How To Create A Facebook Destash Group

 I'm getting to be "that age" where many people start thinking about downsizing their possessions and their homes.

This is what too much studio stuff looks like:

My husband and I have our names on a waiting list for a nearby retirement community and we've been sorting through nearly 40 years of stuff and tossing or giving away a lot of it.  I've been making jewelry nearly all of my adult life and my studio is overflowing.  I must destash or we will never be able to move.  My husband jokes that perhaps we should keep our current house for a studio and move to a smaller home to live in!

Its not just that I'm a messy creative, its also that there is no place left to put things, so it just accumulates on every horizontal surface.  In our new home, I won't even have a separate room for a studio, so where will I put all this debris then?

So I've set up a destash group on Facebook.  Its working quite well, so I thought I'd share some tips for success, in case your bead stash needs thinning out too. 

 First take a look at the Facebook selling groups you already belong to. If they are well run, study their policies and rules.  For example, I belong to the Ceramic Art Bead Market on Facebook.  This group has nothing to do with destash.  They sell ceramic artisan beads and pendants. The group is well managed and has been quite successful.  I studied their policies and thought about what would be applicable to my destash group.  In a like manner, I studied policies from a lampwork selling group and a couple of destash groups, then I formulated my policies to create guidelines for the way I wanted my own group to be run.

Your policies must include how you want your members to let you know that they want to buy something, how they will be billed and how they will pay you. Your shipping policies must be clear.  How much will you charge for different weights?  Will you combine shipping?  How long after payment will it be until you ship? You must include if you expect payment within 24 or 48 hours of receiving the invoice and what will happen if they don't follow through with payment in a timely manner. I recommend that you also include language that addresses polite discourse in the group and what will happen if a member self promotes, spams or treats others disrespectfully.  Its best to address these issues upfront.  Its much harder, if not impossible, to restore a friendly atmosphere once it has been damaged.

I looked over my calender of commitments and decided that I would hold my destash sales on Wednesday's only, as that was my least busy day. This gives me a week in between sales to take care of invoices, shipping and photographing items for the next week's sales.  This works very well for me, but other groups have more or less continuous destash going on.  You have to think about what will work for you.

I've decided to just write the price on a piece of paper and put it in the photograph.  This saves me typing time, when I'm listing items.  Not elegant, or sophisticated, but it works and is easy.  I generally try to record the price per bead whenever I make a purchase, and this has enabled me to state what the retail price was and what I'm offering the items for.  Members can see that they are getting an awesome deal by being a part of this group.  I'm intentionally pricing things low, because my primary objective is to move things out of my studio.  Getting reimbursed for doing so is nice, but it is secondary for me.  I include a penny in the picture for size reference.

I start my sales at 3:30 PST and list about 15 sets of beads and pendants.  Last week the sale was over by about 5:00 pm PST.  When someone claims an item, I always be sure to thank them, then I edit the original listing wording to say "SOLD to (name)".

Later the same evening, I send out invoices through PayPal.  Once an item is paid for, I "hide" the picture on Facebook, so it is easy to see what is still available for sale, without having to wade through all the pictures of sold items.  I ship out items by Saturday or earlier and then I start the whole process over again.

Like any online selling, you have to do promotion or all this work will be for nothing.  I started off by personally inviting about 5 of my friends, just to get the group started.  Then I posted links on my timeline, my business page and on all the Facebook jewelry groups I belong to.  I included a picture and wrote:

Linda is destashing her bead supply in preparation for moving to a smaller home. Want some great deals on 30 years worth of beads? Follow this link and then ask to join! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1438318213129493/

Shortly before my first destash sale I made a collage, like the one below and included a link to my group. I posted this all over Facebook, as well.

 For the 2nd sale, I made another announcement, with the same wording, but new pictures.  I plan to have new preview pictures every week, to help build interest and anticipation.

 I'm excited about this group and it makes me happy to know that my extra beads are going to people who will put them to good use, making the world a little bit more lovely.

Linda Landig  
Linda Landig Jewelry

Hosting A Destash Event

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I hosted a destash event on my Facebook jewelry page.  I not only discovered some tips about how to run one of these events, I also learned a bit about myself.

I have been collecting beads for around 25 years.  At first I only bought beads at hobby shops like Michael's or JoAnn.  Later I discovered a delightfully funky bead and pawn shop on the nearby Yakima Indian Nation reservation.  My jewelry designs were very basic in those days and I didn't even know there was such a thing as artisan beads...and maybe that long ago there weren't any.  A lot of those beads are still hanging around in my studio (can we call them vintage now and charge more?). 

Bracelet made with beads from Michaels:

Then I went through my gemstone and sterling silver stage.  I still ogle gemstones, but they don't seem to make their way into many of my designs right now.

 Tourmalinated quartz and Swarovski crystal bracelet.

Meanwhile I'm now grabbing artisan beads like they were popcorn and then I start getting interested in polymer clay, metalsmithing and enameling.  I am very lucky to have a spare room as a studio, but suddenly there is not enough room in there.  Hence the need to destash!

As I was sorting through beads to let go of, I felt a bit like an archaeologist, sifting through the layers of my development as a jewelry designer. I realized that those old beads had become an added stress in my life.  Every time I opened a bead drawer and saw a pendant or string of beads that were 10 years old, I felt like I "should" use them or I was "obligated" somehow to not waste them.  They were becoming an emotional burden that I didn't need. And because every designer's style is unique, what no longer fits for me, might be exactly what someone else needs.  I discovered to my delight, that not only do I have more studio space after my destash, I also feel a sense of happy relief.

So if you to need to destash, I've got some tips that might help you to go about doing this.

It seems to work best if you offer a set of coordinating beads rather than just one type of bead.  In my last destash, I worked in numbered "lots".  Most lots had a focal and some coordinating beads.  I had the most success with lots that were priced at between $3-$15.

Including a coin in the photo, helps the viewer to gauge size.  If the focal was on the expensive side, I offered it alone, but those didn't seem to sell as well.

If I had a lot of one type of bead, I offered the whole group as one lot.

I sold my items at below cost.  My goal was not to make a lot of money.  I just wanted to clear space in my studio.  I wanted the destash to be a good deal for my buyers, while helping me to recoup some of my monetary investment.

Offer to combine shipping.  I learned this after my first destash.  From now on I'll post something like this, "Lot  #19.   $10 + $2.50 shipping USA, for the first item, $1.00 additional items, invoiced though PayPal.  Please comment SOLD or MINE if you want this item. First come, first serve."

Be sure to clearly state that the shipping rate only applies to your own country, (or within the EU).  You can offer to ship elsewhere, but make the buyer aware that shipping will be adjusted to cover expenses.

Be sure to charge more to ship heavier items, such as books or weighty beads. On my comments for this lot, I said that I was charging $4 for shipping because the stones are quite heavy, but if it turned out to cost less that $4, I would adjust the price downward.

I pinned the following general policies to the top of my Facebook page and alerted all buyers to refer to it first.

Destash General Policy

Here's how we'll be doing this destash event - Write MINE or SOLD in the comment section if you would like to purchase an item. I will combine shipping on multiple orders and I will gladly ship outside the USA, but we will have to adjust shipping prices to meet the added expense. I will then message you and ask for your email address, after which I will send you a PayPal invoice. Items ship in 1-2 days after receipt of payment. All items offered are at below my retail cost. All sales final. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. Thank you.

I have also been a buyer at destash sales and you can really get some awesome deals.  I noticed that one of my buyers on Tuesday and Wednesday, was destashing some of her own items on Thursday!  And so, as we are all potential buyers, I want to alert you to the fact that on March 10th-14th, AJE will be hosting a destash event.  There will be more details as we approach the date, but mark your calenders now.  I'm looking forward to coming away with some bargains!

Have you ever participated in a destash event?  What tips can you share?  Keep the conversation going.

Disclaimer:  Check with Facebook policy before doing a destash event.  It used to be that Facebook could close down your page for selling directly off your Facebook page.  But many of us are doing this routinely now.  I don't know if their policy has changed, or if they are just not monitoring it closely now.  Neither I nor AJE can be responsible for consequences, if there are any.

Linda
Linda Landig Jewelry – ArtFire 
Linda Landig Jewelry – Etsy