I haven’t heard of anyone being turned down - so I think their interpretation of handmade is pretty unrestricted.
Having said that, at least you have to apply, so not anyone can just set up.
Does anyone think it looks a bit like NOTHS?
And manufacturers now…there is an option for sellers to team up with them…Sigh!
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I have just seen this posted on Facebook about the new Amazon handmade…you may want to read it before jumping in,
http://www.creationsfromthehart.com/amazon-review/
x
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Ummm food for thought - thanks for sharing - will rather give this one a miss then
Kind regards
Emily
That’s certainly an interesting read. I knew that Amazon would never be for me - I’m not sure I could articulate why really, but that article has a lot of helpful material and pointers for those people who are considering it. One thing I can say is that for my little business I never thought I would be able to get the sums to add up!! I like the more personal feel here too - my favourite forum!
Ali
That blog says everything I’ve been saying.
It’s always good business practice to read and research before jumping onboard.
Nothing worse than signing on the dotted line only to find out further down the line you’ve not signed up for what you thought you’d signed up for and then unable to get out of the situation.
The basics are read, re read, research and re research before committing your business to anything. Think long term not short term. Think what are the implications to my business if I do this or that not just for today or next month but for the years ahead.
We are creators, makers, artisans but we are also business so we need to be sure we know what we are signing up to.
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Personally I wouldn’t make business decisions based on somebody blogging about it when they pulled the plug on their shop before it went live…
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Absolutely, but for those people still mulling it over it certainly provides pointers for research.
I agree…no one should make a decision based on one persons blog, but it’s about making an informed decision, and to do that you need all the information…at least after reading this it will make you look more deeply in to whether you really want to go down that path.
Personally, I wouldn’t go near it…but that’s just my opinion…
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I’m one of those people who prefer to give things a try, I guess. So far H@A has exactly the same number of sales for me this month as Etsy and Folksy combined (none) and the number of views is higher than one and lower than the other, but only by a small margin. As I only have 5 items there at present, I’d say that’s a reasonable success. I haven’t paid a penny for it yet either, so in that sense it wins hands down.
Well done for making sales!!!
Yes I read that yesterday and I’m not going to continue with my store. I can manage quite nicely with what I’m doing at the moment.
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The blurb in that blog post about the License with Amazon, particularly the derivative works bit, and the reason why she eventually pulled out is also in Folksy’s T&Cs. Folksy do however explain further what this means (i.e. not recreating your handmade work itself and selling it) and that it’s for marketing purposes:
http://talk.folksy.com/tos
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I know a designer/maker who contacted H@A to ask them to clarify the T&C’s regarding the reproducing clause. The designer/maker specifically asked if it meant that Amazon could reproduce their products, Amazon refused to answer this question directly and they told the designer/maker to seek their own legal advice as they couldn’t advise any further.
Although I’d love to have such a massive market to sell to (and I have been accepted as a seller on H@A, but still dithering about it) I really don’t feel right selling my lovingly crafted work on such a huge platform. They are a mass-marketing machine and the whole site seems to be about saturating the market with the amazon name. I do feel that genuine handmade items need to be sold in a more personal way, so the buyer feels they are dealing with an individual and getting that direct contact with the artist/maker. I also feel that I’d be selling out on the whole handmade concept by aligning myself with such a powerful corporate entity. Maybe that’s a bit disingenuous, but it’s a gut feeling I have that it’s just not right.
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I think if anyone is worried about any T&Cs they sign up to, then yes they need to seek their own legal advice. However the same clause is used by Folksy, of which we on here as sellers have agreed to by signing up and selling with them. Folksy at least put my mind to rest as they explain what that clause means in their Terms so I was happy to agree to it. Even Facebook have similar, in that they specify that whilst you have ownership of what you post and share, they still state that “you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook…”
I cannot imagine Amazon are going to start making their own handmade items from poaching ideas off business that have signed up. I think, like other sites that use the same or similar wording, that is just for marketing only. But yes, if anyone has any doubts and are worried seek legal advice.
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Yes, lots of companies have T&C’s that state roughly the same thing, but what concerned the designer/maker was that Amazon refused to answer their direct question about it. I wonder why?
With regard to poaching ideas, I heard quite a few horror stories (I seem to remember that there was a dispatches type program about it) Where individual sellers have sold a certain product, when that product starts to do well, Amazon suddenly starts selling the same product for cheaper, which has resulted in the seller having to shut their shop as their sales dried up. It’s thought provoking stuff, if it’s true.
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Yes it’s a pity amazon didn’t answer that designer/maker and reassured their seller. Although I would say it depends who’s answering the sellers query; if it’s someone with no legal knowledge (i.e. Amazon’s lawyers) they could only advise seeking legal advice elsewhere. Better still would be Amazon clearly stating in their T&Cs from the outset what the blurb means and save any confusion.
I haven’t heard about any poaching though.
Just followed a link on Facebook where a lovely bag was, but its all in $!