Sporran question - first time post

[LKM]

I have looked over several posts on X marks for some time now and have finally joined. I do leather work, am looking into getting some real fur for making a new sporran, and I was wondering where would be the best place to sale sporrans that I make as I can make more then one sporran from each fur unless I use rabbit. I am mostly looking at skunk, fox, and goat. With the price skunk will most likely be the fur I go with for the now and I'm likely to keep making more. Would you recommend ebay, etsy, or listings on the form to start with?

Pictures of some of the leather sporrans I made should be attached. They were inspired by some vintage sporrans and hunting sporrans.

[Father Bill]

You'll get better recommendations from those who know more than I, but meantime, welcome to the "Great Rabble!"

[48HofC]

Etsy is a good place to sell handcrafted items like that, more personable. eBay has a massive viewership, but skepticism runs rampant as to the true origin and workmanship of sporrans and such on there and people tend to be pickier.

[cck]

from Austin, Texas

(If you meant to attach some photos, they did not make it to my computer.)

[LKM]

Thank you the information on the Etsy vs eBay. I will look into Etsy more and see if it is a good fit for me. I have ordered a skunk pelt and will be working on it once it gets in.

I will have to look over the picture posting instructions again and see if I can get pictures to show up. The pic by my name is one of my sporrans that I made.

[ratspike]

I sold kilts on Etsy for a number of years. It used to be a fabulous place to sell and buy handmade stuff, but now it's overrun by mass produced garbage, kilts and accessories included. It's overloaded with cheap junk from Pakistan and IMO isn't worth any more time than throwing a few items up in your storefront. Being successful with Etsy is very difficult and time consuming, so why not put that time and effort into a real web presence? If you don't speak Wordpress then you can use a service like Wix or Squarespace. Tie your website in with Instagram and Facebook and I think you'll have a solid jumping off point. Instagram in particular is huge in the world of handmade. There's a learning curve of course, but once you're over the hump it's well worth the effort.

[Tarheel]

Well met Mr. Morris and welcome to the Rabble. If you get the opportunity to show, and provide for sale, any of your sporrans at a Celtic or Highland festival, word of mouth will get more orders quicker. I agree that becoming an advertiser here is good business. Becoming a registered hobbyist among the Rabble gives us the ability to see your progress and provide feedback also. I wish you luck and hope to see more from you here.

[LKM]

Thank you everyone for your input. All options seem to have positives and negatives. I will have to look into the registered hobbyist idea for when I have enough sporrans to sell a few.

If I decide to sell some of my work at a highland festival at some point it would probably be a few years before I would have enough to sell. I would want more then a few sporrans on the table and at the moment I am looking at what I would do with the extra that I might make.