Episode 051 – Re-purposing Art Supplies and Destashing!

Greetings friends and listeners! We are on the edge of 2016 and tis the season to be giving, but to be clearing out your unused art supplies, tools, equipment or whatever you have that you’ve got lying around that you’re not using, there is somebody out there that will truly benefit from art supplies that you’re not utilizing.

That’s right! We are artists … and yes, we do hoard all types of art supplies, and if you’re like me you buy art supplies with the intent of learning something, or practicing a new craft and it sits there and sits there and sits there… and in many cases I have purchased art supplies thinking that I would use them, I’ve tried it and it simply not for me so there I have maybe $50 – $100 worth of art supplies that are taking up valuable resources of space in my studio.

So instead of letting it sit around collecting dust until you have time to get that art attack on, use modern technology to sift through and get rid of some of these supplies that you’re simply not using.

In the past I have sold lots of sets of things on eBay and a used to do really well, but now since a lot of the big retailers or on eBay and it’s not the small business owner conducting business there, it’s a little more of a struggle, plus you have listing fees. And if you’re like me listing fees can certainly add up so what I have found that really has worked for me is that I have gone on to Facebook and research some of the “Destash” groups that are on Facebook which you can join, there are craft destash, there are destashing group specifically for a medium that you may work on, oil painting, encaustic, glass, stained glass, polymer clay, woodworking and the list goes on. What’s nice about these groups is that it’s a community of folks like yourself who are looking for specific tools and supplies as well as selling tools, supplies, tutorials etc.

One thing that I would like to mention and I have learned the hard way, whenever you join a group you must adhere to the rules of that group and 99% of these groups have very strict rules on how to post and dues and don’ts. The reason for this is because a lot of these groups have hundreds, perhaps even thousands of members trading, selling and sharing resources and the groups have admin’s who monitor and have to in so many words babysit the group to make sure that everyone plays nice.

One group might have a layout where you can sell multiple items and build a little store per se, some others do not allow that. Some others will allow you to post only so many items per day, but will only allow you to post one photo, so it’s really imperative that you read their rules before posting. If anyone has ever been an admin to any type of site or group you will know that there’s nothing worse than having to remind people to follow the rules, and basically police the activity. Please keep all of that in mind when joining a selling group.

I have also joined and been part of artist group in my community where I have been able to sell and offload some bigger items, I had an over abundance of huge campuses and was able to move and sell those locally where people would pick them up and I wasn’t having to ship. Check in your area to see if you have any type of buy and sell groups that you can benefit from.

I know as artistS we tend to hoard art supplies, and also office supplies, you would not believe the amount of people that would buy just about anything, some office supplies maybe popular in one area of the country and not popular in another, so if you’re not using something instead of throwing it away consider selling it or if you are not in the mode to be selling and shipping stuff, locate them to a local school or art academy in your area that might benefit from some of these art supplies.

I want to make an announcement that next week we are going to be taking a little break and will resume back the first week in January 2017.

I have also been reminded that I have failed to announce recently about our Twitter account, you can reach RockStar Mentor on Twitter by using #CrushItMentor

Also if you were interested in becoming a member on our Facebook mastermind page simply go to the RockstarMentor.com and select the item freebies and you will see our mastermind group listed there. You can also sign up for our newsletter that will allow you some of the VIP special privileges and freebie downloads that we have available. I will be finalizing our course for “Crushing it with Commissions” in 2017 if you are interested in getting more information on how to join that and how to maximize your income by getting more commissions, please sign up to get the latest news!

I am your host Sonya Paz and you can learn more about me, my artwork and what I do and why I do it at my website SonyaPaz.com

I would like to wish everyone a happy holiday and I hope that you were safe and not bearing too much discomfort with the crazy weather that we are encountering, many of the united areas of the United States are dealing with crazy weather conditions and I hope that everyone will travel safe this holiday season.

I will see you in a couple of weeks where I hope to be offering and presenting to you a special treat with interviews from art suppliers and artists in the coming year! Thanks everyone and peace out y’all!