I just opened a Shop on AF

[Former_Member]

I bit the bullet and decided not to put all my eggs in one basket. The stress and drama not to mention where Etsy is going made the decision for me.

Any other AF sellers here? Sage advice?

My goal in 2011 is to finish my two websites, blog my butt of and continue to hate FB and Twitter...none of my friends care what I sell anyway since my products are really to a specific audience.

Your comments are really appreciated, Karen

[Former_Member]

I'm heading over there to Artfire to open an account right now - we can compare notes & see how it goes.

Btw, when I was checking out AF I noticed a forum topic called If You're From Etsy, with all kinds of useful hints on how we can make the switch. We're not the only ones seeing the writing on the wall!

[TheSalvagedEdge]

Do you have to get a pro account to list stuff?

[Former_Member]

you can use the free account to list. I opened a pro account because the bells and whistles are better than the free account. But if you just want to test the waters the free account will be fine.

EclecticaByJan we'll have to keep in touch. Are you going Pro acct or not yet? Boy I'm telling you it's a lot easier to list things..everything is on one page ONE page! I've only listed 13 items and I'm making more now so I'm going to give it a good try.

[LiteMyFuseJewels]

Hope you don't mind me lurking to see how it goes for you. I've thought about it, but I just don't feel like I have the time to run 2 shops. I wish you both best of luck and hope you're successful on BOTH venues!

[Former_Member]

I think Artfire is a good choice for sellers in the US. In my experience (I'm in the UK), they are not yet truly a global venue, and are unlikely to ever be so as I found their responses when questioned about the very US-centric nature of the site were of the 'like it or lump it' variety. The main reason I am sticking with Etsy is because it does as least acknowledge that there is a world outside of the US, and makes great efforts to be inclusive of international sellers.

But, yes, it's a very good option for those of you in the US :)

[Former_Member]

Karen,
I will watch this thread to see your reaction.
You seem to some one who thinks things through rather than responding as to a knee jerk reaction.
Like it or not, that is meant to be a compliment.
I have looked at A.F. a bit and personally it looks well layed out.
To me, and this is important to me, the search mechanism is BEST MATCH which means as a buyer I will get my search results based on what I am looking for.
This minimises cross over and poor results due to either poor or miss-leading listing
or
a really crappy search.
Product would be listed in the order of Best Match to Worst Match
with in the search field.
The have a smaller base of sellers at the present making it easier to manage
and
apparently a smaller customer base but better internet visability it seems.
At this point all other benefits or lack of them is an opinion lacking on knowledge and I have not looked further.
Good luck
Looking over your shoulder.
John

[CoconutRoad]

I started my artfire shop in November,shop name Coconutroadsouth and have been very pleased.

I took too long in deciding whether to jump and missed the $5.99 special they ran. Instead, I pay $9.99 all inclusive. So far, I love it. There's no renewing, relisting or sold fees which is a big plus.

The pro options provides lots of perks and the admin is quite responsive in the forums. I was skeptical of sales but have sold 12 items since starting.

It's a different venue than etsy...more down home and less sophisticated but it works. And, it has no place to go but up. I'm on for the ride.

[Former_Member]

I havent had any luck with AF yet...

[WildcatLeatherCo]

I love Artfire.. the tools are great, the sellers are appreciated.. Don't have to be up in arms every day over stupid changes, so instead of stressing out, i'm blogging and making collections are learning how to do the stuff I never did here. and all though my business is not booming I have sold 12 items since the 5.95 special is OCT... Took me a lot longer to sell anything on Etsy.. and since the Holidays, have not sold anything here.
I have a lot of Faith that AF will really take off in the near future.. when they say they are going to do something .. they do it.. and theres straight talk and plenty of it.

[WildcatLeatherCo]

meant and learning

[sydemcgus]

Hmmm. Sounds interesting. Maybe, I'll take a look, too.

[GatheringSplendor]

I signed up for my shop on AF over a year ago..just never opened however think I will after Valentines day. Would love a more peaceful place to work...hate it when there is drama everyday due to some stupid change.

[justgivemepeace]

Listening very closely this time. I wandered over there for quite a while last night, and for the first time, seriously am considering joining. It was easy to navigate and the listings just popped. Best wishes to everyone on this new venture!

[BrickHouseFabrics]

I would love to not have all of the drama!

[Former_Member]

After reading several threads, I just reopened a shop on AF. I had one when it first started and sold about 8 items for a year and closed. I can honestly say that I did not give it much time the last months and spent all my time here because I saw results. But I thought I would try it again, the site looks totally different and seems easy to list now. I make my living on the internet now so I decided to approach things differently this year.

[SummerTriangleStudio]

I started AF in maybe October if I'm remembering right, and went pro for the 9.99 special in December. I like it, and overall it seems to have a more no-nonsense feel than Etsy. But I have to admit, the feeling of community doesn't seem as strong there. It could be just because I haven't put as much time into reading forums over there as I have here. My views are also A LOT lower over there and I've had no sales (which doesn't mean a whole lot because I've only had one sale here). That said, the tools are really, really useful, like the global edit and the incoming listing and studio URLs. I think it could be an excellent place to sell if you put the necessary time into it.

[SummerTriangleStudio]

Correction: 2 sales here! Forgot I sold a necklace yesterday. :P

[ElenaMary]

Just opened on Artfire yesterday..free acct.... will see how it goes before I opt to pay for premium acct. I sell nothing on etsy ..maybe a new venue will help..Artfire is super easy to use which ! really like!

[SummerTriangleStudio]

Oh, one other important detail: since AF has no listing fees, there's no fee avoidance possible. That means they have a Market Hub where you can link straight to other venues from your shop and boost clicks coming into your Etsy shop and other places.

[Former_Member]

I joined when it first opened, and had one item in there for years...no sale. I did go for the special...I've just not got anything listed over there yet. To much shops, too little time!

It's all about the sales, tho, you know?

[Former_Member]

I got going there in my pro shop in Oct. New sales faster than how it started here for me. I haven't put the promotional effort into it yet but happy to see it just kind of runs itself while I'm preoccupied over here.

The Google search exposure is fantasic. On my active items page, I get a kick out of clicking the urls each day that came into into my shop or item so I see what google page, or G-shopping or thefind.com various people found me on. Helps me figure out my keywords, titles, what's drawing folks in. Lot's of important differences in listing to read when you fill your shop so Google bots pick you up within hours.

[Former_Member]

Edit must have a bug here....the box is blank so I couldn't fix my spelling.

[Former_Member]

I've had a shop at AF for over a year.
I went pro during the 5.95 dealie. The bells and whistles? meh. I wasn't overly impressed.
Most of the 'sales' I have over there are trades so I couldn't see the value in continuing to pay for a pro account.
There's a lot of good information in their forums, however, while their admin does reply-read the replies-sometimes it's talk in circles without ever really answering the question.
Their forums also seemed to me to have a whole drink the AF koolaid-etsy is of the deebil and if you're still there you're stupid kind of vibe-which turned me off completely.

On the plus-you can link to anywhere else you sell, have more photos of your items, there's a place for the backstory on any item you list, better tagging and there are no listing fees.

Before spending money on a pro account-take a good look at how many 'abandoned' shops there are...just sayin'.

[StarryHomeCrafts]

I've been there since October with the 5.95 deal. Very happy I did, my views and sales are equal to etsy and much less drama.