Very true @MaggieGeeNeedleworkStudio. As much as I love looking at the fantastic and gorgeous items on Folksy I just don’t have the money to spend
But then my ideal customer is not me or people like me - it’s people with disposable income and they’re all being a bit more choosy these days because they can afford to be with all the choice out there. My marketing is trying to focus on getting my products put in front of them in magazines they read, shops they buy from. But that PR will take time to build…(and in the middle of a house move I’m deliberately doing a slow burn too!)
Yes, lots of my etsy sales are from the UK too. I wonder if these are people who would otherwise perhaps have bought on Folksy (if they know about it). Are they aware of both but going to etsy because it is more well known and therefore ‘more reliable’?
For example, my mismatched sun and moon earrings, I have sold one pair on Folksy I think, but literally dozens on etsy, many to the UK. I haven’t promoted them since I made them, so these are people searching on etsy I think. Why do the same people not search and find them on Folksy? I am puzzled.
I’m not sure if I will be renewing. I will renew all my listing just before my plus account runs out, and perhaps just wait and see. I’d rather pay individually to list a few things just before Christmas than pay for a whole year if there’s few sales I think.
Oh Poor You!!! Lol! Not a good time!..I have found that being on Folksy has been wonderful…I may not have got the sales but the advice and camaraderie I have gained here as a lone trader/designer has been absolutely priceless…I love popping in ‘for a cuppa’ and have just learned so much about taking the business forward and have quite surprised myself at the advice I have been able to give in return! Lol!
Yes, I love my experience with Folksy which is why I’m still here. Also, having had a good number of sales is something I do not take for granted. However, I’m just agreeing with Linda @TemporalFlux that it’s puzzling.
I only set up my shop about 6 weeks ago and was excited when I made a sale in my first week…but since then, nothing. Any friends, colleagues, family I have mentioned my shop to have never heard of Folksy. It needs to be more widely advertised in mainstream magazines, not just craft ones.
I am quite active on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest but cannot spend a lot of time on there or there will be no time to make anything as I also work part time.
Lol! Kim I had to sympathise! It is a nightmare as the time spent on the internet is time spent away from creating!!! I make ‘special time’ for the internet so I don’t feel guilty! xx
Is Not on the High Street supposed to be handmade or something? I spotted something in a “Gift Shop” on there for £25 that was £14.75 on Amazon! Perhaps you can’t get it on the High Street but you can certainly get it elsewhere online!..
My sales here have been bad here for over a year but luckily I’m not that bothered any more… I never made much for the amount of effort I put in, so I’m letting it run down and doing other things…Good luck to everyone else, though!..
As to advertising Folksy, some people say it’s up to us individually, but if you rented a stall at an unpublicised craft fair and nobody came, you’d be cross wouldn’t you?..
Same here…I did great leading into Christmas and am seeing little to no sales BUT etsy traffic is going mad? Are they storming and stealing the uk market? Buyers are voting with their feet!
Same for me , Folksy sales dwindling but sales on the other side increasing, like others seeing more and more UK sales over there… Surely in the past they would have been Folksy sales?? hmm? Feels like something isn’t working… Thinking my US sales have dropped a bit over there, thats a little troubling…
I have been on Folksy nearly 3 years , and this is the worst it has ever been for sales for me , something has gone a bit wrong …but what ??? I sell more on Etsy now , which I find very odd , as it’s a much bigger site ??
I am not complaining …but I’m just curious as to what is happening here on Folksy …
I’ve been on Folksy a few years now too, and the past 18 months of so have been my worst. I’ve used the same methods of promotion as I always have done but my views have fallen dramatically. My last sale was in mid June and even though summer is a quieter time in past years I have always managed a few sales.
I keep thinking things will improve, I have not renewed my plus account and will probably give it until Christmas and then decide whether it is worth continuing. Christmas last year was just awful so I am not holding out much hope for this year!
I also used to get a few enquiries through Folksy from B & M shops and magazines wanting to feature work, that has completely stopped too. I just not sure if anything seems to be getting found anymore.
I love Folksy, but do feel that Folksy needs to explore different avenues for advertising, as what worked in the past maybe doesn’t have the same reach as it once did.
I understand that Folksy is a platform and we all have to promote as individual sellers, but…
Folksy reaches the crafting community very well, but they are not really a target market as potential customers.
I was at the Renegade Craft Fair in London last Autumn (any excuse to mooch around Brick Lane!) and remember being really surprised that the Folksy stand appeared to be more geared towards signing new sellers up on the £45 plus account than it was to promoting Folksy as the fantastic shopping venue that it is - particularly given the huge footfall that this event attracted.
Yes, this is exactly what I’ve found, and hearing so many others with a similar view really does make me think perhaps I should not waste effort here with no results. My last sale was in mid June also.
I think part of the problem may be that more and more shops are opening selling similar items (they probably see how well some things similar to what they make or could make sell, so give it a go) and it reduces all our market share, as new customers are not increasing at the speed of the new shops.
I know when I joined there were hardly any shops selling silver jewellery - now the category is saturated with fledgling shops , all undercutting each others prices.
It would be nice if Folksy concentrated it’s small amount of advertising on getting the site know as a place to buy rather than a place to sell. In the long run it would surely make better financial sense for them.
Oh dear, some of these posts are really depressing. I love the forum, but being on here and making friends doesn’t put bread on the table, sales do that. I think we are buying from each other to a greater extent. There are now 6,000 sellers on Folksy, to my mind Folksy should be helping us by advertising in the correct places, they know the business they are in and know where advertising would be most effective, surely they must have an advertising budget, maybe it’s time for some of it to be spent.
Deborah has a point, more sellers means sales are spread more thinly. Marg. x
