Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Is a design successful if no-one purchases it?


This is one of my favorite creations from 2008 that nobody purchased, so I kept it and am glad now that it didn't sell. I won't make another one, not only because it bombed on Etsy, but because it took me forever to make and I doubt I'd have the patience to repeat this.


Both times I've worn this, it has elicited positive comments from people, either telling me it is stunning or asking where they can get one. That comforts me, because it was a blow to my ego to get zero reaction to it when it was listed on Etsy.

It has a huge lapis briolette wrapped in stainless steel, stainless steel hand-turned coils and steel wrapped glass beads to create the chain. The blue steel plays wonderfully off of the stones and beads.

Philosophical Question: Is a design successful if no-one will pay money for it?

3 comments:

  1. I don't have many sales on Etsy at all. That being said, I think a design is successful but your marketing is not successful.

    When my items are seen in person, I make sales, plenty of sales. Why? Because I'm around my target market: those who are fashion conscious and shoppers. Etsy is full of other crafters. More than likely, they say, "I can do that."

    And if I went by my Etsy sales, I would have given up on my shop a long time ago.

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  2. That necklace is beautiful, you're proud of the fine work that went into it, it gives you pleasure to wear it, and people give you compliments when you do--I'd say it is a huge success! ;)

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  3. Thanks, Nala. And Joede, you make some really good points. Etsy is hardly a barometer for measuring the strength of our designs. It is good to remind ourselves that much of the success we see happen to others is often attributed to a myriad of factors other than the beauty of the designs.

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