Selling your handmade goods on the internet - a review of sites

I've been selling on Etsy since last August, but I wanted to branch out a little and get some more exposure for my handbags.  So I set up shops and listings at Artfire.com, Bonanza.com, Ebay.com, and Dawanda.com.


Here's my review of each after using them for a week:

Artfire.com
Total Number of item views after 7 days: 4
Total Number of Shop views: 3
Favorites: None
Sales: None

Pros:
Has the best looking shop of these four.
Most customizable shop options with separate pages for a shop blog, biography, policies, gallery. 

Cons:
It took forever to sign up.
Cost for having a shop is $12.95 a month - but has a 2 week free trial.
Stats are very basic, but you can use Google Analytics for more in depth statistics.

Result: I will not be keeping this shop once my two weeks are up.  It's just not worth the time.


Bonanza.com
Total Number of item views after 7 days: 25
Total Number of Shop views: 2
Favorites: None
Sales: None

Pros:
Seems to have a thriving community of sellers.
No listing fees!
Commission charge is 3.5%.

Cons:
Seems more like a place to sell your last season designer clothing/accessories.No search term tags - I have no idea how people are finding my stuff.
Charges monthly for pro shop, but a basic shop is free.
Importing items from eBay or Etsy takes for-ev-er.


Result: I'm undecided about Bonanza.  Let's give it another week.


eBay.com
Total Number of item views after 7 days: 42 - and some of those were me.
Total Number of auction watchers: 2
Sales: None

Pros:
More mainstream customers.

Cons:
Hideous user interface.  Dislike how search results appear.
Listing fees are expensive, and only last a week.
eBay charges a commission fee from 9-13% on sales.  Greedy.
Has a $500/10 item monthly selling limit.
Customers are looking for a bargain.

Result: I renewed my listing, but unless I get a sale this will be the last time I do.


Dawanda.com
Total Number of item views after 7 days: 22
Total Number of Shop views: 12
Favorites: None
Sales: None

Pros:
It's like EuroEtsy!
The user interface is more like Etsy than any of the others, so there's hardly any learning curve.
Free listings!

Cons:
Fewer products for sale in their marketplace than I expected... this could mean fewer sellers and fewer customers.
Charges a 5% commission for every sale - that seems a little high to me, but whatever.


Result: I'll probably keep this one up just because it's access to European customers that I might not see otherwise.

Changed Prices

I've changed my prices dramatically, and I thought I should explain myself.

This past month Etsy has had lots of online labs and blog articles about pricing handmade items.  I haven't really looked at my pricing strategy since I started my shop last August.  I didn't really know what I was doing back then, but it's been awhile and I've learned a lot since starting my shop.  It was time to take a good long look at my prices, because I knew they were too low.  Many of my items have changed since I started out - my Police Box Wristlets, for example, are way more awesome now than they were when I started making them. I think I've got them to a point where I can call them perfect, but that also means that there's a bit more time that goes into making them.  The old price did not reflect the current quality well.

After watching the labs I made up a meticulous spreadsheet.  After plugging in many numbers, and waffling over how much I'm comfortable paying myself, I realized that I was really undervaluing my products and myself.  Looking at these numbers, I know I've been undervaluing myself as an artist.

Plus, I need to eat.  That whole starving artist cliche is looming ever closer to becoming a reality.

So that's why my prices have been raised.  The thing is, I'm not even close to charging what I ought to be.  But what I ought to be charging is scary.  Scarier still is that I haven't sold anything since I've raised my prices.

Food.  Rent.  Cue panic attack.