Well I'm slowly but surely adding products to the new Kitten Vintage Square Mini-Site.
The Denim Edit will be live today and I've learnt so much along the way. I've still got some annoying things I don't seem to be able to change - quirks of using the free version of square's web hosting (that annoying red Low Stock alert). As these sites are often created by an IT professional in an office somewhere, they don't have any idea of the end consumer trying to utilise them.
One of the terribly time-consuming things about selling vintage online is that we're all here trying to sell individual pieces. We can't sell one in every colour, one in every size or "great this is selling - lets sell 200 of them". And unfortunately that's the ideal consumer that Mr Square IT designer has in their mind.
I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall and there's been much self-doubt but there's some solid reasons for moving over to this site:
1. Cost - pure and simply, every transaction costs money but square processing for online transactions is just 2.2%. These days eBay is 13.5% plus a monthly fee, which brings it to approximately 20% of every sale going straight in eBay's coffers. Depop is somewhat better at 10% and Etsy charges a listing fee plus 6.5% and currency conversion fees.
2. Time - I know a lot of people do well with Instagram Drops but the key times for this to happen are 8pm in an evening. Great if you don't have kids but if you do then you'll know that this is THE WITCHING HOUR. If I do get my child to bed before 8pm then I need at least an hour recovery time. Selling in this mode means I can prep during the week, then just flip everything live.
3. Communication - Instagram drops require such an awful lot of back and forth communications, sending informations, chasing payments, ghosting and follow ups. Allowing people the choice to simply click and shop but then reach out with more considered questions allows me more freedom.
4. Security - I can't believe how sophisticated phishing has become. Selling online means giving out private information and I love the website seamlessly doing all the hard work behind the scenes so I don't need to worry about hackers.
5. Style - I'm enjoying the process of collating all my clothes into edits. It's a good way to show off what I have in store already, gives me themes to buy in and is a solid way to get a volume of products listed to create a product packed website with enough to shop through. It reminds me of how I used to stock my old shop in Manchester and I love curating these looks.
6. Size - I decided to add Shop by Size navigation and I've soon realised that I need more variety in sizes. I always find that larger sizes 16+ sell quicker so it can be hard to keep them in stock. Watch this space for the next drop which has more larger sizes. I'll be making sure I source a range of sizes to allow for inclusivity.
7. Professionalism - Since launching this site, I suddenly feel like I've got a proper business again. It's given me a new sense of purpose and direction that I have actual control over - not just uploading to eBay and hoping for the best.
Thanks for reading, I hope that you'll continue to follow my journey. I'm hoping after the next few drops there will be a solid mix of styles and sizes for you to shop through!
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