Sunday, April 3, 2011

Attention Facebook Shoppers.

Baby clothes are just cute. Buying baby clothes is better than buying clothes for yourself because they are tiny, cheaper and always fit. Unlike shopping for a post baby body which is never fun and always leaves me in a bad mood for sure.

Facebook shops are a virtual craft fair, similar to www.etsy.com. Most are stay at home moms with a sew machine and a crafty eye using it for a part time gig. These shops sell anything from monogrammed bloomers to personalized sippy cups. If you want to get your child’s name on it, there is a Facebook store that has it.  Baby Crawfish won’t have the same outfit as the kid two cribs over at nursery because mommy didn’t get it from the mall.

There are several things that make these shops such a success. First, it is free. There is no fee associated for the seller such as with ebay.com or etsy.com. Second , usually these vendors are in your Facebook network and there is a mutual friend connection so you “know” them.  Next, these shops are set up on a social network so there are “like” functions and the wall feed for a built in promotion system.

There are two styles of Facebook shops. Both use the Facebook picture albums to showcase their merchandise. There is the standard order system where you pick your color, size and design. All of the items, fonts, designs, etc each have their own a picture album for you to browse and create your item. The second is an auction system. These shops announce a time that new inventory will be posted and there are limited quantities. The first set number of people to tag their size and contact information to the Facebook picture wins that item in the auction. 

All transactions are done through Pay Pal keeping it safe and secure for both parties. The items you purchase can be shipped to you for a minimal fee of a dollar or two, or you can pick them up during "pick up hours". 

Even Facebook shops have sales! Every so often an album is posted featuring the discounted merchandise. Weekly giveaways are a must. Most of the shops that I frequent hold a weekly freebie giveaway. All you have to do it comment on the freebie picture of the week and you are entered…simple.

The only thing these shops lack is a frequent buyer program… ;)

My favorite Facebook shops are:

Happy Shopping!

1 comment:

  1. Linzy - we're so glad you like Smocked Auctions! Thanks for the mention. Hope to see you during one of our auctions soon. :)

    ReplyDelete