Sunday, June 2, 2013

Etsy VS Storenvy

Thinking about opening your online shop but not sure whether to use Etsy or Storenvy? Here is a list of pros and cons for both stores that I came up with through my experience. Feel free to comment down below on your experience with these two stores. I hope this will help for those who can't decide!

Etsy:

Pros:
  • Very well known for hand made crafts with lots of shoppers willing to pay good money for them. 
  • Has a great community, networks and support from other sellers/members. ie: anyone can add your items to their favorites and treasury list to share with others. Great way to get your name/shop out there. 
  • Option to promote your shop with a fee. (could be a con as well) However, you can decide on the amount you want to spend. For example, you give Etsy $5 limit to promote your shop for one week. 
  • “sold” section for your shop so people can see what you have sold and what you have made in the past. 
  • You can make shipping labels right from the etsy website and allows you to make first class international shipping labels. 
  • Easy to use coupon code option 

Cons:
  • 20 cent listing fee that lasts for 4 months. Need to keep repaying the listing fees if your items do not sell. 
  • An additional 3.4% transaction fee when your item is sold. 
  • Listing process is tedious. 
  • Since it is well known, there are a lot of sellers selling similar things. That means, competition is HUGE. 
  • If your shop is small, and if you’re not updating with new listings as often, you’re shop will get “buried” amongst other shops . 
  • Customization is very limited. You can only customize your shop banner. 
  • For coupon codes, you can’t limit to one time use 

Storenvy
Pros:
  • It is new and growing! 
  • absolutely NO listing fees and extra transaction fee. The only fee you have to worry about is the paypal transaction fee. 
  • Totally customizable. 
  • Upgrade option of $5/month where you can have your own URL with customizable coupon options. 
  • Listing process is easy 
  • Has a great community and networks similar to etsy. You can “envy” items and follow shops, which will be public on your main page. 
Cons:
  • Not as well known for handmade crafts 
  • There is a basic coupon option, and the problem with it is that the discount applies to each item purchased rather than the total amount. IF you upgrade $5/month, you have more options on the discount codes. 
  • There is no “Sold” section in the store. Unless you make your own. 
  • You can only create shipping labels through paypal with no option for first class international mail.
  • There is a store rating system but it's not viewable to the public

NOTE: For both stores, you still have to market to sell your products. Don’t expect to open a shop and customers just pour in to buy your items. MARKET and PROMOTE! However, I do think if you just want to test the water in selling items online, storenvy is a good choice, so you're not investing too much money on it.

http://craftersdelights.com
https://www.etsy.com/shop/emiidesigns

Updated: 6/01/14