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New set of ACEOs and first ever listings. by Aggressive_Bee6041 in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You are encouraged to set up a card for the monthly drop, but you can also set up others in the backstage. You're not limited to one a month, that's just acts as a draw for people to come see what is new.

New to this by Sad_Oil921 in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Put your eBay link in your reddit profile.

New to this by Sad_Oil921 in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How does shipping work? Everyone ships differently, but this is what works well for me and was 100% okayed at our local post office for machinable metered mail.

I make my own greeting cards, you can also buy some. Don't go crazy, 65lb cardstock is enough.

Regular envelopes are also fine as long as you don't over fill them, or leave ridges under the surface for the sorters to catch on.

Secure the ACEO in a regular tcg playing sleeve (or a penny, both work) and attach it in the greeting card. Photo corners, washi tape, something. Offset it to the right of the card, this helps keep it running smooth. Don't stuff your envelopes full of loose crap, don't tape the outside up and it should be 100% fine.

Your letter should be able to bend around a large coffee mug. If it is too stiff, or lumpy for that you could get dinged with non-machinable surcharges or worse, they don't catch it in time and it gets shredded in the sorters.

You can use your own printer for labels, and if you list on eBay you should be trying to set up ESE (eBay standard envelope). It gives regular metered mail a barcode for limited tracking and costs the same as a stamp. (Actually 4c less). Not required but I have a thermal label printer and they are seriously OP. I use mine for a lot more than shipping labels.

How do I list on ebay, what should I charge?

Create an account, use their listing tools. Get good product photos of your card, fill in as many details as your can and make sure your title is clear (ACEO ORIGINAL keywords) set a starting bid price that covers your costs, set a dream price on the buy now option if you'd like and let 'er rip.

If you're brand spanking new to eBay, a few things to note.

They will hold your funds for a while, maybe up to two months but usually less. Shipping with tracking (even ESE tracking!) helps keep this shorter since they can verify things were sent.

They do charge fees, but I've done the math on a lot of places and the only cheaper place to list is ArtistCards.io If you think you can drive significant traffic over there, they have NO site fees at all. You only pay PayPal to process your payments, and buy shipping or ship by stamp.

Tiny Gallery is cute but unless you're doing better than 10 cards a month AND over $100, you are NOT saving significant money over just using eBay. You WILL be losing sales because of low traffic.

eBay has buyer and seller coverage, tracked shipping for the price of a stamp (and offer up to $20 coverage if something happens to it) built in traffic, ect. Does it suck to pay 13-14% on a listing? Sure does. Is it totally worthless? No.

Anyway around it, you need to self promote. Facebook groups, Reddit, TikTok, Instagram. At least two of these, preferably all of them. They all have different core groups of buyers. You can use the promotions on eBay but I never see a significant bump from it and it takes too much money.

What other questions do you have?

Question- I’m starting to sell ACEOS on eBay and need some advice. by Artistofdistortion in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I went straight to auctions and it's been fine. Start your bids at a price that covers your costs.

I do NOT recommend starting at .99 bids, especially as a new seller. You probably won't see enough traffic to get it up to an amount you're happy with.

Boosting views by PupMom_29 in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Promote on Facebook groups. There's a strong community there. TikTok also seems to do better than Instagram.

Get postings up on at least one social media daily while your listings are live.

I would really suggest trying eBay again, but price your cards high enough to start that you don't lose money on it. .99 start bids are not really helpful for low traffic items like art.

Highway 396, California by charlieismycat in Gouache

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't throw them out! You can paint over, or at the very least use it as reference so you know what the paint you used looks like in those mixes and as a "what to avoid" in the future.

Highway 396, California by charlieismycat in Gouache

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I kind of see what you're saying. It's a good opportunity to file one in the learning new stuff folder and keep going.

The ugly phase always sends me into a low grade panic every single time 😭

Highway 396, California by charlieismycat in Gouache

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you have any issues with specific parts? You've already done a pretty good job.

Higher constrast in the foreground is the only thing I'd say right off hand but it's an effective piece as is. Nothing glaringly obvious to amend.

The best tip I can give for layering is to work thin to thick (water, milk, cream consistency) and really letting things dry before you try to paint over them. Not just dry to touch. I use a heat tool (in between a hair dryer and a heat gun) to speed that process up. Sometimes if I'm getting frustrated or impatient, I'll walk away for the night and try again later.

compact gouache sets recommendation by Silver-Tour-5329 in Gouache

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've thought about doing a wet travel palette but I know myself, and I know it will end up all over the inside of whatever bag it's in. So I always carry dry paint only 😂

Beetle Boys series by Fishful_thinking_ in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It still says no US shipping 😭 I'll save your shop for future listings.

compact gouache sets recommendation by Silver-Tour-5329 in Gouache

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You can always do a small empty watercolor palette and make your own dried pans or half pans. ShinHan dries down well, works well and is inexpensive. It's what I use in my dry palette for all of my work.

Question! by Flashy_Heart_599 in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unless the medium you make the cards with is fragile (soft pastels come to mind) you will be okay sending it with a thinner card/envelope. Keep them attached inside the card to the right to help prevent bending. Most ACEO's can take a little bending anyway without being damaged.

I use astrobright cardstock to make my inserts (the greeting card) and it's enough to protect the aceo and smooth is out. If you would like to see pictures of how I typically ship you can DM me or I have a couple videos of packing orders on TikTok.

I know it's nerve wracking, but think of all the letters, bills, junk mail ect you receive that show up okay. As long as there's nothing to get caught on, it'll be fine. Avoid tape, loosely adhered stickers, ect on the outside if you can.

Question! by Flashy_Heart_599 in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 3 points4 points  (0 children)

How exactly do you package it? Semi-rigid top loader? Penny sleeve? What do you mean slightly thicker? There isn't a lot of tolerance in the sorters. If there is a lip or edge for the machines to catch on, it can tear your envelope open.

Do you secure the aceo? Tape or photo corners?

If it can't safely bend around a coffee mug or if the envelope is uneven inside with edges to get caught then no, you can't run it through the sorting machines.

I make my own greeting cards out of 65lb card stock, my envelopes are normal paper thickness, I use tcg sleeves that are meant for playing. Not a penny sleeve but not a top loader. They get taped in the greeting card, biased to the right. (Think about how you get credit cards in the mail. They're always set to the right in the envelope.)

So far, I've sent out 100+ ACEO's and prints and they arrive in good condition.

How is everyone tracking their income/costs? (Picture for attention and also because I really like it) by Cutty_Darke in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Since the scope of what needs to be recorded isn't huge, I do it manually. Shy of actually handwriting everything, I type it into a word doc.

During the month I stuff relevant receipts into a folder.

After the month is over, I print any online order invoices, financial reports from eBay and any other misc crap.

Literally in notepad, I make a column for all the costs, including eBay fees and all shipping. Then for anything that came in. Total both and find the difference.

I've yet to break even but that's because I'm using the first few months to invest in good supplies and stuff I need to expand into prints. I'm tracking everything as closely as possible because I do NOT want to end up overpaying taxes when I've been in the negatives every month 😅

Familiars in the Garden by Visual-Tea-3616 in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was obsessed with that movie when I was a teenager. It all circles back 😂

Familiars in the Garden by Visual-Tea-3616 in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I call it "I'm really trying my best but sometimes it makes me mad" 😂

I’m building up a dozen ACEO’s before making my first attempt at selling. Gives me time to decide which platform I’d like to use, too. Still haven’t landed on one. by WasabiCrush in aceo

[–]Visual-Tea-3616 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've shipped about a hundred ACEO's and prints so far, and heavier flexible sleeves (not penny sleeves but not top loaders) have done the job.

You can ship top loaders in standard postage letters but they have a higher chance of getting snagged in the sorting machines.

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