newsy bits & new places
Written by Starr on 8:33 AMAs I've been roaming 'round the indie highway this week I've discovered quite a few new places to visit, stopped in to see some old friends, and found some new venues for selling handmade. So as I wait to find out if I've won any of the contests I've entered this week, let me do some sharing!
Communities
Plumdrop is a great community of online sellers. You can advertise your venues with java-mini's, meet up with other sellers in chat, and share tips and tricks for selling online. Plumdrop is not limited to handmade. Here's a screenie of our profile at Luna so you can see the minis; there are several other popular venues you can list, as well as the opportunity to list your own site. I really like this feature!
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Try Handmade is an in depth blog by Erika Jurney where you can find reviews, interviews, articles, giveaways, and a forum. The forum's initial page was a bit confusing to me in that it didn't really look much like a forum. But it is one, really! There is also a Try Handmade Flickr group here.
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Venues
This is a venue and community site rolled up into one. Signing up and opening a shop are both free, though 1000markets can charge up to 5.5% and +.50 per transaction using Amazon Payments exclusively. I had a few hiccups when opening a shop, but overall it wasn't difficult. You can also maintain a blog, post photos and video, and open your own market which will then become a unique community. The shops are lovely and look really professional.
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Zibbet is a handmade venue with over 35 categories to buy and sell in. Joining is free and once a member you can become part of the referral program where you can get paid for referring new buyers or sellers. All payments are processed through Paypal and this site is worldwide. Setting up a shop was very easy.
There are no listing fees, but they do take 7.5% of every transaction. I had to search pretty thoroughly to find that information. I would have much preferred to see the fees involved during their guided tour. There is also a 'showroom' which is a paid service. When I clicked on the link to find out more information I got a message saying "Ad Bookings Unavailable". I'm not sure if this was in error, or if because there are no spaces available there simply isn't anything to see there. Certainly worth a perusal if you're looking to expand your selling venues, though not one of my favorites.
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I would love to hear from you about any and all of the above. Do you sell at the venues? Belong to those communities? Sound off!
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