fluffythewondercat
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posted on February 14, 2006 06:05:17 AM
Okay. So I have dozens of these sterling silver butterfly pins:
There are two styles, as you see. The pins are hollow and each is about 4 grams of silver. Size is about 1 square inch. They are plain silver. Any color you see is scanner flare.
They originally came in pairs, one of each style, and I have marketed them that way with no success at all. The fact that I received so many from my supplier would seem to indicate that they did not sell well in stores, either.
I can scrap them and still make an 18% profit, but I'd rather sell them as jewelry if possible.
Ideas?
fLufF
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[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Feb 14, 2006 06:05 AM ]
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TnErnie
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posted on February 14, 2006 06:29:46 AM
Warning...I'm only half way through my first cup of coffee, so feel free to totally disregard and/or laugh at the following suggestions.
Have you considered using them as a promotional item instead? Free with purchase of $x order, etc.
Or maybe you could attach them individually to a business size card with some kind of decorative printing/inspirational saying on it.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on February 14, 2006 06:37:52 AM
I'm not even halfway through my chai yet, so don't worry, no laughing here, just the usual early morning stuff. Kitten knocks box full of AA batteries off a desk upstairs. He bats them down our uncarpeted stairs one at a time (THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!), because batteries roll really well. Adorably-tousled sweetie picks them all up, puts them back in the box and puts the box exactly back where the kitten found it, so the process can start again tomorrow morning. It's a battle of wills. Guess who's winning.
I had another shipment of the butterflies four years ago and did do what you suggested: give them away, one in each order. It didn't result in any additional sales, though. I wonder if the problem is that they're just ugly.
fLufF
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toasted36
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posted on February 14, 2006 06:57:49 AM
Set up A few buy now auction with price your happy with or just run a reg. auction
Spring Has Sprung Sale !! (insert seller name here) Has Spring Fever And Is Blowing Items Out The Door In This One Time ONLY Auction . Buy 1 Butterfly Pin Get 1 Free " then take a butterfly pin and set it on a flower to get a pretty picture. It Valentines day so you should have flower somewhere in the house. A brite red rose should set the silver off nice.
Also note I'm on my first cup of coffee too 
edited to add ...something like this but without the cat hair lol and I'm sure your picture will be way better
[ edited by toasted36 on Feb 14, 2006 07:27 AM ]
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TnErnie
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posted on February 14, 2006 07:02:16 AM
Cats always win! LOL
The butterflies aren't ugly...to everyone. My just turned 15 yr old daughter saw them and thought they were cute. Her age group is into that sort of thing.
Maybe market them as an inexpensive gift set combined with a necklace and ring - geared towards girls in the 10 - 15ish age group or even younger.
I know I didn't dare buy expensive jewelry for my girls when they were younger, but they loved getting that sort of stuff for gifts. So I usually looked for inexpensive sets. They were happy and I didn't have a heart attack when it got broken or lost.
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bizzycrocheting
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posted on February 14, 2006 07:08:26 AM
How about:
HUGE LOT of Sterling Silver Butterfly Pins
Great for Resale!
List it in the wholesale category and the jewelry category. Add a BIN to it.
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mikes4x4andtruckrepair
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posted on February 14, 2006 07:10:31 AM
I don't think I would scrap them yet. Shoot, if you put them up for auction I would bid on 2 or 3 pair for gifts.
One suggestion I would make would be to stick "something" in the picture that could be used as a reference for size. What that "something" would be I don't know, a ruler would look kind of gaudy. Just something that let's people know they are larger than a tie tack. We all know how people can't read item descriptions.
They say your memory's the second thing to go, I just can't remember what the first thing is. 
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fenix03
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posted on February 14, 2006 07:32:15 AM
Maybe try adding them as an add on option in all of your sales. Purchase this item and add this beautiful sterling silver butterfly pin for $1.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
[ edited by fenix03 on Feb 14, 2006 07:33 AM ]
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ladyjewels2000
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posted on February 14, 2006 08:52:25 AM
I like the flower suggestion. Or if you have any flower pins offer them as a set. Cute theme for spring.
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pixiamom
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posted on February 14, 2006 09:17:05 AM
Could they work as a pendant if you added a chain and marketed it as a pendant/pin? I like the idea of a promotional item, too. Buy 3 items, get free butterfly pin. I also thought the idea for pinning them to a business-sized card with an inspirational message was good "Butterflies are Free" , "April is Butterfly Month", etc. I agree that they are not that ugly, at least in your photo. Or you could save them to promote your future website. With each eBay shipment, include a note that if they buy from your website, they get a free pin.
P.S. Nice photo, Toasted!
[ edited by pixiamom on Feb 14, 2006 09:28 AM ]
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cblev65252
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posted on February 14, 2006 09:42:49 AM
How about marketing them as children's jewelry? I had some bracelets I couldn't sell, but when I sold them as children's jewelry, they sold. They seem more like scatter pins to me. Did you try that? These would also be great pinned onto a handbag, belt or scarf. I've seen a lot of pins I wouldn't normally wear being marketed that way.
Cheryl
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on February 14, 2006 10:00:45 AM
TnErnie: What size anklet does your 15 year old wear? (I mean ankle bracelet, not the frilly edged thin socks Mom used to buy for us to wear with our black patent leather Mary Janes.)
I could do a butterfly set consisting of anklet, toe ring and pin.
fLufF
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TnErnie
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posted on February 14, 2006 10:31:18 AM
Well...I just entered the forbidden zone (girl's room) and found two ankle bracelets. Fluffy, best I can tell by measuring them, one is 7" and the other is 8" - give or take. Does that sound about right?
When they get home from school, I'll ask them just to make sure.
Wanted to add - that sounds like a combination my girls would love.
[ edited by TnErnie on Feb 14, 2006 10:32 AM ]
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pixiamom
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posted on February 14, 2006 10:34:09 AM
<green with envy> Fluff had frilly socks with Mary Janes, I had 'popcorn' socks with velveteen Striderites.
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alldings
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posted on February 15, 2006 04:34:41 AM
You need to find them a cause; people wear yellow & red ribbons, and assorted pins to announce there support of a cause or belief. Your butterfly pins need a cause!
such as Support HSMOV (Help send me on vacation)
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on February 15, 2006 04:49:28 AM
alldings: That's the best idea I've heard yet.
It should be HSMOVSICGSS (Help Send Me On Vacation So I Can Get Some Sleep) but that's a bit hard to pronounce.
Instead of doing the usual make-a-reservation-at-a-pricey-restaurant thing for Valentine's, we went to Castro Street in Mountain View (California) and restaurant-hopped, starting with sushi, progressing to Irish comfort food and Harp lager, and rounding off the evening with desserts and coffee at a bookstore cafe.
Best Valentine's Day we've ever had but I can't sleep.
I think I'm going to try everyone's ideas and see which approach turns out best.
Diane: Wholesale lot of butterflies
Cheryl: Market them as children's jewelry
TnErnie: Create a set
Toasted/Mike: Offer some pairs, photographed with flowers
fLufF
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[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Feb 15, 2006 04:50 AM ]
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OhMsLucy
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posted on February 16, 2006 03:38:52 PM
Fluffy, I like the idea of a set for young girls.
My granddaughter (just turned 13) would be delighted!
Any idea when you might do this?
Lucy
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bizzycrocheting
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posted on February 16, 2006 04:00:20 PM
Good luck, fluffy! Let us know which one turns out to be the best idea. I think it can help alot of us.
Diane
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on February 16, 2006 05:20:40 PM
Lucy: I need to talk to one of my silver suppliers who I believe is trying to offload some toe rings. He's also my anklet connection...
Diane: Your idea went first.
Wholesale lot of butterflies
Can you stand the suspense?
fLufF
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OhMsLucy
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posted on February 16, 2006 05:29:25 PM
Watching, watching, watching...
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glassgrl
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posted on February 16, 2006 06:14:39 PM
Al Anon/AA members use the butterfly as a symbol of their "freedom & rebirth".
Just thought I'd run that one by you.
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bizzycrocheting
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posted on February 16, 2006 06:37:47 PM
OMG! The suspense is killing me! LOL ... Good luck with your auction, fluffy. You already have one bid. I have it on my watch list.
Diane
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LtRay
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posted on February 17, 2006 01:21:42 AM
I don't speak none of them fancy foreign languages listed in ur axshuns but you shore got some purty pictures. An side from the funny kinda talkin such as that there Spanish? "El combino auctiono, no way-o", Latin? "Ix-nay on the ombination-cay of uctions-ay", Southern/Californian? "Clarence ain't gonna combine auctions, baby"
, can I still bid on your auctions and will you ship it all in nice pretty gift wrapped box to my cousin in Albania and gimme a 25% discount for eveything??
Sorry, Fluff, I just had to say it <g>
Really, just wanted to ask what happened to the pic for #8902545268 . Maybe I'm jumping the gun on Marketing Challenge III?
. When your ship comes in.... make sure you are willing to unload it. .
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mikes4x4andtruckrepair
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posted on February 17, 2006 01:28:25 AM
LtRay - Come on now, didn't you learn pig latin in school. Or should I say, didn't you learnfray the pig latinbay in schoolyay comprenday.
They say your memory's the second thing to go, I just can't remember what the first thing is.
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LtRay
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posted on February 17, 2006 02:38:13 AM
No Mike, I had to neglect the basic language courses and move right into advanced communications skills.
As a Southern child in a Northern school system, I was raised bi-lingual and had to serve as the family interpretor at the tender age of 8.
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