ARTFIRE SHOP EXPERIENCE

[Studio11Charms]

Does Any One on Team Etsy Entrepreneurs have an Artfire shop in addition to your Etsy shop?

I have an Artfire shop and my experience so far with Artfire has been just terrible:

Here is my review on my blog (it's too long to post here): http://studio11charms.blogspot.com/2011/03/artfire-reviews-and-scams.html

Please comment on your experience on Artfire. I want to know before I close down my Artfire shop.

[Former_Member]

We do. We started them about the same time, but only listed a few items there. I relisted everything from Etsy to Artfire on Tuesday using their transfer of items program (I don't remember what it's called) and the next day, I had a sale! So far I've been listed in 2 collections (equivalent to etsy's treasuries).

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=15527

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=15602

Here's my shop: http://www.artfire.com/users/CuriousCrowJewelry

When I received all of that 1 order, I did get a notice and it did say that the buyer paid for the item. When I was the buyer, I always paid for the items immdiately. I guess I always thought when I checked out, I had to pay then and there.

I was planning on working on promoting that store in addition to etsy. I paid my $9 for the month and with over 60 items in the shop, I save $$ on listing fees I would have paid with etsy.

sooo... I like it so far and will give it a good try. : )

[Former_Member]

forgot to add that I did read your blog too and I don't think understand why you had the problems with the email contact. the emails provided and the artfire mail worked for my sale. will let you know how it progresses.

[Former_Member]

I have a shop on AF and so far so good. My transactions have all gone smoothly and contacting my buyers has never been any problem. I don't get as many sales there but I never expected to. Also, I tend to promote my store here more - although financially, it makes more sense to promote my AF store! At any rate, I'm pleased with ArtFire and since I like to be on multiple venues, unless something goes wrong, I plan to keep a shop there.

[colorstorydesigns]

i started a shop at AF so that i would have my work in multiple venues.. but so far i haven't seen much traffic. i haven't been able to spend as much time and i would have hoped- but hopefully it will get better with time :)

[Former_Member]

I have a free account with artfire. It would not be good for me to spend $10 per month, because even with the etsy fees and percentage, my usual etsy monthly bill is less than that! I was wondering, on artfire, would it really generate more sales if I had a pro account? So far I sold 2 and am happy about that, but that's 2 items in half a year. In order to justify the $10 I would need to sell 1 item per week. Which of you have a pro account, or a free account, and how has that worked for you?

[Former_Member]

Hi Monasbox-I have a pro account, but just opted for that last week only because I didn't want to copy each and every item into artfire. you can read what I wrote at the beginning of this thread.

[Former_Member]

Has there been a significant amount of views since becoming pro?

Both my sales went really well. The second she had complications with paypal (on her end, not artfire) and emailed me to apologize. I sent her an invoice and then she paypal paid it the following day.

[FearlessMermaid]

Very interesting....Etsy keeps me busy enough..as it is I can hadrly find the time to create, photograph, list, promote....and..deal with the family :~}}}


www.facebook.com/midwestmermaid

[Former_Member]

I opened an Artfire shop several months after I opened my Etsy shop in hopes that I would generate more interest and exposure there. I got in on their deal for $5.95/mo for Pro shops. I've had a decent amount of views on many items and am hoping that will generate some interest and potential sale in the near future. I've also had a few people contact me about custom orders and I'm hoping sales will pick up soon. Since I got in on the deal for the inexpensive Pro shop each month, for now I feel like it's worth it to keep it.

[SockMonkeyBizzToyCo]

I've been with Artfire for some time, although only recently became Pro, and until this weekend had more sales on Artfire. I've had several orders that were custom and all emails/ communications came through smoothly.
In fact of the four venues I'm on, Etsy has been the slowest for sales.
I sell on Ebay as well, which surpasses all other venues in sales however the charges are outrageous.

[SockMonkeyBizzToyCo]

Ooops...I forgot to add -
when you receive an email that a customer has a question, it says in the email that you will need to email them directly from your email...email is not generated through Artfire...hopefully they will work on this.

Also, I've had to train myself to expect an accompanying email from Paypal (my only accepted form of payment) when I see that an item has sold. If I don't receive payment within 24 hours, I cancel the order on the invoice page.

I will definately be keeping my Artfire shop...they're still kind of new and are still working out their kinks. Hate to see that they got bad exposure though...

[Former_Member]

I have an Artfire shop that I opened in October but didn't start listing until December/January. I haven't tried to promote it yet. I recently completed a ton of listing but I haven't had any sales. My views are really high. I'm actually shocked at the amount of views.

I really do focus on my etsy shop right now and participate in teams here. I'm not sure why, but I haven't found any active places to play on artfire, maybe I just haven't come across them yet. I have specific plans for each shop in which I will promote them both very differently. :)

[Former_Member]

I opened a shop there but really need to list more items...I've yet to have an Artfire sale. I need to put more work into it, obviously!

[visionofbeautydesign]

I have an Art Fire shop. I opened in 2010. I have the free account just to give it a try. I need to list more. I have had no problems with it so far. I have had three sales, the first one was a custom order. It is important to check in weekly to keep your place in the search engines. I like it, but would not pay for it at this time.