If you haven't heard about
Artfire yet, it's time you do!! Artfire is the latest web marketplace to buy and sell handmade, vintage, supplies, even design & media services. I have been a long time Etsian (
my current shop is nearly two years old &
my original shop was open for about a year before that) and have always loved it over there. That said, there is A LOT to be excited about with Artfire.
One of my favorite features that they rolled out recently is the Rapid Cart you see in the right hand column of my blog. It features items from my shop and will let you purchase and check out immediately from my blog without having to sign up for Artfire account. Talk about ease of use for your customers.
Listing is SO easy. You do it all on one page and it is super quick. I love things that make my life easier and this certainly does.
Google Analytics and studio stats. Analytics has worked brilliantly since day one and the studio stats are built right into your account so you know where all of your views are coming from. Makes promoting that much easier.
They also let you link to your Etsy shop, Facebook, flickr, Myspace, and more right from your shop.
They have a fairly sizable marketing campaign in place that includes viral, social, traditional, and non-traditional efforts. They have purchased display ads in national publications, broadcast networks, web ads, as well as over 150 million views of ArtFire ads on websites such as Facebook, Mother Jones, Google, various blog sites, “green” webzines, arts & crafts webzines, and many other channels.
Here's the biggie: No listing or sales fees! They have a deal going on right now where you pay $7 per month for your membership. That is the equivalent of listing or renewing one item per day on Etsy (not counting the added fees for any Etsy sales). So, you can list as much as you want as often as you want and don't pay anything extra when your items sell. There are only 282 of these $7 memberships left. After that, it goes back up to what will be their regular monthly rate of $20.
When you lock in your $7 membership, your monthly fee will never increase, but it may decrease. If you get ten people to sign up and use you as their referral, you will get a Free Ride for Life! As long as you remain an active member of the Artfire community, you will never have to pay a membership fee again. I'm working on getting my ten referrals and am already up to six!! If you've been thinking about
signing up, now is certainly the time to do it to lock in the $7 membership rate.
I know I must sound like I've joined a cult, but I really am that excited about Artfire. They have done so much already and have so much potential for even more. So, if you do decide to sign up: please don't forget your friendly neighborhood armorer and help get a girl a free membership with your referral. You can sign up using this
link. And you can visit my Artfire shop
here.
