ArtFire VS Etsy

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Permalink Reply by Hapagirls on January 13, 2010 at 5:53pm

I like the way you think Lazymuse!!!!

Lazymuse says:

Etsy does require a lot more work to get your work seen, but when that does happen, views and sales go through the roof! Does MCC have an Etsy team? If we worked together over there, putting each other in treasuries etc, it might generate more sales for us.

Permalink Reply by Tim Pursell on January 14, 2010 at 3:37am

I've had an Etsy shop since 2008, 1k market since early 2009 and AF since June 2009 I also have had my own site for 6 years. I do little promoting on any of them other than posting in the fourms from time to time, mostly on E, less so on AF and hardly ever on 1kM. I thought AF was going to really take off and it might still do so but Etsy has had given me 90% of my online sales. 13 of the 14 sales I got from AF were in the 3 weeks around Thanksgiving. nothing since. I've had one sale from 1kM and 4 last year from my own site.
Lets face it, Etsy is where the views are.. or at least CAN be.Yes it's huge and your shop can get lost in the crowd but if you constantly try to tweek your listings for SEO you CAN get your share of views. I never have relisted just to be found, it's a waste of money IMHO. And I have learned that view count is not all that important. I'd rather 2 shoppers that actually want my items find me than 200 that are just looking. I read about how upset sellers are that list a new item and don't get 100+ views in the first few hours. I've seen sellers that have 1000's of views but few sales. What's the point? My views are low to pitiful. But my sales to view count percentage is not so bad... on all my selling venues.
Each site has good points and drawbacks. Some shops do well on one or another venue with no apparent reasons. AF is (to me) the most user friendly from a sellers perspective, the easiest listing process, the most tools for editing your listings. and the most payment options for your customers. Etsy has the volume and the name recognition. 1kM is (again, to me) trying to be a little higher class mostly because they jury every shop before you can open there.
Tim

Permalink Reply by spiritgiftsgalore on January 16, 2010 at 7:37am

I have done etsy but only for about 2 months. After reading all of this post I am now headed over to Artfire to start there as well. I have learned so much on these message boards. Thanks everyone for all of the tips.

Permalink Reply by designsbytonyagoudy on January 16, 2010 at 6:12pm

Etsy is just so hard to get noticed. I do have my shop there and just opened my artfire. Also have a couple others Im with but they are new.

My etsy shop has been open almost a year and one sale. And alot of listing and relisting and renewing fees. It is getting kinda crazy. I just found a little trick if you update your main sho announcement it will put you at the top of the shop local cat. for what its worth it is the only free way to get your name to the top of some list.

Permalink Reply by beckleecottagedesigns on January 16, 2010 at 8:50pm

thanks, I appreciate all of the info.

lazymuse said:

I have accounts at Etsy, Dawanda and 1000 Markets. To be honest I haven't had any sales through 1KM or Dawanda, but I d o get lots of views and I really like the way 1KM is laid out.

Etsy does require a lot more work to get your work seen, but when that does happen, views and sales go through the roof! Does MCC have an Etsy team? If we worked together over there, putting each other in treasuries etc, it might generate more sales for us.

Permalink Reply by beckleecottagedesigns on January 16, 2010 at 8:51pm

thanks, maybe someone will start a new online site and we can get in on the ground floor.

designsbytonyagoudy said:

Etsy is just so hard to get noticed. I do have my shop there and just opened my artfire. Also have a couple others Im with but they are new.

My etsy shop has been open almost a year and one sale. And alot of listing and relisting and renewing fees. It is getting kinda crazy. I just found a little trick if you update your main sho announcement it will put you at the top of the shop local cat. for what its worth it is the only free way to get your name to the top of some list.

Permalink Reply by beckleecottagedesigns on January 16, 2010 at 8:52pm

thanks, I need to get busy myself.

spiritgiftsgalore said:

I have done etsy but only for about 2 months. After reading all of this post I am now headed over to Artfire to start there as well. I have learned so much on these message boards. Thanks everyone for all of the tips.

Permalink Reply by beckleecottagedesigns on January 16, 2010 at 8:53pm

thanks for all of the infro I learn so much from everyone.

Tim Pursell said:

I've had an Etsy shop since 2008, 1k market since early 2009 and AF since June 2009 I also have had my own site for 6 years. I do little promoting on any of them other than posting in the fourms from time to time, mostly on E, less so on AF and hardly ever on 1kM. I thought AF was going to really take off and it might still do so but Etsy has had given me 90% of my online sales. 13 of the 14 sales I got from AF were in the 3 weeks around Thanksgiving. nothing since. I've had one sale from 1kM and 4 last year from my own site.
Lets face it, Etsy is where the views are.. or at least CAN be.Yes it's huge and your shop can get lost in the crowd but if you constantly try to tweek your listings for SEO you CAN get your share of views. I never have relisted just to be found, it's a waste of money IMHO. And I have learned that view count is not all that important. I'd rather 2 shoppers that actually want my items find me than 200 that are just looking. I read about how upset sellers are that list a new item and don't get 100+ views in the first few hours. I've seen sellers that have 1000's of views but few sales. What's the point? My views are low to pitiful. But my sales to view count percentage is not so bad... on all my selling venues.
Each site has good points and drawbacks. Some shops do well on one or another venue with no apparent reasons. AF is (to me) the most user friendly from a sellers perspective, the easiest listing process, the most tools for editing your listings. and the most payment options for your customers. Etsy has the volume and the name recognition. 1kM is (again, to me) trying to be a little higher class mostly because they jury every shop before you can open there.
Tim

Permalink Reply by Spirit Reflections on January 20, 2010 at 7:24am

I just took all my items off Etsy and am building my Artfire and trying a couple of other sites. There are obviously good points about both sites, but here are some of my personal comparisons:

1. Etsy is just too expensive. Renewing your listings very regularly keeps your view stats up, but gets very expensive.
2. Artfire is a flat fee per month - period.
3. Etsy seems to promote their most successful sites. That may seem to make sense initially, but it doesn't help the up and comer. Etsy's "favorites" (sites and sellers) get seen frequently - others not so much at all.
4. Forums are not fun and may not be helpful. When I requested assistance i often got information I didn't need and none that I was actually asking for and it seemed patronizing.
5. Artfire sellers are for the most part, helpful, friendly, courteous and kind.
6. Specific Artfire forums such as Item of the Day keep you acquainted with what your colleagues are doing and making, provide terrific affirmations, and allow you to find resources among your colleagues as opposed to retail shopping online or otherwise.

That's the biggest things for me.

Kathie

Permalink Reply by beckleecottagedesigns on January 20, 2010 at 7:34am

thanks for the info, I found much of my Etsy experience to be the same. Especially when I asked for help. Some of the criticism was just mean and so much of it was conflicting too. Etsy is a full time job promoting and trying to get in with the most featured groups so I am letting my listings on Etsy expire. I have decided to go in another direction. I am moving toward silver smithing and sculpture but in the meantime time I am doing some internet marketing. That seems to be the way to get things done Social Networking is amazing. thanks
L

Spirit Reflections said:

I just took all my items off Etsy and am building my Artfire and trying a couple of other sites. There are obviously good points about both sites, but here are some of my personal comparisons:

1. Etsy is just too expensive. Renewing your listings very regularly keeps your view stats up, but gets very expensive.
2. Artfire is a flat fee per month - period.
3. Etsy seems to promote their most successful sites. That may seem to make sense initially, but it doesn't help the up and comer. Etsy's "favorites" (sites and sellers) get seen frequently - others not so much at all.
4. Forums are not fun and may not be helpful. When I requested assistance i often got information I didn't need and none that I was actually asking for and it seemed patronizing.
5. Artfire sellers are for the most part, helpful, friendly, courteous and kind.
6. Specific Artfire forums such as Item of the Day keep you acquainted with what your colleagues are doing and making, provide terrific affirmations, and allow you to find resources among your colleagues as opposed to retail shopping online or otherwise.

That's the biggest things for me.

Kathie

Permalink Reply by Lauraslefthook on January 20, 2010 at 7:45pm

I have both an ArtFire and an Etsy shop. I cannot necessarily compare my two shops since the ArtFire shop only has patterns, but I get way fewer sales and views on ArtFire as compared to Etsy. I do need to promote my ArtFire shop more, but there are only so many hours in the day.

I find that it is better to avoid too much time in the Etsy forums. I do, however, belong to a couple street teams there that have been helpful; I don't know that the teams have directly brought me many sales, but the support is nice.

Right now I have a basic account at ArtFire. If I started getting enough sales to pay for the monthly fee I would upgrade.

I don't renew items on Etsy unless they have expired and I still want them in my shop. I try to relist sold items or a new item several times a week.

With any venue, you really have to have awesome descriptions, photos, and tags to catch the buyer's eye.

Permalink Reply by All About The Fiber on January 30, 2010 at 7:32pm

I've been on etsy for over 3 years and now have two shops. Gave up Artfire after 8 months and nothing. Zibbet is new but to me, doing everything right. They're responsive and caring. I've been there since July and have started to build some sales. I stay out of the etsy forums except for a drop in now and then. They can get very tense. Three shops is all i can handle now!

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