As a polish buyer I would to buy from a website that gives be the best deal on what I am buying. I currently pay $0.20 per listing, another $0.32 per transaction and then another $0.64-0.68 per item through Paypal or Etsy depending on which checkout option my customer choose. That's $1.16-$1.18 per item! I am thinking about finding a website that doesn't charge as much to sell Dragon Lacquer polishes through. This way I can lower the prices on Dragon Lacquer products. Sounds good, right? However, the ones I know about have extremely limiting free accounts and if I have to pay a $20 (or more) monthly fee, it doesn't help me to be able to lower prices.
BigCartel
For example, BigCartel.com allows only 5 items with one picture a piece on their free account. Also, you have to upgrade to be able to make coupons, etc. There are ways to work around the 5 item listing limit, I could make each polish name an option in a drop-down menu but it would be time consuming both to set up and for the customer to scroll down through the list to find the one they want. I currently have 70 items listed on my Etsy store. I set one up just to try it out and I'm not to impressed. You can check it out here but can't buy stuff as of yet.
StoreEnvy
Next is Storeenvy.com, again limited functionality for a free account. Allows for up to 5 photos per item, similar to Etsy but I can't customize shop sections to make shopping easier. Again I set one up just to test, check it out here. One thing I don't like is that I can only customize the colors of the shop a small amount, no uploading a custom background or the ability to make it more appealing.
FreeWebStore
Another place I found is FreeWebStore,org. They allow for up to 15 item listings on a free account with way more options than the previous 2 sites provided. Far more customization ability, in design and category/item listing. Down side again, I have 70 items currently listed on Etsy. I would have to decide which 15 I want to keep selling and ditch the rest. I did set up an account to try it out, check it out here.
Miiduu
Okay, when I first came across this site I had never heard of it before but I though what the heck and set up a free account. The first thing I notice is that short of being able to fully customize my shop design with background images and font preferences and the ability to edit website HTML and coding (although I believe I can if I decide to upgrade down the road) it's like a fully functional webstore. I can customize categories, items, it tracks stock, customers can register an account to track their orders and use the WISHLIST function. Yep, a wishlist! I know I like to wishlist polishes I like so I can easily find them when it's purchase time. Down side, no coupon codes unless I upgrade BUT it is extremely easy to edit pricing for sales in the account management section. You can check my demo store out here. So far I think I like this one the best.
So here's my question! Does it matter to you, as a potential customer, which site hosts a store? If you have actually read through this and checked out the "store" options, which one do you like the best and why? I am seriously hoping that you all will help me out here. If I leave Etsy, I can reduce polish prices by at least $1.00 if not more.
Thanks in advance & Much Love & Lacquer,
Kevan
I use both etsy and storenvy, and I honestly prefer storenvy. I tried bigcartel and didn't like it at all. Storenvy has a lot of customizable options but some of them are a little hard to find or grouped in a weird/counter-intuitive place. This is all a a seller, of course.
ReplyDeleteAs a buyer, I like sites that have a marketplace-type option. This is why everyone does etsy because you can just type in 'Nail polish' and end up with a crapton of results versus having to go to someone's specific store. I like that Storenvy is trying to do this. There isn't a lot there yet but I'm hopeful it will expand. I still do a lot of shopping on etsy, although I often find links to sellers' other stores on free sites or dotcoms and end up purchasing there because it can be cheaper.
I wrote a novel! I could discuss this more, so if you want to follow up by email, feel free!
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DeleteI like Etsy for that marketplace-style feel too. This new site I'm looking seems to be starting one but it's pretty small right now.
DeleteAs a costumer I don't really mind what site is hosting the shop. What matters to me is how appealing it looks when I enter and how great a functionality a site has. The more I have to click to find a certain product, the worse.
ReplyDeleteI cannot stand website that are hard to navigate to find what I want. That's why I want a store with the option to tagged one item in multiple sections so they are easier to find and one that has a search feature makes it even better.
DeleteThanks for the input. It helps a lot! :)
ReplyDeleteI think you should give storenvy another try. You are able to set up categories to place your items into. And there is an option to add a background picture to your custom store. I don't sell nail polish, but here's a link to my shop if you want to look at it to see how I have set it up.
ReplyDeletehttp://kirakirakawaii.storenvy.com/
Cute shop! Thanks for the info, I will definitely give storeenvy another chance. I did manage to find out where you are able to make more customization to shop appearance. I also found that I can edit HTML/CSS too, which is awesome! Thanks for suggesting I give it another shot.
DeleteI love shops that are easy to navigate and look at. I don't want to look at cluttered websites. If it's too cluttered to look at, I leave right away. With that said, I suggest you stick with Etsy.
ReplyDeleteNice. I need more shops to browse. Thanks for the list!
ReplyDeletehttp://mebebloggie.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteYou did a great research about the product and really loved reading it. I must say I’ve no idea about agora pulse before and not even heard that word. While i’m writing this i am using buffer and hoot suite to monitor my social media’s. Both are good by the way I’ve to admit. I’m thinking to try agora and i will share my feedback after trying it.
ReplyDelete.