Hi all! Here's a reply I got from IndieMade about 2 questions I asked. One was about creating a way to coordinate listings between Etsy and IM so we wouldn't have to chase back and forth deleting products that sold or entering new listings twice. The second was about my suggestion to create a drop-down menu so we could find other shops on IndieMade, similar to the way it is on Etsy.
1. "You guessed right on why the link from Etsy to IndieMade isn't automated: Etsy forbids it. We are not allowed to use their API -- that's the mechanism that our servers use to talk to theirs -- to bypass in any way the Etsy checkout process, because if we did Etsy would lose their transaction fees. Pulling products from Etsy and putting them in the IndieMade store directly is just not allowed, so we don't do it. Instead, the best way to move forward is to create the product over in IndieMade and then "push" it to Etsy."
2. "I understand what you're saying about finding other IndieMade sites. However, IndieMade simply isn't a marketplace -- it's a website hosting platform. Our focus is on making a great website that can serve as a home online for an artist. Some of our customers don't WANT to make it easy to find other artists doing similar things; if they went to the trouble of finding the customer in the first place, they don't want to possibly lose that customer to a competitor! :-)
So there it is. My solution to the first problem about sold listings on Etsy is just to immediately go to IM and delete that listing (I sell OOAK only). I suppose if you sell multiples, you would need to go to IM and manually decrease the number remaining each time you get a sale. I originally imported all of my Etsy listings via the Etsy CVS file, but now I guess I need to manually copy and paste each new item I list, or list it on IM first and then "push" it to Etsy.
I've been on IM for almost a month and haven't had any sales, but I'm getting more views there than on Etsy, so hoping sales kick in soon. Will try to keep you updated! :-)
It's really too bad they can't create a link to other artists. As an "energy practitioner" I understand that this attitude creates a feeling of "lack" rather than "abundance" and this holds everyone back from enjoying more sales. My motto is "I help you, you help me, and together we all thrive!"
