Hi , I have started a shop on here, concerened that there is alot of chatter that items are not selling and sales in totaly are at a all time low, what are other fellow folksys thinking regarding this?
Thanks
Helen from ChipnPin Crafts
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Sales are slow at the moment, the summer is always quiet (people away on holiday or broke because they have been on holiday) but many people, not just here on Folksy but also over on Etsy, are saying it is quieter than normal (backed up on Etsy by them releasing their Q2 data for shareholders which showed that sales were down year on year). I think many people are feeling the pinch because of increasing prices or fearing the worst because of the predicted increase in energy costs in the autumn so are cutting back on non essentials.
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Definitely slow out there - spring and summer are always slow with sales usually picking up in autumn and Christmas season is busiest of all. It is a very slow year all round and possibly going to get tougher as everyone seems to be feeling the pinch. Prices are rising and incomes falling in relative terms so we’re all looking for bargains. Even so people occasionally need a little ‘something special’ in there lives so sales will continue - just not as many as before.
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Hi Folks,
Yes, sales are extremely slow due to the economic down turn. The daily main headlines are full of it! Our electricity bill for the last quarter came in nearly £285.00 above it’s normal cost, and it’s going to cost over £3,000 to have the oil tank filled ready for autumn. Normally it cost around £1,000.00. So, it’s no wounder our sales are slow having experienced the cost increases for our own home.
This is the quietest I have ever known my sales whilst being a member on Folksy.com. I am now having too seriously think of selling on another well-known international craft web site. They are currently doing a lot of t.v. advertising. For Folksy seller’s selling with them is it any better?
Keeping motivation is very difficult at the moment. I am currently working on new baby knitwear designs and making up them up, then writing the knitting patterns so i remember what I did!
Keep your chins up for those struggling. Obviously, there will be seller’s claiming they are still doing well, depending on what they make and the cost of items. I am not willing to design and hand knit for less then £1.50 per hour! Also quality gemstones and precious metals have seriously risen in costs. So, I have to sell for what it costs to replace my jewellery materials without including labour cost!!!
Regards to all
Gail
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If you are taking about Etsy then no its quiet over there as well.
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Yes it is quiet. July / August are Always quiet because people go on holiday and have to spend their time entertaining their off school kids. Ok, it Was not as quiet last year and 2020 was pretty busy all year as everyone was stuck at home.
This year is quieter than normal. I keep good records and my sales Are low this year but especially on Folksy. I’ve actually had pretty good sales on my other shop site and had quite a few personal sales too.
I don’t know why Folksy sales are lower than my other shop, they usually compete month on month but this month they are well down compared to my TBCH sales. Maybe it’s lack of Folksy advertising or maybe the Facebook change which removed the link to my Folksy shop and it was missing for 2 weeks before I spotted it and corrected.
The Good News is that the sort of things we sell on here are generally the sort of things people buy for presents. And people will always have birthdays and anniversaries and births and weddings etc etc so sales will improve, there is no doubt about it… just patience is required.
I write this as a shop which has a very steady trade.
If you are a shop which hasn’t yet established any trade here then as well as noting what I say about sales in general being down, look at what you can do to improve your shop with some promotion of your own, better photos, tags etc etc . i.e use this quiet spell to check your listings so when the current financial worldwide situation improves you are in a better position to take advangage of it.
Joy xx
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Thanks Sasha for letting me know. We have just to ride the storm and hope for better days again! It’s hard when it’s your full time job and income. No doubt like myself you have also invested a lot of money into your business.
Regards
Gail
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I do spend time doing social media. Yes, I have made a few good jewellery sales this year. One was for a full sterling silver wedding set using top quality kyanite, the other was for a sterling silver green jade bracelet. Both customers are thrilled with her purchases.
Like yourself I keep very good books. I started Demelza Designs in 1991 just selling my own hand crafted baby clothes. After becoming disabled I had to sell all my industrial machines and close my botigue shop after 9 years. Now my business is within my physical limitations.
It’s hard for those just starting out in their business.
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@DemelzaDesigns
I post pretty well daily on FB and at least every few days on IG and Twitter as well as having most of my glass on Pinterest. It does help, I get a lot of social media traffic to both my shops and also a number of direct sales via FB. 
But my Folksy sales are signficantly down in the last two months compared to my other sales and I am trying to work out why. Is it social media related or Folksy related.
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I’ve kinda given up with selling on here tbh…
I appreciate my items R niche & not to everyone’s cuppa T 
but I think folk really need 2C my products Good Luck though 
I hope sales pick up 4 U soon xx
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I’m not saying don’t try Etsy but Etsy themselves have said sales are down so it would be slow there as well.
(If you were to set up a shop on Etsy the chances of you ending up with a ‘payment reserve’ are very high. The payment reserve is where Etsy hold back 75% of your sales revenue until they can see can see courier tracking updates (I think only Royal Mail’s Special delivery service registers as acceptable tracking updates, signed for services don’t count) or for 45 days if they don’t see tracking updating, the payment reserve lasts for 90 days so would cover christmas sales. They also take their fees from the remaining 25% that is not held in reserve so you could initially get very little money from sales.)
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Hi Joy
I am also puzzled as to why you felt the need to check up on my social media activity and how many followers I don’t have! I take exception to being publicly scrutinised in this manner.
There is a lot of my work on Pinterest. I hate Facebook and social media platforms. I don’t get all het up regarding having no followers! I am old school and I think social media has done society in general a lot of harm over the years. My sales are generated by other means by doing Pinterest tweets daily, word of mouth, Google searches by people looking for particular things and sales generated within the jewellery industry. Sales are slow in the high streets because foot fall is slowing down on luxury goods as the average person tightens their belts. My daughter in law did start spending time doing social media for me, but to be honest it did not increase my sales and many craft seller’s are now reporting it doesn’t generate more sales for them either! Having lots of followers is not the be all in life to running a successful business!
I was only taking part on the forum to reassure other’s it’s not their work or them doing anything wrong for the reason they are not making sales. It’s down to being supportive towards each other.
As I have said, let’s hope things take an upturn soon for everyone who have the spirit and motivation to keep going and not to worry why they are not selling. Everyone runs their business differently and being social media motivated is not my bag and it doesn’t work for my business. People are being bombarded by businesses trying to sell their wears on social media. My daughter in law is a youngster and she was social media mad, but now even she is finding it irritating!
Etsy.com are supporting their sellers by doing good old proven t.v. advertising! It’s a business advertising model which has proven to be successful over the years. For this reason I am also thinking of selling with them, especially as they are now offering their sellers new protections within their commission and listing charges.
Regards
Gail
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Gail Apologies. I wasn’t checking up as you say I was just responding to your comments about sales etc as am interested why Folksy sales appear to have dropped significantly for many of us in the last couple of months and trying to see if it might be related to social media changes. This is after all a post about items selling or rather not selling. I’ve removed those words about SM as they have offended you. Sorry did not mean to at all xxxx
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Hi Sasha
I do have a shop set up already with them. Is this new system because they are offering their sellers better protection. I had an email from them explaining if items are lost or stolen whilst in transit the seller still gets their money providing they have a signed proof of posting such as Royal Mail Special Delivery. I don’t mind having money held back until I have a proven postage selling record. I will receive they money eventually. All my Folksy sales are send via either Special Delivery or Signed For services. To date nothing has gone astray during transit.
It was in the NAJ quartily business magazine this month that sales are slowing in all markets with exception to the very high end world famous designer jewellery outlets. There is also now evidence towards a possible global recession looming.
As a household we are tightening up on a luxery spending and not spending as much on luxery foods. We are now cooking every day and freezing food not used. It’s understandable why we are not making as many sales. I think people are genuinely very worried about the future and not making ends meet, especially those on low incomes or people on the basic state pension.
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I have my own website and I’m already getting sales on there. I started it around 2 months ago, so I really didn’t expect to see sales happen for a good while. Your jewellery is high end and very beautiful, and it’s my bet it’s even more gorgeous in the flesh. Like glass, jewellery is a very tactile element, and I bet you’d do well at artisan markets. I keep meaning to sort myself out for the Christmas season.
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Hi Maddie
It’s kind of you to say my work is beautiful. Thanks to your feckling of some photos it looks much better and sales improved greatly on those particular items. I can’t do specialist craft events due to my disabilities. I am now awaiting my forth spinal operation! Morphine and all other drugs have been increased.
Rob is currently building my log cabin in the back garden with double doors and long sided windows either and side south facing. Our home is very dark inside and with my limited physical abilities as you know its very painful to do good clear sharp pics of my work. We are hoping and praying the outside south facing natural lighting will make life much easier for me to improve my photos.
Can I ask which company you used to build your website and how much it cost. You hopefully still have my private email address. The NAJ business advisor strongly recommend having my own website for the jewellery because it’s too high end using Folksy.com as a selling platform and my sort of clientèle are not looking at sites like Folksy.com. They also said my work is far to cheap which makes those clients who may see my work think it’s not genuine quality gemstones such as sapphires, emerald, ruby, kunzite etc. I know it’s too cheap when I look at comparable jewellery in botigue jewellers and high end on line designer jewellery sites. Adding insult to injury my work gets copied by other sellers having a go at making jewellery using cheap aa chips gemstones. I have now stopped listing my work, so it’s just sitting in the safe all designed and made up!
We all know Folksy.com are only interested in social media advertising costing nothing and reliant on the sellers to do the hard work whilst they claim the commission amounting to the same as Esty! Yes it can be cheaper selling with Folksy with lovely friendly sellers but we get what we pay for at the end of the day.
I have still not had the time to read your novel you have had published. My friend enjoyed it but will not tell me about it. She just said ‘find the time to read it’!
I do hope you are keeping well Maddie
Regards
Gail
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Yes, I’ll email you. I wish I had a log cabin workshop!
I’ve long been wondering whether to sell my novels on Folksy, but I’m not sure if they quality for handmade 
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Hi Maddie
Thanks very much. I will contact you again via your private email for a good old chat. I think having my own website for my expensive jewellery items is the answer and the way forward to generate a better clientèle market. I can then get the true value for my work with a link to the ‘National Association of Jewellers’ as apposed to using Folksy.com. Folksy have never recognised the prestige of being an approved registered British Jewellery Designer selling through them. Having my own website will also look professional and potential clientèle who are used to purchasing quality crafted gemstone jewellery will automatically recognise the NAJ. They are the main professional body within the UK jewellery industry and all reputable jewellery shop chain retailers and most jewellery boutiques are members. So hopefully I will generate more sales within the trade!
To my knowledge I have never sold a jewellery item (even my cheaper range) to a fellow Folksy seller, yet I have purchased from many of them when I need things myself. I have never been made a star seller either!
I retire from my part time job working in theatres I.T department with our main NHS hospital next year. I will have the time to really build this side of my business further. However, I still miss working in the emergency theatres, working very often at the knife edge helping save lives. It’s a rewarding profession and very different to working on the wards. However, I have never known it in such a bad state as it currently is and it’s scary.
This is my new photo studio and work room during the summer months. Hubby still has a lot to do too finish it.
Regards
Gail
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Gail
I do have my own website and I get sales from it. I have hesitated to add Ecommerce and with it all the implications of monetary transactions to it. My site is via Create which is excellent and the support is good when you have queries setting things up on your site. I have a higher grade site so I can actually sell through it but don’t intend to take that step unless I really need to.
What I use if for is a shop window to my Folksy, and other, shop. That means all the money complications are handled through Folksy leaving me free to not have to worry about such things which can be a bother if a transaction doesn’t go smoothly.
I would recommend this route to you certainly initially. Get yourself a site, make sure it has links everywhere to your shop here and use it to push your customers here.
There is an excellent Widget provided by Folksy which allows you to mirror everything on your front page of your Folksy shop so that a customer can click on something on your website and go straight through to your Folksy shop to buy it. You can generate the code you need here via your dashboard and then include it in your website. I fiddled with mine a little to get it to show a full page of 60 items but it is a pretty useful facility.
i.e. Joysofglass on FOLKSY. See my latest listings here
This does also mean I don’t have the added complication of selling something on an extra site which is already for sale in two different shops And makes use of my lovely loyal repeat customer base here on Folksy . Win win really 
I meant also to add re social media but especially Facebook I do understand your reservations about that and find that the younger generation are very much moving away from Facebook to other things. eg my grandchildren have instagram but don’t use Facebook. But… my customer base tends to be of the age group which is still very much Facebook based so I will continue to promote mainly via Facebook until that changes. xx
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Hi Joy
Thank for your advice. ‘Create’ has been recommended.
Like you I don’t understand why sales have dropped of quite so dramatically with Folksy. Etsy have also reported a down fall in sales in the last quarter but they have taken action by doing more t.v. advertising within the u.k, thus supporting their sellers constructively. Folksy are considered the best u.k. craft selling web site with non existent advertising costs. Many long term Folksy sellers are now beginning to question what their commission fee charges and annual/monthy payment subscription fees are actually being used for. Etsy do not expect their sellers to do their business advertising for them, yet Folksy are charging more or less the same fees and commission as Etsy.com. Etsy are also returning to their original business model; craft and clamping down on scam sellers. They have also improved their sellers protection.
Unfortunately, I personally think things are going to get worse economically before we return to steady constant sales with Folksy. That’s if they are willing to ride it out and take a leave out Etsy.com’s book and advertise their own business. At the end of the day we ‘the sellers’ are their business and income.
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