A couple weeks ago we asked where you loved to sell. We tried to get responses beyond the usual (you know what site I'm talking about!) and ask about your experience on that platform. We recognize that everyone's experience is different so we sought out several opinions to give you a few different perspectives so you can apply to your business as you see fit. We hope you enjoy it! And thanks to everyone who contributed to this article... really informative!
Erin Shebish of Sugar Crumbs (AHAS MEMBER)
Site You Love to Sell On: Storenvy
Your Page on That Site: SugarCrumbs.storenvy.com
Year You Started Selling on the Site: 2014
Why You Love Selling on the Site
I won't lie... I've tried a few different selling platforms and was never completely happy with them. So when a friend suggested Storenvy, I wasn't sure it was going to be love. In fact, I was so convinced that Storenvy was going to be just like every other platform that I put off even trying it for months!
Eventually, I opened a shop there just to see what my friends were raving about. Turns out they weren't kidding about how awesome it is! Between the user friendly shop owner dashboard and the completely customizable storefront, it's exactly what I was looking for in a shop. Did I mention that all sales made through your shop are fee free and opening a shop is totally fee free?
I now only have one shop open, as opposed to the two I had before. I've closed my etsy shop for good and only sell through Storenvy. Best decision I've ever made!
Pros/Cons of This Site:
There are so many Pros to Storenvy!
-Completely customizable storefronts
-Easy to navigate
-User friendly
-Free!
-You can use your own URL.
-Storenvy has it's own fabulous community.
Just like every other site, Storenvy does have a few cons.
- You can't print shipping from the site for free. I always print my shipping labels through Paypal.
- There's no app currently, but word is that there is one in the works!
- Occasionally, mobile buyers experience some slowness at checkout. This is an area that was being worked on and since the most recent update, I've had no issues with it!
Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on the Site?
While Storenvy is primarily handmade, you can sell all sorts of things. Vintage items, music, fine art, clothing... lots of really awesome stuff. They do have a list of items that cannot be sold. Examples include live animals, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, replicas, etc. The full list is available on the website.
Jill Broadhacker of Jilly Jack Designs
Site You Love to Sell On: Scout Mob
Your Page on That Site: scoutmob.com/a/jilly-jack-designs
Year You Started Selling on the Site: 2013
Why You Love Selling on the Site:
I love it because they reach a market that is a little different from Etsy. They also promote buying local too. My sales are slower during summer, but ramp up in October through January which is my biggest selling period.
Pros/Cons of This Site:
It's wholesale with drop shipping. They are extremely organised or this wouldn't work for me. They pay for shipping.
Because it's wholesale, they pick the artists and what pieces they want to sell, so it's not like Etsy where you open a shop and sell all your items.
Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on the Site?
They contacted me. You have to provide a contingent P.O. (purchase order) with pricing, product descriptions and links to your items on sale on other sites. They then pick what they want to sell of those items.
Melody Sanders of MASProductionArts
Site You Love to Sell On: Instagram using Pay with Penny
Your Page on That Site: instagram.com/masproductionarts
Year You Started Selling on the Site: 2014
Why You Love Selling on the Site:
I love the easy of posting a photo on IG and tagging pay with penny and having them do all the invoicing, leaving me to create more products instead of doing 'paperwork'
I'm not using Penny as much as I'm using Etsy right now, but I'd love to make the switch to selling exclusively on IG with Penny.
Pros/Cons of This Site:
Pros: It's as easy as using the hashtag #paywithpenny to list and item and just as easy for a custom to purchase with a single hashtag #sold. As a seller you have the option for the post to be a one time sale or sell multiples of that item.
Cons: In my opinion, not enough people have Penny accounts to make it a huge selling platform. But once more people start using it, I think it will be a great way to sell on IG.
Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on the Site?
Anyone can apply to sell, and Penny chooses merchants based on the quality of the products they sell, their Instagram following and of course the legality of products being sold (no drugs or drug paraphernalia for example)
Jen Lewis of Purse & Clutch
Site You Love to Sell On: Instagram using Pay with Penny
Your Page on That Site: instagram.com/purseandclutch
Year You Started Selling on the Site: 2014
Why You Love Selling on the Site:
We don't get a ton of traffic or sales from our Instagram feed, but we put a lot of love and care into creating beautiful photos and have gathered a decent following. Pay with Penny allows viewers to purchase right on Instagram by commenting #sold and they take care of the payment processing. It's a great way to do a quick flash sale or give followers a way to shop final items at trunk shows before something sells out.
Pros/Cons of This Site:
Pros:
-It makes purchasing super easy and fun
-It's a way to make sales on an additional platform and make our Instagram feed worth the work
-They have amazing customer service and are super easy to work with
-You can use different hashtags like #multisale and #saleclosed to trigger different types of sales to make sure you don't sell more than you have
-They have a helpful dashboard that shows you what you've posted and what's sold so you can tweak your selling strategy
Cons:
-It's a relatively new platform and it can take a bit of education of Instagram followers to realize they can buy right there on Instagram
-It's harder to sell products that require more of an explanation because the caption just gets too long and customers don't like to read
Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on the Site?
No restrictions that I know of, but you do have to apply to be a seller.
Cyndi Grasman oF Bad Pickle Tees
Site You Love to Sell On: Weebly
Your Page on That Site: www.badpickletees.com
Year You Started Selling on the Site: 2013
Why You Love Selling on the Site:
Easy platform and the people who run Weebly are amazing. They want the businesses to succeed. They have invited to me to come to their facilities to tour and hang out with them, they helped me get an article in Associated Press, they check in with me every few months to see how I am doing, I could go on and on how they have helped grow my business simply because I reached out to them.
Pros/Cons of This Site:
They are a newer company. They are adding new features every week (which they keep us well informed about in their blog) but sometimes you find they haven't quite gotten to the feature you may want right now.
Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on the Site?
No, it's a platform to host your website.
Hana'a Ltayf of Crafty Dust
Site You Love to Sell On: Ideyna
Your Page on That Site: www.ideyna.com/shop/crafty-dust.html
Year You Started Selling on the Site: Feb. 2014
Why You Love Selling on the Site:
1- The ladies managing it are so hands on and reachable (directly by email or phone).
2- Shipping is totally taken care of by Ideyna. So once something sells, Ideyna contacts me about when the item will be ready for pickup. The courier company arrives at my door, picks up the item and Ideyna follows up to make sure the item is actually received. So no shipping hassle whatsoever.
3- Lots of advertising on social media. Ideyna are constantly advertising my products (and other crafters' products) on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, their monthly newsletter. They also make professional videos of the crafters and use them in their social media. Mine for instance can be found here: http://www.ideyna.com/blog/?p=729
Pros/Cons of This Site:
1- Item listing is for free. Commission is only taken after a sale occurs. So I can list as many items as I want.
2- Commission is 24% of the sale price, which may seem a lot, but with all the advertising I'm getting and no shipping hassle, it's acceptable.
3- The weight of the item to sell is inputted (by me) while creating the listing , and the website calculates the shipping cost automatically when the buyer tries to buy. So the buyer may buy several items together from my shop and the combined shipping weight will determine the shipping cost. So no over or underestimating shipping cost (as in what happens on Etsy if someone is trying to buy several items).
Any Restrictions or Application to Sell on the Site?
You must apply and the Ideyna ladies must meet with you first if your product range is something they are interested in.
Also you must be a crafter based in the UAE. (Shipping is worldwide though)
