

Here is the link http://www.etsy.com/ etsy is a site specifically for hand-knitted, hand-crocheted and other handmade products. Pleas take a look. I am sure it will give you plenty of ideas as how-to sell online etc. Since they are very specific in their business, therefore is focus.

Let me know what you think and we can discuss further.

By the way, a few emails ago, I suggested that perhaps the best way is to find a designer(s) who might be looking for someone to knit for him/her. Any news? Perhaps the students who helped you with the marketing plans can help you to find a designers at their college?

Cindy

I just saw there is even always a "featured seller", so who knows, we might be able to make some advertisement via this as well to get the attention of people who like to buy directly from underprivileged communities.

Hi Angelika,
I just stumbled upon etsy.com and remembered vaguley that there was mention of it on Nabuur somewhere! Here it is on Yoshinkel! Do you know if anyone has investigated this site yet? If not I will be happy to take a good look at it and see how it works and try and find out information.
Let me know.
Carolyn

dear carolyn,
it would be great if you could investigate the site! also maybe if you come across comments on it in the internet...

maybe while you're exploring you could have a look at the question of policies as well (we have a seperate tsk on it) because if we want to use it er'll have to state them...
best, angelika

Hi- I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about exploring etsy.com. I have been very busy lately with work and overseas guests, but I have now downloaded lots of info on it so I hope to get back to you all very soon. I really like what I have seen so far on etsy- I hope it can work for Yoshinkel.

Hi- I found some information which is already going to prove difficult for Sabina and the women to overcome- I think!
In order to set up a Store (as a seller) some one in Yoshinkel needs to put their Credit Card details on the registration section, OR a Debit Card which is linked to something like VISA or MAstercard.
This would not normally be a problem for those in the West who have credit cards or bank cards but I am not sure if anyone in Sabina's group has anything like this?
What I am unsure exactly what the credit card details are used for. I need to find out some more info.
Meanwhile- does anyone have any ideas on how we can overcome this hiccup? From what I have seen etsy.com could be a perfect place to market the knitted goods.
Also- there is a section on etsy (called Alchemy) where people can put up a list of things the would like artists to make for them - eg, bags, clothes, jewellery. Again, this could be a place where a person with a design idea can approach the women at Yoshinkel to knit them an item of clothing- preferrable a decent order of knitted goods! Anyway- the opportunity is there.
MOre later
Carolyn

hi carolyn,
we stubled over this before...it would be great if you found out exactly what the credit card is used for later. if it isjust for paying the nominal fee than I offered to pay for the first timeperiod to check it out if thats possible.
best, angelika

Hello, I found out a bit more information about using a credit card on etsy.com
Basically, the only thing that gets charged to the card is the fee for each listing. So, for example, if we listed 3 scarves, we would be charged USD0.60cents for the first 4 months. Therefore, for each type of kniited good (eg, gloves, muffler, socks) we would need to say how many items we had to sell. The more items you have the more it costs (e.g 10 scarves will cost USD$2 for 4 months).
I have read through the information and I cannot see where else they might charge the card. Support at etsy.com replied to an email confirming that only the listing fees would be charged.
SO- what we need is to be able to use someone's credit card or Debit Crad (with a credit card logo on it). We could trial it for say 8 months. That would mean the card would get charged only twice (you only get charged in 4 month installments.)
There is NO fee to set up a Store on the website.
All fees and prices are in US Dollars.
When an item is sold, etsy.com takes a 3.5% fee on the final price of the good.
Payment of the monthly bill can beamde manually on the website, and it will debit the Credit Card or Debit Card we use.
If Sabina decides to go head, I would be prepared to make a small contribution to the payment of the fees in the first year of the Yoshinkel store.

Hope this info helps....let me know if you have any other questions you'd like me to investigate for now.

Dear Carolyn and Angelika,
Thank you so much for your wish to contribute advertising woolen products of yoshinkhel.

I am downloading some knitting product in gallery. I have little difficulty to choose which should put in etsy store. So also help me to select product.Or shall we produce some special sample for this purpose with better quality wool.

Also please advise if we able to sell goods, we get payment from buyer directly to us or through etsy after deducting their charges.

Thanking you
Sabina

Hi Sabina,
I found out that the easisst way to recieve payment from goods sold on etsy.com is via PAYPAL. In order to set up Paypal, you will need an email adress and a bank account to link to. Although the payments go into your Paypal account first- you can then transfer the funds to your bank account whenerv you like. I belive there is a small Paypal fee as well. Buyers on etsy.com can also pay our via a cheque or mail order- however this is not as convenient as Payapl- but is possible.

So before doing any more research I guess we need the answer to the following:
1- do you or your organisation have a bank acocunt?
2- Do you have a credi card or a debit card?
IF NOT - are any Neighbours willing to let us use their credit card details to set up an Sellers Store on etsy.com. This card would only be used to pay the minimal etsy.com fees IF and WHEN itmes are sold from the Yoshinkel Store.

Carolyn

Dear Carolyn, dear Sabina,
As I mentioned before you could use my credit card to set up the account, as I understood that Sabina does not have one. I also think that many people use paypal today, so it would really be good to be able to use it if not too complicated (never tried it myself to be honest).
Best, Angelika

I posted an offer to handle the website and hosting for this project. Something to keep in mind, especially as relates to ebay and etsy, is that they can drive people to the main website. We can ensure that the site is optimised for search engines. However, it is unlikely (not impossible - but unlikely) that the online store will return high enough for common search terms to rely on traffic driven from Google. This can be mitigated by listing products on ebay and - to a lesser extent - etsy.

That said, the women of Yoshinkhel will need to consider the impact of fees (ebay, etsy and paypal) on profit margin - per product - before deciding how many products to list on these sites. It's a delicate balance and one that they might get wrong the first few months. I can have one of my team help out with this analysis if needed. The upshot is that the marketing benefits of ebay are just as important as the sales.

Hi Catherine, thanks for your input, it sounds like you know a fair bit about running an on-line store.
I guess from my perspective what is not clear to me is whether Sabina wnts to set a whole new wesbite Or whther we are going to use an existing structure such as etsy or e-bay?
Angelika, Sabina- can you please clarify what our direction is going to be in this matter?
Catherine your offer of anylysys the cost-benefit of putting up an on-line store would be very helpful. What kind of information do you need to do this?
Carolyn

Carolyn,

Judging from the project documents and Sabina's previous posts, it appears that the village wants a whole websiite while also utilising ebay/etsy. Which makes sense. I might not have communicated well in my earlier post, I offered an analysis of how many products to sell on ebay/etsy. This would weigh the marketing/traffic benefits of those platforms against the loss of profits due to fees.

I also offered, via the post requesting a whole website, to build and host the site for them. So, a cost-benefit analysis of putting up an on-line store is fairly easy. It would cost them only the time it takes to upload images and put content on the site. The benefits of a web presence far outweigh that.

In order to begin the analysis of utilising ebay/etsy efficiently I would need the following:

1. A firm comittment that the women of the village want to use (a) ebay/etsy and (b) a new website to market their products. (Otherwise the analysis is pointless)

2. A breakdown of the profit margine (per product). Alternately, product cost and sales price (per product) so that I can calculate margins.

I look forward to working with everyone.

Dear Catherine,
First of all, let me welcome you warmly as a new neighbour! It sounds like you really can contribute a lot to getting closer to our marketing goals!

I confirm what you said, that we want to do both: have a dedicated website and sell via ebay/etsy. And I also confirm that the marketing of their products, basically setting up a professional business out of the initiative is a priority for the women.

Maybe you have seen that we're just creating a nice catalogue with the help of our neighbour, Mika. We will then also have a price list - or more than one, depending on clients? None of us is really an expert in this. We have some indications in the Worldschool Marketing report. Maybe you could have a look at it (you can find it under resources) and let us know what you think about their considerations?

Thanks a lot and I really look forward to working with you!
Kind regards,
Angelika