Dedicated Leathercraft Market Place

[SpruceMoose]

On 11/30/2021 at 8:44 AM, PastorBob said:

For those interested in selling their leather products online, there is a dedicated market place getting up and running.  It will be limited to handcrafted merchandise and avoid all the bulk made items that are listed on Etsy now.  The shop setup is free and there are no commissions to list your items.  Only a 6% commission on each sale.  I am familiar with the owners of the site, but am not affiliated (other than listing my wares) with them in any way.  Just thought it would be another avenue.  Like I said, it is just starting up, but the owners are excellent at Search Engine Optimization (SEO), so I am sure in no time there will be some traffic.  

Here is the link.  https://www.internationalleatherclub.com/marketplace/

Looks nice, but looks more geared towards leather crafters rather than buyers, in regards to having to sign up, sign in to shop, guest checkout is a must in this day and age, imo. There is no cart icon.

Also with rifle slings, take note that paypal also has strict terms regarding any weapon accessories, and many people accept paypal. It's all in seo anyways, whether one considers that lying or not. I sell my slings as leather slings/sportsman strap. squeaky clean seo and tags is a must, never mention  firearms or hunting. Category listing as well makes a huge difference in bot sweeps on certain selling platforms. It's all bots combing every word you use and category.

 

One awful foolish thing etsy has done, is put the hunting/fishing category under the umbrella of outdoor recreation, which also has children/baby toys, which means etsy auto suggests/advertises under those, AND you get double hit by bots combing the hunting category for weapon violations, but also combing for children/baby toy safety.

Edited November 21, 2023 by SpruceMoose

[jrdunn]

Just as an FYI/update.  I clicked on the link to see if it was still up and running.  McAfee flagged it as a suspicious site.  Don't know why, they don't mention that.

[deboardp]

When I started out as a remodel contractor in 1982 I listed with a similar outfit and it helped me get business and stay busy. However after two years I realized that the 5% of each sale I made was the equivalent of at least 10% of my net profit and sometimes more, depending on subcontractor expenses. I had to pay 5% of all the expenses and overhead I had, not just my profit. On some jobs I wound up paying 20% or more of the sale price. It was then I realized that company was getting the cream off the top. I brought it up with the owner of the outfit and he didn't want to negotiate something more fair so I quit our relationship. 

My overhead was always half of the sale price of a job, and job materials were a portion of the other half. 

 

Edited November 23, 2023 by deboardp
Typos

[PastorBob]

Been a while since I have been on...life has been crazy.  To date, I have sold one, yes, one item through the site.  I have since set up my own website and am selling stuff there.  I am also still listing stuff on etsy with moderate success.  As far as pricing, I built in the fees into my prices.  No real loss, just another revenue stream.  Thanks for the feedback.