Drop shipping art on Ebay?

Anyone ever heard of this?

I'm playing around with the idea. I'm an artist and I have had some success selling my artwork on Ebay, but it seems like after a while Ebay just turns off my traffic. For example, I did over 500 in total sales (that's according to ebay so I think that number includes shipping) from August 17th to September 17th. Not bad for just messing around on the side. But From September 17th to October 2nd, I've only done 132 in total sales. Not as long of a time period but it's obvious my sales are way down from the 30 days prior. I called Ebay about this and they say it's due to the hurricanes. I don't see how that can be. I can lose 50% sales when only a few areas in the country are affected by a hurricane? They are just giving me the run around. They are doing something to limit my account.

So I figure a more established Ebay seller could do better and I could just focus on making artwork. I normally only ship inside the USA to keep things simple. If someone did want to try drop shipping my art, you would have some advantages. There are lots of people selling art, but nobody else is selling my art. So you'd have an original product. And even if other people did sell my art, nobody can sell the same piece. Artworks would be reserved for each drop shipper.

Right now I'm just toying with this idea so no numbers are worked out. I've gotten lucky and sold some small pieces of art for 60 dollars. Of course it takes time to create the art, but considering materials, there is huge window there for profit. My items lately are not fetching that kind of price, but like I said, I'm sure Ebay is limiting my account somehow. Maybe if I just wait it out sales will pick back up.

I'm just curious to see what others think about this idea.

Thanks a lot.

Why would ebay Limit your account if they are earning money because you make sales?

Also, selling dropshipped Art is a good idea. I do not think a Lot of people tried dropshipping with Art so far, so you should def. Give it a go. Just make sure that you dropship Art that people actually want and also make sure that it's secure shipping.

Heiko said:

Why would ebay Limit your account if they are earning money because you make sales?

Also, selling dropshipped Art is a good idea. I do not think a Lot of people tried dropshipping with Art so far, so you should def. Give it a go. Just make sure that you dropship Art that people actually want and also make sure that it's secure shipping.

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I don't know for sure what is going on with my sales plummeting. Maybe it's not Ebay limiting me, but I don't know what else it could be. I've tried a few times to sell my art on Ebay and the same thing always happens. I do great at first and then sales slowly trail off.

If you sell art have you thought about selling it on Etsy? Etsy's demographic is far more suited to that niche than other sites. Also you would probably be able to get more on Etsy and its jut 20c to list an item in your shop for 120 days. As you are in the US that helps a lot too because that's their biggest market by far. I would recommend you check it out if you have not already.

speedychef said:

I'm sure Ebay is limiting my account somehow.

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Are you absolutely sure about that? September is usually the slowest month on eBay. Your sales varying between 8 sales a day to 18 sales a day month to month is perfectly normal.

Try To back up slow periods on Ebay by Selling on other platforms Etsy like @William702 said is a good alternative for your niche.

May I see samples of your art I might be interested.

buggy032 said:

Try To back up slow periods on Ebay by Selling on other platforms Etsy like @William702 said is a good alternative for your niche.

May I see samples of your art I might be interested.

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Just search for Chad Marshall Oil Painting on Ebay. All of my stuff will show up. A lot of what I post on there is smaller pieces. My website shows off some of my higher quality works.

Etsy would probably be a better market. It's a market for handmade goods and probably be better appreciated over there and you could charge more.. ebay is full of people looking for bargains.