Get A Free Shop At Payhip!

Many undesirable changes have taken place at POD sites like Redbubble, Society6 and TeePublic. Sellers have been leaving these venues, looking for others avenues through which to sell their designs. One thing that I also do is sell printables/digitals of my POD designs at my own, free shop. I use Payhip. 

Payhip is not a marketplace but it is a GREAT site to host your own shop. I am not an affiliate trying to make money. I'm just sharing because I know all of the great benefits that Payhip offers. You can sell digitals, courses, subscriptions, memberships, coaching, and they recently introduced physical product selling. 

Payhip is owned by 2 brothers in the UK and the company is profitable. It won't be folding like so many other sites that have disappeared over the years. At Payhip, you are on your own with marketing but they offer powerful marketing tools. There is no community except for a FB group that is not very active. I do miss being able to connect with other sellers in an official way. Other than that, I love my shop!

Payhip is a great opportunity for anyone who is willing to do their own marketing. They have great marketing tools and a robust shop builder. They offer shop themes but you have total control over the design. You don't have to build a shop if that challenges you. You can sell through individual links to your blog, website, etc. 

They don't yet have integration with POD sites so that you can sell there through Printify, Printful, etc., like sellers do at Etsy. I don't know if they are planning to add that feature. Here are the available Payhip integrations. 

Payhip payment processors are Paypal and Stripe so sellers get paid instantly. The free subscription plan, with a 5% transaction fee, offers the same features, including unlimited listings, as the 2 paid plans. Isn't that wonderful! We don't see that at other selling venues.

Good luck to everyone who are making big moves because of unfavorable changes at these POD sites. You can see Printaphoria, my Payhip shop, here.

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Society6 Introduces Mandatory Subscriptions

Well, I got my notice today to choose a subscription plan. I chose free and have reduced my 41 designs to 10. I had recently reopened my shop and was building it up again. I am going to focus on 10 Christmas designs. 

 

After the holidays, I'll decide how to proceed with my account. Changing out the 10 for seasonal/holidays throughout the year will not work because marketing traction will be lost each time. The only other option I can think of is to choose a gallery of 10 of my evergreen, coordinated designs and keep those up. I would focus on marketing them in various formats and advertising graphics that I haven't taken time to use before. 

 

I have a fruit drawing for which I've been thinking about making a surface design collection. I could then also focus on designing for the S6 individual products, which I haven't been taking the time to do. This is the time to stop procrastinating and do that if I want to keep my acct after the New Year. Because of the name of my shop and the address, I may close it and open a new shop with a name that would better represent my new surface design collection.

 

So much for recently coming back to S6 but I'm not mad at them, RedBubble, TeePublic, or any of the other venues that have made these types of changes. Everyone is struggling and we all have to do what we have to do to make it. What they have had to do doesn't have to stop me. It can inspire and invigorate me, if I allow it to. 

 

I am glad that Society6 has included the free, 10-design subscription. If they had not, I probably wouldn't be thinking about developing my fruit design collection. Creating a surface design collection like this is where I need to increase my skills. Now, I've been motivated.

 

 

Society6 Versus Redbubble: Features Comparison

You are creating designs and you want to sell them on POD products. You are considering Society6 or Redbubble. Which should you go with? 

You could open a shop at each, but if you want to choose one or the other, hopefully my comparison will help you to decide.

Society6

• Many mockups are bland and uninteresting. 
• One mockup for most products.
  
• No pet products (bowls, pet bandanas, mats) other than pet art.
  
• Somewhat laborious new design upload, 3 initial image dimensions required to enable most  products.
• Products editing is time-consuming, separate editing window opens, must open another separate window within editing window to see real-time edits.
• No Set Background Color product editing feature.
• No choose pattern feature.
• Lower profit margins on most products than Redbubble.
• Giftwrap and wallpaper products available.
• Drapes and sheers available.
  
• No hardcover journals or postcards products.
• No kiss-cut stickers. 
• No all-over print aprons.
  
• Nice 2nd greeting card mockup. 
• Boring shower curtain mockup.
• Standard apparel products.
• Have to sign back in whenever I visit site.
• No lifestyle templates promotional feature.
• No download original image/design feature.
• No activity feed.
• To like designs you have to click into the design page.
• No copy current design to create new listing feature.
• Takes extended time for listing page (Manage Posts) to load all products.
• Has warning popups regarding possible copyright offenses.
   

Redbubble 

• Pretty mockups, rooms and better perspectives.
• Several mockups for most products.
  
• Pet products (bowls, pet bandanas, mats), a big marketing niche.
• Easy and fast new design upload, only 1 initial image required to enable most products.
  
• Products editing is swift and easy, editing window opens up immediately within all products window, real-time edits can be seen (while editing) on product in all products window without closing editing window. 
• Set background color editing feature, useful for designs that do not cover entire product surface, can set background color to blend in with design.
• Choose pattern tiling feature, regular or offset.
  
• Higher profit margins on most products than Society6.
• No giftwrap or wallpaper products.
• No drapes or sheers
• Hardcover journals and postcards products available.
• Kiss-cut stickers available.
• All-over print aprons available.
  
• Boring greeting card mockup. 
• Pretty shower curtain mockups.
  
• More variety of apparel products. 
• Never have to sign back in.
• Lifestyle templates smart layers promotional feature to mockup products and share to social media.
• Download original image/design feature.
• Has personal activity feed making it convenient to see who follows and likes. 
• You can like designs from the thumbnails.
• Copy current design (which includes enabled products and settings) to create new listing. Great for variations.
• Listing page (Manage Designs) loads fairly quickly.
• Shop is closed if RB detects a copyright offense.
  

I like the variety of products at Society6, especially the drapes, sheers and outdoor products. I like Redbubble's pet products and how quickly I can list a new design. I recently returned to S6 because I missed their products so much. 

I also returned because one of  my two RB shops was immediately closed down because of a copyright offense of which I was unaware. It was not regarding licensed products but was because of a name I had given one of my crafted items that I had scanned and uploaded as a digital. Someone had copyrighted that name. You can search copyrights at this site United States Patent And Trademark Office. 

Losing that shop taught me a lesson. I should be checking all of my special product names before offering the corresponding images for sale. I don't check my generic-named images. The image that caused me to lose my RB shop was named Treetown. It is a whimsical, watercolor painting that I had done years ago. After RB emailed that I had lost my shop, I went to the Trademark Office site and searched. I found several copyrights for the word Treetown, Tree Town, TreeTown. Some where by the same person. Others were not but I guess there was a difference in the registration that allowed the word to be registered by various people.

When I uploaded my watercolor painting image and used my old name for it, Treetown, RB detected it and my shop was immediately shut down. RB does not give the designer much recourse. One thing that they tell you in the email is that if you should write to protest, they don't even have to read or accept your email. I guess they just don't have time because of all of the copyright offenses, those that are intentional and unintentional. It is the designer's responsibility to ensure that no one has copyrighted the name of their design. 

I think I had over 100 designs when my shop was shut down. I was so proud of all of the work that I had done. I was in shock after I lost my shop. I did not try to contact RB to apologize and try to have it reopened. I decided to reopen my S6 shop (I'd closed it in Jan 2023 not long after I'd opened it) and I'm in the process of uploading most of the designs that had been at the RB shop. I need to rename my Treetown painting and check the name at the Trademark office before I list it.

I currently have a shop at both. By the time you read this post, who knows? You can take a peek if you want to see how I've laid mine out.

Draw Nigh To Hope Redbubble

Draw Nigh To Hope Society6

 

Is Selling On Redbubble Worth It?

It's worth it, for now, for these reasons:

• I can see my designs on products that I will most likely never produce.
• It's free to list.
• I'm not required to upload a certain of designs in any time frame.
• I can be as absent or as active uploading designs as I want to be.
• I always retain the copyright for all of my design. 
  
• There is no contract and I can leave the site whenever I want.
  

These features are generally for any POD venue. I just happen to be at RedBubble.

I also do other things with my designs. I create printables and digitals for my own shop. Diversification is key for me. If I was designing and only selling at RB, I don't think that I'd be successful enough because of the volume of sellers. I also abhor designing for trends and popularity. I want to design what I want. What makes me happy. I am trying harder, though, to occasionally incorporate some trending ideas and motifs into my work. 

If you regularly study trending ideas, motifs and designs and cleverly incorporate them into your work, it will help increase your sales. 

Sources For Graphic Design Ideas

Check out Google Trends for ideas. 

The 12 Most Inspiring Graphic Design Trends for 2023 

Graphic Design Trends 2023: From Anti-Branding to Vivid Minimalism - Envato 10 Design Trends That Will Shift the Vibes in 2023 

 2023 Graphic Design Trends Report | Dribbble

Payhip Upgrades Their Memberships Selling Feature

Payhip upgraded their membership selling feature and have this to say:

It’s been entirely rebuilt from scratch to help you sell any type of membership to your customers. With memberships you can now add “Posts” which let you share content with your members in a flexible & interactive way. Of course you’ll also be able to upload any files you’d like with each membership post. You can also allow your members to comment on posts, building up a community around your membership...

 This link leads to their announcement about their upgraded system for selling memberships.

Payhip is a great place to sell your memberships, courses, music, digitals, physical products, subscriptions, etc. You can join for free and open a free shop or use their selling links feature to sell your products from your website or blog. When are you going to take advantage of this remarkable selling venue?

Payhip was started by 2 brothers, Abs and Kahin Farah, who live in England. Payhip is a profitable company that is doing very well. I'm happy to say that I don't expect them to fold like so many selling venues have done over the past several years. Check out this site, which if full of features for sellers and totally free to join and open a shop or use their selling links.

Where To Sell Online

You can get started selling your digitals, courses, physical products and more on Payhip for free. In this video, Payhip shows you how quick and easy it is to start your online business using their platform.

Payhip provides the easiest way to sell any digital products such as digital downloads, online courses, coaching, memberships, and physical products. Join over 130,000 sellers who have successfully launched their online businesses with Payhip.

Payhip is a great place to sell your creative products because:

• there are no listing fees,
• FVF is fair,
• you can list free products,
• sell digitals, printables, software, music, ebooks, subscriptions, courses, workbooks, fonts, presets, templates, etc.,
  
• no storage limit,
  
• physical product selling now available,
• owners are responsive and attentive,
• you can sell using embed buttons at your sites/blogs,
• build a shop using their robust shop builder,
• offer Paypal and/or Stripe,
  
• marketing and affiliate tools,
• and more!

Payhip is based in London and owned by Abs and Kahin Farah. They created it in 2011 and it is a profitable company. I was glad to learn this because that means that the site won't be going away any time soon. I've been through so many listing sites closing.  

I love being at Payhip! Why don't you give it a try?

Payhip Website How To Get Started

My Domain Shop Through Payhip

POD Can Be Good Passive Income

I reopened my Society6 shop so they can sell physical prints of my artwork and greeting cards. Of course, they sell designs on many other products. I will be primarily promoting my wall/framed art and greeting cards from this shop, though my designs will be available on many of their products.

I don't sell maker and handmades products anymore and am glad that I don't have to do packing and shipping anymore. I only sell my digital and printable graphic products from my own shop, Printaphoria. 

While artists don't receive a lot of money through POD, it's a great way to set up a passive income stream.

Set up your shop. Upload your designs. Write your product descriptions and add your keywords/search terms. Post your listing and move on to something else. 

 

There is, however, consistent promoting that you should do because competition is very stiff at all POD sites. I doubt if very many artists generate income by doing nothing, despite the great site traffic. Adding designs regularly will also help.

I used to be on Zazzle and Curioos but left a couple yrs ago. I was also at Society6 previously, which was the easiest POD site to leave. No problems. No headaches. No drama in closing my account. I'm glad to be back!

 

Visit my shop here:

 

https://society6.com/artsycrafterydesignstudio

Payhip Video Tutorial: How To Set Up Cross-Selling

Payhip is a great place to sell digitals, physical products, courses, subscriptions and other products.

From Payhip:

Payhip is an e-commerce platform that enables anyone to sell digital products or memberships directly to their fans and followers. You can embed Payhip directly into your website or you can use our storefront to sell your work. Payhip takes care of everything. We're an all-in-one ecommerce solution for creators.

There is a robust store builder and new features are always being added. Maybe you should open a shop there. Visit the Help Center for more info.

Artfire Gone And Etsy Raising Fees

Found out today that ArtFire shut down in December. They explain why here. I'm shocked, like I was when Dwanda shut down, but then again, I'm not. Things on the handmades and maker venues front began to collapse over a decade ago. I used to keep track as one listing site after another folded. I've now lost count. Even Cargoh is offline, showing an announcement page with a vague promise. 

Aftcra is just a facade, a ghost for a long, long time. No one answering, no one responding. The homepage still loads as if they are flourishing, except it displays the same 2017 and before product pics, just like at their Facebook page. Walk around at the majority of the blank sellers pages and hear crickets...

Etsy really is the lone handmades venue of some size and they've opened up to so many micro manufacturers that competition is grossly unfair. They also recently announced that they are increasing fees, again, from 3.5 to 5% starting on July 16. Sellers are again in an uproar. For some time they have regularly been in an uproar. 

Can handmades ecommerce continue to sustain these frequent fees increases? It would be devastating if Etsy shut down. I hope they don't have to. I closed my shop there months ago in favor of a Payhip shop with my own domain. I sometimes miss Etsy but with the upcoming fee increase, I admit that I'm glad I'm gone. So many categories of fees and frequent changes was exhausting, really. I like visiting and looking at certain types of products and I sometimes buy graphics and digitals.

I think Etsy would expand even further to include mid-manufacturers before they would fold. Unfortunately, that might cause the marketplace to look more like an American Aliexpress than it already does. It seems like the majority of craft supplies sellers are reselling rather than de-stashing, which was the original meaning of selling craft supplies. It's a fine but ugly line that Etsy has overlooked and will overlook more to remain online.   

Payhip Tools Increase Sales

One of the best features of the Payhip Store Builder is the ability to add listings to more than 1 category. I have never run across this tool in my years of online selling. Etsy does not even have it. I can't recall if eCrater or eBlueJay does. I know that I was always wishing that the feature was available when I was selling on various venues.

This multiple-listing-category tool is valuable in that it puts products in view of visitors who might not otherwise see them. They may visit one category not realizing that what they are seeking is in another one. Sometimes they look around, sometimes they don't. They may go to one category and leave. Many of my listings can be added to up to three related categories. This tool can certainly increase sales.

Always something good to discover at Payhip.

See the design of my Printaphoria shop. I have a domain name so my shop address does not use the Payhip sub-domain name anymore. I use shop.printaphoria.com Payhip added the ability to connect our shops to our domains in 2021.

See Payhip FAQs. 

Payhip Blog has a great articles on how to sell and increase sales.

Payhip

Payhip is trusted by over 130,000 sellers from across the world and is a successful venture.

Start selling your digitals, physicals, memberships/subscriptions and coaching services at Payhip today!

How To Write Ebooks That Sell

If you want to begin writing and selling successful ebooks or improve the success rate of your current ones, you need to read this well-written article. It's from Abs Farah at Payhip and is an easily-readible length. Packed with essential info on how to choose ebook subjects, it will guide you on writing ebooks that are in demand and that will sell.

Top Ebook Topic Ideas in 2021: What do readers want?

Some key points are:

Successful ebooks have a narrow focus. For the reader there’s a clear promise about what they’ll learn or how they’ll benefit. 

If there’s something you know a lot about there are almost certainly people out there looking to learn.

Bloggers, it could be that you have a lot of existing material that you’ve published on your blog. Pull all of this together, organise and edit it so that it has a very specific focus, give it a snappy title

No matter what you learn and what you decide to publish, remember the most important tip that Farah shares:

If your ebook lives up to the promise you’ll get great reviews, recommendations from your readers and more sales.

Abs Farah is one of the owners of Payhip, an online venue where creatives can sell ebooks, memberships, software, design assets, music or any type of digital products. This can be done directly to customers via individual links or their store builder.

Read the article, improve your publishing skills and open your Payhip account. Start selling from the best digital platform for e-commerce.

News: Baroqoo

 

 

 

Went to visit Baroqoo today and found out they shut down last year. I found this post by an Etsy seller dated 6/20:

 

I have just been in contact with the team at Baroqoo today after noticing that my monthly payment was not removed by PayPal. I was told that while Baroqoo is closing at the end of June, they did not feel comfortable taking payments for June. They said they did not have the success they had hoped for and that having public venues to get the Baroqoo name know came to a halt with Covid-19.

No new handmades selling sites seem to be able to make it anymore. While money can be a major issue and COVID threw a monkey wrench into the mix, I wonder if it's something else? I remember more failures before the virus hit. Many massively-successful enterprises in other industries made it through the most astounding odds. There just seems to have been a slump in handmades selling support during the past 10 yrs from which the cottage industry never recovered.

What do you think is the most significant cause(s) for the failure of new handmades selling venues?