Handmade Marketplaces: Where to Sell Your Crafts

Even with all of our advances in technology, it seems our personal lives have become busier than ever. Many of us are feeling the effects of stress from daily life and have turned to art or crafting to release some creative energy. If you want to make some extra money with your hobby or turn your hobby into a business, there are Web sites devoted to selling handmade items. Selling on these sites is more work than simply listing it and waiting for a buyer. There is a time commitment for promoting your shop and learning how to take proper photographs. Selling your art or crafts on line is not a way to get rich, but if you are willing to learn and spend some time on your business you can supplement or replace your day job.

Etsy Handmade Supplies and Vintage

Etsy.com is the oldest handmade marketplace. It was founded in 1995 by Rob Kalin, Chris Maguire, Haim Schoppik and Jared Tarbell. Etsy charges twenty cents per listing and a 3.5% fee if the item sells. With nearly 4 million listings in the handmade category, it is the most popular marketplace for buying and selling handmade. However, being the largest on line marketplace for handmade makes it difficult for sellers to be seen relying on the site itself. There are so many listings that unless your product is very unique, hours after you list a new product it is buried in the search. Promoting off the site is a must if you wish to sell more than a few items.

Artfire Handmade Supplies and Vintage

Artfire.com is relatively new to the handmade scene at only a year old. Artfire's fee structure is completely different than most other sites. There is a completely free option with unlimited listings but with only basic features. For $12 a month and no final value fee there is a studio with many unique features called a Verified Account. Verified accounts have a Rapid Cart which is an easy to create shopping cart available to place on your blog or website. It uses Artfire's secure checkout and the buy now buttons are very easy to create at Artfire. Artfire also has implemented coupon codes with many features such as percentage off, free gift or a dollar amount off. The coupon codes can also be used in the Rapid Cart. Artfire may be new to the handmade scene, but it has added some great features to help studio owners. What may be Artfire's biggest draw for sellers is the great SEO that Artfire has. Listings rank high on Google and with no account needed to checkout, this translates to sales. Artfire, like Etsy, still requires studio owners to promote and advertise to draw in their own buyers to be successful.

There are other, smaller, sites to sell your handmade wares. MadeItMyself, Zibbet, WinkElf are smaller sites to sell your handmade crafts and artwork. These sites don't offer as many features as Etsy or Artfire, but are gaining momentum. No matter where you choose to sell, you will only be as successful as the amount of work you put into your business. If you want to sell a lot, you will need to promote a lot and work hard at your business. If you are happy selling only a few items and treating it as a hobby, all of these sites are affordable for you to do that as well.