Hi I have been on Folksy since February and I find it very difficult to negotiate for some reason. I have only had one sale a few weeks ago. I also joined Etsy in February as I wanted to sell worldwide and find that easier to work with and have had a lot more interest and sales. Is it just me?
There was a thread on this topic recently, maybe it might be of interest to you:
It all depends where you want your sales to come from, if you want the option of a greater worldwide sales base then Etsy ticks the box. Folksy slowed for me in October to with the beta mode thing. It use to be on average 1 folksy sale to 5 Etsy sales but now its 1 to 30. It depends if you need the sales to pay the bills. I would also agree that Etsy are on a downward slope in the eyes and pockets of many sellers.
folksy is better
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Well I have had 5 sales on Folksy but 60 on Etsy so I think it speaks for itself!
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Different sites suit different people, I wouldnāt say one was ābetterā than the other, it all depends what you sell and want you want from a selling site.
Have a look at your promotion. If your Facebook page, or general Twitter or other promotion is set up to point people to one shop over another that will probably be why youāre getting more sales on one and not the other. Just comparing sales numbers with sales numbers doesnāt really tell the whole story.
Jo
i find etsy overwhelmingly better than folksy in terms of frequency of salesā¦ had less than 20 here and more than 50 there! but i have to say the sales ive had here have been far bigger, usually multiple items so thats something i always considerā¦ also taking into account the fact that i usually promote etsy over folksy on my social media, its definitely worth being here!
Hi everyone,
Iām new to Folksy after being away a couple of years ā¦think I was on briefly last year but didnāt really do much with my shop.
For the last year, Iāve been selling on Etsy and I have to be honestā¦I totally love it. A lot of my sales have been worldwide and thatās one of the positives abt Etsy as opposed to Folksy. That saidā¦Etsy is completely saturated with shops and a lot of shops chance it trying to sell items that arenāt handmade or they just open up shop with no intention of selling anything and rip people off. Etsy are very good at keeping on top of it, although, I feel (my opinion only) that itās becoming so popular and busy now, that Etsy will struggle and that meansā¦we, the real handmade artists/designers pay for it.
Iāve come back to Folksy because I always liked it and I feel my shop might be found easierā¦time will tell.
One of the things I donāt like abt Folksy is the commission taken on sales. Itās a lot compared to Etsy so I think itās swings and roundabouts really. Like I said, time will tell and Iāll know better in a few weeks.
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These comments are definitely making me consider Etsy. Would it be best to try selling on both at the same time? X
I honestly donāt know. Iām just doing this now so will see how things go. Iād rather just have the one shop though, cause itād be easier for me but this is like a trial thing for me at the moment. Will keep you posted! x
Me too. Only opened shop about a week ago, I havenāt got much on there as only got the basic account. Will prob have to add more soon to see if it helps x
I am on both and joined about the same time in february this year. I have had a lot more success on Etsy and I find the site much easier to navigate I have paid for 1 year so I will stay till then and I will concentrate on Etsy as I expect it to go on getting better
Well ideally what you want from a selling site is regular sales. You have to find the best place for you and then put the work in to get your name out there
I also find Etsy easier to navigate and they seem to offer moreā¦maybe itās just that Iām more used to it just now. Iām gonna give Folksy a go though, and see what happens.
I am on both and would love Folksy to be the best but the real truth is that I have had double the sales on there to hereā¦I think it is because Folksy want to stay British and of course this is a smaller country compared to the US and worldwide. What doesnāt sell here, goes on there and then onto the auction site. I just keep moving them around until they sellā¦
I have always had a soft spot for Folksy but I find it difficult that those who have the plus account and do twitter etc get shown on the home page more often. I would love to have a plus account but as I paint, I donāt think I could paint fast enough to make it worthwhile. It is ok if you can mass produce itemsā¦but then that seems to penalize those of us that cannot churn out items. As I am an āoldieā technical things baffle me sometimes and so the idea of twitter and pinterest donāt come into the equationā¦this means that I rarely get onto the home page and the consequence of that is that my sales have plummeted.,ā¦Folksy seems to favour those who are able to do these thingsā¦yet I pay my fees just the same as everyone elseā¦
Yes, Brendaā¦I noticed there is this new āplus accountā which wasnāt in place before. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, in my opinion. I agree totally with what youāve said. Iām the same as you, I paint and cannot possibly make enough sales to justify spending that amount of money to be seen more. Itās all wrong, and I hate when politics, yet again, are brought into the equation. Is this Folksy jumping on the bandwagon of the masses, now? Feels like it!
I spend a lot of time marketing and promoting my work on Social media sites and have a little following on FB and Etsy, now. Iām not quite sure I have the time or energy to be doing the same for my Folksy shop when the odds already seem to be against me.
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Graceā¦I know how you feelā¦I appreciate that Folksy will favour those who guarantee them money, as in the plus account, but it seems unfair that they always get onto the home pageā¦and so do those who are clever enough to do pinterest etcā¦It is for that reason that I list less on here now. And before anyone jumps on that comment and says that means I have less chance of being featuredā¦I have done 3-4 months of daily listing and it didnāt make any difference. so it isnāt as if I have given it a try. I just wish I knew the answer.
Itās a really difficult one at times, Brenda. All I can say isā¦promote, promote promote. It really does pay to use the likes of Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook etc. The more views and interest you get, the more your work will show up in Google searches which will bring traffic to Folksy. I have found this to be the caseā¦even with Folksy before I started selling on Etsy. Tweak photos, keywords etc. and basically just do everything in your power to allow people to see your work. Iām always posting on my FB and sometimes I think I must be bugging some folk, but itās what you have to do to get noticed. Even if 1 person sees your work and consequently buys it, or is directed to your shop and buys something else, it might lead to another sale, that one person spreading the word to family and friendsā¦and it can go on from there.
Can I suggest something else, Brenda? I hope you donāt think Iām being cheeky. When youāre listing your art, imagine what a buyer would type in to a search to look for your art. Art Painting could be anything, but āButterfly with Flowers Acrylic Paintingā would be something you, as a buyer might type in if youāre looking for something in particular. Iāve learned over the months that you really have to title your art to be user/searcher friendly, otherwise, millions of other pages turn up before you find what it is youāre looking to buy.
Think of it as how youād type in a search if looking for something in particular.