Etsy Folksy NOTHS

[GoonerGary]

I was reading about Etsy last night and how some recent changes have meant that sales have dramatically dropped for sellers. Blaming the introduction of Chinese factories hogging the visible listings. Looking at some of the sellers who have great products, they were only selling a couple of products per day which is very poor. Folksy looks fairly dead, but Not on the High Street seems interesting although it is impossible to tell on the amount of items sold.

Does anyone have a preference for any of these venues or did you find it wasn't worth your time?

[liannef]

We looked into listing our items a while back and was told we couldn't because they weren't 100% handmade by us from scratch so am surprised there are chinese factories selling stuff that is no doubt mass produced! NOTHS is apparently very hard to get on to and commission is very high. I've bought off etsy before but not the others.

[ArtyGamer]

I can concur with that. Both eBay and Etsy have products being sold that are made in China and which feature my own designs, but it doesn't matter how many times I ask them to remove the listings... they ignore me. As crap as it is that they're allowing this thievery to continue, it's made worse by the fact it's badly scanned images of my work that are being used so the quality is terrible. I can't compete with them on price, and trying to tell people that YOU are the original designer makes no difference because it all comes down to the cost for most.

In fact, I bought two "Pressy" things online a few weeks ago as their video was very misleading and showed that their gadget allowed you to take photos on your phone by clicking the Pressy once. Wasn't the case. Anyway, I mentioned on Facebook that I'd bought one for me and one for my friend, and because I'd tagged him in it all his friends were able to see it. A few of them really liked the idea and went searching... and one posted up that they'd bought the same thing for £3 on Amazon, but made by a different manufacturer. Now, I paid $45 for my two including shipping so that's a considerable saving. I mentioned that I'd much rather support the people who researched and developed it themselves than those who simply stole the idea and made it on the cheap. Needless to say, the other folk also opted for the £3 one.

I think the problem is that money is so tight these days that you either have to be as cheap as you possibly can or you lose out. I don't cut my prices. I don't feel like I should because I care about quality and all my customers appreciate the effort that I go to... but I guarantee I'd likely make ten times more sales if I dropped to the prices of the people who are ripping off my designs. I barely make any money at all on Etsy now, and haven't even covered the cost of my eBay shop in sales this month yet I used to easily cover the monthly store fee from a single day's sales at most. It's sad.

Have you looked at Artfire.com? I was put off by their fees, but I've heard mostly good things about them.

[GoonerGary]

Well that's the uproar on Etsy, you no longer have to manufacture the item, as long as it is your original design or you imagined the idea, you can outsource the manufacturing allowing you to up-scale your business beyond just you. According to an article, the Etsy buyer had to scroll through lots of pages of Chinese $3 watch straps to find something unique and handmade.

I read that people had to prove that their products were handmade by showing proof of the manufacturing process, photos of the workshop and the raw materials used. Those checks are most likely no longer necessary.

NOTHS is £200 registration plus 25% commission, a high street gallery gift shop would take 40% off you.

[pisquee]

IF you can get through the application process and are approved for NOTHS, then bite their hand off - we know designers making a good amount of sales regularly each week on there. We applied 3 times and got knocked back each time though, as we don't really 'fit' with what they are wanting, which to us seems a bit short sighted. So do your research and see if you think your product (and brand) fits with the rest of what they offer.

[GoonerGary]

I can concur with that. Both eBay and Etsy have products being sold that are made in China and which feature my own designs, but it doesn't matter how many times I ask them to remove the listings... they ignore me. As crap as it is that they're allowing this thievery to continue, it's made worse by the fact it's badly scanned images of my work that are being used so the quality is terrible. .....

I got a solicitor to contact their vero department to start taking notice of my infringement notices. Sent the solicitor all the excuse emails from ebay and I got accepted into the vero program. I'm on trial still! But at least the low life sellers start taking notice. I'm sure I got pay back by endless non receipt claims and bogus feedback. I feel better for it though.

[GoonerGary]

IF you can get through the application process and are approved for NOTHS, then bite their hand off - we know designers making a good amount of sales regularly each week on there. We applied 3 times and got knocked back each time though, as we don't really 'fit' with what they are wanting, which to us seems a bit short sighted. So do your research and see if you think your product (and brand) fits with the rest of what they offer.

What do they want?? More of the same?

[pisquee]

We're going to set up a new brand and try and work it out, as after three knock backs we know they don't like what we're currently doing!

[JMugs]

Pisq..the new brand is the way into NOTHs, basic website, high prices to allow for the commission charge and items they like (They do know their market!). Then if the customer finds your website they see the same prices, keeps NOTHS looking good.

Etsy..my sales have grown month on month for the last 12 months, not massive, but growing. Ebay has gone the other way, my sales there have dropped month on month over the last 12 months and I haven't been able to crack how to stop it.

Janners

[pisquee]

Pricing wise, there is enough margin in our products for their commission as most of our business is wholesale orders to shops around the UK (although we're starting to get interest from overseas) NOTHS said they wouldn't take us because they didn't think our products would well, which seems ridiculous as we know they sell. They did on our second time of applying show interest in our lampshades, so we sent them the extra info and pictures they wanted, and they replied with the same cut/paste rejection we had the first time.