i think it's paypal, though i'm not sure. but in fact there are many other unsupported countries. you're right, no paypal is very bad, especially if you sell to individuals. it should be easier if you sell through companies like deviantart though.
Yes - I just bought a mousepad of this (http://www.deviantart.com/print/432835/) to test them, and they're a reasonable shopping experience, and they accept PayPal. (I needed a mousepad - honest!) Shipping seemed a bit high for just a mousepad though - US$11.90.
Looks for mousepads on eBay with shipping to NZ and finds this one...
the commission depends on the 'plan' you use. if you pay them something like $30 a year, they give you something like 50% of what they get for your prints less printing costs, if i remember right. the idea is that you give them the originals of your photos and drive the traffic in, and they print, sell, ship, charge et cetera.
Hard to compare with eBay, where you'd do the printing and shipping yourself. And deviantart are not an auction like eBay, which has the advantage of allowing you to find out just how much people are willing to pay for your stuff - if two or more who really want it start bidding for it...
Do you still retain ownership of your art with deviantart, and can you withdraw it? As there might be a way to test your prints at auction that way... ;-) Meaning you sell a few via deviantart to a certain someone, then take them off deviantart for a while, and the certain someone offers them on eBay to see what happens...
yes, you retain the ownership, but, first of all, they are prints, i.e. there are unlimited copies, nobody would compete for that. toys are a different story, they should be sold on ebay, preferably. deviantart specialize in professional printing, i will never be able to do anything like that: lab results are unpredictable, and then - the hassle of printing individual photos! so i think a service like deviantart or smugmug is the best thing, for selling prints. it's all a question of exposure, of promotion, because naturally everyone has a camera these days and the competition should be severe. the appealing aspect is that there's almost zero investment - you build and promote your site, over years -- something you'd do anyway...
There's only unlimited copies while they're on deviantart, which is why I said about taking them off. But the idea would be just to find out what people would bid for them in their own right, to give you an idea of how high your prices should be. I assume you're allowed to set the price as high as you like on deviantart?
If you look in eBay category Art/Prints/Contemporary you'll find there's a 'Modern - Open Edition', (as apposed to limited edition), which is where your stuff would fit. Use eBay's advanced search to find those that have had at least 1 bid to see what they sell for - though 2 bids are better, as it means you see the highest anyone would pay, as apposed to the lowest the seller will take for it.
i think the price should be higher than deviantart's 'default price', which is the only option for free accounts, but not much higher, because, naturally, the more you charge, the fewer you sell.
There's an argument that a too low price turns people off because they think the product must be of low quality.
But anyway, you'll have so much to offer you'll be able to experiment with different prices, and if the higher-priced ones sell as many as the lower-priced ones, you'll be able to adjust your prices accordingly.
And it's 1am and I'll be working if it's not wet tomorrow...
The mousepad arrived today, (thus about 12 days to get here from date of order), and quite nice it is too. (Has another sniff.) It was in a cardboard envelope with 'Photographs enclosed, please do not bend' written on it, but it was bent. Of no importance when the 'photographs' were a rubber mat, but if there were photographs in it, I suspect the recipient would've been a bit disappointed.
You any closer to the grande opening of your deviantART store?
Mmmm - concentration - I remember it, err, sort of...
Not been easy to concentrate here this week (http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=IHAWKESB5&day=26&year=2007&month=1&graphspan=week)...
it will be several more months - even if i have time to work on it! i made it pretty simple at first, but now it's getting more complicated, with a lot of details and in-line animation. so i will have to redo some of the things i made earlier. the graph looks dramatic... and we're just starting winter here, there was no snow until the day before yesterday, and trees in the forest are in catkins.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-12 08:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-12 09:39 am (UTC)Looks for mousepads on eBay with shipping to NZ and finds this one...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260075306918
charging US$4.95.
What commission do they charge at deviantART?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-12 10:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-12 10:40 am (UTC)Do you still retain ownership of your art with deviantart, and can you withdraw it? As there might be a way to test your prints at auction that way... ;-) Meaning you sell a few via deviantart to a certain someone, then take them off deviantart for a while, and the certain someone offers them on eBay to see what happens...
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-12 10:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-12 11:26 am (UTC)If you look in eBay category Art/Prints/Contemporary you'll find there's a 'Modern - Open Edition', (as apposed to limited edition), which is where your stuff would fit. Use eBay's advanced search to find those that have had at least 1 bid to see what they sell for - though 2 bids are better, as it means you see the highest anyone would pay, as apposed to the lowest the seller will take for it.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-12 11:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-12 12:01 pm (UTC)But anyway, you'll have so much to offer you'll be able to experiment with different prices, and if the higher-priced ones sell as many as the lower-priced ones, you'll be able to adjust your prices accordingly.
And it's 1am and I'll be working if it's not wet tomorrow...
Nighty, night...
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-12 12:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-25 06:25 am (UTC)You any closer to the grande opening of your deviantART store?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-25 11:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-25 11:50 am (UTC)Not been easy to concentrate here this week (http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=IHAWKESB5&day=26&year=2007&month=1&graphspan=week)...
You any closer to finishing you animation? ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-25 11:53 am (UTC)Blugh. See what I mean? (Never mind the need to re-post to get the link right...)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-25 03:11 pm (UTC)the graph looks dramatic... and we're just starting winter here, there was no snow until the day before yesterday, and trees in the forest are in catkins.