I have mixed feelings on ShopHandmade. Of the alternatives I'm looking at, it is the most established but certain aspects of the site seem to be a bit behind the curve. There are aspects of ShopHandmade that I love (more below!) and parts I could do without.
From the buyer perspective, you have many search choices (maybe too many?) - search by color, products, sale items, keywords and galleries or markets. Galleries are seller-identified areas where their products fit. Markets are groups of sellers (sellers must apply to join) who help promote each others' work. There are only five gallery options, and I don't find that my work fits into any of them (except the main showcase, a kind of catch-all). From a seller perspective, many of the features are similar to other sites - markets (aka Etsy Teams), individual store blogs, etc. Their listing process could use an update, particularly for photo uploads - it takes forever and is a big turn-off for impatient people like me. I do enjoy the variety of sale options that ShopHandmade offers, particularly that all you have to do is a click a button and not go through the hassle of changing tags and prices for each item.
My absolute favorite feature of ShopHandmade is it's commitment to the environment. Sellers have the option of donating a portion of each sale towards rainforest conservation, choosing between 0, 25, 100 or 250 square feet options (the 25 square feet option doesn't even require a portion of your sale, you just have to click the button!). ShopHandmade is also definitely more well known than some other handmade sites - my test search for 'coaster' returned 201 items. My shop stats were lower than on Etsy but higher than the other alternative sites.
My verdict? I would love to see a streamlined search process and an update on the listing tool, but given that I'm a sucker for their eco-friendly mind-set it's probably worth sticking around either way.
 |
| Upcycled Coasters, White Heart Design |
 |
| Upcycled Coasters, HE and SHE Design |
No comments:
Post a Comment