I got fed up with Fiverr this week. I've been listed on that site for a number of years now, offering my card readings. I have had a number of orders over the years, always receiving 4 or 5 stars. However, it's never been a huge source of income with only occasional orders - which was fine with me, but it means that in Fiverr's sense, I'm not incredibly active. They would occasionally send me an e-mail telling me that my gigs will go "inactive" if I do not log in soon... so, I go in, be active enough, and that threat goes away.
Sometime in the past year, they stopped sending out that first e-mail, only giving me the second one which says: "we have deactivated your gigs because you didn't respond." (or something to that effect.)
This time, I sent them a support request asking them to start telling me in advance again - and, by the way, how frequently must I log in and/or make changes to remain "active." They couldn't answer these questions - first treating me like I was stupid, then just saying "frequently" - as if that's supposed to answer the other question.
Yeah, okay...
And for a company that retains 20% of what I earn?
So, then I looked for other sites that could take my readings. Not everyone likes this sort of thing because it's not "tangible" enough for many sites. In fact, I used to have a store on Etsy until they did a psychic purge and most card readers left the site completely.
Most of the alternatives given for Fiverr weren't very active at all (i.e. no card reader with more than half a dozen people leaving feedback - even over months and months without on-site competition) or completely gone. However, I discovered at the same time that Etsy was now allowing card readers again. So, I decided to give Etsy another chance.
Pantheosity
Looks like I may need more than one shop front, lol. This one is meant to cover pagan and alternative spirituality primarily. Readings, images, other products as I develop them.
I see in my YouTube perusing that there is are a good deal of disgruntled Etsy sellers out there - mostly about high fees. However, considering that when I sell pictures through CafePress, Zazzle or Redbubble, I only get 10% of the take, being able to keep 80% is a lot better, even though the products will generally have lower prices. I think that the fees at Etsy are more likely to be a problem in physical products rather than the digital products I will be specializing in - something to keep in mind for the future.
I have run into a couple of listing hiccups - that I hope to get resolved soon as I joined a group on Facebook to help beginning sellers get a leg-up. As such, I haven't been able to list my readings yet, but hope to this week. In the mean time, I've listed some of the pagan-related pictures that I've taken in the past - both as artwork and as stationery.
Here's one that I listed...
I GIMPed it to sit on a wall, like it might do in someone's home after they print it. One of my all-time favorite macro images from Glastonbury, England. Take a look in my new store.
Here's some stationery that I designed in GIMP with another picture I took in England (at Stonehenge.) It might be great for a handfasting announcement... (I plan to figure out some actual announcements soon.) Take a look here.
I'm still working on products to add (at $0.20 per listing) - there should be a large number eventually.
Oh, and if you're thinking that Shopify might be another alternative, I couldn't verify that what I want to sell (card readings) is even allowed there - and they do seem to want money very quickly... I'm not convinced it's a better option than Etsy. Big Cartel is another runner-up, but even with a premium membership, I'd be limited to 300 listings. I plan to have a lot more than that! So, for the moment, Etsy appears to be the best match.
Goal 1: ONE sale - to pay for my listings thus far. Not a big goal, but it gets the ball rolling.
I'll let you know when I've got the readings listed and hopefully a lot more pictures and products. I have lots of ideas now - but some of it will take time to implement as I develop templates to help me create more efficiently.
Until next time!
Images taken by myself in England on my Pentax K100D.
Previous issues of Adventures in Art Ventures
Places to Sell your Art on Products - Yes: RedBubble, DeviantArt, Picfair (for now), TeePublic (for now.)
I Survived 2020... - sometimes a commission is a simple request on Facebook. (Where can I buy...?)
Art from Photography
Artistic Allium
Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
(Buy my work at RedBubble, TeePublic, PicFair and DeviantArt.)
verified author on Goodreads
(Buy my books at Books2Read and at LBRY)
