I bought my domain name over the weekend. My daughter gave me a ten minute tutorial on google website templates and left me to it.
I feel like you, I wouldnt have been able to do it on my own, I’ve nearly built a none selling website - just doing it as a landing page and directing people to my shops
I use Create.net Costs £200 a year and comes with a shop.
I had the Sandvox software for years then Karelia started doing funny things so closed my site. Tried another company but so expensive. Do have the start of a free one on Wix, did think of setting that up as a landing gallery which then would take a customer straight to Folksy. Tbh I am lazy and prefer one place to sell. Did try another platform last year but got fed up running the 2 together, now just Folksy.
Never had children worked full time all my life but did retire early at 50, which was brilliant as enabled me to concentrate on my business more.
Me too…I have been paying for mine for 10 years and it came with an email address that I have never used and a basic web page that I never got around to looking at.
Oh, thank goodness, I’m not the only one that hasn’t got round to setting up a website after all these years! I feel a tiny bit less ridiculous now!
A landing page would be great for me and then I could direct everyone to my Folksy shop. I should probably just pay someone to set it up for me…now, if only the sales were a bit more forthcoming this month! lol!
I’m super grateful to have a husband who does all my web site stuff but I’ve heard a lot of people really like Shopify and find that easy to use. They have a free trial that would let you have a play and see if you might be able to work with it?
But Shopify is a shop in it’s own right. I think we are talking here about having a website which is not e-commerce but just a shop front to here.
I’m a Director for a global IT and Business Consulting organisation and I also coach and mentor private clients. I own two ecommerce websites and I’m in the process of setting up a third.
Craft is my creative sanctuary away from my day jobs and wouldn’t even pay one bill let alone all of them, as evidenced by the fact that I’ve only had three sales here in the past 18 weeks (and with Folksy fees it’s a significant loss).
If my craft business was my only business and if, as was the case up to most of 2019, I was dependent on Folksy for my ‘craft’ income… I would now be extremely hungry and cold.
This chart plots my annual Folksy income for the years 2012 to 2024 (I have projected a very slight increase for this year over last based on the 3 slightly better months so far). The big peak is the Covid factor affecting 2020 / 2021…
You can see that my sales were increasingly nicely year on year (don’t know why a slight decrease in 2016, I probably took extra long holidays, can’t remember exactly 
)
There should always be an increase as my prices are raised over time to keep up with inflationary material costs and also to some extent to take account of my far higher skill level than when i started in 2008.
Since 2022 my Folksy figures have barely beaten those of the first year i have plotted, 2012 and if I remove an inflationary element they would have pretty well flatlined.
I don’t know about everyone else but I have continued throughout to buy gifts for birthdays, new babies, christenings, weddings, anniversaries and Christmas as wel as a few ’ just because’. My spend on such things has not plummeted in any way since 2022 and absolutely does not reflect the way my Folksy income has dropped off a cliff. What i sell on Folksy is entirely giftable and I know that is what it is bought for, even if sometimes a lovely customer decides to keep something for themselves and then has to buy something else to gift 
So I can only say thank goodness my art/craft business is Not my only income. I have a state pension and private pension to rely on.
My Folksy income used to pay for all our annual holidays (we like to holiday quite a lot) now it only pays for one short one as long as we don’t go 5 star !
Fortunately I now have other selling platforms (which I am not allowed to mention here ) and my increasing sales, year on year, there do mean that we could indeed have a 5 star hotel in Cyprus last week and will be able to tour France in June.
And I promote All my shops on social media and from my own website so that is not the reason my other sales are thriving while Folksy withers away,
I admit I do nowadays do more SM shares from my other shops but that is because those other platforms sometimes share them for me whereas Folksy have never ever ever shared one of mine nor even commented on one. I’ve tried but given up attempting to flog a dead horse in that respect.
I know the question of this topic is not about changes in income but I can quite clearly state that something happened here on Folksy in 2022 which affected sales. It started I believe with the rework of the Search and also the strange case of Google invisibility which we all complained about for about 3 months before anyone took any notice and then it took months to get visibility back again properly.
I know the very low 7 day sales figures which have got me into the best seller list in recent times to my astonishment so can be sure that it is not just my sales which are down but it must be a platform wide effect.
Let’s hope that Folksy can sort something out to help all its sellers, to actually get the site and all its lovely content seen in the big wide world out there again… before we all lose the will to bother creating and listing.
I started my craft business almost by accident! I had been taught many skills as a child, but then went into an office job and hardly made anything for years. I had just been back to Uni to get a Masters degree, which would allow me promotion at work, when the financial crash of 2010 hit. Suddenly I was not only not promoted but unemployed. There were so many applicants for every job, and the stream of rejection letters became very depressing.
My Hubby was working full-time, we could survive financially, but the toll on my self-confidence was dreadful. I re-started knitting and sewing to keep myself occupied and sane. Then in 2011 I found a local “start your own business” course that went through basic structures, book-keeping, etc. They also recommended using social media (Twitter back then) and at least a simple website.
I can thoroughly recommend Spanglefish as a website provider for a small user. You can use their domain or link your own, you can even have a Paypal shopping cart, and you don’t have to know when registering how many kb of downloads or such technical gumph that the well-known providers demanded.
I had a separate savings account that I had put birthday-present money into, so I used that tiny pot to buy materials, and then website and stall fees. It was never about replacing my job, I knew I could never make that many things; it was intended as self-funded therapy plus pocket money “until I get a job”.
I have tried many online shopping sites, but Etsy is the only one that consistently brings in sales for little or no effort on my part. I love the Folksy attitude, but my sales graph through them is almost flatline at 1-2 sales per month, and always has been for 12 years whether I promote or not. Having a stall at a Craft Fair was about getting out of the house and talking to people; if I sold stuff as well that’s even better, but contact and handing out business cards was the priority.
By 2019 I was on several shopping sites, and selling at 10 craft events in the summer, and at three different galleries for Christmas. My tiny spare-room hobby business was turning over £10,000, including exports to US, Canada, Australia. I was busy, I could pay for treats and holidays, and I didn’t feel guilty about not having a “proper job”.
Then Covid lockdown, coinciding with my mother’s death from a series of strokes, changed everything again. I have halved the number of websites I use and likewise the craft fairs I do, because my priority now is visiting my Dad in Scotland every couple of weeks and taking him wherever he wants to go. I’ll still keep making stuff (at least until I’ve got rid of my stash), but no way am I going to spend hours doing social media stuff when I could be watching woodpeckers instead!
I run my business as a passion project. Creating is something inherent within me. I love nature and I always feel it helps me appreciate it twice as much when I draw it. My husband works shifts and can be away, so my role has been to look after the livestock on the smallholding. Around that I’ve done voluntary work with two mental health charities.
I’ve always struggled a lot with confidence, particularly regarding selling my work and putting myself out there. Due to my childhood the lack of confidence is something I struggled to change. Taking part in ultra distance cycling, and e-sports has changed a lot of things for me. I learned courage is more important than confidence. Courage is doing things when I am afraid. I’ve also learned how much attitude impacts everything I do.
I found the courage to open my Folksy shop after completing my first twelve hour ride. I love Folksy because it’s UK based and run by a small, friendly team. It is my only shop because I couldn’t run more than one, and it’s convenient for me because doing craft fairs would be difficult.
I’ve recently quit social media for many reasons. I think there are other ways to promote things and that’s something I’m excited to explore creatively. I’ve had some time off my shop, training for another epic ride this weekend, and I’m working on refreshing my shop for the craft drop event, and hoping to build from there. I would create no matter what else goes on, in fact the more awful things are, the more compelled I feel to make lovely things. It’s balm for my soul, and I have a lot of gratitude for the people who have believed in what I do and purchased from me.
Another interesting topic might perhaps be : How many people are on Folksy just to sell what they have made to keep themselves happy and occupied and fulfil their crafting needs and don’t care if they actually make any sort of profit out of all the work they put into it.
I appreciate that that is perfectly valid. If you have the urge, need, passion, whatever words you want to use, to ‘craft’ then craft you must and there is no better way to stay happy than to have something you love doing to keep you busy. I postivitely twitch if I don’t cut any glass when I am at home for a day and know many others are the same.
But I do wonder what percentage of Folksy sellers do just that.
They continually need to make things so then need to sell them in order to get money to buy supplies to make more and clear the cupboards to make space for the new makes.
I work very fast, always have done, it’s the way I am made (I was born with high blood pressure ) so am super productive and I need to sell a reasonable amount on a very regular basis in order to justify buying new supplies and clearing space for more makes. I also spend so much time making I absolutely cannot justify, to myself, or my very tolerant Bob, if I don’t at least make enough money from all that time spent (when I should be dusting and polishing and floor sweeping) to at least pay for a holiday for the two of us here or there. Well quite a few holidays actually as holidaying together is what we do …when I am not glassing.
Snap. Have to make could not imagine creating every day. Would go mad and whilst I am an avid reader. Reading makes me tired after a while.
I would continue to create even if I wasn’t selling. I cannot imagine a life I’m not making things! I spin, felt and even write poetry when there’s time. I’m interested in the process of creating, and have no problem justifying purchasing new supplies. Although I have a horse and a few sheep, I rent land cheaply and we actually live frugally. I’ve only had two holidays in my lifetime, eating out is a real treat, we’re happy being here and although cycling is no longer such a cheap hobby, my bike is second hand. The cost of the cabin for my studio was less than one foreign holiday, and I get to enjoy it all year. So creating is my treat to myself. It’s self care, a justification I’m sticking to 
I understand I’m privileged to be in the position we can afford to pay our bills with one salary, I try to price my items at a decent cost to cover my time making them though. If I can grow my business to something sustainable for me then I’d love that, and I’m going to try.
I make cards and they always get used, I keep a drawer of items for gifts, people know I craft so they’re always thrilled to have something I’ve made for them. And I get so much enjoyment, and learning, doing things that’s the most important thing for me. I’ve recently made a new friend locally and she’s a little down so I’ve invited her for a day at my studio and we can have a nice time making things. It’s lovely to pass that joy onto someone else.
But would you not prefer it if you had lots more sales and lovely messages from your delighted customers who leave you super reviews which are read by what then become more lovely customers… and if you didn’t have to wonder whether to bother putting your shop on holiday when you are away for a week as it is unlikely any sales will pop in ?
Instead of being surprised if and when an order email pings in ?
And yes when I am home I am as happy as anything, glassing, pottering in the garden, feeding my many garden visiting birds … but life is short and only comes round once. And there are so many other places to be explored and as soon as we come back from a holiday we start planning the next. North Devon next I think and then France in June and Italy in September. My Bob is 80, we must do it while we can.
So many places, people, sights to see, mountains, valleys, beaches, buildings, forests, rivers, lakes and different people of the world to meet and chat to and learn about their ways of life …Ooh and the wonderful memories we are making.
We must each to his or her own
@TheHawthornHeart That sounds wonderful! And like you’ve got a good focus on what’s important to you and is good for your mind, and what you can do without. No wonder your ram bookmark looks so good when you’ve got sheep around to reference!
To me I make for my well being but also if no sales gets me down. Yes I am addicted to making but as others on here will testify I take a break every now and then as can only store so much stock.
I never give what is in my shop as gifts but make something special specific to that person. I would hate to think they have already seen their gift or card in my shop, a bit like recycling unwanted gifts.
Remember years ago gave a lady at work some drawer liners, got them back the following Christmas, how rude and not proper etiquette at all.
So to recap love to make but also sell. This is my business, lucky to have private pensions and investments to live on but must have sales to prove that what I make is good enough. Thankfully Folksy have helped me achieve that along with the reviews and repeat customers.
I wasn’t having a go at you for wanting holidays, people have to follow their own paths.I understand I’m unusual. I come from a very poor background so never had them and that’s how I am, its not a judgement. I do however get a lot of people say oh you have a studio and a horse, you’re loaded and that isn’t the case! We’re just normal people living an abnormal life! I’m also lucky enough to be away from it all. We make willing sacrifices for what we want to have in our lives.
Of course I’d like sales, and I have a plan to promote my work, but what I’m saying is my creating and love of what i do isn’t contingent on anything outside of me. It’s something I’ve learned from sport. You can only control yourself and your reactions to things.
Sorry if i caused you offence Joy, it was never intended 🩷
Emma Goodness no offence taken at all. 
As I tried to say each to his own, we do what suits us. I love to holiday by that I mean to travel and explore but I know many who don’t and are perfectly content. Fortunately both Bob and I are like minded so can do what suits us both. As you do 
xxxx
I hope you can improve your sales. Your work is really lovely. Xx
We were not having a go Emma. I no longer go on holiday as have a dog. When working spent a lot of time jetting round the world for work. Done so much of that really can no longer be bothered. The last time went away was in a long weekend in Boston, both ended up with violent stomach bugs, caught on the flight. Happy to now holiday in my garden. I am a home buddy.
I grew up with horses, dogs, cottage in Devon, Chelsea pied-à-terre, which was handy for Harrods and the Kings Road, money was no object but does not stop me appreciating what I have now. Also find as I get older prefer simple. Boarded at a convent from age 6 we were taught the meaning of things etc and used to help out in the gardens, ride on the tractor when cutting hay. A happy childhood yes
As Joy said each to their own, we all different, heavens a Betsy that we were all the same, would that not be boring?
Happy Creating
