Friday, December 28, 2018
Craftsy, Etsy or Shopify?
9:37 PM
You've probably heard by now that Craftsy dropped a shock on designers pretty much right before Christmas (nice, right?), with an email stating that many shops would be closed, and some would be allowed to remain but with no guarantee that all of your patterns would remain.
I was lucky enough to be one of the ones who would be staying, so I decided to wait and see how the dust settled before making any rash decisions about whether or not to close my Craftsy shop altogether. Most of my online sales come from Craftsy, and over the last couple of years my sales had increased significantly. I figured that if they removed any of my patterns, it would be the ones that hadn't ever sold many in the first place.
So imagine my shock this a.m. when I wake up to find to an email from Jen who tested my One Giant Stitch pattern for me, saying she posted a pic in a FB group and had lots of inquiries about the pattern, but it's not in my Craftsy shop. ??? So I go to my Craftsy site to check it out and.....
Three. Three patterns remain. And not even my most popular. I mean, these three may have been downloaded the most, but by no means has Fidget Spinner sold the most. It's all so crazy. Three. Out of like 40! They removed all but three. ðŸ˜
Luckily, after getting the initial email a couple of days before Christmas, I quickly (but still it took two or three days to get done) loaded all of my patterns into my Etsy shop, and tried to get it up to speed. I had badly neglected it for the last few years, b/c I had so many more sales via Craftsy.
So all my patterns were there in my Etsy shop this a.m., but all of my links, everywhere, still pointed to Craftsy. So this morning for 2+ hours, I changed ALL. the. links. UGH. The links on my pattern page used to link up to my Craftsy shop for each pattern, so now they finally all link to their page on Etsy.
If you ever notice that a link or website isn't working, please let me know. What a headache! I think I got it all lined up though. I can't believe they (Craftsy) just decided to drop it all on everyone with no warning AT CHRISTMAS. *sigh*
I've had some tell me I should look into shopify. Do any of you have experience with that? Do you like it? I just haven't had time to research it out yet.
Oh! And I got a message today, also, asking if I could check my site for malware..that her antivirus program wouldn't let her in. But in asking around, others can view just fine. Are any of you knowledgeable about this? Is there a way I can check into why some people aren't getting on, but others are? I can't tell that I have anything wrong with my site here. Help! So many computer-y things going on at the end of the year! No fun!! Any advice would be appreciated if you know how I can fix whatever reason that some aren't getting on.
Thanks for popping in! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year! I'll just be over here trying to figure out technical issues! 😣 Come find me on Etsy in 2019. Boo Craftsy. 😒
In fun news, b/c fun news is the best, stay tuned for the Intro post to the Harry Potter Sew Along, on January 15th. Bundles will be available soon from Fat Quarter Shop!! I'll link to it when it's available. I'm so excited to get started. I've got my work cut out for me. Actually it's not cut out yet at all, but if you'd like to cut it out for me, I'll give you my address and even bake you some cookies! 😄
Happy Pre-New Year's Weekend! Thanks for dropping by in these last few days of 2018!
xoxoxo

Labels:2018,31-day challenge,blog stuff,craftsy,etsy
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19 comments...:
Commiserations, Kelli. Not a fun way to be spending holiday time. I hope it gets sorted with a minimum of problems (uh-oh - we're talking IT here - that's never going to happen!). I have no personal knowledge, but it appears to me that Craftsy is trying to economise and it also seems to me that their new Craftsy Unlimited/Bluprint has not been the big success they'd hoped for. It doesn't suit me because on a low fixed income, I do not subscribe to anything. I can only imagine your angst at having your chief retail outlet pull the rug from under your feet. Okay, not quite but let's say they've replaced it with a much much smaller rug. I've never heard of Shopify so cannot offer any useful comment - although perhaps the fact that I've never heard of it might be worthy of note i.e. it's not so much "out there" as Etsy or Craftsy. Best wishes for a successful outcome and one you are happy with.
Hate to say it, but I have never hear of Shopify until your post :-( As for Craftsy, not one of my favorite sites from the get go; have usually gone to Etsy for patterns, etc
Hi Kelli,
I asked for a gift cert to Craftsy for Christmas to take a class or two and I got a gift cert to BluPrint for a whole year with the explanation that BluPrint owned Craftsy. So, I activated it. I'm still not sure what's going on, so I greatly appreciate your explanation about how it has affected you and what the options are for people like me. I am glad Etsy is an option and personally appreciate you putting links to patterns, etc there.
Sorry, I don't know anything about Shopify.
From my background with computer data, I can tell you the smartest thing for you to do is to have redundancy built in, so updating your Etsy setup is an excellent strategy. I'm sure other sewists like yourselves have some survival strategies as well.
I retired 2.5 years ago and hoped to sew and volunteer. Since then I have spent way too much volunteering and not enough sewing, so I am changing that balance in 2019. I have very specific interests - sewing, interior design, and useful, sellable crafts that I can sew, paint repair, frame, etc., so I appreciate your site.
Thank you again and good luck. Please post more info about this BluPrint stuff as you learn it.
Cheers, Elizabeth Marchak
My head hurts just reading your post. :( I have sold on Etsy for over 10 years and it has been mostly okay. They went public and have had some changes but still seems a fair and safe place to sell. I have always heard "don't put your eggs all in one basket" so I am looking for another site on which to sell. Here's to new technical adventures in 2019! Happy New Year! :)
I wrote Craftsy an email, complaining about what they are doing, last week. I don't have a Craftsy shop. I have been considering making small things and selling them, but need to figure out a good 'shop' to do that with. I just went and re-pinned my favorites of your quilts, so that when I need them, I can actually find them.
I'm upset over this Craftsy thing and I don't even have a shop. I did go through my pattern library and downloaded everything to my computer. Bought some stuff that I had favorited. Good thing too, because one of the shops had her stuff reduced down to two patterns! I can't even tell you how many she actually had but it was a lot. I found Craftsy in 2012 and learned how to make a quilt with Amy Gibson. I've enjoyed Craftsy ever since and always praised it. Now I am so sorry for what they have pulled on the designers. As for the person who can't access your patterns, she may have to adjust her antivirus settings to allow access to your site. I'm thinking she must have her virus protection set very high and that she should have an option to allow or disallow access to your site. That's the very basic knowledge I have to offer on that, especially since no one else has complained of the same issue.
You're the first seller I follow who has posted the results of the Craftsy purge. I knew the NBC/Universal purchase of Craftsy probably didn't bode well for the customer since it was clear that they wanted to migrate to a subscription service. I'm guessing that after all the incentives they've offered to get subscribers that many will not renew when their subscriptions come due. As far as other sale venues, I can't help since I don't use either Etsy or Shopify. I'm just not a big online shopper. Most of my Craftsy patterns were free.
Good luck trying to get everything going again. It was very Scrooge-like for Craftsy to pull this at Christmas.
Pat
Etsy is the best. Their prices are better than Amazon, and I've bought a ton of stuff from them in the past few years. Ditto on a low fixed income, so don't subscribe to anything. Best of luck with the change.
I am so angry with what Craftsy has done to the designers and not even notifying just customers, that I will not go back to them for anything but the classes I already have and can't download. I will not spend another penny there. If everyone, sellers and buyers, just left Craftsy, maybe they would learn about the support crafters and designers give each other. I've heard from several of the bloggers I follow about either being completely dumped by Craftsy or only having 3-4 patterns left up for sale. Just sick for the designers who only used Craftsy and have now been completely cut off from that income stream. I have purchased a few things from Esty and have heard good things about Shopify. I need to check them out. Deep breath, when a door closes I know a window will open and it will work out.
Just tried to shop at Shopify...definitely NOT like Craftsy or Esty! I don't have a clue how it works nor can I figure out how to even find out what they do except advertise for you or bump you up on Google searches. There isn't even a feature on Shopify to search for the shops using it. Meh!
The original Craftsy was so awesome. I lived in Denver so was in on it from almost the beginning. Their customer service was amazing and they only sold designer fabric and quality notions. I didn't like it when they started making their own fabric and I think that was the beginning of the end for me. The buy out by the big guys was good for the founders of Craftsy, but bad for the designers who had trusted them as had the customers. I don't like Bluprint at all...they tried to be all things to all people and I think they have lost a lot of us quilters/knitters because of their treatment of the designers. I don't understand the need to give a 10-day notice for something like this--especially at Christmas! Not good karma!
The way Craftsy have treated the designers who helped build their brand is despicable and it has put me right off supporting their site in the future. Good luck on Etsy!
Oh my goodness! Yes... All those LINKS!!! You poor thing. I feel your pain!
Kelli, I think you did well to get your patterns loaded to your etsy store. Craftsy/Blueprint has really burned bridges in the last month, and I suspect it will not recover from this. I spent much of yesterday downloading patterns in my Craftsy library. Today, I'll finish up with the non-quilting-related patterns, then cancel my membership. Who needs such a careless affiliation?
Here's to a happier, saner 2019!!
Craftsy was a user friendly place to find inspiration and share my projects. I will seek out other sources going forward. I am very unhappy with how Craftsy has been revised by the new owners. The Blueprint membership does not meet my needs. It is unfortunate for the designers and their customers. One door closes and another opens. Good Luck with your future endeavours.
I don't know about Shopify, but I have purchased patterns through PayHip without any problems at all. I also use Etsy for pattern downloads. I am SO glad that I did not follow through with any of the Bluprint offers to subscribe - I have zero plans to spend any more money with them for anything. I am very upset with the way they treated all of you - instructors, pattern sellers, etc. - true corporate greed. Sigh.
So sorry about how badly the designers have been treated. It is despicable not to give a decent period of notice of such a big change. I would be surprised if anyone has paid full price for anything in recent times as there seems to have been one Sale after another!In terms of "visibility" why change the name? "Craftsy" tells you what it does - but what does Bluprint mean? I've never heard of them...
I was completely dumped by Craftsy. Next, this technologically challenged crafter needs to find a new way to sell. HA! Craftsy was so uncomplicated. Good luck to us all.
Cheryl
I've bought a few things through Shopify before but only because the stores I was shopping at used it as a payment system. I like Etsy a lot and find it easier to navigate than Craftsy. In fact, I've already favorited your shop in my account. I'm horrified by what Craftsy did to so many designers!