Question for crafters/makers who sell online via third party sites

[Bisquiteen]

Can I ask if you prefer sites where you pay a flat fee upfront for say, a year and are allowed to list X amount of items during that time or if you are more attracted to a commission only fee structure or some other combination? Thank you :)

I wouldn't want a limit on how much I can sell, so would probably go for a commission set up. It would depend on the exposure as to whether I would sell on the site full stop though. There are a lot of new sites popping up with cheap fees but the only buyers are the sellers and there's not many. Etsy may cost me a fair bit, but it's cheaper than eBay and Amazon and they offer A LOT of advertising within the package. Not one other site comes close to the Etsy marketing budget this year.

Thank you. I agree that established sites will have a way larger advertising budget but I am still going to try launching my own marketplace site for countryside makers/crafters. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that :D

Etsy is the easiest and I don't find it expensive.

Thanks Haggertyjane :) I have been studying Etsy closely and will be taking a lot of ideas from them and applying them to my own site.

Not had a single sale from my Wix website.

I’ve not really studied Wix but I will have a look. Like most businesses it’s hard to gain traction until you get a certain number of customers and you struggle to get them until you’ve got your business known. Vicious circle really 😕

I would add a very strong caveat against selling with Etsy. Just google people who have been kicked off the site. They cant all be lying. Etsy do not apply their rules equitably. There are resellers who import their stuff from China wholesale and make a lot of money for Etsy by advertising it as handcrafted They are not touched. However a small crafter or seller of vintage may make an error and get persecuted. There are many examples of crafters who have gone through a long process to prove that their merchandise is handmade and still had their shop closed. Different rules apply if you are not one of the Etsy favorites. The atmosphere has changed very radically since the site began. They are now just as greedy and corrupt as other sites which have a bad reputation.

I spread my bets.

No Etsy though, mostly Amazon and ebay, an an increasing amount through my own web site.

I don't craft to sell but have used Etsy to buy and think it's gone downhill massively in the last couple of years - things are just generic imports now, it's quite difficult to find what you actually want from a local crafter. It's a real shame and I'd definitely be interested in ah alternative that could demonstrate that I am genuinely buying handcrafted British made cottage industry style craft

Thanks everyone for your feedback :)

I hadn't realised that Etsy had 'favourites'. I think that all companies get greedy and horrible once they reach a certain size though :(

I've bitten the bullet and am having my website re-designed so I hope I can sell directly without having to navigate eBay, Etsy, Amazon et al. I find them all confusing if I'm honest and I don't have time to figure out all their rules or I'm not actually able to spend time making my products.

shhsecretsquirrel, my own products are definitely made here in the UK by me and my family and, once I get other artists/makers on board I will be vetting them very carefully to ensure that they are above board too.

That's great - I guess the only hard bit is getting it out there - word of mouth and social media do really help nowadays though I think

Thanks 😊 I think I’ve got some good products that I’ve made in collaboration with proper artists so not blowing my own trumpet 😳 I just hope I can get people to see them. Fingers crossed 🤞