Good morning 
I have only been on Folksy for a few weeks now, I am getting my bearings and learning daily. I have to say, I love it here. I love that I can interact with posts, meet new makers, learn tips.
I am going to buy some white backgrounds for photos, I have just learned so much. I find the ‘other’ website very expensive fees wise. Here I actually feel like a maker and welcome, not lost if that makes sense. I think I will see how things go, but I am hoping I can stay mostly here.
Right, time to go do forum posts, Instagram posts, Pinterest posts, Twitter posts, Facebook posts. The daily promotion grind 
I hope you all have a lovely day, thank you for being so welcoming:)
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Oh and ps… I am sorry if I have missed this information, but is there any preferred hashtags to use for folksy? I have just been using #folksy #folksyseller
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Hi and welcome,
to answer your title - i never really fully joined Etsy, its always been the little rather ignored sister to my Folksy shop, as you say it is easy to get swamped over there. I know there are a few others like me who have little or nothing in their etsy shops.
The main folksy hashtags are #folksyshop and #folksyseller and then, where appropriate #folksythemeoftheday (if you haven’t come across the theme of the day then have a look at the folksy homepage and you will see a section dedicated to theme which changes daily, we get to tag the items ourselves so everyone can appear on the front page. You can find the list of themes for the month on your dashboard.)
I hope you don’t mind but I have a couple of observations about the listings you’ve done so far. I’ve not found any dimensions on any of the listings I’ve looked at - this is the sort of detail customers like. Also the tags you’ve used have the wrong format - tags on listings get picked up by the search algorithm so need to reflect things that people might type into the search box ie don’t put a # at the beginning.
Good luck
Sasha
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Hello Sasha,
Of course I do not mind, every little helps as Tesco says 
thank you for the advice, I will make my way through my listings today and change the # on each:) I will also measure everything and add sizes. I always forget that part 
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Hi Jodie. Welcome to Folksy.
I found this Folksy blog post really useful for hashtag ideas. If you scroll down to the end, there are lists of general hashtags for makers, ones for specific crafts, and a list of Folksy-specific ones.
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Thank you so much Helen, this so super helpful:) I have saved this to my home screen so I can make some lists. I’m not too bad with pottery ones, but I’m new to jewellery making so this will help immensely:)
Have a lovely day
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Hello and welcome to folksy, good luck with your shop. I’m still on Etsy, but would love to make Folksy my full time platform, once I can drive more traffic to my shop 
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Hello Amy:)
Thank you, I think now I know many of the hashtags that will help, I can add them to all my social posts now. I think just keep spamming your socials, and hope for the best
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I also tag #folksyuk and #folksyhq on my Instagram posts along with my ‘fair’ groups. Certainly with the fairs I attend regularly, I get a lot of traffic which tends to go ‘look see’ on my Folksy page.
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I have not done any fairs yet or signed up for any, it’s in my thoughts to do one this year. I think that really is something I should be thinking about:) I think at the moment I am concentrating of getting better at what I do, when I feel I have a good amount of things I can make I will do one. I know badges are pretty set, I think my silver pendants will be there end of this month. It’s all super scary
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I find that going to the fairs gives me a better idea of what people like and will buy (most of my sales are from fairs). What ‘changes’ I can make to more personal and ask if I can create other things. So example, I do quilts along with other very different makes that has nothing to do with quilting. Lady bought most expensive one and then asked if I could make her something for her coffee table in a circular shape. When I phoned her to talk about colours and shape, she changed it to a dinning room runner! I’ve also had people ask if I make tabs to go with what they’ve bought again to make more personal. If you just go to have a look at what the fairs are like, you’ll get an idea of what’s being sold. Hope this helps.
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It has helped a lot, thank you:) I know of some local fairs that are run throughout the year, I think only £12.50 a table, I think I will see if they have space for June/July so I have time to prepare.
Thank you, have a lovely day:)
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That’s a good price. If you can, pop in to see one or two before hand, as some Crafters do seasonal makes and June may be a Father’s Day (19th) focus. July will see Canada Day and USA 4th July, and I think there’s a Harry Potter day. Best to check online special event days oh the internet. Hope this helps too.
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Thank you Helen for posting the hashtag blog - I had never seen it before and its amazingly helpful - I have been stabbing in the dark a bit with insta hashtags but feeling that I might be missing something!
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Thank you so much, that’s a good shout about Father’s Day, I really need to start thinking of what I can make for men 
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I loved that link, it’s like being entered into a secret club
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Hi Jodie, welcome to Folksy! Love your Mushroom pin earrings btw. I put my Etsy shop in holiday mode last April, it doesn’t seem like a very nice place to be as a Seller at the moment and I don’t like Etsy’s ethos. I’m just getting my Folksy shop back on track after a long illness. Folksy has always been a lovely place to sell, there are always other new selling sites popping up, but they don’t come close to the lovely friendly and helpful community you will find here 
Wishing you lots of sales with your lovely shop x
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Thank you so much, lovely to meet you
I really hope your health is doing better now? I grapple with chronic illness, I know the struggle, I wish you the best with getting back on your feet. It takes a lot 
I love Folksy, I have always mostly drove traffic myself for sales through my socials, so I can’t see what difference it would make to switch my platform to Folksy. I’ll keep my Etsy open a little while longer but I think Folksy will be my home, it feels much more like a community.
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Thank you Jodie. Yes, chronic illness is always a struggle, but having my little business helps me get through the bad days Hope you stay in good health
The Folksy forums are lovely and very approachable. Throughout my time on Etsy, I think I only went on the Forum once, that was enough for me never to venture back 
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Folksy feels like home - because of the lovely community and support you get from other shop owners. I don’t feel that way with Etsy and sometimes the forums can get pretty nasty, so I don’t go there! I would love to leave Etsy and ‘move house’ to Folksy, but unfortunately, I’m just not getting the sales here. Not that I was ever a bestseller on Etsy, but certainly sell more there. I find I have just stopped expecting to get sales here, so when I get one, I’m always super chuffed! Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, but at least I don’t get as down as I used to about no Folksy sales! I think the decision will have to be based on how much money you’re prepared to spend on staying with Folksy if you’re not even covering your costs/fees (let alone making a profit).
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