Where does one start......

[lablover 218]

Been reading till my brain hurts.  I have done a few decals for myself and have had others ask me where I got it from.  I'd like to sell or try to sell them and more as I come up with more ideas.  Where is a good place to start?  I was thinking of doing a Ebay store or Etsy.  But that Etsy place looks frakin scary!  Everyone is selling the same thing...LOL .

 

Also, I'm sure the chance is pretty good that your design gets ripped off by someone else.  Guess thats a sort of compliment.

 

I'm Retired and really having a good time with this.  Sure would be cool to see a few bucks come in from it.  Still reading here but haven't come to any conclusion on a safe place to start..Ebay or Etsy or whatever.

 

Any advice is welcome

 

BTW I have to ask...Looking at both of those places I see decals I was convinced would be trademark or copyright stuff.  Superman Logo??  I thought for sure that would be a nono..Am I missing something.  I figured its better to come up with off the wall stuff

 

BTW  Happy 239 Birthday Marines.....

 

Semper Fi

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

Been reading till my brain hurts.  I have done a few decals for myself and have had others ask me where I got it from.  I'd like to sell or try to sell them and more as I come up with more ideas.  Where is a good place to start?  I was thinking of doing a Ebay store or Etsy.  But that Etsy place looks frakin scary!  Everyone is selling the same thing...LOL .

 

Also, I'm sure the chance is pretty good that your design gets ripped off by someone else.  Guess thats a sort of compliment.

 

I'm Retired and really having a good time with this.  Sure would be cool to see a few bucks come in from it.  Still reading here but haven't come to any conclusion on a safe place to start..Ebay or Etsy or whatever.

 

Any advice is welcome

 

BTW I have to ask...Looking at both of those places I see decals I was convinced would be trademark or copyright stuff.  Superman Logo??  I thought for sure that would be a nono..Am I missing something.  I figured its better to come up with off the wall stuff

 

BTW  Happy 239 Birthday Marines.....

 

Semper Fi

your not missing anything - they are rolling the dice till they get caught and betting it will be worth it . . . With 100,000 plotters out there you have to find a niche market that works for you.  if you are selling what everyone else is selling you will end up competing on price and lose in the end.

[lablover 218]

your not missing anything - they are rolling the dice till they get caught and betting it will be worth it . . . With 100,000 plotters out there you have to find a niche market that works for you.  if you are selling what everyone else is selling you will end up competing on price and lose in the end.

I'm floored that the ad doesn't   get pulled.  I mean I was looking at one persons stuff and everything they had was (What I thought) all copyright stuff.  Corporate logos  Name Brands etc.

 

Yea, I want no part of that  

 

Thanks Dakota...Thats what I'm hoping is to cater to some of the people I hang out with.  They are decal freaks and anything I can come up with thats different than "Everyone Else" should go over well.

[gcextreme 475]

You want a good place to start.....start on FACEBOOK. 

Get into the groups and pages, or start your own.

I am a member of several group pages from trucks, cars, atvs, motorcycles, and the local buy/sell groups.

But find something you are interested in. Me, im a truck and atv and motorcycle enthusiast, i have two trucks, 2 atvs, 4 motorcycles. 

I get quite a few sales from these groups...most of them are local state groups.

 

On the local buy/sell groups i post up pics of some of my work, and always get a few bites here and there.

Even had a few local business hit me up for shirts and store fronts.

 

But just becareful, some groups already have people doing decals and apparel for them, so don't step on any toes, 

and don't tread on any of my groups, lol!!

 

Another good way to start, hit up your local bars, specially if your'e doing shirts and glass etchings.

 

Local church and youth groups too!!

[Wildgoose 4,200]

I started by making some cool stuff for free for some friends who have businesses and then making some cool stuff for myself and then nonchalantly talking to other people I come in contact with about what I can do. It didn't take off immediately but over a few years has steadily grown into a viable business. I have been able to upgrade my equipment from very budget minded to spoiled rotten and have a blast still doing near free work for the high school kids who have their yearly class on international trade and they want shirts made that have flags and all sorts of stuff on them. I make my real money from the larger businesses that I have gotten on board and so the other fun stuff (which is really why I actually started doing this in the first place) I still do for family and friends and now take advantage of being a wholesale apparel shop too. Word of mouth is the best selling factor for me and I do business probably on a lower profit margin than most of my competition because of low overhead, but I still make great money at it. People have a desire and need for a lot of the things we do so it's really a matter of stepping into their spending path. Sell them on a little better service and/or product than they are used to getting and that money will start making it's way in your direction rather than the other guy. They are likely to spend it either way.