I’m Dave and I work for MakerPlace. One of your astute admins noticed me bopping around in the group and realized I’m the same Dave who manages the Official MP Facebook - then invited me to post in SAS. Which I really appreciate! A part of my role as the community manager is to look for feedback from sellers that we can action into improvements. We’ve gained a lot of insight from this group- so thank you.
Starting with this invitation to join a new MakerPlace /Michaels focus group I will be occasionally posting opportunities to provide direct feedback to us.
Here Are The Details on the Focus Group:
We are excited to invite you to participate in an exclusive opportunity to share your valuable feedback and thoughts with us.
We are hosting a series of focus groups aimed at gathering insights directly from our talented MakerPlace sellers, and we would love for you to be part of it.
What’s in it for you?
A chance to voice your opinions and ideas directly to Michaels.
Help shape future programs and offerings for MakerPlace sellers.
Receive a $150 Michaels gift card via email as a token of appreciation for your active participation in the discussion group.
How to participate:
Sign up: Click on the link provided below to fill out a short survey. This will help us select participants for our groups.
Attend: If selected, join us for a virtual focus group session where you can discuss your experiences and suggestions.
Earn rewards: Your insights are invaluable to us, and as a thank you, we’ll send you a $150 Michaels gift card via email after the session.
Note: Space is limited, so make sure to sign up soon to secure your spot!
Thank you for considering this opportunity to make a difference. We look forward to hearing from you and working together to create an even better experience for all MakerPlace sellers!
Hi all, just here to say that this is Actual Dave from Michaels MakerPlace, and this post was pre-approved by SAS @moderators.
MP is still in the building phase, and our experienced and knowledgeable SellersAskSellers @Handmade members have a lot of insight to offer for mutual benefit.
Filled it out the other day when it was posted on Facebook. I meant to come over here and post to let those of us here who are not on Facebook that it was available but forgot!
I think the biggest issue I have with this and the other survey that was awhile ago is that Michael’s doesn’t seem to understand that people who run a real business often do not get their supplies from a middle man (Michael’s) and instead get them wholesale from a manufacturer.
I feel like Michael’s walked into this project simply as a way to sell more supplies (Not that there is anything wrong with that). They can see their competition (Joann’s ) is struggling and it’s good for them to have an alternate way to make money.
Michael’s is missing so many barebones things that any successful e-commerce businesses have. You guys have the money to throw into this project so it doesn’t make sense why there are so many bugs, lack of tools, lack of organization, etc.
Sorry if I seem so overly critical (if you go thru my post history which I think you can, you will also see that I’m very highly critical of amazon handmade and Etsy as well). This really just comes from years of disappointment in the decline of handmade marketplaces since I started selling on Etsy in 2008 and amazon handmade in 2015.
I do hope I am picked even though I don’t really buy supplies at Michael’s (although if you look up my rewards account I have become quite addicted to buying diamond art kits ).
And also one last thing. Why when Apollo Group purchased Spoonflower they put it under Shutterfly instead of Michaels? It just seems so odd you wouldn’t put a fabric supplier under a craft store business especially with Michael’s “lack of fabric”. I have noticed also the fabric that Michael’s does sell is the same designs I’ve seen Joanns selling for years. If Joanns isn’t doing so hot, why on earth would you get the same designs . I spend TONS of money at spoonflower for my business. So I suppose it would be cool if Michael’s could figure out a way to earn/use rewards points from Spoonflower.
Yes, I’m on west coast. Since Michaels is headquartered in Irvin, TX, they probably set up the meetings using CT, then tell the participants the times in their individual local time zone.
I don’t have any control of who they pick, but I’ll let that team know you’ve already been generous with your feedback and hopefully they’ll include you.
The survey was done by a private survey company, not Michaels. It was a broad survey — a question was asked and we each responded. How long we’ve been in business, where else we sell, where do we buy supplies (and NO ONE in my group bought supplies from Michaels — all said prices too high and quality not good enough for professional sellers.)
Then questions relating to MakerPlace. What do we like? Dislike? Improvements we want to see?
I like using csv files. I did a bulk upload of all my inventory to Michaels. My pictures didn’t load, I have to put them in manually, 1…listing…at…a…time. I update listings when I have time. I don’t have the time to upload all those photos 1 at a time.
I’m on a mission right now to do “list or die”. I’m listing as many new products as possible. As I update listings I go to Michaels. I’ll have about 100 of my 400 listings sitting Michaels.
. I spend TONS of money at spoonflower for my business. So I suppose it would be cool if Michael’s could figure out a way to earn/use rewards points from Spoonflower.
Are you located in the Pacific time zone? For me, 3:30pm Pacific is 6:30pm.
. Maybe they figure I talk so much here and in the Facebook group that why pay for the cow when you get the milk for free 