One of my little businesses is a craft shop that I run with my mom. It’s all online and made to order (other than the first one which is made to take photos etc) and some of the things can be personalised or in distant colours. All of this means that we need a selling platform which takes all the stress out of the different variations but gives us enough coverage that we actually sell stuff! We were hiring a shelf in a local shop and paid out £160 over a few months and brought in £30. This was partially because we were learning our niche and how to present on a permanent shelf (rather than craft stall etc) but it was also just not the right place or time for us.
Since then, social media has tried to suggest various sites to me and so I thought I would have a look at a selection of them and give you a pros and cons list for each.
- Etsy. This is by far the biggest and most well known but for us, it didn’t work. We are a small company who are quite specialised in what we do but we’re still learning our craft too.
- Pros: really well known and the fees aren’t extortionate. There is also a really well developed app.
- Cons: the fees aren’t as low as others and are commission based as well as a fee per item to list. Also, because it’s well known, you get a lot of sellers similar to you. This makes it difficult to sell.
- Numonday. This is where we are at the moment and it’s great.
- Pros: it’s cheap!! You pay £3 a month or £24 for the year and that’s it. Everything you sell is 100% yours! It also has a dedicated Facebook page for you to promote with tens of thousands of people meaning you can advertise for free to so many more people.
- Cons: it’s not very well known so you may struggle to get traffic. There is no app either but the website is really good.
- Shopify. I tried this but couldn’t get to grips with it.
- Pros: this site is really well developed and is getting more popular. The app is great too. On top of this, it is a ‘site builder’ so you are investing in your business as opposed to just trying to get the sales.
- Cons: the set up can be quite fiddly as it wants you to register, set up your payment provider and so much more in a very confusing manor. It’s also not massively cheap.
- MadeMe. Again this is one that I’ve tried but not got on with.
- Pros: you can cancel at any time and there is no commission on sales. It is £25 a year at the moment (November 2022) but is normally £50, or £5 a month.
- Cons: not the cheapest and in the same way as Etsy, there are quite a few sellers on there so you may struggle to sell.
- Conscious Crafties. This is one that I’ve not used myself but I’ve researched it.
- Pros: this is an amazing outlet for those suffering with chronic conditions. You have unlimited listings and no commission is taken.
- Cons: this is one of the most expensive out there at £5 a month, £25 for 6 months or £50 for 12 months. You also have to have met their criteria before you can sell.
There are so many more out there but these are the ones that are being pushed at the moment. I cannot recommend Numonday enough – they are great and always helpful if you need a question answering. But different sites will suit different people.
If you’ve got a favourite site or any comments, leave them below.
The Busy Mommy UK 