Pros & Cons: Etsy vs. Storenvy

A few years back, I wrote a comparison of eBay vs Etsy and the pros and cons of both (plus a review of eBay's shop format).  Now, the marketplace has another contender that's definitely worth noting for independent artists - Storenvy.  Time to re-evaluate!

Note: I've left eBay off this list because I don't use it actively anymore and never found it very effective for me as an artist beyond occasionally auctioning off originals using the free monthly auction style listings.  It also hasn't changed much since my last review, except for allowing a higher amount of free auction style listings per month for sellers.  If you have collectible work related to fandoms or people actively seeking to collect your work, eBay might be a good fit for you.  As I have neither of those things in large capacity yet, I find these other marketplaces more suiting for emerging artists.

Etsy - The Handmade Marketplace

Etsy is one of my favorite marketplaces because their whole community encourages people to invest in independent artists (unlike eBay which generally has a flea market mentality).  Etsy is constantly adding forward-thinking features to make the selling experience smooth and efficient.

PROS

- Cheap Listing Fees - 20 cents nets you a single item listing on their marketplace, which is low cost, all things considered. You can also claim 40 free listings by using my referral link if you want to try Etsy out with no strings attached.  Even if you already have a username, you can still claim the free listing referral credits if you haven't listed an item for sale before.

- Direct Checkout - Etsy allows a variety of payment methods, including Paypal.  They also allow a user to pay via credit cards through their integrated direct checkout feature so a customer never has to leave the site to checkout.

- Widgets - Etsy allows you to embed your items into your blog or websites, which is handy if you'd rather keep people on your site to browse your items.  They will have to go offsite to the Etsy marketplace if they want to make a purchase, however.

- Pay Per Click Ads - This is a vast improvement over their old Showcase system!  Etsy now lets sellers promote their items in the search engine, where they get priority placement on the items sellers specifically choose to promote.  You only have to pay for ads if a customer clicks on your link, which is a vast improvement over paying a flat fee and means you get more bang for your buck.

- Free Credit Card Reader - As a seller, you can sign up to receive a free credit card swiper that allows you to take payments in person.  The best thing about this swiper is that it keeps track of your stock so if you sell an item from your shop at a show using the swiper, it subtracts from the stock listed in your Etsy shop, which allows for you to prevent the pesky problem of an item selling online while you're out of town.  For a more in-depth rundown of Etsy's reader, see my Etsy Reader review.

- Calculated Shipping - While you can still set up shipping classes for flat fee shipping, Etsy now lets you integrate automatically calculated shipping via USPS, which can save you a lot of time and money after you do the setup, which can be a little annoying at first (you have to calculate wait and box sizes).  The initial headache is worth it, however, because it lets customers also choose expedited shipping speeds, which is not available if you use flat fee shipping (most people create an entire separate listing for a shipping upgrade).

- Integrated Shipping Labels - You can print your shipping labels for orders directly within your admin panel.  Discounted rates are offered via USPS within this panel.

- Integrated Coupon Codes - Handy for hosting sales, though they don't get more complex than free shipping or a certain percentage off of your item.  Many use Etsy on Sale to do more visible sales events in their Etsy shop.

- Item Variations Allowed - You can create different size offerings with different price points within a single item, rather than having to create multiple items.  You can also create a two level deep variation, so you could have a selection of size AND color (or, for a more specific example, you could offer an art print with customizable Matting AND Print Size).

CONS

- High Competition  - Etsy has really exploded as a presence with high market share now that it has gone public and had a few years to expand its reputation.  High competition means it's more difficult to get seen and almost necessary to pay for ads to boost your views.  Many also worry that because Etsy allows designers to outsource that the small sellers will be quickly overwhelmed by others who can afford to charge less for their items.  This seems to affect 2D artists less than it does those who create jewelry and other such items that can be replicated.

- Not Suited for Digital Sales - While you can sell digital items on Etsy, the file size limit is pretty low at 20MB which means you'll have to break up larger files into multi-part .zip files, but you can only have 5 total attached files, so this can be tricky. (EDIT: Try Gumroad for a digital item shop solution that has no listing fees. Gumroad takes a small commission from any sale.)

- Not Very Customizable - You get a header image, an avatar, and an About page that you can somewhat customize.  Otherwise, you are stuck with Etsy's very orange branding.

Storenvy

Storenvy is a newer online marketplace so it doesn't have the market share of eBay or Etsy yet, but that may change if they can keep their marketplace afloat!  What it does have over the others, however, is a clever setup in which sellers can open a shop for free.  A seller gets a private custom shop which they can then choose to display on their public online marketplace.  Storenvy makes their money from a commission they take out of sales made via the public marketplace and the many add-ons they offer to extend your base shop's functionality.  Unlike Etsy, it does not cater just to handmade markets, but allows mass produced items as well.

PROS

- No Listing Fees - Yup, completely free and unlimited amount of listings allowed!

- Customizable Storefront - You get access to CSS templates and the ability to create custom html pages.

- Coupon Codes - Same as Etsy in that you can create simple percentage discounts (but no free shipping coupon codes).  You would need to purchase an add-on service in order to create free shipping offers and other specialized coupons (ie. buy one, get one free, etc.)

- Item Variations Allowed - You can create different size offerings with different price points within a single item, rather than having to create multiple items.  However, unlike Etsy, variations are not very deep and only allow you to customize one level of options.

CONS

- Low Traffic - Compared to Etsy, the traffic I've gotten from within and outside of Storenvy has been very minimal and I've had a shop on Storenvy for a couple of years now.  It's worth noting, however, that they've only recently rolled out their public marketplace, which means this traffic may go up as they expand their functionality and reputation.

- No Integrated Shipping - You have to buy an add-on with a monthly subscription fee in order to create shipping labels.  Otherwise, you're in charge of creating your own labels with your preferred service.

- No Digital Sales - You have to purchase an add-on with a monthly subscription fee in order to host digital files on your Storenvy shop.

- No Paypal - Currently, Storenvy uses Stripe exclusively EDIT: It seems I missed that the public marketplace shops do not allow Paypal, but the custom shops DO!  Thanks Roma over at AANI for the correction.

- No Widgets - As far as I have discovered, there's no way to embed items from Storenvy into a blog or website. There is a paid add-on that lets you build a catalog you can share online, but it requires a subscription fee.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I actually use both of these marketplaces.  I generally use Etsy to host my small originals, limited edition prints, and other things that have a special element to them, which seems to suit their gift and wedding focused marketplace.  Greeting cards and other items that have an additional use also do well on this market.  My handmade masks and jewelry do the best out of any of my items, making it
especially suited for those artists who create wearable art.

(Shameless plug! If you'd like to have 40 free listing credits to try Etsy, feel free to use my referral link! You help me by earning me 40 free listing credits too when you list your first item for sale. This referral link works even if you already have a username, but haven't listed an item for sale yet.)

As for Storenvy, I use it for my Angelic Shades shop because the high dollar original paintings don't sell very often on Etsy and I'd rather not have to pay a constant relisting fee on them.  Storenvy is a great option if you have slower moving items, have a low budget, and don't require any deep features to your selling experience.

Don't be afraid to test different markets and see what works for you!  Both Etsy and Storenvy cater to different audiences, but also provide a stable place to host your shop, which is a great option for beginners to start before they move on to investing in a self-hosted shop.

More on the topic of self-hosted shops in a future article!  Till then, happy selling!

Did I leave anything out?  Let me know in comments!

ART PRODUCT REVIEW - Etsy Card Reader

Etsy recently announced their own gadget for taking credit cards, but with a new twist from other card readers.  It's meant to sync with your Etsy shop and provide a branded smooth experience for your in-person sales.  I got mine in the mail yesterday (it's free if you request one) and put it through a quick test run.

Packaging

First off, their packaging was excellent, as I would expect from the premiere handmade marketplace.  I got a few ideas just from their clever and simple presentation.

Here's the envelope it came in.  I love the idea of a branded envelope sticker.

The reader itself came in a sturdy reusable custom cut box made of what looks like composite wood.  Again, I love the brand consistency of the reader and insert cards with the orange and white.

Extra bonus!  The box itself has a slot on the underside where you can place the card to make a stand up sign.  One side of the card shows that you take credit cards while the other side is a "I'll be right back." sign with a spot for you to write in shop's address.

The Nuts and Bolts

I ran two test transactions, one of an item which was already up in my online shop and another which was a new 'quick sale' item not already present in my online shop.

You will need to let the app access your location and your microphone.  Your location is recorded and inserted into the receipt e-mailed to the customer later on, should they elect to receive one.  The hub of the app looks like this on an iphone.

You can control your inventory from within the app, which connects to your online Etsy shop (ie. renewing listings, creating new listings, putting your shop on vacation, checking orders, etc.).  The app is available for both Android and iOS markets, but not for the iPad, oddly enough

Be aware that a minimum $1 transaction is required for a customer to use a credit card.  You can also set your sales tax rate in the Settings so that this is automatically calculated when making your sales.  The funds from your credit card are added to your Shop Payments account (the same place as your Direct Checkout funds), so you will need to wait the usual time for the money to be deposited after your sales.  This usually isn't more than a couple of days, in my experience.

When selling an item in-person that is also in your shop:

•  You choose the item in your online shop to sell in-person via a list.
•  The shipping fee is automatically waived when an item is sold in-person.
• The item is also removed from your online shop when it is sold, which will help save headaches on syncing inventory automatically instead of manually (ie. if you've ever had an item sell while you're out at an event and had to deal with the headache of explaining that it sold when you get back home).
• There is no Etsy transaction fee like there are for online sales, only the credit card processing fee, which is comparable to other readers (2.75%).

When selling an item in-person via a quick sale where you type in a brief description and cost:

• It is still counted towards your sold items stats, but only you as a seller can see those transactions in the Orders section of your shop.
• There is no transaction fee or listing fee, only the credit card processing fee.

Promotional Automation

Now here's the really powerful feature of this reader.  After you make your sale and get to the point at which you can offer your customer an e-mail receipt, there is a checkbox which is automatically selected (you have to manually deselect it). The checkbox says this:

After you make the sale and the customer elects to be e-mailed their receipt and is opted in to Etsy's updates about your shop, the customer will get an e-mail like this:

Location map blurred for privacy.

I've asked my test customer to let me know what kinds of e-mail he receives in the future so I can see just how often these e-mails are sent out and what kind of info they include.  I will edit this post with an update once I know more about these communications.

Why is this powerful, you ask?  The items suggested at the bottom of the e-mail offer the customer a tantalizing glimpse at your other items, some of which they might be interested in that you might not have had on display where they were shopping in-person.  Because these images actually link to the items, they encourage further purchases without the seller having to lift a finger.

This e-mail communication is a powerful addition to simply handing out a business card, since business cards are easily lost and most shoppers require repetition of information before they truly retain that information.  So far, this is the only e-mail my test customer has received, which gives me hope that these won't turn into spammy communications.

Also, Etsy's current online market doesn't have a function that lets you automatically add your past customers to a mailing list, which is a feature I've always wanted.  I currently have to first ask for the customer's permission to add them to my mailing list, then add them in mailchimp manually, which takes up valuable time I could be working instead.  My newsletter only goes out once every 3 months, so I am curious to see how often this Etsy-managed newsletter will be sent out and how they might mesh with the information I already send out in my newsletter.

Bottom Line

The Etsy card reader doesn't do anything vastly different from other card readers, but it does allow powerful synchronization options between your online Etsy shop and your physical inventory that could save you time if your Etsy shop is your main outlet for sales.

It also allows for promotional automation that doesn't require you to lift a finger, saving you time, especially if you do not yet send out your own newsletter yet.

More updates to follow when I have them!

Are Conventions Worth Selling At?

This question has been on my mind a lot lately.  Especially considering that I have chosen to take this year off from conventions, with the exception of Illuxcon in September.  After all the money, blood, sweat, tears, and coffee, are cons worth your while to sell at?  Here is what I have learned after 10+ years of doing conventions as a hobbyist and 4 years as a professional artist:

The Pros

1.  Staying in Touch with Fans and Building Your Reputation

This is the number one reason anyone thinks to attend conventions not as a fan, but as an artist.  You get valuable face time with people who might like your art and start getting your name out there on the tongues of people, which is an especially good move if you are the kind of artist who plans to make their income selling art directly to their fanbase.

Face to face selling is also far more effective since your fans can get to know you as a person so they have more of a reason to buy your art. Sounds weird, but having a personal connection to a REAL living person can be very powerful!  Meeting someone in person allows us to want to emotionally support them even more than if they were a faceless artist online whose art we merely consume without consideration for the human behind them.

2.  Marketing Yourself
The other main reason we as artists choose to attend cons is to meet with the folks that can put us in touch with jobs.  Art directors, game developers, publishers, etc.  You'll probably never meet these awesome folks who lead you to professional opportunities unless you go to conventions!  The downside, these folks may not be at smaller cons so you'll have to attend the larger ones which may not be local to you. True, you can still email in a portfolio, but I consider face to face interactions to be more memorable/powerful.

3.  Meeting Kindred Spirits
After spending months in the quiet darkness of the art cave, getting out into the world again and talking to people who are just as geeky and passionate as you are can be such a gift!

4.  Valuable Selling and Setup Experience
Every artist needs this!  You need to know the joys of being juried into a show, meeting the deadlines of setup and application, the proper way to set up your display, etc.  Most of all, you need the ever-important skill of dealing with people.  A lot of us spend a lot of time alone without knowing how to market ourselves with confidence.  This is an especially handy skill for when you want to start showing your portfolio to the folks that can get you jobs opportunities beyond selling to your fanbase.

The Cons

1.  Selling Too Early
Notice how I didn't put 'Making Money' as one of the Pros of conventions?  It's my belief that most people who try to sell at conventions (including myself!) start selling too early.  True, it's good to start building a reputation, but if you start doing that before your art is at a professional level, you start building the wrong kind of reputation. Chances are if you start selling too early, you won't have an established artistic identity or direction to your artistic vision.  People will get to know your art by the lower quality and lower prices we all have when we first start out as green, wide-eyed wanderers in this grand art world.

One might argue that fans enjoy seeing you grow as an artist.  I'm sure they do, but wouldn't you rather impress people right out of the gate?  Starting too early can also lead to demoralization when you aren't making the kind of sales to justify your expenses because everybody else is levels higher than you, skillwise.  If you're not sure if you're ready, ask your friends or art professionals you know whether they think you are at the point you need to be to take the risks of selling...because there are a lot of risks and a very high chance of burning yourself out when money is involved!

2.  Demoralization
Chances are that 99% of you are going to lose money when you first start selling at cons (especially if you start too early).  If you're lucky, you'll break even.  There are countless expenses involved, including, but not limited to, gas, hotel, travel, inventory, food, art show fees, table fees, etc.  While most of these expenses are tax deductible, it can really put a dent in your wallet and leave you with a hollow sense of failure after all the effort you put in.

And we haven't even talked about the sleepless nights spent prepping your inventory, making travel arrangements, setting up displays, eating badly, descending deeper into the anti-social art cave due to all the prep work you have to do, breaking down displays...the list goes on and on and on and on.

3.  Time Consuming Distractions
On top of the dangerous levels of demoralization, conventions have a way of sucking up our lives.  By the time you're done with one convention it's time to start prepping work for the next one!  It's all about sell, sell, selling and sometimes you get so fixated on selling that you forget to make new work.  A year (or two) later, you might realize you have the exact same work you're showing to fans and art directors and you're not advancing, artistically, because you've spent all this time making a short term dime instead of preparing for long term opportunities, like that portfolio you keep ignoring so you can SELL, SELL, SELL at conventions.

Bottom line is you need to balance conventions with creating new relevant work for your portfolio or you might find yourself stuck in a fruitless loop of selling.

4.  No More Fun Times
After a few cons of selling, you realize that you aren't able to go to all the late night parties or stalk all the Jack Sparrows for your photo album or Pin the Tail on the Anthro.  You've got a table to man and unless you have backup, you're going to be stuck there for 80% of the con.  You'll probably need to be there relatively early too.  Some of us can handle partying AND selling, but that's a recipe for a health nightmare!

Worse yet, you stop having fun at cons, altogether, because they are nothing more than selling opportunities for you rather than a place to be passionate about what you love with other people.  Sure, there's nothing wrong with making money, but attending only to sell can sometimes sap the soul out of the whole experience, especially if you don't sell well and end up demoralizing yourself instead.  I would personally rather be in the studio painting something for my portfolio that I can be excited about rather than selling at a convention I'm not really interested in. (Which is the exact reason for my break away from conventions this year)

Other Thoughts on Conventions

On Anime Cons - A great place to cut your teeth as a hobbyist  to get some basic setup and selling experience.  Also wonderful for experiencing pure unadulterated fan enthusiasm!  However, they're generally not viewed as very professional and it's hard to maintain serious prices in most artist alleys, where people are generally at a novice level, and therefore charge far less than you would see at other shows.  The younger attendee crowd for these cons are generally looking for cute cheap things to take home instead of expensive pieces of art. (These are all generalizations, of course. If you can sell well at any con, I encourage you to go for it!)

On Small Cons -  These can be small fun events to network with people, but usually aren't so good for selling.  This also includes cons which are just starting up.  Be prepared to not make any money when you hear that a con is just getting started.  If you're unsure, ask a show director (ie. the art show director) about how many years the con has been active and what the average attendance rating is like.  I usually like to sell at cons with 1000 or more attendees, unless the theme of the con is one which suits my art or my tastes, then I will take a chance on it because it might be enjoyable to network there for me.

On Professional Cons - By 'professional', I'm talking about cons like Illuxcon and Spectrum Fantastic Art Live which are focused purely on art and artists.  I have never attended a con like this and I'm looking forward to learning how they might serve different needs than your standard fanbase convention.  I suspect it's going to be a whole new engaging experience where I grow my skills in networking and as an artist, rather than hone my skills as an entrepreneur.  I plan to report back later after I attend Illuxcon this year.

Final Thoughts

All in all, conventions are a wonderful, but exhausting experience!  I personally recommend that up and coming artists work on their skills first before putting too much time into the experience of selling at these events.  A sad fact of the industry is that people aren't going to be looking for you by name when you first start out.  That kind of recognition comes from long, hard years spent building your reputation and your skills. (10 years on average, according to the pros I've talked to!)

Definitely attend them and enjoy conventions BEFORE you end up chained to a table!  Enjoy the atmosphere and learn the scene.  The most important thing conventions allow us to do is to get in touch with that nexus of passionate people who can lead us to a deeper appreciation of our beloved genres and stories, while also giving us valuable learning experiences.  Good luck and remember to drink plenty of water!

What is Artfire? An Artist's Point-of-View

A few months ago, I'd never even heard of Artfire, but had already been a vested user of Etsy since 2008. Now after plenty of fiddling over at Artfire, I feel confident enough to talk about its usefulness for artists.

What is Artfire?

Like Etsy, Artfire is a community marketplace for handmade and vintage items who offers community forums, item collections, and groups to join. The main difference in philosophy being that Artfire allows you to plug external websites much more in your own listings and pages, unlike Etsy, which discourages such practices. The other difference is of course the fact Etsy is far more entrenched with greater press coverage.

Artfire is catching up, though! If their constant marketing campaigns, helpful articles, and numerous twitter accounts is any indication of how much they're putting into making their site known. They also offer their members discounts at CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) and VIP discount cards at Joanns Fabrics (10% off regular and sale price items)!

Selling on Artfire

Much like Etsy, artists can post listings of items, sort them into browsing categories, and find buyers for their handicrafts. Where Artfire differs in this respect is that listings have no expiration date. A user must 'check in' at Artfire to keep their listings higher up in the search results, which weeds out the people who post listings and leave them there without maintaining them.

- Prints and Fabricated Art Items
Another quirk of AF I've found is that if you're selling art prints, cards, or any other pre-printed open edition item utilizing your art, they have to be a run of 500 or less while Etsy hasn't set a number, to my knowledge. This isn't much of a problem for me, however, as I'd be happy to even reach that amount of sales per item!  With the number of open edition prints listed on AF, however, I suspect this policy isn't heavily enforced.

- Seller Invoice System
AF boasts a pretty full featured invoicing system for sellers, including itemized invoices where you can check off each stage of payment, packing, and shipping as it happens with a field to enter an item's tracking number. This number is automatically emailed to your customer when you enter it, making these invoices pretty handy for taking care of your customer all in one place!

- Feedback and Non-Member Buyers
One big difference between Etsy and AF's way of handling transactions is the fact that AF also encourages you to do what you need to do to make a sell, meaning customers don't need to have an AF account to buy! They can simply use AF's shopping cart feature. This means you don't get feedback or karma from the transaction, but that doesn't seem terribly important on this site, despite the fact users can still leave detailed feedback on your shipping, quickness, item quality, etc. Because there's no final value fee taken out when a sale is made, it's easy enough to cancel the order and relist with no loss of money, should you have trouble with a non-paying buyer.

- Promotional Coupons

Another extremely useful feature of AF is the ability to create promotional codes. While you can do this on Etsy, Etsy restricts your coupon codes to only a certain percentage off or free shipping. AF's coupon code functionality is more robust with the ability to tailor your coupons to a percentage off and free shipping, but also allows you to apply coupons to seller-defined studio groups and price ranges, the order total, or even specific items. Coupon codes are also another premium member feature.

- Other Useful Features
If you're a user of Etsy, AF makes it easy to download your CSV file from Etsy and import all of your items with only a few tweaks required! This is a premium member feature, however.  You can also batch edit your listings, move them en masse to new categories, and take advantage of a detailed vacation mode that allows you to leave your items up, but auto-responds with your 'away' message. Unlike Etsy, which simply hides your items completely from listings until you disable it.  There's also a 'sales mode' that allows you to discount everything in your shop at once.  Sales mode and vacation mode are both non-premium features!

Crunching Numbers

Another major difference between Artfire and Etsy is the fee structure. Artfire charges a flat monthly fee (I pay $5.95 thanks to a beta deal I got, but standard pro rate is $9.95 as of this entry) while Etsy charges 20 cents per listing for 3 months and takes 3.5% of your final sale's value. If you're hosting a large amount of items, AF can be really useful for keeping costs down each month.

As for sales numbers, I've noticed a greater number of handmade craft items and cards selling here rather than my prints and original art, but it's still great to get the exposure on my artwork along with everything else. I have a feeling that as I grow my shop and become more entrenched in this community, these sales proportions will change!

Customization

One thing I absolutely love about AF is the ability to customize the color theme and style of our shop pages! I've included a screenshot of mine below. Most of the customization is, again, a premium member feature.

See my Artfire shop in action!

See my Etsy shop in action!

Final Thoughts

Rather than choose one community over the other, it's easy enough for me to maintain both my Etsy AND Artfire shops with AF's import feature!  The amount of sales I've made via both communities have made them well worth investing my time in and will only continue to increase their usefulness as another means of income the longer I use them.

Interested in joining up as a premium member at Artfire? Use my referral link! We'll both get a free month plus be entered into a drawing for a free DSLR camera for both of us!♥

Become an ArtFire Pro with this link and get your 3rd month free!

I'm also a member of the Artfire Fantasy Guild, so drop on in and say hello!  I'd love to see some familiar faces there.:)

eBay vs Etsy - Which better serves the Artist?

So you've finally got enough artwork to want to try and sell some to others, you've finally braved that dangerous copyright void that is the net, and you've finally decided it's time to try out the e-market. It's almost a given that in trying to find a place to sell your work online, you've run into the names eBay and Etsy.

For those who haven't heard of them, here's a quick rundown of what they are:

eBay, The World Marketplace - eBay is the most popular auction style marketplace on the web. It offers you the ability to put up just about any kind of item you can think of for auction for a small listing fee. eBay serves international audiences as well, with several sister sites dedicated to specific countries.

Etsy - The Homemade Marketplace - Etsy is newer than eBay, but has grown in popularity recently due to the latest reports of success of its members. Unlike eBay, however, this online marketplace is dedicated to all things handmade (or suppliers of things to aid in the process of crafting things) and is not auction driven, but utilizes fixed price listings. As long as you have a credit card, you can sell on Etsy, no matter your country of origin. By handcrafted, I mean jewelry, artwork, sculpture, etc which are made by hand.

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The Pros & Cons of Ebay

Personally, I only occasionally use eBay to auction off random original art, ACEO's (which are something of a fad on eBay right now), and ladder style commission auctions. I do not recommend the eBay Shop feature unless you are sure you can offload a high volume of art (see my eBay Shop review).

eBay has changed a lot since its inception. Nowadays, it's far easier to sell artwork than it used to be thanks to their new policies. Here are some things to think about if you're considering selling your art on eBay.

Pros

Cheap Listings & Image Features - The latest selling policies at eBay allow a seller to post five free listings a month. You only pay the final value fee IF your item sells. Also, you can add free gallery images to your listings in the art categories as well.

High Volume of Visitors - Being the world's largest online marketplace means you are naturally bound to get views on your auctions. You never know who's looking when. However, this is a double-edged sword (see Cons)

Cons

Payment Scams - Within the first few weeks of using eBay recently, I had an issue with people trying to scam others on eBay using my name and email (via the eBay messaging system) (these problems were solved, but still annoying). There's also a high amount of payment fraud going around involving checks and money orders, which eBay no longer allows as a payment method for the Art categories. You must have Paypal, Propay, or other payment methods set up in order to accept payment on Ebay.

Getting Lost in the Crowd - It's easy to get lost in the crowd unless you have exceptionally stand out work. Again, you never know who's looking, despite the high amount of competition. Someone might see your work and connect with it regardless of others which are up for sale.

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The Pros & Cons of Etsy

I have become a more avid user of Etsy, of late, due to its cheap listing fees and heartfelt community. When you buy something on Etsy, there's a warm fuzzy feeling that comes from knowing that each item was lovingly hand-crafted by an artist such as yourself. There's a great artist-to-artist atmosphere with an administration that really seems to care about what we think as users.

Etsy has filled the void that I had when I closed my eBay Shop. I can post here without worrying about the next subscription fee that may or may not be covered by my sales. They're a relatively new site with a bright future ahead of them.

Pros

Cheap Listings & Advertisement - You don't get free listings like you do with eBay, but at 20 cents for a 3 month listing, the investment risk is minimal. I can maintain my entire shop's worth of necklaces and art for $10 or less every 3 months. Also, if I want added publicity, I only need to pay $7 for a Showcase that features my art at the front page browsing for the specific category I choose to showcase.

Fun Widgets - Etsy allows you to link from your websites and blogs with widgets that display thumbnails of your items in a nifty little bar. This doesn't seem like much to some, but the ability to cross-link is powerful! Especially when it's done in such an attractive way.

Cons

Low Capacity on Advertisement Slots - Nearly every time I've tried to buy a jewelry Showcase, the slots have been filled. It seems near impossible to buy a slot in some categories due to the low capacity of slots available.

Relatively Low Traffic - Compared to eBay, you're pandering to a much smaller niche audience of lower numbers. Most of the customers I've had on Etsy so far bought items because they already knew me from DeviantART, or randomly found me whilst searching Etsy for a gift or Halloween accessory. The amount of visitors here is lower, but again, you never know who is out there looking on the net! I am still building my presence on Etsy, as well.

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Which One is Better?

It all depends on what you want to sell. eBay has more viewers, but art (fantasy art in particular) does not sell well there currently unless you are selling it for less than $100. In some cases, art can sell for more, particularly for those who have already built up a following outside of eBay and believe their art is investment-grade (generally of the fine art genre).

Etsy is a better solution for the artists who sell in smaller volumes and who want an audience who understands that their items are handcrafted and therefore aren't meant to be given away for a cheap price. Etsy is also more cost-effective for a storefront type of setting.

In the end, why not use both? I plan to start utilizing my 5 free auctions a month to auction off original art just for the free publicity while still maintaining my Etsy and personal web shop as my main outlets.

The key to art marketing and e-commerce is to combine your efforts to create the most effective results. I highly recommend trying both sites to see how they can work together for your art!

Certificates of Authenticity - Are they worth it?

The paint is fresh on the canvas, the prints are hot off the press, and the online store beams with the glow of new updates. I'm happily cruising along the winding road of organizing myself as an artist, though there is still a long road ahead! The issue that has concerned me lately has been how best to present and sell my original artwork.

I've gotten off my bum to properly mat and store things and now I'm trying to figure out the best way to keep track of the history of my art. When original work sells, should I just let it disappear into the ether into whatever hands have claimed it at a far off art show? The thought of letting this happen with no real way to keep track of where my work goes is a bit disturbing to me sometimes. The question of how to inventory my art and keep track of collectors hovers over my head like an ominous apple waiting to fall. Is it even important to keep track of who has my work for a convention artist?

Could certificates of authenticity be part of a solution to my worries?

A certificate of authenticity (CoA) is a certificate which is included with a work which states the title of the piece, the artist, the current owner of the piece, print edition number (if any), and other such pertinent information (Example CoA).

Certificates by themselves are not enough to guarantee authenticity, but some services which provide CoA's, such as the Fine Art Registry, also provide special tags to be attached to the original which carry the registered number of the work and consider the CoA a type of Title Registration which is then added to their searchable database. Titles may be transferred from one collector to another with the information aiding in providing legal provenance for a work (or an origin traceable from artist to collector), which is important for those who claim art as an investment and for some museums and galleries who appreciate the security of an existing provenance.

Such tags, certificates, and registration can help deter counterfeiting and to keep track of artwork after it has passed from the hands of an artist. Also, the perceived value of a work is cemented by the fact it is proven, of sorts, as a one of a kind piece made by the artist, and no one else. In a world where the internet and computers have made it possible to easily copy just about anything, this concept appeals to me.

Now I am left wondering if it is worth paying a company to register my work? Is registering my art safe? Would you, as an art buyer, have more confidence in buying if a work was tagged, certified, and registered? Presentation-wise, I have to admit I am rather impressed with prints which tout a nicely printed certificate hand-signed by the artist. It gives it that special something rather than just tossing a print in a bag and shoving it at someone (granted that's what I do now and I've never gotten any complaints).

I am currently doing what research I can on the various art registries and hope to have some sort of concrete evidence to show for it soon. I am also considering registering some of my limited edition prints to see how the system works and if it has any effect on the confidence of my buyers.

Places I've been looking at (feel free to suggest others!):

• National Fine Art Registry - Requires a monthly fee. Allows for title registration and provides CoA's, price cards, and title transfers.


• Fine Art Registry - Various membership levels, including a free membership. Ability to pay per registered work instead of monthly. Allows for title registration and transfer and provides a special holographic coded tag to be added to work directly. Tag is readable even if destroyed or removed. Tag also self-destructs if removed with the remaining residue readable as an identification key.

I hope to return with another post reporting any additional findings concerning authentification and registration of artwork in the future. Till then, I leave you with the following questions to ponder:

• Would you, as an artist, pay to register your work?


• Would you, as an art buyer, feel more comfortable with work which has been certified?


• Are art title registries reliable?


• Should certification be reserved for 'popular' artists, or can everyone do it?


• Does certifying your artwork when you're not 'popular' mean you're being arrogant?

Please share your experiences, if you have had some with registries. I would love to hear about them.

EDIT 2-18-2015: I've started a discussion at an online art group I'm in which may be of some use to my readers. See what other professional artists and art collectors have to say about this topic here!  Kurt Rush's comment is of particular interest to the topic and how it affects collectors.