What I Like About ArtFire So Far

I received a comment on yesterday's post form florcita. She writes, "I haven't tried Artfire... any advantages on top of say...Etsy or Dawanda?
I should check it out.
Good luck with it!"

I started to write her back when I realized I had more to say than a typical comment. So thank you to florcita for inspiring today's post. Oh, and you can check out her blog and her art at florcita.

My Response:

Thanks for the well wishes. I guess I'll be better able to speak to any advantages or disadvantages after I've been with Artfire for a while. There are a few things I do like right away. One is unlimited sections for my shop. I can have everything in one place and still be organized. The sole reason I have three Etsy shops is because Etsy only allows 10 sections. It's hard enough to divide all of the different fiber I work with into 10 groups, but it's impossible to also include my handspun yarn and other crafts without being ridiculously crowded.

I love Artfire's market hub. It's just so smart to be able to link to your other sites like this blog, my YouTube station, my twitter and website, etc. When you are trying to brand yourself in the marketplace, those links become critical.

I think the rapid cart is a cool innovation. I have absolutely no idea if I'll ever sell anything off my rapid cart, but it's a free perk. I easily went to my new website and created an entire rapid cart page which allows people to shop without even leaving my site. That's pretty awesome.

Although I'm still sad about giving up my $7 account, you can't beat $12 a month with no extra fees. With a new shop, I know it will take time for buyers to find me, but I'm really not going to miss $12 in the grand scheme of things. I guess it depends on how many products you have. If you list less than 60 items a month at Etsy for example, than Etsy might be less expensive, but Etsy does take a small % of your sales too. Selling fiber by the ounce, I turn products pretty quickly, so I spend $30+ a month.

I don't want to sound like I'm Etsy bashing, because I'm wouldn't dream of it. What Etsy has given me is a great customer base. An inexpensive venue isn't worth much if you never sell anything. With ArtFire, only time will tell if there is a niche for me. Etsy has already proven to be able to bring people in. In addition to that, I have made some amazing friends there.

I guess I'll have to report back in a few months and let you know how it's going. I have absolutely no plans to close my fiber studio at Etsy, but I may let the other two shops go as items expire. Four Shops are a lot to handle. That's as far into the future as I have considered for now. I do like the idea of being in more than one place. Once I get all set up, I think things will run smoothly. I hope!