It has been an especially challenging two years, both as a person and as a retailer. Two years ago I found myself suddenly working full time at Lowe’s at the beginning of this pandemic. One thing about working at Lowe’s is that it is a physically demanding job. This job has created extra challenges to being a yarn retailer, and I had to rethink how I was going to proceed.
Originally I had planned to create an e-commerce site and sell yarn that way along with selling at home yarn parties. The yarn party idea flew out the window once the pandemic hit, and working full time made it extremely difficult to have the time to develop the website. So I switched gears.
I had been selling leftover yarn from the old shop on eBay, and slowly started to add some of the new inventory as lines became discontinued. Sadly, the pandemic resulted in several mills throughout Europe and Asia closing, and caused a good number of yarns to be discontinued. As sales through this platform grew, and my shop developed a following, I decided that I would become exclusively an eBay seller. There are numerous advantages to going this direction as a yarn retailer.
One of the biggest benefits to selling through eBay is how much time you save. Using this retail model freed from having to spend the time developing the website. I also no longer have to do sales tax collection and reporting. Since I sell across the US, sales taxes have to be submitted to every state I have a sale. As an eBay seller, all that hassle is managed by them. I know one online seller who actually spent $10,000 on a program to manage her sales tax reporting for her. So my idea of how this business was going to look went through quite a bit of evolution over the last two year.
With the inventory listed on eBay, I now have alternative marketing methods to explore. This blog is the first alternative to get implemented. As time permits, I also plan to start adding quick instructive and inspirational videos. I intend to revive email marketing as well. I currently do a bimonthly email through my eBay store. Other email campaigns outside of eBay will include links to the blog, videos once they are started, and spotlights of seasonally appropriate yarns.
So to get started promoting my eBay store, here is the link to the store:
https://www.ebay.com/str/goodsourceoffiber
Please visit my store and favorite it so you can get the current updates to the shop. If you are uncomfortable with the eBay platform, I hope I can assure that it is completely safe, and eBay goes the distance to keep sellers honest, and customers safe. If you do not have an eBay account, you can create one in order to follow the shop. If you do not want to go that route, I will slowly add other venues to make purchases. I also do local delivery in Amador County to local customers.
Over the next couple weeks I will add links to each of the listings with a description of the product, and a search function. Please join me on this venture and hopefully I will inspire you along the way.
Annette Shirley; owner of A Good Source of Fiber Yarn Store