I have so many pieces that I have made now, and I love doing them. I live in a small town, in a sparsely populated state, so the demand for stained glass is pretty low (selling wise). I have quite a bit of experience selling and buying on Ebay, so I thought about selling a few of the smaller pieces so I won't get killed on shipping and insurance.

But I noticed there is a ton of glass for sale on ebay for CHEAP. Large pieces at 30, or 40 bucks! I know that if I sold my pieces for that amount I wouldn't even make back HALF of what I probably have in them! So my window listed for 120$ wouldn't even be glanced at by the casual ebayer. Does anyone know HOW these people are able to sell these for so cheap? They aren't the artist I know, and I can't tell if they are manufactured or what. I have one piece that was priced by a gallery at about 400$, and I saw a piece online that was (somewhat) similar for 155$
NO WAY!

Argh. Either I need to find a cheaper way of doing this (unlikely) or figure out an edge that I have

Clough

You could advertise them free of charge for you on other places than eBay. Most of the best sites on which to advertise on the Internet are listed on the following link.

http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/music/m...ng-103010.html

tickle

I do commission stained glass but when I started out I was similar to you. Many many pieces usually developed from finding patterns that I just could not pass over. Working with stained glass is addicitve, especially when the glass texture and colours are such a wide range.

For many years I did a show called Artists in the Garden put on by a cancer group in Oshawa Ontario every June. I had to have at least eight pieces to put up for sale. I never had to try and sell anywhere else. A good venue because it was out of doors in some very lovely settings.

What you could do is go farther affield, invest some time in travelling to get your pieces in shops on a commission basis, usually 25 per cent or 30 per cent. The shop gets the commission for selling. Always include your business card with the pieces so people know where to contact you should they want something different. I learned a long time ago I couldnt just sit on my tush and let others come to me. I took the bull by the horns and succeeded by putting a little of my hard earned money in the gas tank and travelling around to gift shops, etc.

I have noticed recently that pieces are being produced enmasse, usually made with lead came. Dont necessarily like working with lead came, dont know about you. Maybe give me your thoughts on that. The work is very attractive but all pieces are the same and sold in flea markets.

I am on the comfortable end of what I do now. I dont have to do a lot and can pick and choose a commission, dont advertise, just leave my cards around. I do have a full time job working in the healthcare sector.

Would like to see some pics of your work. I always take pictures of mine with the throw away cameras and when getting them developed ask for a cd which i load in my computer in case I have to send pics of my work to a prospective client via e mail.

oneguyinohio

At one time, I had a chance to purchase 4 large pallets of stained glass sheets of many different colors... (at least 150 styles) for under 450 dollars and I thought about the ebay route, but quickly found the same thing you did... with many stained glass items not even getting bids on ebay. I had no experience with making or selling any stained glass items... only having watched an aunt do it a few short times... It looked like something I would enjoy.... but anyways I passed on the purchase...not wanting to buy something else to have sitting around for years.

I do agree that building a network of galleries and art shows would be the best method of selling based on my research of the subject. Might also be able to display artwork at some restaurants or with home builders... with a card attached that you are available for commissioned work... as many people want to put such a window in their new homes.

I feel like I'm not adding much to this thread because others with much more experience have already said my thoughts.

tickle

hi, oneguyinohio, I used tol live in Toledo on Bancroft (just an aside) your name took me back a bit.

You actually did add something to the OPs post. Purchasing glass that someone has obviously dumped because they went out of business. I have had that kind of luck from time to time over the years finding just such a prize and took advantage because the price of the whole thing was just unbelievable, along with copper foil and lead it lasted me for some time !

Nice to hear from you and your input, of course !

oneguyinohio

Thanks for your feedback, that bunch was from an old state hospital that had used some of it for therapy work with patients at some point in the past, and it was all sold off as surplus...