Thinking Ahead

Now that Hallowe'en is well behind us we can focus on the next sugar-coated excuse for a holiday. Most everyone I know is usually very busy from pretty much now right through until oh, about January 2nd. That's two months of crazed holiday madness.

I still try to keep the focus on handmade gifts and the "Less is More" mantra is always in place for me. Luckily, there are many helpful hideaways on the internet where we can all find some crafty goodness when we don't have the time to whip something up ourselves.

Inspire Handmade, Craftster, and BuyHandmade are just a few places to get going with a helping hand to handmade help this festive season. Really, there are so many options that there is little excuse to NOT give the gift of handmade goodies this year.

Not to mention the many venues where you can buy online direct from seasoned artisans. I think you know where this is going so I will leave you to it.......

Break-Down; the Mega Master List of Online Sales Venues if You Seek an Etsy Alternative.

I decided that I need to start tackling the massive mega-list based on each group of 5 venues as this will keep it more organized for me in the long run. The aim as usual is to offer up a comprehensive view of options for those seeking an Etsy alternative.

ArtFlock is an online creative community where you can buy and sell original art and craft. The break down of the basics is as follows;

• We do not charge listing fees
• We charge just 3.5% commission on sales you promoted and 15% on sales through our exclusive partnerships with sites like MyDeco.com
• You are paid direct by the buyer, you ship direct to the buyer
• Use our hassle free checkout to track progress on sales and communicate with your latest customer and fan!
• Upload all of your work, not just what's for sale, it's a great way of attracting commissions!

An interesting feature of the site is that you can import an existing blog and upload it right to your Artflock blog which I have not yet seen anywhere else. I like that there is a "Handpicked" selection on the front page also and it seems the site is solely for the made by hand crowd. I like the layout which is pretty basic but then that means there are a few less features than what I am accustomed to with Etsy.

ArtsEfest The tag line is "Amazingly Creative". They have an excellent breakdown of their benefits right here. Interesting to note is that they are dubbed an online "craft show" and sellers are referred to as "Exhibitors". They boast over half a million page views per month with only around 500 exhibitors. (Hopefully this means there are more buyers than sellers unlike another online craft venue I know of.)



Their pricing structure is quite complex and offers many different options which you can see here but the cost varies from $2 to $18 per month as far as I can tell, depending on what options you need. The style of the layout is a little more complex and there are some interesting options so it is something to check out further on your own to see if ArtsEfest is for you.


Blujay is "your 100% free online classified marketplace."


It looks very much like a free version of Ebay and they pretty much say so right on their About page. Sometimes you can't beat free but I urge you to take a look at the Terms of Service in more detail and verify this for yourselves if you go with BluJay. Let me know what you think too! From my perusing I have to say it looks pretty good for a free site as it isn't plastered with affiliate advertising so that is refreshing. In terms of marketing you are pretty much on your own it seems but that is nothing new though is it?

Bouf "The global marketplace for designers, artists and extraordinary brands."


Image credit: "Wine Card" by We Are Family over at Bouf.com.

This site has a really nice aesthetic that I am very impressed with. Seeing as design is my background I appreciate the effort Bouf has made to put together a nice clean layout that shows off the products well. The site is a select offering, meaning it is essentially juried as they work with designers, artists and brands "to offer a mouth-watering selection of unique products that help our customers stand out from the crowd".

Check out their requirements to exclusivity right here.
Membership as a buyer is free but selling break down is as follows;

• Full Membership -£144/year +15% commission on sold items
• Intermediate Membership -£96/year +15% commission on sold items
• Items that don't sell - free
• Listing an item - free
• Credit Card payment processing by Paypal - 2.5% +£.20
• Earnings paid via Paypal - free
• Earnings paid via Bank Transfer -£5.00 (only for to UK sellers)
  
• Monthly activity summary - free
  

They offer advertising and feature options for additional fees as well. It has been announced on their blog that they are launching a sister site called Joolia which will focus on jewellery and fashion accessories so this will be interesting to watch.

BigCartel - I love Big Cartel so much that I will be doing a separate post exclusively dedicated to my favourite online sales solution for independent entrepreneurs. Stay tuned!

Some Comparisons of Online Sales Venues

In reference to my previous posts about alternates to Etsy, I have started doing some comparison shopping of online venues.

One of the first things I look at when trying to assess an online sales venue is the fee structure. That is a bottom line item for me as I have to calculate how much is going out on each listed item to determine the actual profit margin that a product will yield. Seems like a no-brainer, I know but you would be surprised at what I have found at some venues. Take the following example; Ruby Lane boasts 10 years in operation but at the current fee structure, I definitely raised an eyebrow.


Ruby Lane
(from the site itself, find this info here)

• Set up fee: $75 (refunded if your shop is not approved)

• No Comission fee

• Listing Fee = 30 cents per item

• Monthly maintenance fee: The first 150 items is 30 cents for each item, and then each item over 150 is 20 cents per item.

• Minimum charge of 50 items, or $15 per month.Calculated and charged on the 1st of every month
  

• Advertising = $20 (monthly for all shops)

For example, after the one-time $75 setup fee has been paid, and the listing fees for stock added, for a shop with up to 50 items, the minimum monthly cost of maintaining a shop on Ruby Lane is $15 for the maintenance fee and $20 for advertising, or $35. (there are incentives for referrals)

So, yeah, that is a LOT of green even for my taste. A little too much. I could never turn a profit based on this fee structure, so my current sales venues, Big Cartel (with my self hosted website) and Etsy are looking pretty fine indeed.


Felt; like something different.
Upon looking at a few newer venues, there was a glint of hope;
Felt is a NZ site, started in 2007 that allows only handmade goods. Their terms of use look very good. I also like their tag line;

The fee structure is simple and looks like the costs will work into my profit margins nicely.
Each listing costs a flat fee of 50 cents, and lasts for one year. The fee is automatically deducted from your account when you submit your listing. When your item sells, the 5% success fee is also deducted automatically from your account. If your item hasn’t sold after a year, the listing will expire and you ‘ll need to renew it.
You can see the deets here;
Another nice way to go is the prepay system; you load your account up (no credit card required? Hope so!) and then when your funds get low your get a notification.


WinkElf also looks promising.

They have a basic fee program or an all inclusive monthly fee program of $5.00. That looks like the best way to go as we all know how quickly fees can add up in a month. The info is all here, though the presentation is a little convoluted. I think it is supposed to be a table but on my screen it doesn't quite look that way so it's a tad confusing.
Basic fee program is as follows:

• Free Listings

• Bold Title - $0.05

• Picture Slideshow - $0.15

• Category Feature - $0.10

• Main Page Feature - $0.25

• 2.5% of Final Selling Price (Minimum Selling Fee - $0.25)
  

• Homepage feature listing 25¢(per day?) for up to 30 days

This is a start. I am developing a chart for easier comparison since it's starting to get more complex with each indepth look. This might take a while so you'll have to check back often, or subscribe to my feed.

The Massive List of Etsy Alternatives

Instead of having the two (or more!) posts with alternatives to Etsy sales venues, I have amalgamated them into one major, massive mega-list here. If you are looking for somewhere else to sell that is NOT Etsy for whatever reason, this is the place to look. I will add more periodically and those will go to the bottom of the list.

For now, it is in alphabetical order, in groups of five.

ArtFlock
ArtsEfest
Blujay
Bouf
BigCartel

BuyItSellIt
Canduru
Craftfinder
CraftMall
Creative Cafe

CraftersBuzz
CutNpaste *Sells for you on consignment basis.
Dawanda
Ecrater
Elsewares

Erayo
Funky Finds - The Shops
Felt
Folksy
GoZabo

Guild
HandmadeCatalog
HomegrownMarket
iCraft
Lov.li

Lunacraft
Madeit
MintD
My Art Plot
My Store

NotonTheHighStreet
Overstock Auctions
PinkDoodle
Poppytalk Handmade Market
RubyLane

SilkFair
Shopify
SmashingDarling
Strictly Handmade - Low yearly fee SuperMarket

Thumbtack Press
Tuggle
UShops
Veganica
Wagglepop

WinkElf - "Handmade by Thems-Elves"
WholesaleCrafts
World Wide Crafters - "Changing the way
YabbleBabble
Yessy

Yinia
YouCraft.org

If this is a helpful list and you want to see more when there are updates, please subscribe. Comments are encouraged! If you have other details to add, feel free.

Seven more Online Sales Venues that are NOT Etsy

I've dug up a few more online venues for selling wares that are similar but different from Etsy. I am always on the lookout for more of these online marketplace opportunities. Having options when selling independently is always "a good thing" as Martha would say.

This brings the total to over 50 online shopping options for those seeking an alternative to Etsy.
The first two lists can be seen here and here. Below are the latest additions, some of which you might be familiar with so speak up with any feedback please.

Funky Finds - The Shops
UShops
Felt
Folksy
ArtFlock
Yinia
Poppytalk Handmade Market