Thinking out loud.

I just recently went pro at ArtFire for my supply shop. While perusing the forums this afternoon, I found a post saying that in March they're going to raise the pro sellers fee to $ 15 a month. It might have even been 15.95, I can't remember.

This gives me food for thought. Do I want to go pro with AmyNicole over there too? I have a basic account right now, that is so dead, I forget it exists. Which could be part of the problem, that I forget it I mean. I don't do any promotion at all over there for my jewelry. I have started promoting RubyMtnBeads a little though. No results yet.

Here is my conundrum. Does ArtFire have potential? Or are they just the anti-Etsy? I'm not trying to be harsh. I'm just trying to look at the place with open eyes. Is this going to be good for my business? I don't know what Etsy was like at the beginning. I just wish I had found them sooner. ArtFire is not really visually appealing. There I said it.

I love the fact that ArtFire is trying to be fair to everyone, ie front page items are rotated at random, searches by relevancy, unchecked forums, etc, etc, whatever. But the front page is a visual assault to the eyes. It is not appealing at all. Just any old thing, photographed any which way is up there. I mean there is plenty of less than pretty items on Etsy too, but you don't see them on the front page.

I've seen complaints in the Etsy forums that the front page is only geared to attracting a certain clientele. Which I do agree with, however, the beauty of the front page makes buyers want to walk in the cyber doors and have a look around the place.

I've seen questions in the AF forum about why AF doesn't have a just sold feed like Etsy does. Could it be because they just aren't making the sales over there? Oh, AF forums. So boring. Except when they're fighting. Don't get me started.

Anyway, after all this, I think I have answered my own question. I just don't think I can justify spending an extra $ 144 a year for AmyNicole on AF. The place just isn't there yet. Who knows when and if it ever will be.