Marketplace Shop or Stand Alone Store

I do have an Etsy shop. Right around the same time that www.tomokastwists.com was being created, I opened up an Esty merchant account. I get asked about it from time to time and here is my view on Etsy and other marketplaces.

A quick way to set up a shop is to use a marketplace, a hub for many stores. I have found these to be extremely user friend with low or no upfront costs. There are several to chose from and the choice is yours. Often owners will pick more than one to test the waters since listing costs are near nothing.

Which should you pick Ebay, Etsy, Artfire, or one of the others? Once again, it does not matter. It is up to you to bring the people to the site to buy. So even if it is just a blog with buttons, you have to bring them to that spot. If people want your products they will buy them from anywhere that looks decent with paypal buttons. Ebay charges a one time fee that will be billed to you monthly. Etsy charges a small upfront listing fee. Etsy also skims off a little off each purchase and bills at the end of the month. Ebay offers a store option in which you can list several items for a monthly flat fee. Artfire has no fees for the basic shop, that I know of as of the time I am writing. They also offer a complete store for $7.

Once you start seeing that your sells have picked up and remain steady, all these small fees will begin to add up equal to or more than a stand alone website. If this occurs, then it might be cost effective to create an inexpensive websites.

The advantage of having a stand alone is that you have room to grow. You can include pages for testimonies and pictures that customers send. Add a video, a little music, a whole page for useful links. A stand alone can be customized. You can even add a blog to it.