DMCosta Posted August 24, 2019 Report Share Posted August 24, 2019 I’m sure this has been asked on this forum before, but has anyone found an alternative to selling on Etsy? I sold on Etsy for years and closed my shop a six months ago. I wasn’t pleased with the quality of handmade goods on there and it just seemed to be getting more and more flooded with sellers. I’ve been a potter for years but It’s mostly my hobby at this point as I have an additional full time day job. I’d like to just build a site with e-commerce but honestly I need the exposure. I don’t have much of a following on my own. I intend on getting back into craft fairs to make in person sales, but I barely have the time so I can only do one here or there. So here’s my question, has anyone used an Etsy alternative for quality handmade goods that also gives you some exposure to obtain customers if you don’t already have a strong customer base? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted August 24, 2019 Report Share Posted August 24, 2019 I've heard good things about amazon handmade, but haven't gotten a chance to use it myself yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenO Posted September 12, 2019 Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 You could try making a eye catching instagram account that directs to a personal ecommerce site. If you are the type that can take beautiful photos and update daily you will gradually get a following. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 Agreed. Etsy in 2014 was a place that would drive your traffic for you to an extent. That really isn't the case now, with the huge number of users and all the changes that have happened on the platform since then. Driving your own traffic is going to be a necessity regardless of the platform you use now. At this point, I think the smartest thing to do regarding ecommerce is to base your choice of platform on a cost analysis of the volume you expect to sell, and the fees you'd pay accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSC Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 I left etsy some years ago when they redefined the word handmade to include things never touched by the 'makers' hand. Haven't found a decent online venue to replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 1 hour ago, PSC said: I left etsy some years ago when they redefined the word handmade to include things never touched by the 'makers' hand. Haven't found a decent online venue to replace it. The couple times I've been on Amazon Handmade, it looks about the same way. A lot of "handmade" stuff, that looks like the same mass-produced stuff that is on the standard Amazon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMCosta Posted September 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 Thank you for the replies, in a perfect world I’d love there to be a curated Etsy type of sales option. Only quality, only truly handmade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algebraist Posted September 20, 2019 Report Share Posted September 20, 2019 On 9/13/2019 at 1:18 PM, DMCosta said: Thank you for the replies, in a perfect world I’d love there to be a curated Etsy type of sales option. Only quality, only truly handmade. For what it's worth, I think that's a really good idea. There are lots of creative, smart, and technically savvy people on this forum, and starting a website is cheap... Maybe someone wants to step up and take a stab at it? Get some sort of platform started and then invite people here to give it a try... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted September 20, 2019 Report Share Posted September 20, 2019 1 hour ago, algebraist said: For what it's worth, I think that's a really good idea. There are lots of creative, smart, and technically savvy people on this forum, and starting a website is cheap... Maybe someone wants to step up and take a stab at it? Get some sort of platform started and then invite people here to give it a try... There are online/b&m galleries who vet/jury artists which is kind of what that platform would have to be. My friend who does metal and wood art is in a few of those hybrid galleries and does fairly well with that being his only online sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMCosta Posted September 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 4 hours ago, algebraist said: For what it's worth, I think that's a really good idea. There are lots of creative, smart, and technically savvy people on this forum, and starting a website is cheap... Maybe someone wants to step up and take a stab at it? Get some sort of platform started and then invite people here to give it a try... Thank you, I’ve thought of that concept for a while now because I do feel in today’s saturated ‘handmade’ market it’s needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted September 21, 2019 Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 Just to echo what @liambesaw said, there do exist smaller private websites with well-curated handmade craft. https://www.artfulhome.com/ is another one. Artful Home is basically a wholesale deal for the artist, you split the retail cost with them, then you drop-ship the work to the customer. You pay Artful Home much more than you pay Etsy, in order to have your work displayed among nothing but well-curated work. The other well-curated online craft sellers that I know of also work on a 50/50 split. It’s a trade off. If you want something with lower costs like Etsy, you can’t tell them to lower the volume of work. If you want to be seen in a well-curated environment, you need to pay them for the added value of their venue. It's expensive! It should be treated it like a gallery relationship, as in you have to compete to get past their discerning selection process, and give them half of the sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Seems like most of the commercial buyer/sellers want the 50% cut, It'w what the expect in retail to cover the costs of overstocks and no sells, or even the company buyer that is behind the trends. best, Pres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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