Selecting an Online Marketplace for Handmade Products

With so many options for online marketplaces to sell your art and handmade goods, how the heck do you choose which one is best? Or how do you decide if you want to move to a new marketplace or manage shops in multiple marketplaces?  With many great options on the market, it is difficult and somewhat overwhelming to narrow it down. We all experience different challenges and have varying opinions about what is most important to us in making this decision. For those of you trying to decide, here are a few important areas you may want to consider before you take the plunge:

Cost of Marketplace

There are a few different pricing structures for online marketplaces.  Here is a brief overview of the most common pricing structures:

• Absolutely FREE with a limited number of product listings
• Flat monthly or annual subscription basis where you have unlimited access to post as many items as your heart desires
• Flat commission with no listing fees (5 to 5.5% of your sales) and you are only charged when an item is sold
• Listing fees for each item (usually $0.20 to $0.30 per item for a 3-4 month time period) plus a commission for each item sold (usually 3.5% to 4%)

It is key for you to mull over these options in respect to what you are selling.  For example, if you sell a high volume of items, you may want to consider a subscription basis where you are free to list as many items as you want, without being charged every time you post a new item.  Alternatively, if you only need to list a few items, you may be better off paying a listing fee with a commission for items that sell.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

This is tough for all online marketplaces, but it is important to consider what the various marketplaces are doing to assist their sellers' exposure through web searches.   A great litmus test is to go to each of the top marketplaces and randomly select a store, then take that store name and plug it into a Google search.  See if the store pops up in the search results...that will give you a taste of whether you may be found once your store is up and running.

Customer Demand

How much customer demand do they create for you?  One of the best ways to create customer demand is to promote your store on the marketplace's homepage.  Some sites offer a much better chance of having your store listed on the homepage than others.  Rather than only selecting their top sellers, they randomly feature work from all sellers on the marketplace's homepage.  However, be aware that even though you have prime real estate, you may not have the built-in audience that the big players provide.  The solution?  You have the option to pay an advertising fee for premium listing on some sites which can drive the customer demand you are looking for.

Site Traffic

What kind of site traffic does the marketplace have? Do they have high traffic and are they known to buyers or primarily just sellers?  Although we all love to shop from our friends' stores, you want to make sure that there are new visitors besides just friends and family.  Shiny Adornments periodically updates rankings and traffic of the various sites where you can sell your handmade goods.

Customer Service

What sort of expectations do you have for customer service from the marketplace?  Do they respond to your inquiries, to your tweets and emails?  Some marketplaces do not advertise phone numbers, so be sure that there is a suitable way for you to contact them if you need assistance. 

Ease of Use

How much time and how difficult is it to set up your shop and upload the items you have for sale?  Some sites allow you to upload multiple images all at once, while others require you to upload images one at a time.  Also, keep in mind that ease of use applies to both you and your customers.  How tough is it for your customers to navigate through your store in order to make a purchase?  Are your customers required to have a login or can they shop as a guest?  Remember, the easier the better!        

Shop Customization

How much do you want to personalize your shop?  Do you want the standard storefront or a more personalized design?  Do you want the ability to have a unique URL or are you ok with an assigned URL?  Some of the marketplaces today allow you to upload a personalized logo, customize color, and even create categories for your items, while others are more limited. 
 
These are some of the critical questions and areas you will need to evaluate in the selection of a marketplace. Stay tuned for the next installment of this series, where I’ll discuss several additional areas you may want to consider when choosing a marketplace.  Let me know if there are any areas that are particularly important to you.  In this series, I will also cover some of the top marketplaces available today, so please let me know which ones are your favorites and why!