Thanks for the update. I can see how the listings get "buried" as you say. There's so much on that site. I've used kijiji alot to sell other services and it's the same thing: you need to pay to keep your adds in view. And of course it helps to "legitimize" your business if someone has heard of your elsewhere. You need to make a number of "impressions" before many people will buy from you.

I'll check out the artfire site too.

Thanks again.

One thing about ebay is that there is always some dum guy out there willing to sell something for nothing. I have sold a few things on ebay but you have to sell it on "buy it now" or "fixed price" and have really good pictures otherwise you will lose your tail most of the time. also you need a paypal account.

Sometimes people don't like to buy from someone with 0 feedbacks so what I did was searched for some 1cent free shipping auctions for guitar picks or beads and just bought a bunch of those. you can get a hundred feedbacks for just a dollar that way.

It all depends on what people want. Things usually sell good around Christmas time to. A lot of sellers say they sell out at Christmas.

Ebay is good for buying on though. That is where I get most of my supplies and tools.

We sold a lot of railroad spike knives on ebay. A few cable damascus knives but a lot of other stuff went unsold. Like guys have already said bids and buyers seem to run cheap on ebay..I saw a lot of very plain basic spike knives sell for as little as $10 on ebay all the time. Ours were pretty nice as spike knives go. They always had some sort of exotic twist handle, filework on the spine etc..We always sold them but the most we ever got for one was $40, usually we got about $30..Not bad I suppose but we actually put a decent ammount of work into the spike knives we sold.

There are some really helpful points of view in this thread. In my experiences selling on ebay, everyone wants a deal. Brand name goods hold their own, because they are a predictable commodity. Handcrafted items do not seem to fare as well in their ability to sell for a worthwhile price. So selling on ebay may be a lesson in trial and error. Sometimes it is hard to choose the right category or description for your item. Ebay fees are structured so that they make money even if you do not. Representing your item with excellent photographs and a detailed description can certainly help.

I like Docs advice about a personal site. I feel like that is the best way to go for a hobbyist to make a few bucks. One person I know that has a personal site has integrated it with the payPal, "buy it now" buttons. He sells knives, and every once in a while gets an email saying a knife sold. All he had to do was list it! Not bad. Google has a competing service with pay pal, google checkout. I've played around with it. What I like about it is you can keep your inventory in a google spread sheet, and the store front is automatically generated by google. All you have to do is have the site up, and update your inventory spread sheet. I think it is a good option worth exploring. Currently I'm planning on going that route in the future. Right now I've got other irons in the fire that need attention though... Good topic :)

I like ETSY. True, it is a sea of "craft", but if your work is unique and/or top notch people will find you. its cheep to list an item (20 cents) and selling fees combined with paypal are maybe 15%. Much better than a gallery or shop. Plus you get to see who buys what and talk with them. Valuable information to someone who wants to tailor their wares. A guy wont make a living off the place but its a real kick in the pants when some random lady from Witchita buys some ironwork from you. Pretty soon your paypal is juiced and you can buy your own junk.

Karen here....
I had a site on ebay or over a year, had great feedback or Brian's work that sold but it took soooo much time to try and educate buyers about one of a kind forgings. Still had to practically give it away to get any intrest and ebay costs are high.
I agree that there are better sites for blacksmiths. :(