Hi fellow Brits,
Thought I would put a post up to see if it is just me or if other regions in the U.K are suffering with a distinct lack of trade at the moment
As you can see I am based in Ramsgate, Kent. I have noticed in the last few weeks that trade has become very slow. I have a Retail shop based very close to my local town centre where I trade from monday-friday and on Saturday I close the shop and set up a market stall in the High Street some 300 metres from my shop door
I do this as it appears that 300 metres is too far for some of my potential customers to walk. So I find myself paying rent and Business Rates on my Retail store then closing the door on a Saturday so that I can pay an extra £34.00 to trade in the High Street for one day a week. Is this normal?
I am desperately trying to get my website finished to give me another 'Iron in the fire'!
I tried Ebay for about 3 months in the summer with some success but found the fees very high, I may try this avenue again after Christmas. I understand Ebay have put their 'Shop' fees up, what differance is this making?
Just thought I would put a thread up here to see how my fellow Brits were selling their T-Shirts and how the economic downturn was affecting their business.
Sorry to hear that, but it's a sign of the times I guess.
I knew it wouldn't be long before almost everyone saw a down turn in sales, even a £10 t-shirt means the difference between what they are going to eat that night !
Sad, but true !
On another note, what where Ebay charging you exactly to sell on there ? I'm sure there are several ways to cut your costs that may work out better for you !
On another note, what where Ebay charging you exactly to sell on there ? I'm sure there are several ways to cut your costs that may work out better for you !
Hi Peely,
We did 3 months of Ebay during the summer and did ok. Then we were being charged £14.99 per month for our Ebay Shop but they were about to put the Shop fees up when we stopped and moved back into our retail shop ( it's a long story)
We will look at Ebay again in the new year when things are sure to be worse than they are now
Good news to report........ opened up the shop Monday morning (yesterday) and had a great day! Crazy times
I think everyone is or has been suffering,myself included.I sell on Ebay but have found my sales just,and only just make the shop subscription and fees worthwhile.I am currently working on my own website away from ebay,and will look to use ebay to draw customers to my site by shrewd placement of teasers. I think the way to go on ebay is to keep adding new designs and keep your shop looking fresh, something I have been guilty of neglecting but will address in the new year.
Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I agree and was also guilty. In the 3 months I was trading on Ebay I don't think I added a single new design. It is lazyness but it is also a lot of work to simply add one new design as you need pictures, descriptions etc....
I, like you am developing a website as we speak. This though also takes a whole lot of marketing to get sales.
I am selling quality product in my retail store for cheap money mostly because the area which I trade is pretty poor!
Some say I should be providing a lesser quality product at the price but I am affraid that by doing this I would get more returns
What price do you sell at on Ebay? What quality of product are you offering?
Hi Phil, All my T-shirts are custom printed by myself,using waterbased ink for a great soft hand and quality look. I am developing a little niche market and my t-shirts are really great quality, a certain style. Like all things we expect an instant impact(which I had hoped for)but have come to realise you must build your business,especially on ebay as it is so huge.I sell for between £9.99 to £11.99,depending on the amount of colours in the print. I am over 450 feedbacks now,all 100% positive,with good feedback comments so I know my direction is correct,it is just being disciplined and working on those new designs and posting them up.This is where most of my costs arise as design/sampling is expensive. I really don't think customers realise that this all has to be factored into the unit cost per t-shirt! If you take your costs away from your selling price on a £10 t-shirt on ebay you are lucky to be left with 50%. It really is as with all businesses about having 100% confidence in your product, and getting out there to as many people as you can,for which the ebay platform(love it or loath it) is by far the best medium to do this. I think the general trend is to start on ebay and then branch out into your own website,running the two in tandem, and those sales you can transfer across to your own site are worth the increased value of the ebay fees you are saving. Good to hear more views, Cheers Ian
All im gonna say is slow slow slow slow slow! lol!
Thinking of selling up or equipment and stuff!"
Don't do it! We will get through this, if your as old as me you would have been through tough times before It's all about 'pulling in' your overheads.
We have done this by reducing stock of blank and printed product. I have 'dug' out the stock room also and found 120 shirts that I didn't even realise were there I have put this product on a SALE rail in the shop at a much reduced price and it is selling well! Everyone is walking around shops in january expecting to buy everything for nothing! Selling this product will also go a long way in paying for my next t-shirt order. This is how you have got to be in these tough times.
I have also decided to be a lot more pro-active in getting the business in this year this will start with a 'mailshot' to all my local Nurseries and playgroups!
I have been a little complacent in thinking that because I have a shop in town everybody knows that I am here! They don't! But they will!
I studied Ebay last night, I looked under 'Funny t-shirts' and 'Time ending soonest' and was shocked to see how many products ended without a single bid and at a rediculous starting price! Maybe the future isn't here at the moment!
Soldier on people summer is comming! And remember SMILE
Phil, I think during these times your own website is the best and cheapest way forward. I'm almost done with mine and I expect sales to increase immensely as a lot people visit my "odl" website, but obviously aren't able to buy.
Do you have a January offer? I live just outside Nottingham and things are packed up here due to the sales.
But as the other guys are saying I definitely think it's due to the recession and the fact that Xmas has only just finished.
Phil, I think during these times your own website is the best and cheapest way forward. I'm almost done with mine and I expect sales to increase immensely as a lot people visit my "odl" website, but obviously aren't able to buy.
Do you have a January offer? I live just outside Nottingham and things are packed up here due to the sales.
But as the other guys are saying I definitely think it's due to the recession and the fact that Xmas has only just finished.
Hope today is better for you!
Michael
Morning Michael,
Development of my website has slowed somewhat mainly due to me not knowing what I am doing I am desperately trying to get my son on the case, this alone can be tricky with a 16 year old!
I do have a 'January offer' on and it is working.
I think the British public are going to have a wake-up call this year when they realise that retailers cannot go on selling stuff so cheap, if they do they will go BUST just like so many companies are at the moment!
We've only been in business for about 14 months, but it's our 2nd Xmas period. I'm glad to say we had a manic Xmas period and the orders have continued to come in over Xmas & New Year - much to my surprise. We're only small and very much in start-up phase, but I'm pleased with the way business is continuing.
We had an Ebay shop for about 8 months, but we closed it in December. The store fees and selling costs were too high, so we closed it and decided to concentrate on our own web store and spent the money originally destined for ebay on local advertising instead.
14 months ago I knew nothing about a web store, but I have done a number of websites. We now have a good working web store with some nice functionality. I'm pleased with it & certainly will be concentrating more on driving hits to our own site.
We've only been in business for about 14 months, but it's our 2nd Xmas period. I'm glad to say we had a manic Xmas period and the orders have continued to come in over Xmas & New Year - much to my surprise. We're only small and very much in start-up phase, but I'm pleased with the way business is continuing.
We had an Ebay shop for about 8 months, but we closed it in December. The store fees and selling costs were too high, so we closed it and decided to concentrate on our own web store and spent the money originally destined for ebay on local advertising instead.
14 months ago I knew nothing about a web store, but I have done a number of websites. We now have a good working web store with some nice functionality. I'm pleased with it & certainly will be concentrating more on driving hits to our own site.
Thanks & yes. Website is all my own work :-) I was recommended the software to try - which is CubeCart. You can download, customise & use it for free. If you want to remove their copyright it costs you $90. There are loads of add-ons to the software that gives you better functionality. We've slowly added tweaks here and there over the last 6 months. But I'm nearly finished with it :-) I'd recommend CC to anyone. Works really well & is fairly easy to customise with some HTML/CSS/PHP knowledge.
It's great for a small business and doesn't cost much :-)
And actually we sell very few slogans - almost everything is custom :-(
How is business? 
Re: How is business? 
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It's all about 'pulling in' your overheads.
