Thursday, March 7, 2013

Pattern Spot, Etsy, Craftsy? Which would be good for you???

Inchworm Fabrics was the first place that my patterns appeared.  My sister has been very kind to allow me to put them in her store.  We have an agreement which is usually in fabrics.  Trust me, I buy more fabric than patterns I sell. 



 Then, the next place was Patternspot.com You are not out any money to upload your patterns but once one sells, they gets 45% of your net sales and then you have your pay pal fees.


 
 ETSY, You pay a 20 cent upload free, you pay this whether or not your item sells. If the item does sell, you pay 3.5% of sold item. If the item does not sell within six months, it expires and you then have the decision whether or not to pay another 20 cents to re upload it.  (blogger is not making this easy for me to write this post.)  Don't forget your paypal fee.
  
Then there is Craftsy.com Now this is the cream of all stores to have your patterns in. They charge you ZERO....did you see that ZERO!!! The only fee you have is your paypal fees.
 Why am I telling you this? I was directed to a blog that was talking about Etsy vs Craftsy. This person was saying that they were just going to let their patterns drop off on Etsy and stick with Craftsy. I can understand that, go with the one that will give your more bang for your buck. BUT!!!!!

Now this is a large BUT (not butt....).

 Even tho Craftsy does give your a better return, if your patterns are pdf, it is costing you nothing to have them in any of these stores, except for etsy.

You are earning money regardless, just Craftsy gives your more.

 I guess my thought is, money is money. Say you sell four patterns on etsy and three on Craftsy, that is seven patterns but if you only have Craftsy, you have only sold three patterns. You are making less money. Also you have limited yourself to one audience, the more your patterns are out there, the more YOU are out there.

 Oh well....I just thought I would share a bit of insight in the eyes of Bejeweled! I have to tell you that I have really enjoyed my Etsy shop, it has only been open since Dec. but it is just fun. Then I have had Craftsy for about three weeks and what fun it is to go to your hotmail account and see that you have sold something.... Trust me, I am not getting rich but who doesn't enjoy a little pocket change?



If I have missed something, let me know...I can only tell you what I know (which isn't much).

15 comments:

Wacky Woman said...

Pattern Spot? I have not heard of that. Now you have me curious.

SewCalGal said...

What a great post Barb. I appreciate hearing your insights and agree with them 100%, even though I'm not a designer and do not sell anything. I do like to help those n the business, so this is good to understand how these different opportunities work. And I agree with you.

I also think it is important to have designs available for purchase via a number of sights as there are times when quilters are not necessarily looking for a specific design as much as simply click and come across a design (and fabrics) that catch their attention and they decide to buy patterns/fabrics to make such a project....or buy fabrics or patterns to stash for future projects

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

Gene Black said...

Barb, you are doing a great job of getting your patterns out there. I commend you.

KaHolly said...

Hi Barb, points well taken! And they make lots of sense! Your patterns are adorable, so get them out there whereever you can!!

Barbara said...

Neat post Barb, I must check out Craftsy. Thanks!

Missy Shay said...

I didn't even know Craftsy sold things, I thought it was only classes!

My Sister Made Me Do It.... said...

I think having a bigger audience is the key and it sounds like you have covered all bases!

Needled Mom said...

I think that you would proabably get more overall traffic on Etsy, but the cost advantage of Craftsy is certainly an advantage. I'd probably stich with both.

Cindy said...

And then there is Ebay - which costs A LOT !!

Joanna said...

I like your post, too, because I am ignorant in this area. Etsy's policy is a tough one, but I see your point. Is Ebay a possibility? Good luck in your venture. Your patterns are lovely.

kerrykatiecakes2 said...

Thanks for your insights Barb - these things always confuse me so it is nice to have the pros and cons of each spelled out.

onlymehere said...

So is craftsy like etsy where you can sell things you've made? I'm thinking about opening a shop once I get my sewing room again but don't know which is best.

Jean said...

Thanks for the tips on selling online!

Allison said...

Hey there! Writing on behalf of PatternSpot.com!
Great post - thank you so much for writing it. The information about PatternSpot.com has changed though - so if you would update to say that we share 70% of the profits with designers (instead of 45%) that would be great. We also have a blog badge program that provides customized badges directly to your shop. Another thing to note - we only sell downloadable patterns - your market isn't saturated before you even begin - we update our featured patterns every week (featuring THIRTY SIX) without ever charging an ad fee for this and we offer tons of advertising support as well. Just a few more cents to add to the bucket! Oh and 1 more thing - we are owned and operated by C&T Publishing/Stash Books so you have lots of experience on your side!

Thank you so much!!

Allison said...

Hey there! Writing on behalf of PatternSpot.com!
Great post - thank you so much for writing it. The information about PatternSpot.com has changed though - so if you would update to say that we share 70% of the profits with designers (instead of 45%) that would be great. We also have a blog badge program that provides customized badges directly to your shop. Another thing to note - we only sell downloadable patterns - your market isn't saturated before you even begin - we update our featured patterns every week (featuring THIRTY SIX) without ever charging an ad fee for this and we offer tons of advertising support as well. Just a few more cents to add to the bucket! Oh and 1 more thing - we are owned and operated by C&T Publishing/Stash Books so you have lots of experience on your side!

Thank you so much!!