Tuesday, 6 March 2012

Ikea vs Ebay

I normally work Saturdays and take Wednesdays off, which means I rarely get a whole 2 days in a row to tackle anything major that is not work. So, the boxes labelled 'stuff to sell on ebay' had grown and were taking over my studio, so in a fit of madness I decided to be like a normal person and take a week off.


For an entire week I listed stuff on ebay: unused dress patterns, shoes I don't wear, wii games the teen no longer plays. By the end of the week I never wanted to see my ebay page again, my selling fees were eye watering and the post office were making a profit again, all due to me. I made some money of course, but couldn't help wondering if I should have dumped the stuff in a charity shop and painted something to sell instead...


Around this time boyfriend and I took a trip to Ikea to get the things we needed for our new laundry room. I was nervous, boyfriend hates shopping... But as it turns out he likes Ikea. He laughed at the Swedish names, ate meatballs in the cafe, tried the furniture, had a pillow fight on the moving walkway and tried various storage items on as headgear (see his facebook profile for evidence).

Best of all, in the place where all the ebay stuff was cluttering up my studio I now have a small 'Helgar':


My only hope is that we manage to buy everything we need for the house before Ikea issue us with a lifetime ban.


Back at work after my ebay fest and I finally finished this one:


 
My ambition to sell more art online got a couple of boosts this month too, with this commission for a mosaic for Sophie, who sent me little tiles from her bathroom, and fabric swatches so I could create an ivory mosaic with touches of gold for her bathroom:

Finally, I was requested by Folksy seller 'Aunty Joan' to make this small garden painting available as a print, which she then purchased:


Both buyers left me excellent feedback, which is what it is all about on the internet, because just like eBay, no one buys unless you have already sold, so those first sales are the hardest to gain. Thank you Sophie and AuntyJoan!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Michele, absolutely love that mosaic and your paintings! Really like your Helgar too... I do love IKEA, especially their picture frames! Must make another trip there soon:) Vic x

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  2. I agree I do admire someone who can do Ebay on a daily basis. It drives me batty and my last sales I gave more to postage then I made. I love your new addition and your art and can see why you got good feedback :O)

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