Out of interest found out that a half page spread in Country Living would cost approx £1300 for 1 issue. I think this magazine suits Folksy sellers as they also do the kitchen table business awards. Unfortunately it would need a lot of us to commit to this for one month. If £20 each would need 65 sellers, not sure we would get that many. We are talking serious advertising here though.
Overview
In the UK, Country Living magazine has a print circulation of 176,507 (ABC certified, Jan-Dec 2024). The brand’s total reach is 177k, while its monthly unique users for the website are 737k (Ipsos IRIS/UKOM, Nov 2024), and it has 1.4 million social media followers (Hearst Social Media Tracking, Nov 2024
INTERESTED:
Caroline - Carolee Crafts
Joy - Joys of Glass
Debby - Bearlescent
Demelza - Demelza Designs
Bridget - Felt by Bridget
Noelle - Happy Hedgehog Shop
Heather - Heather and Home
Marina - The Wee Owl Art
Lindsay - Amberlily
Would need a lot of thought. If 65 people did chip in, would they be wanting an advert promoting their shops, or an advert for Folksy in general? If an advert for Folksy generally, there are over 3000 shops, so a surcharge of less than 50p each would cover such an advert.
I would love to advertise in Country living magazine, I think our items would be perfect Caroline but there is no way I could afford that kind of money, however £20 and it would be a yes from me.
I paid for a tiny 3 x 2 inch maybe advert in teddy bear times and it was over £100, absolutely made no difference to sales but I think if it was regular people would see the name and remember it. Folksy would need to place the advert every few months for it to stick in people’s minds.
I think if 65 people paid £20 each they would expect some promotion of their shop, it wouldn’t be fair on those contributing if it was just an advert for the whole Folksy platform. As Liz mentioned it would have to be a small increase in fees from everyone selling on Folksy. If everyone paid £2.50 more per year it would cover a lot of advertising and it’s desperately needed especially as social media is no longer working as it was, surely it would benefit everyone.
I thought if we did get enough people could have a list of each shop with the Folksy url at the top and the /after the main url against our names.
Agree could not do on my own and not sure we would get 65 people interested but have to try. On another note perhaps Folksy could do the ad and charge plus sellers if want to join the extra 1 month. They would probably easily get the 65 sellers. Would probably work out a lot less than £20. Only used this as an example.
Count me in. I think we could actually start our own advertising cost pot. However, i don’t think it’s fair that other Folksy sellers who don’t contribute should get any benefit from it. So perhaps advertising as our own consortium would be better. There are members with the i.t skills to do a brilliant job for us. We’ve got to do something for our future rather than get despondent and possibly throw in the towel. We can still stay with Folksy. I know my work is worth every penny if I could get a better upmarket audience, and i could name a few other sellers who’s work is first class. I have just finished two a tanzanite & Freshwater Pearl Necklaces using faceted briolette cut tanzanite gemstones. Each cost £5.10 plus VAT trade cost and there are 18 stones in one necklace and 17 in the other. People who know about genuine gemstones and their cost in boutique jewellers wouldn’t bat an eye at a tanzanite necklace costing over. £500.00 these days, so i am not prepared to give away my work.
Let’s see how people do after this weekends ‘the real deal’. I think Folksy have done a reasonable job, but it took me a few minutes to actually find how to see all the events listings. I also think a few favoured shops got some really good promotion, which i think is very unfair!
It was on breakfast BBC television this morning saying how much scamming is going on now with social media. They have said people need to very vigilant and only buy from website they know and have purchased from before. Considering Folksy is not very well known, even after all the work done by members over the years we don’t stand much of a chance selling well in the future. I found my work on three USA scam websites last week and they must have unloaded them from Folksy, taken off all the item descriptions. But because I have marked all of my work ‘Demelza Designs’ it showed on the photographs they did us!
Caroline @Caroleecrafts …if I remember rightly, a few years ago it was suggested that if the monthly fee for plus sellers was increased by 50p or £1 a time, then it would pay for a regular advertisement somewhere. Nothing ever came of it though x
Oh not more doom and gloom for online sellers, it’s getting harder all the time. Sorry to hear your items have been copied/stolen, I’ve seen my kits on numerous fake websites, mostly copies from my shop, always a reduced price that they think will lure buyers in and because they are always overseas there is nothing we can can about it. If Folksy were able to run some ads the Folksy name may be cemented in people’s minds which could result in more sellers joining, equating to more fees coming in and of course it would be far better for sellers, people may use the site more as they would see it as a genuine, safe place to buy from. Win win situation hopefully. I hope negativity in the media about buying from online sellers doesn’t put more people off it’s hard enough already.
I would definately be interested. I’ve been looking into costs for advertising in the past few weeks. I contacted the Yorkshire Post and their quote was £185 per month for 3 months for an online digital banner advert. They recommend the 3 months as in their experience one month wasn’t enough as people respond much better if they see the advert repeatedly over a 3 month period and said this was more cost effective for a single Folksy shop than an advert in the physical paper. So the advertising for £1300 makes sense for a larger scale group advert.
I can’t afford the £185 by the way let alone the £185 x 3 - I was looking for a relatively cheap means to promote my shop - so £20 sounds just about right to me
It has been suggested before and fell by the wayside with Folksy. None Folksy plus members would benefit without contributing because all shops fall under the same banner. As i see the situation the only way it could be sorted is if Folksy actually had a different name for the none Folksy Plus sellers. Therefore, Folksy Plus sellers keep the Folksy (slightly known name by the general public) and hopefully reap the benefits for paying for their extra advertising via their Folksy shops. Sorry folks but social media is dying and it will not be long when there is a social stigma towards being accociated with it; it’s already started as many people are not willing to be part of it anymore. Over time every business model has to make changes and Folksy and their sellers are no different. You only have to think how many people don’t buy from the dark side anymore; because the general public have realised it’s become another Ama- - - or even worse with scammers getting in. The media and the government are now really backing the high street traders so unless you can afford to have your own high street shop or pay towards a space within a shop your business could fold before it’s even started!!! I am unable to plod the streets anymore looking for outlets to sell through and I know there are many Folksy sellers in the same boat. We must now start thinking outside the box together and hope Folksy will engage seriously with us in the interests of us all.
Not sure we will get the numbers but will email the marketing to get definitive costs for various sizes. Could be we have the Folksy bit in colour then list business name and /url underneath in black, with white background. May have to do a smaller one first and hopefully grow as interest grows.
Do you think this is something we need to suggest to Folksy and see whether it’s even going to be up for consideration, it might be that the answer is a definite no or perhapa that they are already looking into costs.
