how do you begin selling doggie apparel??

[newmommy]

do you make it on your own, or did you join a company?? if so can someone help me, I am really interested in this !!

[wenkebach99]

Well i started on e-bay and i am still there i am leaving them within the next couple of weeks and going out on my own to a webpage. E-bay is a good place to get started but my seller fees are in excess of $500 a month now because i have so many items listed with them. My web site will only cost $70.00 a month and that is for unlimited hits and 1.2 gigabytes of space and i can increase that at anytime. The best way to get buyers is to offer a custom fitting. I started out selling standard sizes and the business more than tripled when i offered the custom. Now that i have a good client base i am going out on my own. I am meeting with the web designer today and hopefully we can have it up and running within the next several weeks because i have so many items to list.

The competition is alot harder than when i first started so you have to do alot of marketing. I went on marketing trips and alot of emails at night after i finished sewing for the day. It is an 18 hour a day job either at the cutting table sewing table or at the computer. I take Sundays off but thats it. I haven't had a vacation in 2 years since i started except for a mini 2 day visit with my aunt last weekend. If you sell on e-bay there are alot of jealous people out there so if you start doing well they will find something wrong with your add and have you booted so make sure you follow all the rules of e-bay i learned that the hard way on e-bay.

Keep your prices affordable because of the competition. I sell my fancy dresses for $16.99 and most people that purchase my dresses for their boutiques get $30. or more for them. I have attached a few pictures. Make sure you keep your quality of the item high again because of the competition. If there is anything i can do to help just let me know because i know what its like when you get started.

Good luck
Melinda Sassy and Simba
Sassy-Petwear (my site is down because it use to be linked to e-bay but i changed the hosting and now you can only see my items by visiting http://stores.ebay.com/sassy-petwear you can copy and paste that link if you want to see how i have my items set up on e-bay. The cheapest way to sell on e-bay is to post several items in auction to grab attention and then purchase a store and post the rest in their or your fees will be astronomical. Here are a few of my items

[Julez]

Your things are so cute--you must be very talented!

I've considered getting into this myself, but I decided not to because of the competition. The market is glutted already, so I think you would have to offer something unique to be successful.

[newmommy]

Originally Posted by wenkebach99

Well i started on e-bay and i am still there i am leaving them within the next couple of weeks and going out on my own to a webpage. E-bay is a good place to get started but my seller fees are in excess of $500 a month now because i have so many items listed with them. My web site will only cost $70.00 a month and that is for unlimited hits and 1.2 gigabytes of space and i can increase that at anytime. The best way to get buyers is to offer a custom fitting. I started out selling standard sizes and the business more than tripled when i offered the custom. Now that i have a good client base i am going out on my own. I am meeting with the web designer today and hopefully we can have it up and running within the next several weeks because i have so many items to list.

The competition is alot harder than when i first started so you have to do alot of marketing. I went on marketing trips and alot of emails at night after i finished sewing for the day. It is an 18 hour a day job either at the cutting table sewing table or at the computer. I take Sundays off but thats it. I haven't had a vacation in 2 years since i started except for a mini 2 day visit with my aunt last weekend. If you sell on e-bay there are alot of jealous people out there so if you start doing well they will find something wrong with your add and have you booted so make sure you follow all the rules of e-bay i learned that the hard way on e-bay.

Keep your prices affordable because of the competition. I sell my fancy dresses for $16.99 and most people that purchase my dresses for their boutiques get $30. or more for them. I have attached a few pictures. Make sure you keep your quality of the item high again because of the competition. If there is anything i can do to help just let me know because i know what its like when you get started.

Good luck
Melinda Sassy and Simba
Sassy-Petwear (my site is down because it use to be linked to e-bay but i changed the hosting and now you can only see my items by visiting http://stores.ebay.com/sassy-petwear you can copy and paste that link if you want to see how i have my items set up on e-bay. The cheapest way to sell on e-bay is to post several items in auction to grab attention and then purchase a store and post the rest in their or your fees will be astronomical. Here are a few of my items

thank you. so in the end is it worth it
???/

[wenkebach99]

well if you start a new business you have to be prepared to invest some money into any venture. It has been worth it for me i havent shown a large profit because i keep re-investing into the business. Any new business take 1-3 years to show a large profit. I have purchased a new pc and a new laptop as well as 5 machines so like i said i just keep reinvesting so i can continue to grow. You have to really enjoy making these little doggie clothes and i do because i love to dress my own and i love to see other people dress theirs it doesn't matter if they purchase mine or not i just love seeing our babies in clothes.
Thanks
melinda

[wenkebach99]

Originally Posted by Julez

Your things are so cute--you must be very talented!

I've considered getting into this myself, but I decided not to because of the competition. The market is glutted already, so I think you would have to offer something unique to be successful.

yes the market is flooded right now but if you stick with it some people will retire and others will just quit you really have to be dedicated to anything you decide to do. Thanks for the compliment i just enjoy designing, that is my favorite part of the business to me.

Melinda

[shopstump]

[color="RoyalBlue"]I got started because I was having a really hard time finding boy clothes, and because I had all of these designs in my head. So I was originally going to open up a boutique selling random items. But I realized there were way too many online boutiques like that already. So I found a company that would manufacture my items, (I can't sew a button on!) and all I had to do was Design them, and that is how Stump got started.