So you are a crafter and you want to start selling online? I was too and I have found that there are more sites out there than I could ever hope to list stuff on. So this will not be a complete list as they come and go but a list of my top favorites.
Etsy, of course. If you haven't heard of Etsy yet I am surprised.
Here is our shop as an example http://www.etsy.com/shop/2crochethooksbut I suggest you browse around and look at a lot of them. The majority of our online sales have come from here. It is easy to set up and manage which is always nice. They are also improving all the time and even have the shop stats (how many people have visited, purchased, ect) right on Etsy now where before you had to go to google analytics. The fees are reasonable and everyone is friendly and helpful. There is a wealth of information and plenty of people ready to give their 2 cents.
The biggest down side/complaint I have about Etsy is that it seems to be mostly made up of sellers. It needs more dedicated shoppers. I am more likely to sell a supply (i.e. pattern or tarn) than I am to sell a finished project. There is also the issue that I cannot update with my ipad, they have an app for buying and for looking at sold orders ect, but I cannot list new items with my ipad which makes me sad.
I suggest selling here as the cost for one listing for four months is just 20 cents, which makes it well worth trying for sure.
Here is our shop as an example http://www.etsy.com/shop/2crochethooksbut I suggest you browse around and look at a lot of them. The majority of our online sales have come from here. It is easy to set up and manage which is always nice. They are also improving all the time and even have the shop stats (how many people have visited, purchased, ect) right on Etsy now where before you had to go to google analytics. The fees are reasonable and everyone is friendly and helpful. There is a wealth of information and plenty of people ready to give their 2 cents.
The biggest down side/complaint I have about Etsy is that it seems to be mostly made up of sellers. It needs more dedicated shoppers. I am more likely to sell a supply (i.e. pattern or tarn) than I am to sell a finished project. There is also the issue that I cannot update with my ipad, they have an app for buying and for looking at sold orders ect, but I cannot list new items with my ipad which makes me sad.
I suggest selling here as the cost for one listing for four months is just 20 cents, which makes it well worth trying for sure.
Ebay has been around.... forever. Just kidding but sometimes it feels like it.
Ebay has never been my forte, mom has always done the Ebay stuff. My biggest complaint is unless you run a shop with buy it now prices or decent reserves then things have a tendency to sell cheaper than I'd like. I'm the type who'd rather wait for the perfect buyer who really values an item and is willing to pay what its worth than try to make a quick buck by letting people fight for it and see how low they can get it.
Ebay shop fees are reasonable and if you want to manage a shop on there with Buy it now prices or are willing to gamble with bidding then ebay is a great place. Just remember most people on there are looking to get second hand stuff as cheap as possible.
Ebay has never been my forte, mom has always done the Ebay stuff. My biggest complaint is unless you run a shop with buy it now prices or decent reserves then things have a tendency to sell cheaper than I'd like. I'm the type who'd rather wait for the perfect buyer who really values an item and is willing to pay what its worth than try to make a quick buck by letting people fight for it and see how low they can get it.
Ebay shop fees are reasonable and if you want to manage a shop on there with Buy it now prices or are willing to gamble with bidding then ebay is a great place. Just remember most people on there are looking to get second hand stuff as cheap as possible.
Listia is my new favorite place to shop. Listia works based on points, sure you can buy points but when you start out you earn points for signing up and for learning the ropes. After that you earn points for selling stuff. The points don't pay for shipping so you are more likely to sell something with free shipping but then you have to cover shipping. I like to sell digital products, no shipping involved, but then you have to hope your buyer is honest and will say they got the item, so far so good.
Listia is much like ebay where you can end up getting less than you want. The highest you can set the starting point is 100 points so just be careful you don't list anything you aren't willing to part with at whatever amount they buy it at. The other point is you cannot cash out so you have to spend your points on listia. Not hard for me, I've been buying all sorts of amazing yarns on there. The hard part is resisting the urge to buy more points, so far so good.
There are no fees, in fact no money, involved at all. The only costs associated is with shipping and you can choose to charge shipping and have it covered or hope that it sells for enough points to make it worth shipping. It is very random how much you will make. Selling the same pattern I have made 700 points in one listing down to less than 100 in a listing. It depends on who wants it and how much they are willing to pay. As with any auction you need at least 2 interested parties.
Listia is much like ebay where you can end up getting less than you want. The highest you can set the starting point is 100 points so just be careful you don't list anything you aren't willing to part with at whatever amount they buy it at. The other point is you cannot cash out so you have to spend your points on listia. Not hard for me, I've been buying all sorts of amazing yarns on there. The hard part is resisting the urge to buy more points, so far so good.
There are no fees, in fact no money, involved at all. The only costs associated is with shipping and you can choose to charge shipping and have it covered or hope that it sells for enough points to make it worth shipping. It is very random how much you will make. Selling the same pattern I have made 700 points in one listing down to less than 100 in a listing. It depends on who wants it and how much they are willing to pay. As with any auction you need at least 2 interested parties.
Yardsellr is an interesting and another place where people want cheap items. Yardsellr's biggest and greatest plus is that it is totally free for the lister. 100%, no kidding. Its a great place to list stuff.
Yardsellr buyers prefer no shipping (don't we all), especially on cheap items. This is because Yardsellr offers points for certain things and those points can be used to pay for the item (don't worry you still get cash when they pay) but not for the shipping.The best option is to increase the sale price of your item to cover the cost of shipping and offer free shipping and you will be fine.
There is no charge for listing items for sale and you can re-list for free as well. The listings don't last long so expect to spend some time and effort on this. They have greatly improved their re-listing with a new bulk re-listing button, just be careful about re-listing items you do not want to continue offering for sale. The site also has an etsy importer, you may or may not need to make adjustments to your items as they have a word limit and you may want to roll shipping into your prices.
Yardsellr buyers prefer no shipping (don't we all), especially on cheap items. This is because Yardsellr offers points for certain things and those points can be used to pay for the item (don't worry you still get cash when they pay) but not for the shipping.The best option is to increase the sale price of your item to cover the cost of shipping and offer free shipping and you will be fine.
There is no charge for listing items for sale and you can re-list for free as well. The listings don't last long so expect to spend some time and effort on this. They have greatly improved their re-listing with a new bulk re-listing button, just be careful about re-listing items you do not want to continue offering for sale. The site also has an etsy importer, you may or may not need to make adjustments to your items as they have a word limit and you may want to roll shipping into your prices.
Bonanza is a nice site, its pretty and you have a shop where people can talk to you if you hang out in there. The items are free to list but you do pay a fair and nominal fee when someone buys something. You can sign up for a rush where they offer items at a discount and they promote to all their members. (The rush involves categories rather than individual shops so it is free to you and is optional if you don't like the idea of offering a discount.) The site also has an etsy importer but its very frustrating because you have to go into each item and tag it into the categories you want. If you are importing 100 items you have to go into each of those items and play with the tags (if anyone knows an easier way please let me know).
I have only sold 2 items on bonanza but I have not been as active with it as I could mainly because of the issue with re-tagging every item.
I have only sold 2 items on bonanza but I have not been as active with it as I could mainly because of the issue with re-tagging every item.
Hyena Cart: we used hyena cart for awhile. It is a flat fee to list your items and if you don't pay the fee you can't mess with your listings but they will stay active for a month or so (don't remember exact amount) so you could have a month of down time if you don't have more listings. Generally we are adding new stuff all the time so we couldn't really let our membership lapse. No sales here but we only kept it a couple months. There is no importer so each item must be manually added. The listing designer is pretty unique and you can do some fun stuff with it. Its really great for customize-able options and you can add more options in there. Its less known so seemed to have less shoppers but it would be a great shop if you are doing advertising.
Artfire. We listed a few things when they were free but now they have a charge. I think they have a good customer base but I don't know much about their site. If you have any info please let us know and we'll include it in here. We'll even include a shop link if you have one.
Let us know if you have a favorite place to sell or shop. As always any hints, tips, comments or concerns appreciated!
Let us know if you have a favorite place to sell or shop. As always any hints, tips, comments or concerns appreciated!
