ArtFire

Let me start off by saying that I do like etsy. I like that there is a built-in community there and it's clean design aspects. It's easy to use. BUT, there are some problems. Despite users clamoring since etsy's conception for stats and other small changes, these things are still missing from the site. It's really difficult to know what sort of advertising techniques are working for your etsy store if you have no idea how people are finding your products or where they are coming from. There's also been other complaints that I don't think I need to get into. The stats are the main issue for me.

So now, along comes ArtFire. The idea is the same - a collective showcase for people with handmade stuff to sell to other people that buy handmade stuff. Only it's free. At least, for the first ten items listed. If you want more product space, or more options, you pay a FLAT RATE, currently $7 a month. There's no commission fees like there are on etsy. Which is really nice.

I'm not jumping ship. At least, not yet. For now I'm offering my products BOTH places. You can pick where you'd like to buy from. Or, of course, you can always go to our main site and purchase from there. You'll also notice that I've only listed 10 items on ArtFire. I'm not ready to commit just yet. I need at least a couple of sales there before I can decide if it's going to work out better for me or not.

First, read this features list. Then, if you decide that you'd like to try out ArtFire for yourself, say that "blissology" sent you in the "Where did you hear about us? From an ArtFire user" pull down menu when you sign up.