What should I do? Raffle, auction or sell?

[Alatariel-Silimaure]

I have a bunch of customs that I want to try and sell, raffle off, or auction off... I just don't know if there is even any interest in them at all. I find myself in a bit of an emergency situation.. the problem if you want to know:

Spoiler

My fiance and I just found out how much the petition for permanent residency for him will cost, and we have to get that filed VERY quickly, he can't get a job until that's filed (we have to file an application for working permission after that, and that takes at least 90 days to get approved) I'm drowning in bills trying to support both of us in the mean time, and to top it off we have to come up with over $1,000 for that application... if we don't have the application in here very soon, he will have to go back to denmark on May 23rd and we'll have to start the process all over to get him back into the country again ...

anyway enough of the problem, on to finding solutions... I want to try and at least raise some of the money from my many customs that I have which I've been wanting to sell for a while, but can't seem to find buyers for, I don't know why *shrug*

I could use some help here in figuring out what I should do to try and get them sold, maybe I'm asking too much for them? maybe my designs aren't what people are interested in? Are my pictures not good enough to showcase them? I have no idea really anyways...

I have some of my customs listed here for sale: http://ponyspiration.weebly.com/custom-sales.html

I'm working on getting pictures of other ones as well, any opinions would be much appreciated on how I might be able to get them to sell better. Also if anyone wants to buy them please PM me!

[Sarahlacewing]

Won't your marriage help him stay? Maybe you could do the paperwork before the ceremony.  I don't think there is anything wrong with the customs it's just customs sales aren't a very stable business unless you are quite famous.

[Alatariel-Silimaure]

we're actually getting legally married on Sunday, but he has to have a permanent residency application in before May 23rd or he has to go back is my understanding

[Sarahlacewing]

Drat! I wonder if there is a payment plan.

Edit: Yay, congrats!

[Alatariel-Silimaure]

heh with the government? that's funny >.>

and thanks :3

[Aitsuki]

Well, if you need the money quickly... I was say that selling ponies is the best bet. You never know what you're getting with auctions....

[Alatariel-Silimaure]

yeah auction was probably my last choice.. and my last raffle didn't go very well

[Maniah]

I honestly think you need better pictures for selling.

Collage type pictures are great to show off a pony in passing when you don't want to post multiple pictures, but you cannot really see good detail with a jumble oh photos in one image.

Also, some of the photo sessions look like they took place indoors at night. There is a lot of shadow and poor lighting. You want brightly lit pictures that don't wash out the pony, and don't cast unflattering shadows. Your best bet is to go outside for photos on a nice sunny day. Take more pictures than you think you need.

Take detailed close up photos. If you have a camera that allows for a Macro setting (flower icon) then use that and they will be much clearer.

Don't size the photos down, or if you do, put a link to the bigger high resolution photos. If I am going to buy a pony (or anything) I want an image as big as possible so I can see all the tiny details.

As to selling things fast.. You can always put them on ebay and link people to buy them there. You can set a reserve price for them if you absolutely don't want to go under a certain amount. An alternative is Etsy. Etsy is very craft oriented and has a customer base already built in. You stand a better chance of drawing customers simply having your work posted on Etsy, than you do having it posted to Weebly. Im not really sure what Weebly is, so maybe I'm wrong?

Hope you find something that works for you. *hugs* Worst case scenario, can you get a bank loan?

[Alatariel-Silimaure]

thanks Maniah! I had a feeling that my pictures probably were lacking, thank you very much for the tips. I can't really get any decent pictures until the weather gets better

they were taken indoors at night, and I have such poor lighting in my apartment sadly (only north and west facing windows too -.-)

I have thought about Ebay and Etsy... but I wanted to avoid paying listing fees and such, and I'm terrified of buyers that aren't on the arena with all the stories I've heard, I think it might stress me out too much.

Weebly is my website, I just posted them up there to have a place to put them in case someone would happen to see them.

bank loan would be my absolute last resort... I'm already so far in debt I probably couldn't get one

[Maniah]

I understand the debt thing. But at least once you get him legal, he can start working and help you pay off some of that debt maybe?

As to lighting, when I can't go outside I use three lamps to light my photo area. I need to find "Daylight" bulbs for them though because I still have to go in photoshop and edit out the yellowness of my pictures. I'm told if you get bulbs that have a blue tint to them then it helps to cancel out the yellow effect, but the ones I have don't seem to actually do that.

I just have cheap little $10 desk lamps from WalMart, and a standing "Tree" lamp I already had. I use the tree lamp to light from above, and the desk lamps one to either side, with a sheet of .97 poster board as a white backdrop, or some white fabric.

Just grab a sheet, and all the lamps in your home and crowd them around the table, prop them on books and stuff. Drape the sheet over a box to make a backdrop. And take way more pictures than you think you will need. You never know when two identical pictures will differ in some minor way that makes a huge difference. Like a shine on the paint near the symbol, or a flaw like a speck of dirt being magnified because of the angle. It sucks to have to go back and take more, so I just take like 20-50 from a variety of positions.

Good luck honey! Ebay and Etsy can be scarey, but as long as you describe your item well, and send it with tracking, then you should be OK. The annoying part is when people bid then don't pay >.<

[Alatariel-Silimaure]

you know I've tried that with indoor pictures.. I even made a photobooth from a tutorial on deviant art. I've tried everything I can think of, and my pictures always turn out like that I can't figure out why they turn out so bad

I'm going to try the outdoor pictures and see if that helps otherwise I'll have to start believing that it's my camera

[Colorscapesart]

The site is a nice start. Maniah had some really good advice.  I would add that for quicker sales, lower pricing always helps.  Your lovely mom and baby set seem a little high, honestly, considering that the symbols are decals (which may or may not stand the test of time).  You have lovely work, and better pictures will definitely helps with sales!

[Alatariel-Silimaure]

thanks

yeah I suppose that price is a little high, I had it more up because of the glass eyes and the amount of colors of hair, but I suppose the decals would lower the value a little