Choosing an online selling platform

Those of you who follow me either through my newsletter or social media posts, will know that I recently decided to close my online shop on Buy Indie. I feel it's important to explain my reasoning and my experience of the different online selling platforms that I have been part of.

Firstly, let me make it clear that there was much to like about Buy Indie but so that you can understand where I'm coming from, a run down of my various online selling experiences might be insightful. When I started making bags from upcycled fabrics about 11 years ago, I didn't set out with the intention of selling them online. It was a hobby and I thought that I would probably build up enough of a collection to have a stall at a local craft fair and sell them in that way. However, my sister Juliet, who lives in New Zealand, suggested selling online and in particular mentioned Etsy. I hadn't heard of it but investigated and thought that it would be ideal with its emphasis on selling handmade items worldwide.

My first Etsy shop banner

My husband, Malcolm, came up with the title BarMadeBags for my shop using my initials BAR to provide the first part of the name, and I have retained that for my more recent title of BarMadeCreations. The picture of the appliqued clematis flower became part of my logo and was a feature of many of my early bags, one of which was also shown on my first Etsy banner. With each bag being unique and handmade from as much upcycled fabric as possible, the caption summarised that.

I opened my shop in January 2015, with a few bags and slowly built up the number and variety of bags at different price points. It took about 3 months before I got my first sale (shown here) followed by two larger bags in the next month and more in the rest of the year. I was particularly encouraged when I got my first request for a custom order, and several others for small personalised bags.

I never intended to make this hobby into a big money-making business, but I enjoyed making the bags and got a real buzz from knowing people liked them enough to want to buy them. Over the next two years, sales increased to an extent that I was happy with.

An advantage of being part of Etsy, was that there was a dynamic local group affiliated to Etsy that provided some training and selling opportunities including the Christmas "Etsy Made Local" event, as well as the chance to meet other Etsy sellers in the Sheffield area.

Etsy Made Local Christmas market in Sheffield

In 2018, sales slumped. I can't remember exactly when Etsy's management changed, but there started to be much more emphasis on giving priority in searches to listings that had multiple sales. But with each of my bags being unique, I was only ever selling one of each, unless it was a listing for a personalised bag. I decided to keep my Etsy shop with personalised and patchwork items, where variations could mean repeat sales of the same listing, and to open a Folksy shop for the one-off appliqued bags.

A selection of the bags listed on Folksy

I liked the idea of Folksy: it was UK based and had, in fact, been started in Sheffield. It has excellent advice for sellers on its blog, and it seemed to be true to the idea of championing handmade items. There were ways of engaging sellers in promoting theirs and other sellers' items and, although I didn't regularly contribute to these, I did sometimes join in. That was time-consuming, as was participating in the sellers forums, and I didn't feel like spending the amount of time needed to become part of the cliques of regular contributors. I was encouraged by reports of sales in the online chats, but noticed that most were priced much more cheaply than mine, and throughout the year or so that I had my Folksy shop, I had no sales, and eventually closed it.

During 2020 and 2021, sales on Etsy picked up, probably due to increased interest in buying online with craft markets being limited due to Covid, but after that they slumped again and I started looking at other alternatives. The British Craft House was rising in its appeal and getting lots of useful media coverage, but for me with the amount of business I wanted, the subscription was too much. So when Dottie Bonnar, the driving force behind TBCH started BuyIndie with a much lower subscription, I was interested. I was still hesitant because, despite there being no listing fees or commission costs on sales, the £60 annual subscription was still more than I was paying in listing fees and commission from Etsy. If I hadn't set up my own website in order to have a gallery of my creations, this cost wouldn't have been a consideration, but it stalled my decision to open a BuyIndie shop until August 2023.

My BuyIndie Shop Banner

With a change of name to BarMadeCreations to enable me to widen the items I offered for sale, I listed all my ready-made stock in my new shop, leaving just made-to-order patchwork bags and personalised bags on Etsy. BuyIndie has a helpful Facebook support group and it has a friendly and intimate feel. Posts on Instagram promoting items for sale are often shared and my stats showed that my shop and items were getting plenty of views. Sales, though, were sadly limited prompting my decision not to renew my annual subscription when it ran out earlier this month.

My closing down sale, with prices dropped by about 50% did prompt more sales, especially of my rainbow patchwork bags, which makes me consider whether pricing my items too highly could well be my issue in otherwise getting online sales.

I have tried to price my bags in a realistic way to reflect the time and effort that goes into making individualised items, and also to take into consideration the fact that, although, as a pensioner, I'm not needing to pay myself a living wage, I don't want to undercut those whose online businesses are their livelihood. Probably I'm failing to find the right market for my exclusive bags and increasingly I lack the incentive to push my products or invest in wider promotion to reach a different market. Moreover, there are now plenty of other small businesses who are using upcycled fabrics to make bags and I'm sure they need sales more than me! Check out Jenni Elliott of KIttyKentHandmade for beautifully made bags some of which are made from reclaimed material, as one bag maker that I am happy to stand aside for.

So now I'm back to just selling online through Etsy. I'm gradually adding a few of the items that I have in stock along with some of my fabric art, and I will possibly list the cards and prints of my textile pictures that I have available. I will try to get enthused into promoting them on social media and update my website into directing potential buyers there. I am also reaching out to more potential customers through my monthly newsletter. If you're interested in signing up for this, this is the link.

Thanks for reading and get in touch if you feel like sharing your experiences of online selling/shopping platforms.