I thought you meant something additional…thanks for confirming.
What kind of supplies? Will these be sold by individuals / makers or companies can join Folksy?
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We haven’t really thought that far ahead, though it feels like something we would offer, perhaps in partnership with others. Commercial supplies are not crafted or handmade. We have crafters selling handmade yarns and fabric and other supplies which are very different to commercial supplies and we definitely would not infringe on that.
I’m not sure what ‘commercial supplies’ are…would you mind giving us a few examples?
But Folksy already has many many fabric sellers who stock fabric by well known national brands, aswell as buttons, braid, ribbon and various other haberdashery items.
I would imagine than 99% of fabric, buttons and braid sold on Folksy are not handmade so am confused by "introducing commercial supplies"
Do you just mean expanding a Folksy section that already exists?
I’m concerned that emphasising supplies will simply attract more people who want to make and sell crafts rather than customers for existing makers. As would the tutorials…
I can understand that Folksy wants to attract more sellers to increase revenue, but if no-one manages to sell anything, they’re not going to stick around (or pay any commission ). Many people are saying they won’t renew their plus accounts due to poor sales.
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I’ve always thought of Folksy as being an online marketplace for British handmade craft, with a forum where the makers could share insights and build friendships.
To do that, the online public facing shop needs great navigation, high search ranking and a level of curation to ensure the quality of products is maintained. The forum, and this is just my personal view, should be non accessible to the general public and be a place where shop owners can access help and support from each other, plus gain access to offers and special deals from non Folksy shops.
To thrive in the future, the commerce platform needs focus, otherwise the whole thing falls down. If it goes in the direction of being a giant crafters forum, where people come to learn and try out making things for themselves, and where a few ‘more savvy??’ crafters can also sell a few bits and bobs as a sideline, then I fear its life is limited.
In a world where there isn’t another British online handmade craft marketplace, I don’t know why building the shop platform isn’t seen as being the way forward. There are a lot of people out there with high disposable incomes who love to buy handmade. I’d always thought that being part of a bigger thing like Folksy would help me reach them; reading the interview now makes me feel rather less sure of that.
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With regard to the home page, I think it is rather slow at the moment. Couldn’t folksy favourites be changed more often so potential customers are seeing a little more variety of what’s on offer. I have also noticed that the featured shop is not being changed weekly as it once was.
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Thank you Folksy, seeing some lovely new things on front page now!!! Good for sellers as well as buyers for discovering shops we otherwise wouldn’t know existed.
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Oh my goodness, I just spotted the most wonderful pottery puffin on the homepage!!
Thanks very much @folksycontent!
xxx
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