DIY City Blog

SELLING DIY IN THE WWW.
By Outi Pyy

I’ve been working with clothing and fashion in sales for the past 8 years and I thought my work experience would be a good place to start writing. Many of you DIY crafters also sell your goods somewhere in the net, so I’m hoping you will be able to use these tips to move more goods. I believe selling handmade goods relies much on the same principles of sales and marketing as on factory produced products. It’s all about presentation, presentation, presentation! Of course DIY is even better because handmade goods are also sustainable and they haven´t been made in a sweatshop!

photo credit: tara bethune-leamen of swandiamondrose.com or SWANclothing.etsy.com

Start with the Photo

The internet shops would not sell anything if it weren’t for good product images since the customer rarely has the opportunity to see the product live before purchasing it. Your product might be fantastic but without a good presentation it is impossible for the customer to know that. There should be several pictures available from your item:

• Overall view from front and back,
• A few pictures of a person wearing the item (note styling),
• Plus at least one detail image outside and possibly also from the inside of the item.

Few other Tips:

• Note that only one of these pictures will be visible from the categories-page so choose the best and most interesting photo of your batch to be presented there.
• Photograph all pics in sharp high resolution so the customer can open them in screen size for more up-close viewing should they choose so.
• If you are worried about copyrights, add a watermark to your photo before uploading it.

All crafty people I know are very visual. By choosing an interesting background or scenery for your item it will help to create the right feeling for your product. The background is very important if you do not have the possibility to photograph the item on a model or mannequin. Choose a background that is different colour from your item or that has an interesting surface so it will make the item stand out better. I have always loved brick walls as background because of that street vs. industrial-feeling.

photo credit: E. Patzig

Clothes are best presented on a person because then it is easier to see the style, cut and fit of your garment.

• If you do not want the models/your face visible in the photo, try a mask that suits our outfit or those funny glasses-nose-mustache-thingies. Humorous pictures sell!
• Accessories, especially bags and jewellery are also good to photograph on someone or a mannequin so it is easy to see their proportions and how they would look on.
• Photograph outside as much as possible. The natural light enables you to take good pictures easily with out flash. In my opinion pocket camera flash is more trouble than worth using. It tends to flatten the image and create funny unwanted shadows and highlights.
• If you want to shoot the images inside, take them during daylight and use a tripod to get sharp images with out using flash. Outside light also makes the colours look more natural.
• Macro shots look great when photographing details and jewellery.Stay tuned for more tips in the next edition.
  
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