Where do they get such wonderful toys? From talented and dedicated developers, that's where!
I signed up there shortly after the Rapid Cart launched allowing customers to checkout on a widget on a blog or website without creating an Artfire account or even leaving the site they're on. But, I've been dragging my feet about getting my items copied over there from Etsy. I really hate listing things. I know I've covered this at length before, so I'll spare you from a repeat of that whinefest. This was the major reason why I kept procrastinating setting up my studio there, regardless of the fact that I've been throwing $7 a month their way for quite a while and the fact that I only had about 17 items on Etsy anyway.
Then the Facebook Kiosk came out. Again, I had a little infatuation with the whole idea of people being able to now purchase items from my studio from my profile page and the fan page I created for Gaia's Jewel there. But it was only enough pull to make me move the item up on my lengthy to-do list and nothing more. I was still dreading all that initial set up.
This week, however, they rolled out the Etsy Importer and I nearly fainted with undying love for Artfire and their developers. Free for the month of October, you can now import all or part of your Etsy inventory over to Artfire in three incredibly easy steps. In less than five minutes, I went from having an empty studio to having one full of my Etsy items. I'll stop fangirling in a minute, but I just want to say a couple more things. . .
I can't help but admire a business with a model that includes listening to and implementing features that their customers want. I've seen so many features and tools on Artfire that I distinctly recall thinking, "man, I wish I could do this" on Etsy. Not only do they implement these things but they seem to roll them out rather quickly. I've been quite impressed by the level of development I've seen in just the past 6 months or so that I've been paying attention.
So bravo, Artfire and keep up the good work! I'm not planning to dump my Etsy account any time soon, but I'm excited to get to play with some of these features finally.
Thanks for the info! I opened an Artfire shop a looooong time ago, but have never put anything in it. One question, though... If you copy your Etsy listings over to Artfire and you've got one-of-a-kind pieces, what will you do if someone buys a certain piece from Etsy and then someone else buys that same piece from Artfire before you get a chance to unlist it???
ReplyDeleteEllen
Thanks for the comment Ellen. This was a secondary reason for my reluctance to add things to my Artfire Studio. I never really got a clear answer to how people handle this situation. Eventually I came to the conclusion (after 6 months of no sales in my Etsy store) that I'd just chance it and hope for the best. I think in my case, the odds are very, VERY slim that this may happen. Then of course, there's Murphy's Law to contend with as well, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this is another issue Artfire might be able to tackle with a future tool. ;)
Thank you for the reply, Melanie! Look at you... living on the edge! LOL! I suppose that in most cases, you'll see a sale in time to unlist the same piece in other stores.
ReplyDeleteI have a 1000 Markets shop, as well as an Etsy shop, so what I did is put different items in each shop. But then if a customer likes a necklace in one shop and earrings in the other, they have to do two transactions. And if I put a whole different set of items in my Artfire shop.... well, this is clearly not the perfect answer, either! :-P
I guess at this point there's no easy solution! Will mull over it some more...
Ellen