selling jewellery online

**Alexandra** · 04-06-2005 07:38 PM

hi everyone, I'm new. I have been making jewellery for a few years and would really like to start selling jewellery online. I havedone a few craft fairs but am hoping that selling online would be more convenient and eventually more lucrative. Has anyone got any tips in this area? I have looked into website designers but ti didn't take me long to realise the prices are way beyond my means. Has anyone designed there own online shop? If so, how difficult was the process?

**Zebedee** · 05-06-2005 08:16 PM

I'd be interested in this info too....

Trying to sell on ebay at the moment....I'm not sure how successful that will be though....

**minvera** · 13-06-2005 01:31 PM

Hi i built my own site without ANY experience and found it relatively easy, but very time-consuming. I used Frontpage, but I've heard others say Dreamweaver is better. you can get free webspace - try www.lycos.co.uk, they also offer web templates but not that nice I dont think!
Finally, its not a case of having an online presence. you need to consider if you'll have an online shop. i use www.paypal.co.uk shopping basket and find it very straightforward. the main problem is getting traffic to your site - this can be expensive to get your name at the top of search engines. My advice to you is not to expect too much success from an online shop too soon. good luck with your venture.
Nicola

**Lou Lou's Bijouterie** · 14-06-2005 03:36 PM

I created my own website from scratch without any previous knowledge whatsoever. If you are seriously interested in creating your own one, let me know and i'll be more than happy to give you assistance / help.

To see what i have done, feel free to click on the link in my signature below

**kaod55** · 16-06-2005 09:20 PM

Hi just to say that a few months ago I started my own website. It is on www.freewebs.com it is really easy and does not cost anything, there is also a paypal link so you can sell stuff on there. They have good templates etc as well. Some products cost money and I pay $2 a month for multiple file uploads and some other stuff.
Also on that site they are really helpful with any problems or questions
I have also heard or a thing called traffic blazer which submits you the engines like google, aol etc for $30 which is bout £15 i think for a year. I have not used it yet but seems a good deal.
you can look at my site www.freewebs.com/kayleighscrafts if you want, you can get your own domain name for about £10 a year, but I havent done that yet either. Hope this helps, you don't need a really expensive package to do it!
Kayleigh

**Alexandra** · 16-06-2005 09:26 PM

Thank you so much for your advice and I'm really impressed at the sites you have created and the jewellery you are selling! I run my "business" (I'm not sure it could quite be called that yet...) with a friend who is not keen on going online so hopefully your information will help to encourage her. At least you've given me some hope that it is a viable option for the future. Thank you!

**Tranquility80** · 26-07-2006 09:41 PM

I also started out with a freewebs website and found it really good if you don't have any prior knowledge.
I now use instantestores as they are much more focused on creating a website to sell on.

**Emma Farnworth** · 02-08-2006 10:22 AM

I haven't had many sales through my website but I haven't really promoted it and you probably wouldn't find it unless you were looking specifically for my stuff!

Using people like lycos etc isnt always an option if you want to sell your pieces, if you read the terms and conditions many have clauses forbidding the sale of goods and services unless you pay for a very expensive business type package. You could probably get away with it for a while but is it worth the risk? I bought space from streamlinenet.co.uk and i think you get a free .co.uk domain name with their home user package but you would need to use an ftp program like cute ftp to upload files to the server. I found a really good html tutorial site for kids which helped me to actually write the code.

Hmm that was a bit longer than I planned and reading back sounds really complicated!

**Breda Hogan** · 02-08-2006 03:53 PM

My 19 yr old son was a big big help to me! The younger generation are so clued up on all things 'internet' So if you have a son/daughter, nephew/niece, or young neighbour it might be worth get ting help from them.

**Emma Farnworth** · 02-08-2006 04:12 PM

the website i mentioned (for html help)was lissaexplains.com
its fairly easy to understand and you can copy and paste bits of code, thought it might help someone ?!?