It’s a first on Simply Shiny: A real live guest post.
My friend Brandi, the very talented artist and designer from Catie’s Blue, has graciously provided a thought provoking post about selling venues, alternatives and what’s next.
Enjoy!
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Brandi says:
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been reading about the changes happening over on Etsy. Various seller friends have talked about the severe drop in views and sales, and many of the posts that I came across asked “where do I go next?” or “what can I do about it?” And it got me thinking.
I moved off Etsy in January 2011, so a lot, if not most, of the changes Etsy’s implemented since then are beyond my experience (and why I needed clarification for this post from Kristy!). But what does strike a chord in me is the feeling of not being in control of my shop and my business. That was a big thing for me, as I sell my work full-time. A little change for a site like Etsy can have a big impact on my business, and that was something I was looking to minimize with my move to another selling venue. It was also a move that I knew I wanted to do at some point in the future.
I’m not here to tell you to move off Etsy; that’s a choice you’ve got to make yourself, because there are a lot of factors involved in a decision like that. Moving off Etsy isn’t for everyone, either, because not everyone cares about the same things or wants more control like I did.
But if you’re ready for a change, or just curious, I can tell you that there are options when it comes to selling online; Etsy may be the biggest name, but it isn’t the only site.
In my experience, the selling sites out there fall into two general categories – a community-based site like Etsy and a stand-alone shop that you’d create on a website. There are pros and cons to each, so before you jump in and do some research, make a list of things you want to have in an online selling venue. What’s most important to you? Coupon codes, integration with Paypal (or another payment provider), full control over the design, minimal technical stuff? Write it down, then refer back to it as you research each site.
Option 1: Community-based sites
Examples: Artfire, Meylah, DaWanda, Folksy, MadeIt, Shop Handmade
Why to choose it: You love interacting with people on teams, guilds, and forums, and appreciate a community in place to celebrate and commiserate with. Traffic also tends to be higher on sites like these because everyone, from the administrators to the sellers, are working to bring people in. The more people come in, the better the chance is of someone seeing your work for the first time.
Artfire, Meylah, DaWanda, and Folksy are all newer and somewhat smaller, handmade selling sites. Newer and smaller might not be a bad thing, as smaller sites also might mean more visibility for those shops who are on it (because there just isn’t as many as there might be with Etsy). Visibility is very good; the more your shop is visible, the more people get to see it, and the better your chances are of making a sale. A community-based site works off of creating visibility for as many people as possible at one time.
The downsides: Your shop is one of many, so it may be hard to stand out from the crowd. Beyond that, your competition, even if it’s not direct competition, is right on-site with you. And while you might have a little bit of control over the way your shop looks, you have no control over the overall site design (which may or may not help your own branding).
Additionally, there are going to be growing pains with a smaller site. Tweaks to the site design, the shops, the searches, the payment plans. Smaller sites are still working on the details, and you should know that going in.
The biggest downside to a smaller, community-based site, though, comes back to traffic – what kind of traffic do they get? I’m of the opinion that any seller no matter where they sell needs to do what they can to drive their own traffic to their shops (and generate their own sales). That being said, general site traffic is important, too. At least a third of my sales when I was on Etsy came from brand new buyers and people who found me internally. So, what I would want to know is how much of the site’s traffic are buyers and how much are sellers? Because if there’s a decent amount of traffic for a site, but most of that traffic are other sellers, then it really doesn’t matter how much visibility you get; no one’s there to buy because everyone’s there to sell.
Option 2: Stand-alone shops
Examples: Big Cartel, Shopify, IndieMade, WordPress-based shops
Why to choose it: With a stand-alone shop, whether it’s on another site or a website you build yourself, you are (usually) in the driver’s seat. Site design, policies, payment processors, and the overall look is up to you. There’s a freedom in that, especially when you’re in a saturated field (like jewelry) and want to stand out with your branding.
Stand-alone shops are also good because your buyers don’t have sign up for an account just to buy with you (unless you make them), which earned me lots of kudos from my own buyers who were tired of remembering passwords.
Another bonus is that the traffic you bring in is focused solely on your products, no one else’s, and your brand, not the site’s brand. There is no competition there to take away from your work. And, if I’m not mistaken, the traffic you bring in helps increase your search rankings.
The downsides: Full control is a double-edged sword. Because you’re in control of everything, you’re responsible for everything… including driving traffic to your shop. That’s the big one, and if you don’t feel super confident with social media, advertising, or putting yourself out there regularly, traffic (and sales) may be hard to come by. You can’t rely on internal site traffic or traffic from the community as a whole because there isn’t any; shops on Big Cartel and Shopify, for example, aren’t tied in any way to any other shop. You’re on your own when it comes to traffic.
The other thing to consider is design. Depending on which site you’re looking at, you may be able to play with or change the design of the shop. Some sites will have a few templates built in, or there are designers that can provide a semi-custom or custom design for a price. If you do a WordPress-based site, there are tutorials out there to get you started if you’d like to try designing it yourself; otherwise, you’ll need a graphic/web designer to help you out. Either way, just know that with a stand-alone shop, there may be other costs involved, too.
Lastly, with a standalone shop, you have to be prepared to troubleshoot any problems that arise on a technical level. Sites like Big Cartel and Shopify will have forums and help pages, and offer some technical help, but not all sites do. Self-hosted WordPress is a great foundation for any website, but making changes to your site can be frustrating if you’re not technically proficient in coding or programming. Sometimes the WordPress help pages assume you’re a programmer, and offers little help for the absolute beginner to do what they want to do. A web designer would be able to help you out with support for a WordPress-based shop, but just like a custom design, that will cost.
Option 3: Downloadable Products
Examples: E-Junkie, Pulley App
Why to choose it: You’ve got digital products to sell, things like PDF patterns, ebooks, or downloadable photos. Etsy or Artfire is working okay for you, but the beauty of E-Junkie and Pulley App is that they automate the whole process for you. They secure payment and provide an instant download link for your buyers. This means you don’t have to email your buyers manually, like you would if you were selling a PDF on Etsy; E-Junkie and Pulley App take care of that for you. Once you’ve set it up on your site or blog, you’re good to go.
Both also offer several monthly plans, based on number of products and storage space, and integrates with Paypal. This way, you can start with the lowest (and cheapest) plan they offer, and work your way up as you need it.
The downsides: Pulley App has no shopping cart option, only single download buttons for each product. So, if you only have a handful of products and don’t expect (or want to offer) people the option of buying multiple products, then Pulley App may be the way to go. The dashboard/admin part of Pulley App is beautifully designed and easy to use, so anyone can be up and selling in minutes. But if you’d like a shopping cart, or the ability to offer discounts, you’re going to need more than Pulley App offers. The good news is that since they were designed by the same parent company, Big Cartel integrates with Pulley App seamlessly. The downside is that you have to pay two bills per month for that luxury.
E-Junkie does offer a shopping cart along with its Buy buttons, so that buyers can buy everything you ever sell in one bulk payment. The downside with E-Junkie is their dashboard/admin area can be a little overwhelming (and messy looking). There are lots of support documents will help you get started, though, and having the shopping cart included in your monthly plan is fantastic.
Staying on Etsy
According to the lovely Kristy, the answer for Etsy sellers may be implementing SEO methods and keywords into your item titles and descriptions. (Simply Shiny Note: Look for a post from me about this soon…) The changes in the search have to do with relevancy, so the internal search is looking for keywords in your shop for search results. That’s a simplified answer, but may do the trick (and gives you something to work on). If you’ve never given SEO much thought, just know that you’ll have to have some patience as you experiment, as the results may not happen overnight.
The other thing you could work on is outside advertising. Don’t rely on only the internal searches on Etsy to bring buyers to your shop; take an active role and start bringing in customers of your own through ads on blogs, sending newsletters, doing guest posts, or interacting on Facebook pages or with Twitter. It’s probably a little late in the season to start doing craft fairs (as the cutoff dates are usually several months or weeks in advance), but you could always start prepping for the spring. Another alternative is to do your own holiday trunk show in your area, which is fun, low-cost, and always a big hit for me.
None of this is really new or groundbreaking, but with the site changes affecting views, now would be a good time to start focusing off Etsy to bring in new customers. That, I think is the trick; finding new outlets or venues to drive traffic to your shop (and put money in your pocket).
Where to go next
If you haven’t made a list of what you want, now would be a good time to write one. Compare it to all of the selling options out there. Is there one specific site that is calling to you? What’s your must-have item on your list?
Beyond that, what are your own long-term plans? Do you even want to handle the technical side of things? What look do you want, and are you prepared to pay for a web designer?
There’s a lot to consider, and I know I’ve thrown a lot of information at you in this post. So, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly!
Brandi Hussey is the jewelry designer behind Catie’s Blue. In her spare time, she creates color palettes and digital layouts for her shop Freshly Hued, plays with photography, and blogs about life and color over at Brandi Girl Blog.
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Good stuff, huh?
Thanks Brandi!
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