Today’s Fabulous Friday isn’t a sewing pattern post. It’s about me, me, me. After all, if I wasn’t here, you wouldn’t be either, right? So here I am, giving my update.
First, I haven’t been around as much because I’m still inundated with grandgirls (until next month) and the 10,000 patterns that arrived. That being said, I’m being quite productive. I’m sorting through the new patterns and transferring them to the Etsy shop for one. For two, I built a pretty new Vintage Fashion Library web store. I’ve also opened an eBay store again, for non-sewing related stuff. It’s been a goal of mine to diversity and not rely purely on Etsy for a multitude of reasons.
First off, the fees. When you sell patterns, you have to list a LOT of patterns in order to sell them. Each one costs money to list, to renew if it doesn’t sell, and then in fees once it does sell (not to mention off-site ads, etc.). It’s expensive. You can also get lost in Etsy’s less-than-optimal search and then people have trouble finding you. But my aha moment came a few weeks back, when someone on a forum I’m on said that when someone buys from you on Etsy, they said “I got it on Etsy,” not “I got it from the Vintage Fashion Library.” That’s a problem. People need to remember you in order to keep coming back. It’s also too easy to back out of a shop and fill your cart from other stores, instead of buying from you. It’s just the way Etsy is built.
I had my own selling platform some years back, but switched to Etsy when my life got really complicated. I decided to get back to my own shop, so now I will have two pattern stores, plus my eBay store (Mhysa Lode. Game of Thrones nerds will get the play on words). I’ve tried selling on Facebook Market, but it just doesn’t work well for me, and until they can iron out the wrinkles there, I probably won’t use it.
I joined an accountability group, and the coordinator saw my list of goals for the year and was like “WTH are you thinking?” I have big goals. This week, I had no grandgirls, so I kind of crushed it a bit. The next three weeks will be nuts, then hopefully I will get back into crush mode again, and you will all reap the benefits. I treat my sewing pattern business like a BUSINESS, and it’s my primary income now, so not working it is not an option. Plus, I’m a workaholic, so there’s that. I really do have problems turning it off, but that’s not always a bad thing.
So Fabulous Friday means a pretty new website, a new eBay store, and oh, I have my last cancer treatment today! This means that after 2 1/2 years of radiation and immunotherapy, we can actually call it remission. This is great news. Lymphoma isn’t curable. It lingers in the lymphatic system, but can’t be seen until it really flares up, so it will more than likely be back at some point, but the goal is to live with it, not die from it, as most people do.
So this weekend, if you have a cocktail, raise one for the end of my treatment. It’s been a long road, but thankfully pretty easy, and hopefully we won’t go down that road again soon.
Have a great weekend.
PS If you check out the new VFL website, let me know what you think. I’m still tweaking it and am very open to suggestions.
The Vintage Fashion Librarian 