---

In January 2014, EcommerceBytes surveyed over 12,000 online sellers and asked them to rate the marketplaces on which they had experience selling. An introduction to the Sellers Choice survey along with a summary of the overall ratings can be found here, along with links to results for each of the 16 online marketplaces included in the survey.

Profitability:

Customer Service:

Communication:

Ease of Use:

Would you recommend:

Artfire.com
Year Established: 2008
Description: Handmade and vintage goods, fine art, digital arts and craft supplies
More Info

Summary:
ArtFire attracts sellers of handmade and vintage goods. It is not a pay-for-performance model - rather, sellers pay $12.95 a month for unlimited listings and their own custom store. It seems clear from the comments that sellers must do a lot of work to promote their listings themselves, a feature some sellers accept and others dislike.

ArtFire is popular with its loyal sellers, though it alienated some when it went to a paid-only model, and some users feel the site is too "cliquey."

Some sellers liked the fee structure. "Whether you sell a little or alot, Artfire has a set fee only. There are no listing fees or seller commission fees. You get to keep more of you hard earned money."

"I love the all inclusive monthly fee," wrote another seller. But others complained of low sales - said one, "It's possible to use it similarly to a stand alone web site where you bring your own traffic in to purchase," but also said buyers appreciate the "buy without being a member" feature.

Yet one seller reported "a tremendously profitable couple of years" due to the ability to build her ArtFire studio as a website and said, "Once a studio is established, it just builds from there. It is not for someone who only wants to list and run; you must be willing to work on your business."

But another seller saw that as a disadvantage: "We were told we could treat our store as a stand alone site and it was our responsibility to drive traffic to that store."

One seller mentioned some features that are wanting and the lack of ease in selling internationally. "They don't offer the ability to add variations on listings or print shipping labels. Also, to ship to Europe, I have to list every country I ship to, instead of using regions, which means each country has to load and usually times out."

ArtFire finished in 12th place and received its lowest score for Profitability (3.74) and highest score for Ease of Use (5.22). It received a 4.75 for Communication and a 4.72 for Customer Service. It received a 4.15 from sellers when asked, "How likely are you to recommend ArtFire as a selling venue to a friend or colleague?"

Reader Comments:The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

ArtFire has great tools for selling my handmade creations. The forums are friendly and supportive.

Whether you sell a little or alot, Artfire has a set fee only. There are no listing fees or seller commission fees. You get to keep more of you hard earned money. If you have questions, the forums are full of helpful sellers helping answer questions and the small staff they have answer their emails in a timely manner. They also have a lot of great reading material to educate sellers that can be used in any venue on any selling site.

Great social media, set rate a month, and found in Google! Easy to make collections, and promote! Opened second shop this year. No listing fee..flat rate. High rating, and they communicate with you on Facebook too.

Lots of great tools, no fees or commissions so very economical.

Artfire is a fabulous venue that provides sellers with tools to create their own small business online. The staff is great and customer service has been very speedy with me. A small monthly fee, no sales or listing fees...this is just wonderful! Absolutely no complaints about this venue.

I love the ease of selling on ArtFire. Have been there for over three years now and highly recommend it if you are willing to work hard on SEO and promote, promote, promote. Several artist friends have signed up (after explaining the site) and they are happy, too. Very friendly artists and the ArtFire staff are in almost constant communication. I highly recommend ArtFire.

Ease of using site. I was able to reach ArtFire founder directly by phone to ask for his help for vintage sellers' questions. No final valu fee. ArtFire helps sellers by keeping us up-to-date on changes and problems. Their responses are timely and honest. Great technical help too.

Since arriving here, I've had nothing but a fantastic experience - helpful sellers, excellent exposure, knowledgeable and attentive administrators

I did well on Artfire the first 2 years and appreciative of low shop fee and no other fees. I also appreciated the site "uploader" which uploaded existing listings from other sites directly to my Artfire shop with a few cicks and some minor changes. However, listing issues (beyond the uploader) again were time consuming, as each item or variation needed completely separate listing. For a seller of 1000's of craft supplies, handmade supplies and more, I spent more time writing listings than selling. Site traffic became another issue as I was expected to "pull my own traffic" in between all the time spent with multiple listings. I also didn't appreciate the "communication tools" (or lack there-of on-site which made it difficult to communicate with customers or inquiries. Although I listed frequently, my sales trailed off and even the low monthly shop fee couldn't persuade me to stay. I closed my shop/studio in November 2013 after four years. I would recommend Artfire to a seller with a small inventory who has plenty of time to list and promote and perhaps does not depend solely on Artfire sales for income. A good site (staff friendly enough) for showcasing the "Artisan", however, not for consistent sales.

Artfire is a great up and coming venue that is soon going to give Etsy a run for its money. I love the all inclusive monthly fee!

I have had a tremendously profitable couple of years on Artfire due to the ability to build my studio as a website. The sellers on Artfire are willing to help, and there is always a direct link to management for answers. Once a studio is established, it just builds from there. It is not for someone who only wants to list and run; you must be willing to work on your business.

I've tried Artfire a number of times and their customer service and communication is horrible. They used to really care about their sellers, but it's obvious they don't any longer. I have sold very little on their site.

I had a store on Artfire for quite some time and rarely had sales from it, even though my products sold well on other sites.

I find little interest in vintage sellers by other sellers and the administration. I am still there only because I sell enough to cover my very low costs. December was a pretty good month but other months have been very ho-hum. Listing is time consuming and often the site is slow or maybe down when I try to list.

Traffic on Artfire is low, hence it is difficult to make sales and/or turn any type of profit selling on that site.

Used artfire a while ago, only had 4 sales but profited even with monthly fees paid. I left when they raised their rates and had no sales, may go back in the future if other sites don't provide profit.

I received a fair amount of sales when I sold on Artfire but their system and customer service is terrible.

This past year my sales and ease of page loading dropped, possibly because they added commercial category to the venue. I still do have a few return customers who like the anonymity of it's "buy without being a member" feature. It's possible to use it similarly to a stand alone web site where you bring your own traffic in to purchase.

It seems the time frame I tried Artfire, they were overwhelmed with new sellers. I felt I had little help and fellow sellers weren't friendly but more cut-throat.

The site owners constantly make promises they don't keep about improvements. Site is so buggy you can't work on it half the time. The forums have bullies and very rude people that Artfire allows to run wild. Worst thing ever would be; don't buy in to any of their plans for life, they're not and you get ripped off.

Artfire is still too US-centric. I'm unable to collect Canadian taxes, sell in anything other than USD, and I can only use PayPal as a payment processor. The site is getting left behind by so many other ecommerce options. They don't offer the ability to add variations on listings or print shipping labels. Also, to ship to Europe, I have to list every country I ship to, instead of using regions, which means each country has to load and usually times out. The forums can still be toxic and unpleasant.

Lovely site but very expensive with less traffic than I expected.

Artfire is a decent venue to sell my wares. There are still a few bugs for them to workout, but overall not a bad site.

I love their helpful attitude and involvement with the site, I have not had a lot of sales so I had to deduct a point. I also deducted a point on ease of use since I don't think I can transfer listing from Seller Source Book so I have to do each listing twice if I want to list the item elsewhere.

IF I sell something, there are less fees than elsewhere. But it is difficult to get the traffic of other sites.

Very very slow sales - horrible infighting amongst some of the sellers on the forums. A losing proposition. Not worth bothering with.

Sellers Choice Awards:
We thank all readers who took the time to rate the marketplaces. If you have comments about the survey results or the survey itself, please feel free to post them in the EcommerceBytes Blog.

---

About the author:

Ina and David Steiner are publishers of EcommerceBytes.com and have been writing about ecommerce since 1999.

See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.

You may quote up to 50 words of any article on the condition that you attribute the article to EcommerceBytes.com and either link to the original article or to www.EcommerceBytes.com.
All other use is prohibited.

Sign up for our Email Newsletters


Email this story to a friend.

14 of 18