A week or so ago Abby from While she naps put together a really interesting post about User testing your blog or online shop and if you have either I recommend you have a look over at her blog as it is a wealth of information for bloggers and small business owners.
The user testing post in particular caught my attention as I often wonder how readers/customers find my shop, so I submitted my shop to Peek and waited. What came back was valuable feedback about how the non-crafty community use Etsy. Some people that are new to the site use it the same way that I use ebay, that is with little interaction with the shop or person I purchase from, I buy from Ebay as a brand not an individual seller or their shop.
After watching the reviewer take a look around my shop and then disappear off into Etsy's main site...well I felt a bit rubbish.
I don't like feeling down about something I love doing, so I set about looking for a solution and over the last week I've read so many reviews and recommendations! I decided to go with Big Cartel as well as keeping the Etsy shop open and see how that goes for a little while. As you can tell if you've came over for a visit the blog has a new look and my new shop Issabella's patchwork quilts is in the tabs ^ above ^ (One of the pluses of being poorly on the sofa is a lot of internet time!)
Now onto the give-away part of the post, if you would like to win a custom made crochet trim pillowcase leave a comment on this post telling me about your experiences shopping for handmade items, the good, bad, funny or awful and I'll use random.org to pick a winner next Monday.
Give-away is now closed
I love the pillowcases, such a pretty addition. Um , shopping for hand made? I don't so much on line, I'm far more inspired by stuff to make things myself, even if in reality I never use the stuff I bought! I try and buy handmade locally if poss , even bullying a mum at school to make me some silver stuff using a new technique!!! I do *love* handmade though, and am more inclined to buy if it's photographed in a setting rather than as an item. Hope that is some help!
ReplyDeleteI found your Peek video to be totally fascinating, Sarah. It really speaks to what happens to people when they are on a website that is a marketplace for millions of makers, versus being in your own unique storefront. This is a big topic and I'm so glad we're exploring it further!
ReplyDeleteI try to buy pretty much exclusively handmade. Either Etsy, local fairs, or small co-ops/galleries. I've checked out some new (to me) shops because of giveaways on IG lately. Don't know if that helps at all.
ReplyDeleteI try to buy handmade whenever possible, mainly from Etsy and every time with great results. Good luck running both of your shops. I'd be interested in hearing which platform you like better.
ReplyDeleteLoving the new look of your blog!
I love your pillowcases!
ReplyDeleteI've only had good experiences buying handmade, either etsy or in person!
I recently bought a pillow cover I always dreamed of and this purchase was great. I had to buy it from Seller who lives abroad, because no one in my country didn't have a pillow cover I was looking for (and no one wanted to make a custom pillow cover). I love how flexible was the Seller. I think that flexibility is very important when you buy handmade stuff.
ReplyDeleteGood luck in running two shops!