Toronto Craft Alert

TCA correspondent Denise Ing spoke with several up and coming designers at the Spring OOAK show about how having an online presence factors into their business.  Their perspectives vary more that you might think….read on for the dirt on selling online vs. at traditional shows, and feel free to comment on this post with your own experiences.

Virtually handmade
By Denise Ing

With no signs of the global recession waning, vendors may have suffered more than the usual nerves on the first day of the 2009 One of a Kind Spring Show. Having built a display, transported their goods, and readied themselves for the impending 11 hour days at their booth, vendors count on a big craft show like the OOAK to draw big crowds to their work.

bags by Jenna Rose

Jenna Greenberg has good reason be confident about the OOAK; she enjoys a solid customer base in Toronto for Jenna Rose, her line of handmade fashion and home accessories. At her fifth OOAK Show, Jenna expects to do brisk business – both retail and wholesale.

About a year ago, Greenberg decided to expand her market and set up her own online shop on her website. The results have been mixed. “Usually, if I get some press, especially online press, then I’m kind of overwhelmed with orders through it. Otherwise, it’s kind of hit and miss,” says Greenberg.

For Greenberg, selling her products at a traditional market like the OOAK is the obvious choice. “I do better at the Show than I do online,” states Greenberg.

Judy Black also sells her screen printed t-shirts and accessories on her own website but is considering signing up with Etsy, the online craft market launched in 2005. “[Research has told me that] it would be great to be on [Etsy] because there’s so much traffic. Everyone knows about it,” says Black, “My own website is great but no one really knows about it, unless I do shows like [OOAK] or word of mouth, whereas everyone knows about something like Etsy. I probably should be on there.”

pillow by Judy Black

Online craft markets like Etsy are fast becoming an appealing alternative to craft shows amongst craft sellers and buyers, despite the seeming disparity of a virtual market for handmade goods. In hard economic times, craft entrepreneurs may become increasingly reluctant to gamble the money and time required to be part of a traditional craft show.

At first glance, virtual craft markets require less of a commitment than real craft shows. With some digital photographs and a few clicks of the mouse, any craftsperson is able to set up shop from the comfort their home or studio, bypassing the trouble of building and marketing their own website. The costs are also comparatively low with a charge of 20 cents per item for a listing of four months, plus a 3.5% fee when a sale is made.

The 2009 Spring Show is only Sasha Barry’s second OOAK but she has been on Etsy since January 2007, where she has sold her line, Track and Field Designs, to customers as far as Europe. “Etsy is fantastic,” enthuses Barry, “It’s very easy to use and it really gets your product out to the entire world.”

While she admits that having customers interact with her work in person “makes a big difference,” Barry finds the online market a natural fit for her personality. “Online is good for me because I’m very shy, and not really a salesperson,” admits Barry.

Sarah Shell is currently balancing both virtual and real world marketing for 442 McAdam, her high end line of bags. “There’s much more exposure [at] a market such as [the OOAK]. The difference is the effort that I have to put into it. The effort is minimal for online shopping,” says Shell, “I think sales are better at these [craft shows] but you also invest a lot, especially with a luxury product like [442 McAdam]. For me, it’s more [feasible] to do online.”

With their comparative ease, low start up and maintenance costs and the possibility of raising one’s profile worldwide, the benefits of selling craft on online markets are obvious but Shell has encountered problems with customer accessibility to her profile on Etsy. “It’s hard to get people to actually go to your [Etsy] site,” explains Shell, “The name of my line is two separate words. You have to type it together and you have to know what to scroll under. It’s been a little difficult getting people to go to the right place.”

clutches by Klutch

Sonia Pinto has encountered similar problems with her line of bags, Klutch. “I find that unless you pay [up to $15 USD] to advertise on the [showcase] pages, it’s really hard to maneuver,” says Pinto, “We haven’t had very good success with [Etsy] yet, but we haven’t actually posted all of our line.”

The unique nature of craft can also run into conflict with the quick click commerce of the internet. “Our product is a little bit hard because we sometimes do one offs. We don’t have a product line that we mass produce. So, it’s very hard to upkeep,” explains Pinto, “That’s why we haven’t really gotten [Klutch] on there, because we might only have one or two of a certain bag. So, we have to figure out a way to make that work out the best for us, without having to update [listings] every single day.”

With over 100,000 sellers on Etsy, its vendors may become victims of the website’s success. Greenberg has resisted the Etsy trend, choosing to sell her Jenna Rose products online exclusively on her website, based in part on the experience of friends on Etsy. “I know there’s a good online community [on Etsy], but it is fairly saturated right now, so I’m not sure if it would be worth my while to move from my own site to Etsy,” explains Greenberg.

Regardless of whether a craftsperson chooses to sell on a personal website or on Etsy, the need to create a web presence in addition to a real world one is apparent.

bag by Hoi Bo

Sarra Tang is one of those rare young OOAK vendors who does not sell her handmade clothing and accessories line, Hoi Bo, online. “With internet, it’s like owning a retail store. There’s a lot of management that goes with it,” says Tang.

“Do I intend to set something up? Probably within the next year. I’m not a technie person so I haven’t even gotten around to really fully launching a website yet. But, I definitely need to. I see the importance of it.”