Monday, August 3, 2009

Closing Shop

What to do, What to do..... I have decided to end my Artfire shop. I just cannot justify paying fees for basically "showing" my work. Yes people have looked, but no one is interested. I have given it six months and nothing. I tried to remain optimistic that it is the economy, or that it is a new shop (newer than Etsy at least) and does not have the following yet. However I have had up to 200 views on some of my paintings and no nibbles. I did not care for their shipping setup that does not allow you to estimate for international shipping (Etsy has the same issues). There may be many reasons why I was not successful, but I can't afford to keep paying for a membership that is doing nothing.
I know a few artists that have been more successful than I with selling online. I have shopped around these places and I don't think it was because my work was poor quality or unattractive. I have seen better, and I have seen much worse, so it was hard for me to understand what more I could do to make it work. For now though it just seems silly to continue. I will be closing Aug 9th.

4 comments:

Renee said...

Deb I seriously think it is the economy. I personally don't have two wooden nickles.

What about Etsy is there a fee for that too. Maybe you could add some of your necklaces to Etsy too.

I love your work. Don't be discouraged.

xoxo

said...

It certainly does not reflect on your talent, which you have in abundance. I agree that it is the economy. What is your Etsy shop's name?

Pretty Things said...

(I love the graphic).

Sorry about the shop, but it's not you.

Susan said...

I agree with what everyone else has said. It's definitely the economy. A lot of people out there simply don't have the money to buy frills. Many of us online businesses have been hit - some quite hard.

Susan
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