2 views basically means google’s bot, and amazon’s bot crawled your page.
Even with no monthly fees, eventually merchants will close their stores if there’s no sales. There’s some amount of mental overhead to maintain and check up on your store even with no sales.
My guess is the only people looking (and buying) are fellow sellers.
Does Amazon view Handmade by Amazon as a success?
Does anyone view Handmade by Amazon as a major competitor - even Etsy?
Why do you think are the big bucks Handmade sellers?
I ask these questions because I want to understand what Michaels might expect of Makerplace.
A friend who sells at shows and Christmas popup stores is questioning whether it is worth her effort to continue. Her sales have been better than ever but other demands on her time require tradeoffs. She may have to see what the effects of raising prices is on her sales. The issue is the work required to make the products, and repeating the same designs is boring, as is selling.
My daughter who is on the show circuit and on Etsy, ignores Etsy, does not reproduce the same designs ever, but is still at a modest price. Happy with her sales but I suspect something will have to give. It is hard to continue to be creative at a $40 ticket.
I will say this is a yes - Only because in the years since Amazon Handmade came about, Etsy has implemented numerous Amazon-like changes. Primarily making the actual seller invisible, so people think they’re buying from “Etsy” and not a person. Among other things, like continually pushing free shipping, sales, lower prices, etc.
I got one sale 5 weeks ago. As of 2 or 3 weeks ago, I had 236 products listed (compared to 1400+ active on Amazon) but will not add any more until sales pick up.
In January, I’ll start listing supplies. I have a lot of extras bought in bulk ages ago and no longer what I’m using.
Along with bulk listing upload, vacation mode is now available. It’s been 3-4 weeks now since I had an order so any promotion seems to have dropped off.
It’d be nice if they said what the launch date is going to be. Was it announced any where else?
Not that I’ve found yet
How do they keep non-handmade sellers out, is there a jurying process?
They basically ask the seller to certify that their products are handmade. They have some other things like a bio page on the maker to try to make the site more authentic.
If they become a successful marketplace, long run this is going to be a big issue, because people will just lie about how their products were made.
They also seem to have a SEO problem:
Thanks for the info, GG!
I’m trying to remember, I may be wrong, but it seems like I had to submit other venues for verification.
That’s good to know. I would hate to join another venue that turned out to be just fake handmade.
Do you know if you have to use some percentage of materials that you buy from their store?
I have had 13 sales and have not seen a requirement for this. I’ve had no sales in 5-6 weeks now though. I’m hoping the live non beta version will produce more traffic.
Thank you, Wade, that’s good info!
Had 2 sales in the very beginning and nothing since.
Going to try and get most of my inventory listed. The email said they were going to be looking for kitchen decor items and holiday stuff so I’m priority getting that stuff listed.
I was on the waiting list to join before Beta version started, I don’t remember having to supply any photos or link to other sites, just telling them what I make in a very simple form. Not sure if it’s still the same process. If it is, non-handmade sellers can easily get in too.
Of course, if sales stays as it is, nobody would want to join anyway.
No.
But if you offer “Class” or “How to”, you can list supply from Michaels to purchase, and get a % from the sales.
Seems like it’s easier to sign up for makerplace than their marketplace
The fact it says “Apply to sell” for marketplace vs “get started selling” for makerplace kind of implies that the marketplace reviews and rejects applications, whereas makerplace lets anyone in who checks the boxes during the application process. I looked at the applications as well and marketplace asks for more information. If makerplace becomes popular it will most definitely attract all the “handmade” sellers from etsy and Amazon and I don’t see how michaels is going to gate them out.
Looking at the forums, they do seem to be suspending some non handmade sellers. Let’s hope they stay on top of that!
