Edna Pattison

Hi Ladies, I joined the cup in May.2010. and yet not earned £5.00. Can you give me any advise as what I am Not doing. Thought I would have been able to earn a little more.. not even enough earned to cover one order. grrrrrr.

Anne Perks

Hi Edna

I joined the same time and haven't earned very much either. My choice of cards mustn't be other peoples and I tend to only buy what I like.

Did well last month I earned a whole £1 !!

You've got to judge what you think will sell and hope you get in first

Take care

Anne

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Life's too short to worry. Live each day to the full

Anne xx

Dianne Jackson

I supose it all depends on how many cards you have on. I joined in June 2010 and got to gold very quickly

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Deborah Braun

I did not do very well at first, it really is the luck of the draw and how many cards you have made and posted. Once you make silver it seems that things improve since you make 4p per sale. I did not really expect that I would make a lot, helps once in a while to have at least a small amount of go towards a new order.

Gwyneth George

I rather think that there are lots of factors that govern how well an individual crafter will do at getting the commission for sheets that are sold which have their cards attached.

Firstly, the more cards you have up the more the chance of a small number of them selling during any particular month, though it isn't all dependent on having a huge number up if those designs are not what others are looking for. Plus of course the more cards you have online the more you actually get per sale as you cross from one threashold to the next, which does mean more money at the end of the month. 25 sales at Silver 4p gets you £1.00, but at 5p of a Gold Crafter gets you £1.25 for the same number of sales. Not a big jump I know, we are just talking pennies, but it's enough of a boost in actual money to give your confidence a boost as well.

Secondly, as has already been said, we chose cards who's design we like, we think we can make up nicely, or we've got somebody in mind that it would be suitable for, mostly! But what we like may not be what the majority of CUP customers are looking for, and may not be the next big "on trend" concept. We can sit by our PC/Laptop for hours on end trying to grab the sheets we think will be big sellers in the hope of getting some while the Gold Star is still in place (though quite often missing on a large proportion of them), or we can look through all the designs with Gold Stars and try to get as much variety as possible into our gallery of cards so that there's more of a chance of things appealing to somebody. I think that a proportion of the designs I'd picked haven't had any sales since I put a card up, but then quite a few of them had been up on the site for a long time before I bought them and hadn't had any sales before me either, which just goes to show that they were not realy popular - but then something that's been up for six months suddenly sells two or three in one week, so there's no second guessing what will happen. On the other side of the scale my biggest seller has sold 87 times since I uploaded my card. Though the vast majority of the ones I've put up are in the 3 to 5 sales range.

Have you had a look through your card gallery to see if you have a wide spread of designs and occasions covered? I know that designs for Christmas were selling well the end of November the begining of December, but that they tend to have slow but steady sales all through the year. I know that Valentines cards were big the begining of February. We've now got Mother's Day, Easter, and Father's Day to come. Having a spread of designs for all occasions gives you a better chance of having sales I think. Don't know whether others have noticed this or not. Of course, Birthday, Anniversary, Wedding and Sympathy cards are needed all year round. But it pays to have different styles of images within these categories as well.

At the sort of scale of money we're making it is just a help towards our crafting costs, it simply isn't going to cover the cost of sheets and all the materials to make them. But to my mind, every penny helps, and if I need to make a card up, with such a range of designs still with Gold Stars on CUP, I might as well buy one of those and have a chance of a few sales as buy one without a Gold Star. It's partly the fun of making the card and also the hope of getting something back.

Advertising also helps I think. Perhaps not immediately, but in the future. And it's not just your advertising, perhaps just putting a link to your cards at the end of your E-mails, but whether the designer is actively advertising as well. And of course CUP is actively advertising in magazines as well. Somebody may see something now on CUP and not actually need it, but somebody asks for a card in a month or two and people think. A-ha! Saw just the thing on CUP, and come back to search.

There just isn't an instant fix to getting big money on CUP, but don't let it get you too dishartened. Keep at it slowly but surely. I'm sure that sooner or later you'll start getting a steady rise in your PayPal account at the end of each month.

Keep at it.

GG

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Gwyneth George



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Jane Wells

I think you have said it all Gwyneth....do you have a Harry Potter style hat that you wear because you are like the wise owl!!!
If you sell your cards then you will buy what you think your customers will like, that way you will make money back on one sheet, depending on what you price your cards at! My taste is altered art and mixed media so I tend to go for vintage and whimsicle...having said that, I do sometimes go for the more commercial cards just to give a little variation! As Gwyneth says, if folk want a particular card then they will search for that theme and hopefully buy, but at the end of the day, you either come on here to try to make money...or you come on here to enjoy your card making and make some pin money in the process! I have cards dating back to when I first joined that havent seen the light of day that I thought would sell, and others that have done surprisingly well - maybe see what others are buying and buy similar?? But I agree, building up your cardstock does make a difference, and since I reached gold, that 5p per sheet really is noticable! And I have noticed, you have to keep up with the new sheets/kits - once you have something that is popular and people latch onto, then that popular card/kit will always sell potentially, making people dip in continuously and be reminded that you are there and hopefully keep coming back! I do wish you luck and hope CUP takes off for you, there are no hard fast rules, just enjoy your crafting and if you make money then that's a bonus - but definatley try and sell your cards elsewhere...family, friends, in a school, hospital, local shop, online...anywhere, it will sooon pick up! I use Facebook and have my own site on there: Tabby and Tangles Altered Art
This makes a huge difference and I sell my cards through this - use facebook to your advantage!! And as Rob said, you will be able to sell your cards on here soon, that will be exciting!! x

Lorraine Appleby

Hi Edna I agree with the ladies, a surprising thing i have come across is backing sheets and inserts seem to sell more than some of my cards - go figure it!!! and at 20p a shot maybe a trial run in this direction will soon boost your sales, you still get the same commission. I am lucky in the fact now nearly all my cards are either sold or used privately, i had a large order to fulfill (which i didn´t want to do!!!) BUT they have come back again and want a regular supply (as many cards as i can make lol!!!) don´t know what i stood in to get this!?!? But i have explained i go through spells when i just can´t make anything (occupied elsewhere ) It is different abroad as we don´t have as many crafters selling cards as you do in the uk so not really sure your best avenue, but YOU have LOVELY cards and its just a matter of the public knowing what you have you will soon recuperate your costs, good luck to you and keep on smiling xx

Edna Pattison

Hi Ladies.
Thank you all for you kind and helpful comments. I do search the web for hours at times for the cards with the Gold star. Not many at times. But with the time change over the world you have to be very quick... Was going through the kits the other evening. but nothing available....
I usually look for cards that I would like to make up. Or family occasions, I also try to make a range and different cards.
I did not realise that you could buy the cheaper sheets. (reduced) and still get commission on them if the card sells. Will give that ago. I know I shall never be rich at doing this. But seeing some of the big money earned. I thought I was not putting enough into it. Love doing the cards.
So will carry on regardless. Thank you again. I have taken all in. Take care Edna.x

Joan Prince

I agree with everything you said Gwyneth. I have lots of cards that haven't had a single sale on them, but have managed to sell some made up cards of these sheets at my weekly sales here in Spain. The more cards on the site the bigger chance there is of sales.

Jon

Julie McGregor

yes I've only 2sold this month never made a £1!! one day perahaps!