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Artfire Basic Accounts Gone
Well I can’t say that I blame Artfire for getting rid of there basic accounts, basically they are providing a service and should be paid for it. Many may disagree with that thought but it is true, we have learned the hard way with the Handmade Artists’ Shop. Building and maintaining websites take time and money a lot of it! So for those basic account Artfire members out there sorry to see you lose your free shop but that is sort how life goes nothing is free. Now the question in your mind is should you go pro? Well our opinion may be a little one sided but $9.95 a month is a lot of money. I will say though that Artfire and Etsy are the big two in our industry and they have earned some respect from us in their accomplishments.
The Handmade Artists’ Forum has been supporting handmade artists now for over two years by promotion and by encouragement, one thing that we have tried to do is listen. Saying that, we believe that the big two, I’ll call them, still have not listened or learned from their mistakes especially the big E. There are resellers, vintage, and massed produced supplies on both sites. That moves the site from a handmade venue to flea market in my opinion, handmade is handmade. It is not your grandmothers scarf that you found in a box and resell. There are actually antiques on Etsy, do you believe this? Sorry steps off soapbox. LOL
Anyway when we decided to launch the Handmade Artists’ Shop we took all these things and more into consideration. First Handmade only. No resellers, no un-altered vintage, and no non-handmade supplies. Simple right. Then we said this will be a sales site, not a social network. Yes we have a forum, but it is on a different domain and is a completely different site. No circles, no hearts, no this no that, just a sales site for handmade simple. These are some of the things that set us apart from the Big two. One other thing is the shear amount of competition, Etsy to my knowledge has well over 400k sellers, Artifre has admitted to having over 100k, sorry guys but in my book it is just too much. Granted if you would get rid of the resellers, vintage, and massed produced the numbers would come down and the competition would be on an equal playing field. Our goal on the Handmade Artists’ Shop is 10k-20k vendors not hundreds of thousands, honestly I think that is too big. When we hit the magic number, and our overhead will determine that, we will cut off open registration and turn the site into invitation only with a waiting list. At least this is our ultimate goal and will do whatever we need to meet it.
With all that said is $9.95 a month too much to pay for a pro account on Artfire, I don’t know, that is for you to determine. At the HAFshop we have chosen to keep our fees reasonable at $5.00 a month that’s it. The only difference between us and artfire is that we will not get rich LOL. But we want our vendors to make the money, that is why we do not charge any listing fees or commissions either. So to all our forum members with basic artfire accounts ,we are sorry that you are getting inconvenienced by artfires decision but we have to agree with them to a point. They are providing a service and should be paid for it. As for the decision to where to sell handmade online, we are biased here obviously, but we believe that the Handmade Artists’ Shop will a contender to the big two one day, not in quantity but in quality.
Tags: Creative Handmade Artisans, handcrafted, Handmade, Handmade Harbor, handmade jewelry
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12 Responses to “Artfire Basic Accounts Gone”
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I have to agree as well – they are not in the gift-giving business! I can’t see paying $9.95/month to be a grain of sand in an ocean, though. I will be the first on the soap box to shout THE HAF SHOP ROCKS!
I also agree that handmade is handmade and not just resale. Thank you for upholding that premise in Handmade Artist’s Shop.
I agree!!
I downgraded from Pro to free account on ArtFire last month with the thought in mind to try the HAS. For sure will, now!
I gotta admit, when I go into a bricks-and-mortar shop featuring artists’ handmade creations, I expect just that.
More important than paying $60/yr or $120/yr, though, is the site’s philosophy. While I am always flattered to have someone add me to their circle, “heart” an item in my shop, or “heart” my entire shop, it’s still not the same as a sale. I can still love what I’m doing while I’m in my “studio” and focus on business when I’m in my “shop”.
I am curious though. Does anyone know the ratio of visitors or buyers or sales to sellers? Having a shop in a mall with less foot traffic may not be so bad when there are fewer shops in the mall.
Joel sales and buyers have been increasing daily, we have only relaunched now for 2 months to the day so not a lot of data yet. Take a peak at the item views though, we promote heavily each item that is posted. Some get skipped unfortunately if items go up to fast. We have I believe a 2 minute delay set up. But 99% or more of the items are promoted automatically on our FB page, twitter, stumbleupon, and digg. Hope that helps! Andrew
I have to say that I agree with Artfire’s decision regarding basic accounts and their new free trial period instead. I had a basic account for a very short time – it was of lttle use to me since I could only list 12 items and I have had over 100 ti list. I opened a pro account when they had a special promotion at $5.95 per month. I that changes, I’m out of there!
I agree with you about resellers of mass produced items. I create all handmade jewelry, no manufacutured anything but the beads and the wire (no pre made chains or findings) . I take great pride in that.
I have been considering a HAS shop for a while. As a facebook fan, I like the way you promote your artisans. I’ll probably open a shop there too. Move over and make room for me please.
Zoraida – http://zoraida.artfire.com
http://artzjewelry.wordpress.com
Plenty of room for ya Zoraida! I was just drooling over your work on Artfire you would fit in nicely 😀
I’m surprised it took them as long as it did to make the move to all paid. To me it seems that the pro shops were carrying the load for the free ones. Not exactly fair. I am slowing unloading most of my Etsy stuff into my HAFshop. I will keep my account there because I do shop there on occassion.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for HAFshops! You have stuck to your guns about no resellers , etc. and for that I am grateful. We are all treated fairly, no favorites (at least publicly), and none of that other nonssense that goes on elswhere.
I am very interested in joining HAF. Every piece of jewelry that I make is personally designed and handcrafted by me. I work in sterling silver or gold. Been doing this for over 30 years now and do not mass produce anything. Do you think I would qualify to sell on your site? vince, Vinces Jewelry Gallery
http://www.vinces-jewelry-gallery.com
http://www.bonanza.com/booths/vcrison
Vince I believe i looked at your shop a couple of weeks ago, not sure how I ran into you. But your work would absolutely qualify and you are more than welcome to join. Thanks for asking and we look forward to having you aboard!
Thank you. i will be going on a road trip for a month or two and will join up when I return. Thanks again. vince