Craft Selling Venues Online

Most of the readers who come to this site know about Etsy and many have their own Etsy shops. There are changes going on at the Etsy site that may greatly have an effect on the sales potential at that site. Many are scrambling to expand to other selling venues online.

One of the problems is that many sites charge not only a setup fee but also a monthly fee to keep a shop on that site. I have looked at many sites, tried a few who either charge no fee or just a listing fee and I have not had the success that I have had making sales as I have had on Etsy. Will that success continue there remains to be seen.

A few months ago I wrote about trying a shop on a site called Zibbet. So far that shop has made no sales - and it went through the holiday season as well.

A site that many talk about is Artfire. Artfire requires payment for the site but offers a small free shop site as well. My shop at Artfire - though it only has one item listed - my best seller - has had no sales.

A site that has had sales for me is called Silkfair. I have made several sales on the Silkfair site but these have been over the course of more than two years. Silkfair is a sales site that is not just limited to art and craft. General merchandise is sold on the site as well. The owner of the site had tried hard to make it visible and bring customers to the site. There is also a way to migrate your Etsy listings to your Silkfair shop.

I have shops on two sites that are strictly art and I have photography on both and my ACEO mats on one in addition to the photography. One of those sites is Redbubble. Redbubble is a site that prints your artwork, in my case my photography, and ships it to the customer for you. All you do is upload artwork. You set the percentage of the selling price that you will get and Redbubble sets the price. You can sell prints, cards, shirts, calendars, and framed art. All of the work in production is done by Redbubble. The site is based in Australia so the shipping prices to the US are high. I have made sales on Redbubble BUT I have yet to be paid. WHY? Redbubble pays you when your sales balance reaches $50. It has been a couple of years and I have yet to reach that.

The other art site is Art by Us. Here there are no fees AT ALL. You list your artwork or art supplies and you can either set a flat price or run an ebay like auction. Listings remain for months and are easily renewable - and they are free. The site is set up with an emphasis on individual listings and not on "shops", though it is possible to create a single link to all of your listings.

So now we wait and see. Will the changes that have been announced and started to be enacted on Etsy cut down on sales? I certainly hope not but without the ability to interact on the site with potential customers, I think that there will be a downturn coming.