who will host my shop?

Week #7 entry #1 03/14-03/21: academic journal

This week I focused on this question: 

• How should I sell my products?

The most recent lessons in my Indie Business class have focused on where to have your shop.  Since I know that having my own brick-and-mortar shop is not an option right now, I focused on the lesson about online businesses.  There are many advantages to having a shop online that one of my teachers highlighted.
Online is great because:

• You are open all day, everyday.
• I can make crafts, while my shop is open.
• Much more reasonably priced than a real shop.
• You can work at hours that you are most productive.
• Can go on inspiration trips or leave the house when you don't feel inspired or productive.
• It's flexible, like I could be in college and work.
• I can create a connection to customers through the blog.

These were all great reasons why the online marketplace best suits me.  But inside the online marketplace are so many options! Etsy is great because it is low prices and has great networking.  People can find your site without advertising.  However, you are limited with their shop layout.  Paypay allows you to have a free "Buy Now" button, but doesn't have networking possibilities. E-mail is another option, but I want to create a shop so that people can see all my products in one location.  I don't think I will use Artfire because it seems to have more of a craft focus.  I don't like the silkfair layout as much as Etsy. And other stores like Dawanda, Pink Doodle, and Lov.li charge a higher commission than Etsy.

Bigcartel run shops:

(source: here)

(source: here)

I think BigCartel could be another potential way to sell my products.  It seems like it is between that and  Etsy.  Bigcartel allows you to list up for 5 products for free.  I imagine I'll probably have around that many products, however, one designs for male and female may count as two products.  It also allows you to customize your page more so than Etsy, which can give your shop a more professional look.  Check out Franz Tormer's site.  It looks great.  Plus, there are tons of clothing people on the site, more so than Etsy.  On the other hand, Etsy is easy to use and I have experience with it. Etsy charges a 3% commission and a 20 cent listing fee, which isn't very much.  I'll really have to think it through.

I am also seriously considering doing a craft fair or two after the FOCUS program is over. I think it will be nice to be able to interact with people and set up my own table. It will allow me networking opportunities with other people who like to do what I do too.