In the world of online handmade craft marketplaces, does size matter, and if so, what are the pros and cons? Today I’m searching for the ideal size in an online handmade marketplace for me to sell my handmade jewelry.
This review will help you decide what handmade marketplace you wish to explore further. One of the first things you to look at is whether you want a huge marketplace with lots and lots of traffic, or a smaller marketplace with focused requirement.
I’m going to compare three online handmade craft marketplaces. iCraft, a handmade-only marketplace based in Canada;Zibbet, an online marketplace based in Australia, and the giant Etsy.
iCraft: is a Canadian-based niche marketplace. The focus of iCraftgifts.com is on handmade crafts. This draws sellers with a similar focus on the handmade. Users of the site find the navigation clear and easy to follow, and report that they can easily find items using the search features.
The site has an active community and quick response times from the friendly knowledgeable admin staff. The consensus is that although and perhaps because, the community is smaller, it’s a lot more seller-friendly.
The site has received a boost in the number of new sellers since Etsy changed its policy to allow manufactured items.
Zibbet is a mid size marketplace, based in Australia. The site has also received a boost in the number of new sellers since Etsy’s change in policy to allow manufactured items.
There is talk on the forums that Zibbet now has a surfeit of sellers on a site that may not get enough buyer traffic to sustain them.
Etsy has been the largest online ‘handmade’ marketplace for quite some time. However, they sell a wide range of products that are not exactly handmade, like vintage, supplies and even food, including recently opening the door to manufactured goods on the site.
The thing is, statistics often don’t tell the whole story. Just because a site is big, doesn’t necessary make it the best choice in all cases. I’m planning to sell my handmade jewelry online, and I do worry about becoming lost on a huge site.
The main question must be: Is the size of an online handmade crafts marketplace important in the decision to sell your handmade jewelry online?
I personally like the idea of a smaller more focused marketplace, where right buyers can find my products.
An interesting old saying goes, “torture figures and they’ll tell you anything you want”.
I’m thinking that for my requirements, I would go with iCraft, a smaller, more specialized handmade craft marketplace, but I still have aspects of online selling to research before I make my decision.
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