My views on Selling Platforms…

As many of you know, not that long ago I created a few videos expressing my frustration with the Etsy platform, and explained why I was leaving. And yes, I’m in the process of doing just that. I’ve taken HUGE steps in breaking the dependency that Etsy created, and started my own website, and have been using social media, among other resources, to market my humble small business.

I’m seeing a lot of fellow artists, crafters, and hobbyists looking to do the same. However, I’ve recently started becoming a bit concerned by seeing history potentially repeating itself…now just with a fresh new “face”.

Yes, there is yet another new and upcoming platform called “Goimagine” and they seem to be creating a bit of a wave of interest in those seeking refuge from the grips of Etsy. With their fresh new “philanthropic” edge, no wonder they are getting attention.

So, these are my honest thoughts on Etsy, as well as Goimagine, and most ALL “platforms” available to us. Please understand, these are just my personal observations, beliefs, concerns, and perspectives. Not everyone will agree, and that’s okay.

I realize a lot of folks are looking around for alternatives to Etsy, and one of these newer "alternatives" is Goimagine (see linked screenshot above). I feel that they are trying to capitalize on those who are upset about Etsy allowing more than just handmade items being sold on their platform, therefore flooding the marketplace with things that drown out the handmade artisans, crafters, and genuine “Makers”.

However, in all honesty, that is how Etsy has increased their traffic exponentially over the past 20 years. I’m not saying I agree with it, but that is how it became the dominating handmade online marketplace of ALL TIME. It draws in traffic, and traffic is the real “currency” of all online business.

It is Etsy's overwhelming and unjustified GREED and horrid Customer support that launched the mass exodus of Sellers in recent years. Yes, people are frustrated as to how saturated Etsy has become with "other" items being allowed, but it is the ever increasing fee structure, withholding of funds, cancelling of businesses without any explanation or accountability, among other way more "small business destroying" changes and policies that has ultimately created this “flight or fight” feeling amongst Sellers.

Goimagine seems to have a bit of an arrogance about them, which genuinely bothers me. They literally have an advertisement post on Instagram telling people not to compare them to Etsy...as if they are annoyed by people’s due diligence.

OF COURSE we need to compare them to Etsy. That is where the grand majority of us have had our businesses for decades, and whose business is it again??? Theirs? or OURS?? We most definitely need to compare. That is how we make educated and competent decisions for ourselves and our business.

They say that 100% of their profits go to children charities…and while I’m a very STRONG supporter of helping others, especially children, I also have to do what’s in my best interest or I can’t help anyone, including myself.

The majority of us “Makers” are struggling. These are “not so best economic times” and certainly no one seems to ever give US any help or breaks. The just keep taking more and more and more.

I personally cannot substantiate paying their fees simply because they give “all the profits to charity”. And if that is truly where 100% of the profits are going, then that is great, but they still have to make money to support their services. That is where I will always question the real “numbers”.

I’m not trying to suggest anything diabolical is behind their business model, I’m just saying, I think it would be irresponsible and naive to just listen to the ads and follow the pied piper into another potential dead end.

They also offer a private website subscription called MOSAIC where you can use your own domain and “build your independent website”, but ultimately, they are still in control of what you list as it’s “still their marketplace”…. so it’s not so “independent” at all. I’m sure you still pay the same fees for transactions as well. I’m not sure what type of site builder they offer, if any, or how customizable it is, but I highly doubt if you ever chose to disconnect from their service that you would be able to just “keep the website” and move on. So again, where is the incentive?

I’m just tired of someone else being in the driver seat of my business, and again, where is the genuine incentive for SMALL BUSINESS?

There also seems to be a lot of disinformation out there “floating around” about Goimagine’s fee structure… check out this screenshot showing a statement made on the Artisan Shopper blog about Goimagine just this past October…

Screenshot taken from https://artisanshopper.com/why-you-should-shop-on-goimagine/

This is obviously not worded well, and I’m not insinuating that this was a deliberate misleading statement, but it is in fact, misleading. It honestly does not make any sense, obviously if the Company is donating their “profits” the Sellers aren’t “keeping their full profits”.

Ultimately, I feel this will always be the problem with these platforms. Whether they say it or not, they literally can’t help but to take ownership over a Seller's business, and then by using slick wording or a trendy new marketing tactic, somehow convinces the world otherwise.

The people who unfortunately seem to have the budgets to start most of these platforms usually have pretty much ZERO interest in what is best for anyone but themselves and their own vision and goals - Capitalism 101. I hate to say it, but they are, in fact, rich for a reason. Philanthropists or not.

Sure, Goimagine is “funded” by a bunch of philanthropists who are trying to “make the world a better place”. I get it, it’s a fresh new edge to get us “Makers” to turn our heads, but HOW does this truly benefit US?

I don’t like how they tell you to fill out an application so they can determine if your products are "worthy" to sell on their platform...I mean anyone can read what is allowed and not allowed. And they clearly hold the power to ban a seller, and their listings, if they don’t follow the rules. I personally feel this is simply a mind trick to get people to think they’ve won something special if they get "approved" to sell on their platform; taking attention away from things that matter much more for a small business...like their fees, or the fact that more than likely, YOU will be the one marketing and bringing YOUR customers to THEIR platform.

It just seems like a way to get people to think it’s more of an exclusive club of Sellers, when all it is, is a marketplace with more rules, high fees - just without the traffic.

I was thinking of "applying" to join them to promote my handmade body products, but after seeing and reading some of their comments, something is just really bothering me. I don’t see their vision, I just see the potential for more Seller’s struggling to make ends meet for their families… but hey, at least they are supporting charities!

Where are the Philanthropists who want to just help Makers who’ve already been struggling for years?? Who could use a bit of help themselves? Folks that have been literally financially devastated by the greed of Etsy and other platforms that just keep sucking away small businesses’, independent artists’, and crafters’ profits??

I have MANY very close friends who are artists, crafters, and designers who are going through severe depression, struggling to pay bills, and can barely afford rent or their mortgage. I’d love to see them get some help and support too.

Giving to charities and those in need will always be something we ALL should do, especially those of us in the position to do so. But these are things we can do independently, and benefit directly from our own contributions at tax time in the process. Why does anyone need a middle man to do that?

If their fee structure is already this high, there is no other place for them to go but UP. They tried to debate this with me on FB, but anyone can see that if you start off charging a set monthly fee and a 5% transaction fee this early in the game, then yeah, you are projected to always increase these fees, not go backwards.

I can spend this time and money on building my own business, not theirs. Give to my own charities of choice, or help people in my own family and community who are in need.

If I'm going to use a platform to market my business, and pay that kind of money, I'll continue to use Etsy and social media to do my bidding, which only makes sense as that is where the traffic is.

My thoughts on this are simple, without Sellers, these platforms are nothing. Why keep investing in someone else's business instead of our OWN??

This company has only been online for 3 short years, and charging not only a monthly fee, but a 5% transaction fee on top of that, which does not include the fee we get charged from the payment processing gateway. Where's the incentive?

For a 3 year old platform... still in it's infancy?? So we essentially build THEIR business while getting charged as much as Etsy was charging just a year ago????

Then what happens when they become a monster like Etsy?? More fees? More control? More "rules", More BS!?

They don’t even support International Sales, so kiss your International customers good-bye, at least for now. That is one main reason I chose to keep my Etsy shop open alongside my new Squarespace site. International customers make up nearly 60% of my sales revenue. Although I can setup International shipping on Squarespace, you still have to sign up to collect and pay VAT, and things can just get a bit complicated.

This is just my way of trying to help warn people I care about not to keeping making the same mistake. Invest in your OWN website, your OWN business and be truly in control of your OWN future. Does it take more work? Absolutely. Does it take time? Yes. Does it still cost us money? Yes. But would you rather just keep spinning your wheels? Making other people rich? Keep giving other people control?

I’ve genuinely hoped, for the past 18 years, that someone with the financial and technical resources would advocate for a selling platform that GENUINELY cared about Sellers and THEIR best interests. But, sadly, no such thing has ever been done. There is never a balance that is even close to being fair or reasonable for MAKERS.

I'm tired of seeing this repeated cycle over and over and over again.

A selling platform should have incentives that outweigh the benefit of building and investing in our own online store or else it simply makes ZERO sense from a business perspective. Sellers should not have to worry about getting “cancelled” or having their business destroyed overnight, not be able to contact anyone or get any help, watch their entire profit margin continuously shrink before their eyes, not be able to receive or utilize their funds from their own sales, forced to agree to horrific privacy invading policies and terms, or basically become a prisoner to their own dream of running a successful business.

I'm not saying these companies shouldn't make money, it's a service they are providing, no one is in business for free... but think about how much platforms like Etsy charges verses how much it actually does or provides to Sellers. The scale is always tipped VERY significantly in their favor, never ours!

With just a few thousand Sellers, being charged, let’s say a modest $10 a month - all inclusive right to sell with no further charges except for payment gateways, that is how much in profit? In a single month for the platform? How hard would it honestly be for one of these philanthropist “backed” startups to get 3k sellers? Obviously not much seeing how Goimagine supposedly has over 3,500 active seller’s as I type this. If they really wanted to help out struggling or new Sellers, who aren’t making enough sales yet, give them just a small reasonable transaction fee of like 3% until they hit a certain threshold of sales, and then they can go onto a monthly fee. If it’s really just all about charity, and “philanthropy”, then why would something like this be so out of the question??

“Makers should be keeping WAY MORE of their profits! ”

Etsy has over 7.7 million sellers currently on their platform… can you even imagine what they are making?? The money that is being made is absolutely ridiculous compared to what Makers are actually making from their own blood, sweat, and tears.

They all gain followers in their "humble beginnings" saying how wonderful they are etc... lol. meanwhile methodically building their empire, slowly taking more and more control over the Seller market, using us to feed their machine, until they gain control over the BUYER market as well - sound familiar?

It's horrible how they prey on people's dreams of being able to have a small business that actually helps pay the bills. Etsy doesn't support Sellers, they feed off of us!

I just genuinely wanted to share this with my readers, fellow Makers, because I see a lot of people looking at this new platform with hopes that it's the "answer" when all I see is a bunch of arrogance and greed in the making.

Could you make some sales? I'm sure you could. Is it nice they donate to charity? Of course. But if you have products or services that you know sell and have a market, PLEASE consider putting in the time in developing your own website or online shop. Social media has made it so much easier to find and target audiences, to promote and market ourselves is easier than ever before.

I wish I never solely started depending on Etsy, because now, like many others, I established and branded myself as an “Etsy Seller” instead of an individual business owner/artist. Now, I’m having to try and reverse this, and it’s going to take a lot more time, patience, and hard work.

It really makes NO SENSE to keep paying these companies when they are doing no more or less than we can do for ourselves.

You know what I would love to see? A platform that is genuinely for Makers to list our work, products, and/or unique services - without DESTROYING us with fees. Can you imagine how many Makers would FLOCK to a marketplace, backed by these same “philanthropists” dedicated to helping the ones doing the actual MAKING?? What is SO hard about that? And they would still make profits, while supporting our ability to create without destroying us financially in the process. Do they not realize that many Makers have children that they are struggling to put food on the table for? Where is the charitable mindset when it comes to that?

So instead of charging a monthly fee, why not just charge a simple affordable transaction fee? Or an affordable FAIR monthly fee based on actual SALES, and eliminate the transaction fee altogether?

We all know there are also fees associated with payment gateways. So do the math. For someone to make just ONE sale on Goimagine, they are already in it for $2.50 for the monthly fee (I’ll be nice and go with the lowest tier). Let’s say a Seller sells a bar of soap for $12. So… that sale is already down by 8% from the transaction fee and payment processing fee, so now we are at $11.04, now take away the monthly fee, and we are at $8.54. Next, we have to scrape off our costs to make that soap, package that soap, pay for our liability insurance etc, plus our time, and then of course, Uncle Sam comes along and takes his cut at tax time too…and that’s also self employment tax, not just regular income tax. What’s left? $2.00? Maybe? And yeah, of course it can scale, but how quickly? Quick enough to make your car payment? Or pay for your children’s school supplies?

People have got to start getting realistic. There is NO money to be made on these platforms UNLESS you are selling HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of items DAILY. Is that the reality for most Makers? No, it’s not. And that is why you see the only people really making enough to pay their bills right now are the ones willing to do things like POD.

And don’t even get me started on what this does to the poor Buyers, who are also dealing with the same massive inflation “struggling to survive” scenario everyone else is going through. So in order for a Seller to even dream of making a profit, they have to increase their prices dramatically, which deters sales….and the beat goes on!

We are in a dog eat dog world right now, so the last thing I think people need to be getting their knickers in a twist over is HOW people are surviving. If you can get creative with modern day technology and resources, then people need to start coming to terms. It’s about survival just as much as it is about doing what you love.

Even Sellers who are making hundreds of thousands of dollars on Etsy are only netting enough to be considered barely over minimum wage employees in most cases. You call that freedom? Independence? “The American Dream?”

Funny how all these “Etsy income videos” only seem to talk about GROSS sales and not the reality of NET PROFIT.

Thankfully, I have a niche market, a very strong customer base with many repeat buyers, and I don’t depend on my sales as my main source of income. But that is NOT the reality of most people, and I STILL struggle. I’ve been forced to even expand my inventory to include things that I honestly don’t really care to sell, but HAVE TO in order to “Support” my business. I’m tired of seeing my friends, extremely talented artists, crafters, and Makers, depressed and unable to barely make rent. They are making sales, but they simply can’t thrive.

I’m not 100% perfectly happy with Squarespace. There is still a lot of things I feel they could do to make it easier and better, but it’s not nearly as bad considering I save on fees annually, have way more control over my business and marketing, and I actually OWN my online domain presence whether I choose to stay with Squarespace or not.

That is worth a lot more than becoming solely dependent on a platform who is just using me to build their empire.

Again, this is not written to be inflammatory, it’s just my honest opinion and views on a topic that needs to be discussed amongst Makers that rely on ecommerce to make their living.

So please consider looking into starting your own shop or website. There are quite a few options right now. Squarespace, for me, was the best fit. Others may choose Shopify, Ecwid, Weebly, Wix, etc.… There are quite a few options, each having their own pros and cons, but at the end of the day YOU will have way more control, more peace of mind, and actually “OWN” your business!

I wish everyone much success! 💗👁️