Neglected Shops

[Fairy Cardmaker]

I could handle 5% with no listing fees.  3% is more psychologically pleasing.

The only thing about  percentgages is that it makes it more costly for those who sell expensive items.  Theoretically, those who sell more expensive items also have the margin to absorb that percentage.  But that's theory.  Psychologically, you will discourage those with high dollar items from selling on iCraft if you use a flat percentage.

Could you put an upper limit?  The lesser of 5% commission or $X cap for the month, being some amount iCraft would be happy with monthly?  Maybe your $12 suggestion before?  (That would mean, anyone who sells over $240 in a month would be billed $12.)

I do like the percentage model with no listing fees because it is a successful efforts model.  It encourages BOTH iCraft and sellers to get things selling!

[Fairy Cardmaker]

By the way, a large part of my shop is on hold because
a) You told me not to delete stuff even if I will no longer sell it.
b) I don't sell enough to afford increasing my package.

[iCraft Admin]

By the way, a large part of my shop is on hold because
a) You told me not to delete stuff even if I will no longer sell it.

Hmmm... I guess I need to clarify this one.

"On Hold" is pretty much the same, as Deleted.
If page is not publicly available for a long time and can't be accessed by a person following a link or a bookmark, or can't be accessed by search engines, it has no value to both.

What I was suggesting to do is to reuse old Live listings (as they may have accumulated links and are already noticed by search engines) for similar products. So if you sold one Birthday Card and need to post a new Birthday Card, reuse the old listing. However, this will not work in every case. Your old listing might have comments on it that refer to the old product or your old product might have been featured in a blog somewhere, so you might want to leave old listing as is and create a new one instead.

You can delete listings that you never plan to use again and that have been on hold for a while.

Another thing to know.
When products are sold on iCraft, we save a copy of that listing in our database for Audit / Purchase History purposes and in order to display product links on the Feedback page. So even if you delete that product from your store, people will still be able to see it when they read a feedback from your buyer on the Feedback page. Also, buyer will be able to see that product listing through their Order details page.
Only products that were not sold and deleted by you, we'll be gone from our system permanently without a trace.
Hope this helps.

[iCraft Admin]

Could you put an upper limit?  The lesser of 5% commission or $X cap for the month, being some amount iCraft would be happy with monthly?  Maybe your $12 suggestion before?  (That would mean, anyone who sells over $240 in a month would be billed $12.)

So it looks like one pricing option might not fit all. On other hand, too many choices & rules might overwhelm people.
Right now we ourselves get overwhelmed with all the choices - should we go with commission on sales with or without listing fees and/or flat rate packages etc. Which models is the most win/win?... I'll be happy when we finally make a decision on this one. 

[Northern Girl Jewelry]

I agree with the comment that too many choices will overwhelm people.  Lots of studies show that too many choices lead people to not choosing anything. 

Although you might be surprised that 5% commission without listing fees seems high, you should remember that the biggest player in the handmade seller's market is Etsy, which charges 3.5% commission.  Yes, they charge a $0.20 listing fee, but most sellers see that as a small price to try to sell something.  So handmade sellers will always compare to how much it will cost them to sell on Etsy.  And Etsy has more traffic, so will be seen as more bang for their buck than any other selling site.  Also, as we take Paypal, sellers pay those commission fees too. 

I would be surprised if a commission-only fee structure would actually be a financially viable for the site. 

Honestly, I think you should really look at the Etsy model for fees.  I do believe that the fee structure is part of the reason Etsy became so successful.  It's not the only thing of course, but I think it contributed.  Time after time I have seen sellers voice the opinion that a commission model is better for them than a monthly fee.  Sellers are aware that in a commission model, the site has motivation in seeing items actually get sold, and not just having x number of sellers taking part in the monthly plan. 

As for those of us selling higher priced items feeling the bite of the commission, if we take the selling fees into account when determining our pricing then it's not a bigger hit in reality (but could seem so psychologically I suppose).

[Delightful Suds]

Wow, lots to read. I'm not sure if I'm too late to comment, but one of the reasons why I left Etsy was the fact that they charge listing fees, which I really did not like. So really hoping here that you won't go that route   

[Fairy Cardmaker]

Well... I suppose a commission on sales with no other fees is similar to a consignment shop.  Makes sense.  iCraft is the store front and we are the shelf fillers.

[iCraft Admin]

As I understand, Etsy's listing fees are a problem only because they encourage sellers to keep re-listing to appear at the top of searches and then charge them over and over for that. When we talk about listing fees, we refer to one-time listing fees, regardless of how often you update those listings.

Just so you know, we are keeping our current pricing model for now. We'll keep contemplating changes and doing more analyses, but right now we are not quite ready to make the move.

[GalleriaLinda]

I, for one, hate the Etsy model, but let me explain that. It has grown from something good into a mess.

Really, 20 cents per listing is reasonable and a 3.5 commission is reasonable. When Etsy first launched, it was a breath of fresh air. An artist could list any number of items they wanted for little money and when it sold, a little commission was due. Sweet!

Now, it is a broken system, in my opinion.There was no forethought or planning for dramatic growth to support this system.

What drove me to abandon/delete my Etsy shops is the corporate guidance to relist multiple times a day at 20 cents each to be seen, therefore increasing my "selling fees" per item. It can get out of hand quickly per item.

I have read that some sellers spend $300 a month in relisting fees that they just view as advertising.

I don't like that their marketing message is that you only pay 20 cents per listing when you will need to spend much more than that to get it seen on the Etsy site - and pay for it. (or just let it sit unseen). It is what it is and Etsy should be presenting whole picture in their marketing, but they don't.

I think Etsy ends up being very expensive because of that. If you want your items to have a chance to sell, you really have to go with the consistent relisting of existing listings that have not expired and repay over and over.

Their super sellers can make a bundle but I wonder what their relisting expenses are that allow them to make that bundle. It is all relative.

Also, a 4-month listing timeline to me, is unnecessary.

For iCraft - a listing/commission fee would allow people to be more in control of their budget by allowing them to list any number of items at any time, rather than buying a shop space for x number of listings up front.

Lots to ponder!

[iCraft Admin]

Thanks for your feedback, Linda!  Yes, lots to ponder 
4-month listing was probably introduced so people wouldn't have to relist every month, yet it forced sellers to come back to check on their stores, at least, once every 4-months.

[iCraft Admin]

Recently, we've been leaning more towards this idea of introducing an alternative "Commission-based" system, while still keeping our existing subscription-based payment model.

There are pros and cons with both systems. Some people are against commission on sale, while others, especially those that don't have many sales yet, are against monthly payments.

We are certainly not going to go the Etsy way and charge people for re-listing items to increase our profits. But we were thinking maybe by offering options - either fixed monthly payment or commission on sale - sellers would get a chance to pick the best option for their business, and everyone would be happy?    Any thoughts on this?

[BostonBeanies]

I realize I am entering this late in the game.  And I am one of the neglected shops (just took care of that)

However, I joined iCraft several years ago to gain Canadian exposure, love my friends up North, but often the five listings was cumbersome to manage, or didn't fully represent what I had to offer. 
But now I am selling patterns, so issues of shipping and the like are pretty much gone and would love to sell them here. 

I would gladly pay a small commission (3-5 % not too large, my patterns are not that expensive anyway) for at least 8 listings, I would like to have at least two full rows of listings.  I would like to see how my patterns sell before I commit to a monthly fee.

I already paid to join, now I should really make the most use of the investment.

And it would be sublime if people could download patterns from here, just thought I would throw that out there.  My Etsy customers can't do that, and this would give iCraft a big edge.

[iCraft Admin]

Hi BostonBeanies,

Glad to know you've updated your store and thank you for your feedback! 

We actually had a discussion before about downloadable patterns. See this post.

[MaelinDesigns]

I'm perfectly fine with a 5% commission per sold item with no monthly or listing fees, provided I can have more than 5 items in my shop.  I think up to 25 items is fair.

I just can't do a per item listing or monthly fee right now, and I'd hate to not be able to have a sales account here.  Artfire went that route and sent all their free accounts packing and I was very disappointed with that.

Commissions are a good idea.  It isn't fair for the site owner to not get something for hosting the site, truth be told.

Do let us know how iCraft will deal with the new accounts.  I'd really like to stay on.



Debbie
MaelinDesigns

[iCraft Admin]

Thanks for your feedback, MaelinDesigns! 
We will have unlimited postings with the "Commission on Sales" option.
The idea is to allow people to post as many items as they want, so that will increase their chances of making sales on our site.