New Place To Sell Online With Face Book

[kmmcrafts]

I just got this news.. I'm not sure how it'll be set up nor any details yet... but this "could " be a big deal for those beginning a online shop..  I didn't read through the whole thing yet.. but from what I gathered it'll be a free place to sell with advertisements being the income.. 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/19/facebook-shops-businesses-sales-covid-19  

[Dave Monk]

I wouldn't be surprised that once they get it rolling they will want to charge to boost your store so more people will see it. 

[kmmcrafts]

21 minutes ago, Dave Monk said:

I wouldn't be surprised that once they get it rolling they will want to charge to boost your store so more people will see it. 

100% agree with you, I’m sure over some time there will be plenty of paid add on options to get your items seen and promoting etc.  They did that with the marketplace, so without a doubt it will happen for the shops. 

[BadBob]

Facebook contacted me awhile back about selling on Facebook but I could not figure out how to do it. I'm slightly interested since I already have a Facebook business page. If it would let me just add a buy now button to a post. That might be something I would go for.

[amazingkevin]

Bait & switch

[kmmcrafts]

4 hours ago, BadBob said:

Facebook contacted me awhile back about selling on Facebook but I could not figure out how to do it. I'm slightly interested since I already have a Facebook business page. If it would let me just add a buy now button to a post. That might be something I would go for.

Go to your business page ( on a computer not the app ) and near the top of the page below your banner click on "MORE" then in the drop down menu click "SHOP" from there it will take you through the set up process... I haven't done it yet.. probably will early next week just to see how it works.. I never had much luck with my FB page..  though I never put a lot of content out there either.. and.. it's a lot harder to sell decor pieces than toys.. I started out doing toys.. but at the time they was making some stiff requirements for toy sellers and the liability insurance etc wasn't what I would have considered reasonable priced.. They've eased up a bit on them for small crafters now from what I've heard.   I'm on instagram too and do better there.. that said though.. the majority of followers on Instagram are other woodworkers / scroll sawers.. not really potential customers.. The FB Shop can be tied into your instagram if you're on there.. 

Edited May 21, 2020 by kmmcrafts

[BadBob]

On 5/21/2020 at 5:23 PM, kmmcrafts said:

Go to your business page ( on a computer not the app ) and near the top of the page below your banner click on "MORE" then in the drop down menu click "SHOP" from there it will take you through the set up process... I haven't done it yet.. probably will early next week just to see how it works.. I never had much luck with my FB page..  though I never put a lot of content out there either.. and.. it's a lot harder to sell decor pieces than toys.. I started out doing toys.. but at the time they was making some stiff requirements for toy sellers and the liability insurance etc wasn't what I would have considered reasonable priced.. They've eased up a bit on them for small crafters now from what I've heard.   I'm on instagram too and do better there.. that said though.. the majority of followers on Instagram are other woodworkers / scroll sawers.. not really potential customers.. The FB Shop can be tied into your instagram if you're on there.. 

I'm on everything that will let me post photos for free. Pintrest is where I get the most from. It takes me about four hours to promote a listing on social media. Posting photos, writing descriptions and adding tags. Every time I promote a listing like this I get a little boost.

[kmmcrafts]

28 minutes ago, BadBob said:

I'm on everything that will let me post photos for free. Pintrest is where I get the most from. It takes me about four hours to promote a listing on social media. Posting photos, writing descriptions and adding tags. Every time I promote a listing like this I get a little boost.

There’s an app that allows you to post the same thing across most all the social sites all with a single post from the app. 
 

Do you do videos on YouTube? 

[BadBob]

10 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

There’s an app that allows you to post the same thing across most all the social sites all with a single post from the app. 
 

Do you do videos on YouTube? 

I have a few videos, but they are just slide shows. https://www.youtube.com/user/51BadBob/videos

I don't like using apps to post. Automated ones don't get the keywords right and usually don't create the description I want. For SEO purposes I would like to have different descriptions everywhere. For me, this is very difficult but I try. Everywhere I post has different requirements for descriptions sizes, the number of photos, and hashtags. Has tags are not the same across the board Tumbler, for example, allow spaces in the tags and will suggest poplar tags to use while Pinterest doesn't care and Twitter posts are so small that you really have to work hard at it to squeeze in something relevant.

I don't like using my phone for anything. I have been using computers since well before the IBM PC existed. Using an app on my phone feels like I'm working with one arm behind my back and wearing an eyepatch. As far as promotion goes I only use it for things that I can't do on my desktop. Posting to Instagram and Etsy shop updates are examples that come to mind. These only allow posting from a phone or tablet. There are workarounds for Instagram but they tend to get broken easily by upgrades.

Currently, I am posting to seven social media sites and planning to add a couple of more if I can manage it.

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, BadBob said:

I have a few videos, but they are just slide shows. https://www.youtube.com/user/51BadBob/videos

I don't like using apps to post. Automated ones don't get the keywords right and usually don't create the description I want. For SEO purposes I would like to have different descriptions everywhere. For me, this is very difficult but I try. Everywhere I post has different requirements for descriptions sizes, the number of photos, and hashtags. Has tags are not the same across the board Tumbler, for example, allow spaces in the tags and will suggest poplar tags to use while Pinterest doesn't care and Twitter posts are so small that you really have to work hard at it to squeeze in something relevant.

I don't like using my phone for anything. I have been using computers since well before the IBM PC existed. Using an app on my phone feels like I'm working with one arm behind my back and wearing an eyepatch. As far as promotion goes I only use it for things that I can't do on my desktop. Posting to Instagram and Etsy shop updates are examples that come to mind. These only allow posting from a phone or tablet. There are workarounds for Instagram but they tend to get broken easily by upgrades.

Currently, I am posting to seven social media sites and planning to add a couple of more if I can manage it.

I agree with what you said and sounds like you are well on your way to building a great following, I did a lot of this stuff when I first got started.. I also never used the app to post across the board of sites.. I joined up with a couple power promoter groups which helped me gain a great following quite fast.. and this group not only let me promote my items.. It also has about 40 members that also promote my items in return everyone has to promote each item posted every week.. So that gets 40 people in that one group posting my items for me across the platforms they use as well as on their blogs.. Back when I first started promoting it wasn't considered ethical to promote yourself... so they said anyway.. so I don't push my items like I could.. I instead push " other peoples" items in return they post mine.. 

I have the best luck joining groups with interest things.. For example I am a anything with wheels and a motor enthusiast.. I'm on a whole lot of old car / tractors groups.. I partake in the groups for fun.. much like I do here.. people get to know me.. Then every now and then I mention I do woodwork and post an image of a car clock that might be related to the group.. (ie a 57 chevy group I show my 57 chevy clock ) That typically gets (A LOT ) of ?? like can you make me one or how much.. I can point them to the website.. they sometimes come back and post more photos of other cars they like and showing my work off for me, LOL.. Then they are also on other groups.. or have a friend that likes Ford or Dodges... and the word of mouth goes a long way in the groups around the web.. I don't fool much with promoting.. It's like showing commercials all day to folks and trying to push your products to them.. Just my opinion.. but many people do it and are very successful in getting customers that way.. It's just not my style.. I do a little here and there.. but for the most part I let my friends in groups and like minded people do the work for me, LOL.. I just hang out in a lot of groups. LOL.. 

Worrying about getting your item promoted and the right hash tags and all that garbage is too much boring work .. Pintrest used to be awesome.. as did FB and instagram.. but the issue with these sites is.. when they first start out and you get your content up before the big flow of others posting their things you get your things seen by many... however.. once people catch on and start posting their things and flood the site with so many people posting their things.. those sites get big and they have to change up their algorithm to limit what gets seen and to who.. when that happens you loose momentum and then it's competing against having the best hash tag.. etc to get your product into the eyes of the purchaser.. and this will be a constant chase.. and there will be NEW platforms come and old ones fade out.. These social platforms are what I call fads.. some get real popular real quick.. and then they sort of die out and then a new one comes along.. many will leave one but not everyone.. then you got a new one to promote to but you can't stop the content from the old one as some stayed on that one.. before you know it.. you got a dozen platforms to work..  Many folks go to pinterest to look for ideas to steal and use for themselves.. It takes a lot of people to see your pins before someone purchases an item..  There comes a time where doing this is a waist of your time.. The platforms you mention have been around for years.. and they are loosing traction.. because your trying to compete with too many others.. Why I don't like social sites.. groups.. I gain knowledge.. friends etc.. social sites like pintrest etc.. I'm just working myself to death for very little return on investment ( time ) ..

 

 

[BadBob]

21 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I agree with what you said and sounds like you are well on your way to building a great following, I did a lot of this stuff when I first got started.. I also never used the app to post across the board of sites.. I joined up with a couple power promoter groups which helped me gain a great following quite fast.. and this group not only let me promote my items.. It also has about 40 members that also promote my items in return everyone has to promote each item posted every week.. So that gets 40 people in that one group posting my items for me across the platforms they use as well as on their blogs.. Back when I first started promoting it wasn't considered ethical to promote yourself... so they said anyway.. so I don't push my items like I could.. I instead push " other peoples" items in return they post mine.. 

I have the best luck joining groups with interest things.. For example I am a anything with wheels and a motor enthusiast.. I'm on a whole lot of old car / tractors groups.. I partake in the groups for fun.. much like I do here.. people get to know me.. Then every now and then I mention I do woodwork and post an image of a car clock that might be related to the group.. (ie a 57 chevy group I show my 57 chevy clock ) That typically gets (A LOT ) of ?? like can you make me one or how much.. I can point them to the website.. they sometimes come back and post more photos of other cars they like and showing my work off for me, LOL.. Then they are also on other groups.. or have a friend that likes Ford or Dodges... and the word of mouth goes a long way in the groups around the web.. I don't fool much with promoting.. It's like showing commercials all day to folks and trying to push your products to them.. Just my opinion.. but many people do it and are very successful in getting customers that way.. It's just not my style.. I do a little here and there.. but for the most part I let my friends in groups and like minded people do the work for me, LOL.. I just hang out in a lot of groups. LOL.. 

Worrying about getting your item promoted and the right hash tags and all that garbage is too much boring work .. Pintrest used to be awesome.. as did FB and instagram.. but the issue with these sites is.. when they first start out and you get your content up before the big flow of others posting their things you get your things seen by many... however.. once people catch on and start posting their things and flood the site with so many people posting their things.. those sites get big and they have to change up their algorithm to limit what gets seen and to who.. when that happens you loose momentum and then it's competing against having the best hash tag.. etc to get your product into the eyes of the purchaser.. and this will be a constant chase.. and there will be NEW platforms come and old ones fade out.. These social platforms are what I call fads.. some get real popular real quick.. and then they sort of die out and then a new one comes along.. many will leave one but not everyone.. then you got a new one to promote to but you can't stop the content from the old one as some stayed on that one.. before you know it.. you got a dozen platforms to work..  Many folks go to pinterest to look for ideas to steal and use for themselves.. It takes a lot of people to see your pins before someone purchases an item..  There comes a time where doing this is a waist of your time.. The platforms you mention have been around for years.. and they are loosing traction.. because your trying to compete with too many others.. Why I don't like social sites.. groups.. I gain knowledge.. friends etc.. social sites like pintrest etc.. I'm just working myself to death for very little return on investment ( time ) ..

 

 

What I am doing now seems to be working for me. Even now my sales are slowly increasing. I call it promotion but what I am doing is sharing photos of my work with a description, some hashtags, and links to my shop. When I create something new I upload all the photos everywhere I can. 70-80% of my listing views come from these posts. I know from past experience that if I don't get the photos out there the listing will get very few views and will not sell.

I've studied other people's shops with similar items who have a lot of sales and one thing is consistent. They all have hundreds of listings. I'm working on that.

It's a weird game. Last year my best seller was a Christmas tree cutout. This came directly from a request from a Facebook post I made. She bought eight each; jack-o-lanterns, turkeys, and Christmas trees. I always make extras so I created listings for them. The Christmas trees kept selling.

[kmmcrafts]

 

@BadBob

How busy do you want to be?   You obviously are working to "try" to bring in you some traffic.. your methods work but outdated.. Pinterest works great for home decor and jewelry items.. My clocks get quite a lot of traffic from pinterest.. I do very similar to what you are doing.. However if you REALLY want to bring some traffic you need to show your toys to kids... and kids like video ( why I asked about video ).. Not to criticize your video slide shows but they remind me of a car commercial... everything you do helps and is better than doing nothing.. You are the first person I've seen that seems to be "trying" to sell.. You sound like me about 10 years ago.. If you do the slide show.. you need to speed up the time.. I'd be more apt to build a lazy Susanne and slowly spin the table to bet all angles of the car / toy.. 

How to get video and what to video and how to get it in front of kids? Simple but it's going to make you work from your phone.. but it's the best advice I can give you for what you do.. It'll build you a "following like no other"  I think you'd surpass me in likes and follows.. right now I have about 2600 followers and pushing 30,000 likes.. I just started back around the beginning of the year..

Here's what I would do if I was running your show.. Start doing videos.. do a mix of video of you making a toy.. Build a small road / race track type Heck just run them across the table.. video car races on your race track.. Blue car against the purple car etc etc.. You can use YouTube but it's not really where you want to be for this.. Sign up for TicTok.. Put your videos on tictok.. You can only do 1 min clips on TicTok.. same with Instagram.. If you post to Tictok.. you can share it to Instagram.. I don't recommend that though.. instead post to tictoc and then take the video to instagram.. from instagram connect it to your FB page..so when you do the video on Instagram it automatically goes to your FB page.. Lots of kids on TicTok.. If your video goes over 1 min. TicTok has a speed up option that you can work with.. You can narrate the race and also TicTok has music clips you can upload etc.. you can upload a clip in the background while also narrating the race.. You'll gain a lot of follows ( I think ).. TicTok is starting to get the mentioned flood of videos and I expect them to start modifying the algorithm soon.. but it's still worth doing this.. 

What you want is attention.. How you get it is the trick.. ads on TV is attention.. except this day and age nobody pays any attention to them.. commercials come on tv people grab their phone.. Don't make commercials and don't try pushing BUY THIS or ME ME Me etc.... just put it race videos and or making toys videos.. eventually people will start asking.. where can I get one of these cars at.. Not an issue to push your website address in the comments every once in a while.. but don't start off doing it.. ( I used my domain name as my username on there ) and filled out my profile geared toward business.. 

I don't know if you'll put in this work because of the fact you need to do it from your phone.. But doing this.. using the right tags ( maybe (street race) drag race, toy car races.. etc etc.. dads will see it.. kids will see it.. maybe moms will see it.. if not kids will show moms so you're covered there anyway, LOL ) Mom buy me this car.. you might need to build tracks too, LOL  It's not going to happen over night.. but I think eventually you'll get quite busy.. Maybe I'm wrong.. but it sounds more interesting than photo slide shows.. it'll gain more interest.. You may have to play around with different video ideas different tags etc as you go and as you see whats working and whats not.. but that is something more interesting than a photo posted to pinterest.. still do that but add the videos too.. 

   

Edited May 25, 2020 by kmmcrafts

[BadBob]

On 5/25/2020 at 8:52 AM, kmmcrafts said:

 

@BadBob

How busy do you want to be?   You obviously are working to "try" to bring in you some traffic.. your methods work but outdated.. Pinterest works great for home decor and jewelry items.. My clocks get quite a lot of traffic from pinterest.. I do very similar to what you are doing.. However if you REALLY want to bring some traffic you need to show your toys to kids... and kids like video ( why I asked about video ).. Not to criticize your video slide shows but they remind me of a car commercial... everything you do helps and is better than doing nothing.. You are the first person I've seen that seems to be "trying" to sell.. You sound like me about 10 years ago.. If you do the slide show.. you need to speed up the time.. I'd be more apt to build a lazy Susanne and slowly spin the table to bet all angles of the car / toy.. 

How to get video and what to video and how to get it in front of kids? Simple but it's going to make you work from your phone.. but it's the best advice I can give you for what you do.. It'll build you a "following like no other"  I think you'd surpass me in likes and follows.. right now I have about 2600 followers and pushing 30,000 likes.. I just started back around the beginning of the year..

Here's what I would do if I was running your show.. Start doing videos.. do a mix of video of you making a toy.. Build a small road / race track type Heck just run them across the table.. video car races on your race track.. Blue car against the purple car etc etc.. You can use YouTube but it's not really where you want to be for this.. Sign up for TicTok.. Put your videos on tictok.. You can only do 1 min clips on TicTok.. same with Instagram.. If you post to Tictok.. you can share it to Instagram.. I don't recommend that though.. instead post to tictoc and then take the video to instagram.. from instagram connect it to your FB page..so when you do the video on Instagram it automatically goes to your FB page.. Lots of kids on TicTok.. If your video goes over 1 min. TicTok has a speed up option that you can work with.. You can narrate the race and also TicTok has music clips you can upload etc.. you can upload a clip in the background while also narrating the race.. You'll gain a lot of follows ( I think ).. TicTok is starting to get the mentioned flood of videos and I expect them to start modifying the algorithm soon.. but it's still worth doing this.. 

What you want is attention.. How you get it is the trick.. ads on TV is attention.. except this day and age nobody pays any attention to them.. commercials come on tv people grab their phone.. Don't make commercials and don't try pushing BUY THIS or ME ME Me etc.... just put it race videos and or making toys videos.. eventually people will start asking.. where can I get one of these cars at.. Not an issue to push your website address in the comments every once in a while.. but don't start off doing it.. ( I used my domain name as my username on there ) and filled out my profile geared toward business.. 

I don't know if you'll put in this work because of the fact you need to do it from your phone.. But doing this.. using the right tags ( maybe (street race) drag race, toy car races.. etc etc.. dads will see it.. kids will see it.. maybe moms will see it.. if not kids will show moms so you're covered there anyway, LOL ) Mom buy me this car.. you might need to build tracks too, LOL  It's not going to happen over night.. but I think eventually you'll get quite busy.. Maybe I'm wrong.. but it sounds more interesting than photo slide shows.. it'll gain more interest.. You may have to play around with different video ideas different tags etc as you go and as you see whats working and whats not.. but that is something more interesting than a photo posted to pinterest.. still do that but add the videos too.. 

   

The lazy susan is on my todo list.

TicToc is also on my list. I would like to do more with video, but right now there just isn't enough time. I have the equipment already.  I do ramp races with my grandson using a Bluetrack so far I haven't got a good video. Some of the cars we have tried are so fast that all you get is flash. The slide shows are experiments. I do get views from them but not many.

A surprising number of my toys are purchased by adults for adults. I had one customer who called them art and bought for cars to decorate her home. At least one person used a car for cake decoration.

My sales and views are up over last year and still climbing while other sellers I see are complaining about a drop in sales. So something is working.

I appreciate your comments and advise very much.

[kmmcrafts]

55 minutes ago, BadBob said:

The lazy susan is on my todo list.

TicToc is also on my list. I would like to do more with video, but right now there just isn't enough time. I have the equipment already.  I do ramp races with my grandson using a Bluetrack so far I haven't got a good video. Some of the cars we have tried are so fast that all you get is flash. The slide shows are experiments. I do get views from them but not many.

A surprising number of my toys are purchased by adults for adults. I had one customer who called them art and bought for cars to decorate her home. At least one person used a car for cake decoration.

My sales and views are up over last year and still climbing while other sellers I see are complaining about a drop in sales. So something is working.

I appreciate your comments and advise very much.

Food for thought on the other sellers claiming their sale have tanked.. 

First off... etsy pushes newer sellers products for the first couple years.. then they stop as they feel that the new seller should have built their traffic by then.. This info is on their site somewhere.. 

Second.. as I previously said.. Social sites change up algorithms..  and new social site come out.. example.. 1/4 of the people leave instagram to go to TicTok cause it's the new fad.. if that 1/4th was following you but left... and you don't go to the new fad place.. then you just lost all your promoting power.. sales dry up.. It's a constant change.. I don't focus nearly as much as I once did on FB, and Instagram because my followers moved to TicTok.. I still put up content on FB and Instagram because some of the followers are still there.. some will get bored with TicTok and come back to Instagram.. so I never completely leave a site.. I just put 80% of my effort into where it's all at at the moment and split up the remainder of the 20% on the other sites.. 

People don't like to change.. many get hung up on a social site because it once was great.. and they hang on to it too long.. by the time they move onto another site that site is almost at it's peek and getting ready to become old news.. It's tricky business..to keep ahead of or at least keep up with.. what's happening.. and where at.. I think TicTok is nearing it's peak.. It'll stay there for maybe a year but then start loosing traction.. Another site will either make some cool new feature or a complete new social site opens.. there is always change with them.. and a shift of where the people will go.. Linkedin might be the next spot.. they've been doing some stuff to the site..  

 

[BadBob]

I don't pay much attention to the whiners in my Etsy group, mostly because they can't give you the numbers, so they don't know anything. I only go there to see if there is anything new going on.

I know social media is a moving target and that I need to keep up with the new social media as they come along. I also need new and different things in my shop. I watch several shops that have lots of sales. All of them have lots of items for sale. I came up with the number 200 as all of them have 200 or more listings with lots of choices.

Etsy is always touting following the trends. I don't do that because it would have me making things that I don't want to build on the outside chance that someone might buy it. If I must follow trends to get sales, I might quit. However, I would like to make a profit.

 

[ike]

Bob I agree with you 100 %I have often felt like doing esty but I would ratherr deal with people than the computor. I love doing craft sales but this year I don'dt know if there will be any. I have had a lot of wood left over from previous years so I will use it and keep my expensives down. so if there is a profit this year it will be small. My main goald is to pay for my hobby and make a little profit. as far as selling at sales I only have 10 t0 15 different items  and useally do 4-5 sales per year all  church sales. dthe ppeople there seem to be more friendly. I am 81 years old and I feel like I need to have a good time and don'

t sweat any thing.

IKE

[kmmcrafts]

I think this virus is going to help anyone selling online.. Even after the ordeal is calmed down and whatnot. I'm betting there is going to be at least 10% or so of the population that says I'm not going out in the crowds to shop.. I'll look online.. Even 2% of the people is a big number to add to the already huge amount that shop online.. They are saying online shopping is up more than 20% from last year... and I'm seeing it in my online stores.. 

[BadBob]

54 minutes ago, ike said:

Bob I agree with you 100 %I have often felt like doing esty but I would ratherr deal with people than the computor. I love doing craft sales but this year I don'dt know if there will be any. I have had a lot of wood left over from previous years so I will use it and keep my expensives down. so if there is a profit this year it will be small. My main goald is to pay for my hobby and make a little profit. as far as selling at sales I only have 10 t0 15 different items  and useally do 4-5 sales per year all  church sales. dthe ppeople there seem to be more friendly. I am 81 years old and I feel like I need to have a good time and don'

t sweat any thing.

IKE

For me, this is a sort of hobby/business. I want to enjoy what I am making and make a profit. I don't do any shows. There are very few in my local area, and only a small percentage of them are of the type I would attend. The buy-in cost when you don't have any of the equipment is too high for me. The one excellent show we have here would cost me $700 to buy all the equipment and pay the fees. Then I have to have a lot of stock. In my online store, I don't need any inventory. I can do everything made to order if I want to. I get along with computers very well and have been on the internet since the mid-80s before the invention of the web, and everything was text-based. An online store works great for me.

Edited May 28, 2020 by BadBob

[BadBob]

26 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

I think this virus is going to help anyone selling online.. Even after the ordeal is calmed down and whatnot. I'm betting there is going to be at least 10% or so of the population that says I'm not going out in the crowds to shop.. I'll look online.. Even 2% of the people is a big number to add to the already huge amount that shop online.. They are saying online shopping is up more than 20% from last year... and I'm seeing it in my online stores.. 

I'm an early adopter of online shopping. I hate driving all over town for hours to discover that they don't have what I need or the price is so high I can't or will not purchase from them. Many stores online inventory is wrong, so looking at their webpage to see what they have is unreliable. Two days ago, I drove ten miles to pick up a part that the web page said they had 30 in the store only to find an empty bin. I had to drive to another location and get the part. It took two hours and cost $15 for a $2 part. I think that once people get a taste of online shopping, many will switch over.

Edited May 28, 2020 by BadBob

[kmmcrafts]

4 minutes ago, BadBob said:

I'm an early adopter of online shopping. I hate driving all over town for hours to discover that they don't have what I need or the price is so high I can't or will not purchase from them. Many stores online inventory is wrong, so looking at their webpage to see what they have is unreliable. Two days ago, I drove ten miles to pick up a part that the web page said they had 30 in the store only to find an empty bin. I had to drive to another location and get the part. It took two hours and cost $15 for a $2 part. I think that once people get a taste of online shopping, many will switch over.

Been there done that a few times myself.. The cost of gas ( for me I live in the boonies ) etc.. I do a fair amount of both online and in store.. But I have to say I like to "TRY" to keep my money into the local community.. Many times though.. they just aren't open when I think about needing something too.. rather than spend an hour driving into town and back, plus the fuel..plus traffic etc etc etc... I just order in my pajamas before going to bed, LOL

[BadBob]

23 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Been there done that a few times myself.. The cost of gas ( for me I live in the boonies ) etc.. I do a fair amount of both online and in store.. But I have to say I like to "TRY" to keep my money into the local community.. Many times though.. they just aren't open when I think about needing something too.. rather than spend an hour driving into town and back, plus the fuel..plus traffic etc etc etc... I just order in my pajamas before going to bed, LOL

Using some statistics gathered by the AAA several years ago, I figured out that it costs me $0.75 per mile to drive my truck. It's probably more now. If I go to the nearest Home Depot walk right to what I need (rarely happens) check out and go home takes me about one hour and costs around $10.

A plumbing issue I had recently cost $5 for the parts, 2.5 hours traveling, and about $20 to drive there.