I would echo a lot of the positives that people have already mentioned, friendly and UK based and smaller than E*** being the main reasons I joined, although only since the start of January, i’ve only made one sale and that was a family member so I’m waiting patiently-ish to see if the customers are right for my products.
Fingers crossed.
Hi Can I make a suggestion. I know you are on Facebook (and nicely linked from your Folksy shop). Just looked at your Facebook posts and they have lots of commercial words in there - shop. bought. store, price “for sale”.
Mr Facebook will not show your posts to as many people if he spots anything commercial like that (as he wants you to Pay Him to promote you) so it’s a really good idea to think of other words to use or try changing a letter for a number eg SHOP -> SH0P, PRICE = PR1CE They still read the same but not hopefully to the automated Mr Facebook commercial word spotter.
Joy xx
Thanks Joy for the advice, I’ll certainly take it on-board.
Cheers,
Ant
We’d really really love some positive quotes about what you love about selling on Folksy 
We’re putting together some new things to bring in more artists, designers and makers, and would really like to hear the good stuff, what you like about being a Folksy seller and being part of the community, if possible.
We’d very very much appreciate it! Thank you!!
This is something I wrote a few days ago about Folksy. @folksycontent
https://talk.folksy.com/t/very-frustrating/16430/60?u=southfieldbarnart
I shall look forward to the new “things” 
I love the atmosphere on Folksy. I enjoy listing, visiting the forum, and also browsing everyone’s shops. I always check Folksy first if I need a gift. I consider other crafters who sell here as friends in a community really. This continues through to social media platforms, where we tend to look out for each other, using the folksy hashtags, and pinning to Folksy boards.
Folksy feels genuine, the interactions between sellers and customers stem from a love of handmade, and I feel valued rather than feeling like a tiny cog in a huge corporate machine.
I have always loved Folksy…I have been here around 10 years (ish)…
When I started I had no idea about online selling but there was always someone here to help me and nurse me through the processes. Someone even did my shop front for me because I had no idea how to do it. I know that there is always someone to help me…
I love the fact that it is UK based and for genuine hand made crafts. There are of course other sites where people can sell, but most of them allow “bought in goods” and Folksy virtually guarantees Exclusive BRITISH Quality handicrafts made by the people in the UK.
Admin are always on hand to help too and have nursed me through setting up things like the PLUS account payments. The Plus account is amazing value for money and allows me to list as many items as I like in a year and allows me to move items around to change the face of my shop from time to time. That means that I can make my shop look different now and again and keep it looking fresh. The fees are exceptional value for money and because it is UK based I have even met up with other Folksy sellers.
I know that whatever problem I encounter , someone will rescue me…and I have had over 400 sales which proves what a fabulous place it is to be…
so I have been here since 2010 - AudreysCat , AudreysArt but now WittyDawn mainly . It has its ups and downs. However:
Plus seller is a great option if you stock a lot of items - I like it a lot as I can list separate fabric options with out worrying about listing costs.
Whilst it is a UK craft shop it DOES get overseas customers , this week I sent an order to Russia - so make sure you add overseas posting options!
I know resellers/overseas try it on at the weekend but I think there are way less that there used to be and they are removed much faster.
I think the overall quality of photography and presentation by sellers has improved enormously from the early days - thanks in part to the great , friendly advice from this forum!
There used to be a bit of a ’ dramatic changes a couple of months before Xmas ’ pattern ( old hands will know what I am talking about ) - thank goodness that seems to not be the case over the last few years ! please no extra challenges for us in the busy Autumn period .
What could be better ?
Well unless you promote you will not get customers - if I don’t I get nothing sold on here, this is to broadly the case however wherever you sell so I think plenty of advice to new sellers is vital.
I would LOVE variations functionality - I use it a LOT E lsewhere (if you get my hint )
I would LOVE more photos per listing - 5 just isn’t enough .
Generally though is must be pretty good for me to stay this long!
It’s British based and promotes British art and craft! YAY!
It’s big enough to get you noticed and people trust the site but small enough to have a real community feel and I’m not even that active on the forums but drop in once in a while and don’t feel like there are cliques or like I shoudn’t be giving my 2 pence worth it’s all super friendly.
Being British based though I love the fact that I can sell internationally but not be competing with international sellers doing similar things to me.
I didn’t have a clue when I first set up my shop in 2011 (eeekkk that’s a long time ago!), consumer law, returns policies, distance selling regulations were all very scary things to suddenly be faced with as a seller rather than as a consumer and I chose Folksy because it was based in the UK and all the regs I had to follow we’re for the UK and that made it a lot easier compared to American based sites who have different laws and regs.
I’ve now gone on to sell 4,113 things and counting and the plus account makes that even sweeter as I don’t have to worry when items expire or if I want to add a bunch of new listings I just pop them straight up with no listing fee because it’s all covered already. Otherwise the fees are reasonable and I’ve always thought for what I’m being charged per sale is totally worth it to have a platform that looks good, professional and runs well.
Also the set up was so easy, the listing process is about 5 years shorter than on E (I had a shop on there for a bit and didn’t make a single sale!) and I can quickly list items without spending a day picking options and ticking boxes.
I’ve seen the site develop and change over the years, improvements have always been in the works and the staff always take note of suggestions and ideas we have, some take a little longer than others (please can we have drop down option selector menus one day?) but I find the site runs smoothly and any glitches are solved as quickly as possible so missed sales are a rarity. For example the new card payment option has been amazing, I had quite a few customers who detest paypal so to now be able to say ‘you can pay by card’ has opened these people up to making orders which they wouldn’t have previously made.
The Folksy team are great too, I’ve been lucky enough to chat with both James and Camilla on the phone and both were so lovely and you know they love what they do too. I’ve also gotten press, magazine, blog and other features both on Folksy and in other media because of Folksy putting me out there or my work being on the site.
At the end of the day people leaving the site is a personal choice, it doesn’t suit everyone or people think they should be getting more out of it when they aren’t putting in the time and effort to self promote or direct traffic to their shop which isn’t Folksy’s job it’s a site for YOU to sell your work and it works for me.
You could say I’m a Folksy Fan 
Love that its British, even if the occasional foreign seller sneaks in
Love the friendliness of the forum, they feel like one big family
Love the helpfulness of the support staff, always quick to respond to a problem/query
Love the plus account, superb value for money
Love the variation and quality of the items for sale, could (and often do) spend all day browsing
Love the professionalism of the sellers, rarely a whinge or whine (unlike other platforms I won’t mention)
Love everything
Love Folksy!
I like the fact that you can list as much as you want with the folksy shop. I had 3 sales yesterday 
I love how easy it is to set up and maintain my shop, nothing is too technical, I don’t have to have a social media presence if I don’t want one.
The listing and billing system is easy to operate and understand.
When an item is sold, emails are spontaneous so I can ship the item immediately.
Folksy staff are always on hand to help and answer emails very promptly.
The buying process is quick and efficient.
An all round excellent BRITISH site that I recommend to anyone I meet who designs/makes to sell.
I’ve been here since 2009, my first online venture and I just love it here.
I’ve found my own little niche here.
I keep my shop very well stocked with a wide range of glass designs and have a steady business throughout the year (and a very hectic lead up to Christmas).
I have a Plus account because I have a lot of stock so that is cost effective for me but also allows me to maintain a better shop front.
I actively promote my shop on Folksy because it seems to make sense to me that my shop’s success is also dependent on Folksy’s.
I have lots of repeat customers and new customers (who sometimes become repeat customers), customers from within Folksy and from outside and I also bring in a few via links from my own website and also quite a few from my daily promotion on social media.
This is such a friendly place to be. Rather like walking into an interesting building hosting a fabulous arts and crafts emporium. You never know what you’ll come across tucked away in a corner here or under a sunny window there. Full of wonderful surprises and so good to know that everything is handmade and British. No foreign or mass produced stalls to be avoided and distract from the real arts and crafts on display.
I hope that’s how our customers might see us. A really friendly place to pop in and browse and maybe stop awhile and shop. There’s even a place to chat and ask advice.
Why on earth would I want to have my shop anywhere else.
I agree with all of the above, but the thing I especially love about Folksy is its “look”.
The items are carefully chosen to give the front page a look of contemporary design. Its clean and modern; not always easy to achieve with a huge array of very different handmade pieces.
This gives it its own strong personality, and it looks up to date, whilst also giving the impression that items are handpicked, rather than randomly chosen by computer.
I like the way this follows through across all the bits- be it blogs, newsletters Folksy Favs and the like.
I love it… I had been away for a few years… life, child etc… and I came back and everyone has been awesome…
so thank you for this topic… cheered me up and motivated me…
thank you x
I’ve been selling on here since 2010 with this shop. I love that it’s for UK sellers only, but we reach worldwide customers. I’ve shipped to Australia, America, Canada, Hong Kong and many European countries. I’ve had over 2,000 sales so far - the first few years were slower, but it’s been steadily increasing with each passing year. My regular customers know where to find me now, and I get lots of knew customers each year too.
The Plus Account is fantastic - I can list as much as I want without worrying about the listing costs adding up. It costs less to pay for the Plus Account for a year than it would do for me to pay for a days stall at a decent sized craft fair locally.
These are also the friendliest forums I know of - you can ask anything and get good advice and support 