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Ravelry patterns5/5/2023 ![]() ![]() Patterns have to be quality-approved by the KnitPicks team. Independent designers can submit their patterns to the site as long as the project uses KnitPicks yarn. KnitPicks/ WeCrochet is another yarn and pattern destination site unique to the KnitPicks yarn brand. Several designers I spoke to said they had discontinued their Etsy stores or didn’t maintain them, because it wasn’t worth the hassle. ![]() Etsy’s Offsite Ads Fee charges 15% when you make a sale from one of their off-site ads. It can be difficult for a designer to be discovered on Etsy, given the numbers of sellers and the ever-changing algorithms and terms set by Etsy.Įtsy charges a listing fee, a transaction fee, and a payment processing fee. There are designers who swear by Etsy sales as their main income source, but lately there have been grumblings about Etsy fees, policies, and the lack of seller-side customer service. LoveCrafts handles VAT and sales tax.Įtsy seems to be a love-it or hate-it platform for designers. If offers a number of filtering options to make it easy for customers to find their perfect project (and discover new-to-them designers). Because it also sells yarn, LoveCrafts is a destination site for the yarn-curious. LoveCrafts is a well-designed site with a global reach. There is a transaction fee for each pattern, with an additional selling fee charged for stores that sell between $40/month and $1,300/month. LoveCrafts is an easy option for many designers, as you can upload patterns directly or import from Ravelry. ![]() You may or may not want this! Are filters and search features available to help customers hone in on your products? Can users leave a review? How friendly is the user experience for both buyers and sellers?Īlways make sure you understand the current terms and conditions before signing up for a new sales platform. If you want to migrate or download your content, is that an option?Ĭan you offer coupon codes or other types of sales? Perhaps the platform offers site-wide sales or does advertising on your behalf. You may be required to make a pattern exclusive to that platform, but think carefully before you agree to such a restriction. Read all the terms and conditions to see how easy it is to discontinue a pattern, or close your store entirely, as this is forbidden in some venues. How much control do you have over your content?.Are those customers specifically looking for patterns or are they just general customers? Ravelry users can be assumed to be looking for knitting or crochet patterns, while the total number of Etsy customers is less important than the subset of those customers who would be looking for knitting or crochet patterns. The more users a site has, the more potential customers there are, but numbers don’t tell the whole story. Collecting and remitting this tax can be onerous to a small business, so choosing a platform that handles VAT and GST is important if you are selling to those countries. In Australia, this tax is called the Goods and Services Tax (GST). In many parts of the world, including the European Union and the United Kingdom, a Value Added Tax (VAT) must be collected from the consumer at the time of sale and paid to the taxing authority on a regular basis. Sales platform fees combined with payment processing fees-from PayPal, Stripe or others-can quickly affect profits, so keeping fees as low as possible is crucial. When deciding to sell digital patterns, consider these questions:Įach platform has its own fee structure, usually based on a percentage of the sale. ![]() As platforms come and go, spreading your reach to multiple platforms will help you weather the ups and downs of the popularity of any one platform. There are good reasons for selling patterns on more than one platform. However, a combination of factors-the growth in popularity of Instagram, the creation of new platforms for digital sales, and controversies surrounding Ravelry-has seen designers turn to additional sales outlets. Over the years, Ravelry has dominated the independent sellers market for its ease of use and large database. Thus, a handful of designers might become instant celebrities. As a popular social space for crafters, patterns could go viral through word of mouth. Ravelry grew by leaps and bounds and quickly became the place for designers to see and be seen. Consumers could search for patterns by type of item, yarn weight, designer, technique, hook/needle size, and more. Instead, anyone with a computer could upload a pdf pattern and sell it directly to the consumer. No longer did independent designers have to print and distribute paper patterns or hope that their designs would be picked up for one of the several slots available in a magazine. When launched in 2007, it revolutionized pattern selling for knitting and crochet designers. ![]()
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