Folksy – Online Spring Market, Etsy strike & new stuff!

Have you heard of the Etsy Strike happening this week? Many sellers are understandably upset that Etsy have increased seller fees 1.5% from 5% to 6.5% this month. It’s been all over social media and the Guardian Newspaper have even published a news article about it. As well as a fee increase, many sellers have also been upset at the high rate of Re-sellers and those NOT selling handmade items on the Etsy platform and BBC Watchdog also did a segment on The One Show recently about this exact thing.

Now I, along with lots of other sellers feel disheartened when you see how much Etsy takes in fees – you see it’s not just fees on the sale, it’s a fee when you list the item, a fee on the VAT they collect, a fee on the shipping cost you set etc and in 2020 when I had one of my best sales years on Etsy, half – yes half – of my sales income was in Fees and Etsy Ads too! I was shocked at how much (or should I say how little) money I had left after the fees had gone out. But still, I think for the international exposure I might potentially get from Etsy, at the moment at least, I still have a shop with them.

Now, on another subject, I’d like to talk to you about the Online handmade marketplace that I first registered with waaay back in 2012: Folksy. ‘Folksy?’ I hear you ask? ‘Who are they?’ Well, I’ll tell you! They are a small team based in Sheffield and Folksy is all about handmade craft by British makers.

Folksy is British-based for British sellers, but everyone around the world can purchase items from Folksy (I’ve just posted an order to California in fact!) Their customer service is available and helpful; they are pretty good at cracking down on imported/sweatshop goods and copyright items; they don’t charge the seller to advertise. And I think their charges are reasonable. I think they are Worth a try and of course worth buying from too!

The best thing about Folksy? The community! If you have a question about your business or anything Talk Folksy, the forum as well as their Facebook group is full of supportive and helpful fellow sellers that love to help! so when Folksy approached me and asked if I’d like to be one of the Folksy Local South West Captains – I was soooo excited and of course, I said YES! Plus I’m also taking part in Folksy’s Online Spring Market – hosted by Tresstle – the online market platform – on 14th and 15th May, so put the date in your diaries!