Yummie Stuff: Artfire vs Etsy (some specifics)

I happened upon Artfire shortly after I decided to sell on Etsy.  Google is the best, I Google everything. So I did a search on Etsy vs Artfire (which I highly recommend for anyone thinking of selling in either). Both had their pros and cons, which made it hard to decide which one to use. Since I had not yet started the listing process, my daughter, in her infinite wisdon, suggested I list on both.  It has now been about a month, I have over 100 items on both, and feel I can speak intelligently on some of the differences. If your just starting, sell on both, it is so fast & easy to deactivate your listing on either one if you sell an item.

Expense/Cost ~

Artfire ~ Join for free with a limit of 12 active listings, no listing/final/hidden fees at all.  OR pay $12.00 a month and become a Verified Member with unlimted listings and absolutely NO listing/final/hidden fees.

Etsy ~ Join for free. Per listing is .20, and a 3.5% of sale price.

Both use PayPal and you can accept checks, money orders or whatever. A customer can pay with PayPal now and not have to set up a PayPal account, this is great.

Community ~ Artfire outshines Etsy on this one. I have received invitations to join groups. Just the conversations are welcoming and inviting. It's hard to describe, but for a newbie, just more down to earth.

Sales & Views ~

Artfire ~ Not quite as many views and about 1/10th the sales.

Etsy ~ Many, many views and sales right from the get go!

Search Engine ~ One of the things I learned when I did a Google search was that Etsy's search engine does not work as well as Artfires (however, I understand they are working on it). If you do a search in Etsy on say "fabric", you will get additional items not relating to the seach as well as fabric. Artfires search is very specific and works much better.

Appearance (easy on the eyes) ~ Personnally, I like Etsy's for this. Very clean, easy to find different sections, checks sales, conversations, etc.

Shop Set-up ~ Etsy's was easier, just because it was easier to find all the tools. There are just so many options in Artfire it was hard to find all of them. Actually, there are more options on Artfire, once I found them (go into Edit My Studio and experiment). I just jumped right in without exploring very much, which ultimately made it harder on me.

Listing a Product ~ By far Artfire listing process is the best because it's so fast. Both allow you to pre-set Studio Categories and Shipping Profiles. Be sure to set up your shipping profiles, it makes it so much easier during the listing process.

Artfire ~

One page listing (faster and easier to edit).
List up to 10 photos, pictures upload quickly.
Description section is small, you have to use a scroll bar.
Option to open listing to offers (yes or no button).
You enter your "tags" (searchable keywords for people to find your product with), double click the box and it brings up what you've entered before. This is great when you're listing the same item repeatedly. have entered about 25 different words/phrases and never ran out of space. Not sure if there is a limit.

Etsy ~

Five separate pages.
Five photo max. and they take a long time to upload.
You can see the entire description page without using a scroll bar (allows me to follow a train of thought better!).
No section for offers.
You enter your "tags" (searchable keywords for people to find your product with), the first one is picking from one of the categories, then Etsy will give you sub-categories to pick from or you can type your own. You have a total of 14 slots to fill. Can become very repetitous when listing same item repeatedly.
If you forget to set up a Studio Category you can do it while doing the listing.

Google Analytics ~ Both give you instructions on how to set this up and provide you with statistics.

I think I covered everything. I hope this will help someone along the way. If I can ever help anyone please do not hesitate to email me, or convo through Etsy or Artfire (click on either one, it will take you right to me). It's great to help & support each other.