Omg I sold something!

Remember this post where I talked about selling stitch markers?

Well, I enjoyed making them so much, I wanted to keep doing it. I had a few beads leftover, (and I could help buying a few more while we were in Watertown the other day) so I sat down and made some more.* Now I have plenty of stitch markers on my own, so I really had no reason to make these new ones, especially as the bag of stitch markers for Bill's mom is full, and everybody else's gifts had been sent out.

Then I got thinking; the only real reason I didn't want to sell my markers was that the only venue I was aware of was places like Etsy and frankly I really didn't want to bother with mailing and dealing with people and setting up a shop etc. It didn't make the small profit I would make worth it.

Then the other day I realized that I could probably sell them on consignment over at Reinmans!

Reinmans is the local hardware store, but they are much more than that, the woman who runs the place is also one of the women in charge of our bimonthly knit night, and there is a sizeable yarn store there. To top it off I knew she already did consignments, because the woman who helps teach sells many of her felted bags there.

I did a bit of research the day before, looking up how consignment sales are usually conducted. Most of what I could find was for people who make clothing, but I did get a few ideas. They said that most owners like to make an appointment where you can sit down, and look at samples of your work before they decide. Then there were a couple of ways it could go. I could name my price; she pays me, and sells the items at a slightly higher price, good for me and pure profit for her. Or she could name what she was willing to pay and then sell them higher, not quite as good for me, as I wouldn't have as much control over how much profit I made out of the deal.

I got all excited, put together a little tag that I could print out on 3x5 index cards, attached the sample markers with pretty yarn and then yesterday while I was at work with Bill I walked over to talk to Mary (the owner.) I asked if she would be willing to think about it, and showed her the markers. And she LOVED THEM!! *squee*

Also luckily I was able to name my own price. I asked $7 per set of four, which isn't too expensive, quite low compared to some of the things I saw at Etsy, but I was still making a big profit compared to material and time costs, and I didn't have to deal with people (other than Mary) and no fiddling with a storefront or mailing out stuff! She's selling them for $8.50, so they should hopefully sell well, especially in the holiday season. I almost wish I had asked for more, but it think I'm just being greedy, I mean, I'm making a profit, having fun, and frankly I don't think people in this area will be willing to pay much more than that. (During summer when the place is full of tourists is a different matter, but I think most of my sales is going to be locals for a while)

The only thing she asked for was markers that could fit larger needles, as right now, the only split rings I could get only fit size 10's (6mm) and many people are fond of big needle projects.

I explained that right now I was only working with leftovers because I didn't want to put in a big investment without any assurance of a deal, but now that I know she's willing, I would get bigger ones. I found a place online that sells larger split right for cheap, so in the next couple of days I may order some. I only use split rings (which are harder to find in a variety of sizes around here) because they are stronger than jump rings and less likely to snag on knitting

*the markers in the picture are not the ones I sold. I was a dork and forgot to take a picture of them before I took them to see Mary