First thing I noted after sign up was how much I liked the Start Page setup. There are tabs for My Account, My Store, Communicate, Shopping Cart, Feedback and Favorites. It is nice having everything right there. Having everything right there makes so many things so much easier to accomplish – less clicking page to page to get things done or noted for the future. (click to enlarge)
The store set up was not as quick and easy. I had troubles with setting up some default profiles (which are necessary if you want to import listings directly from Etsy, or eBay...click here to read their thread on how to do this). You can enter numerous shipping, tax & pricing profiles. I still don’t fully understand the Pricing Profile, maybe it just does not apply to the kinds of listing I have. Once I got the defaults set up (I just did a fake pricing profile) I went to import items from Etsy…but it looks like it imports ALL the items, so I skipped it. I was only interested in moving over a few items. (click pic to enlarge)
The actual listing of the item was a breeze. You only get 4 photos, but you can have 2 videos as well. It says you can upload more than one pic at a time using the ctrl-shift dialog…but I have no idea what they mean. I saved without finishing the shipping profiles, but it was an easy fix. Editing can be done right on the Listing View page…wonderful feature! I really love the pop up windows on every page when the cursor rolls over something – more information without more clicking. (click pic to enlarge)
This is what the store page looks like:
One feature I really enjoy are the "heart and gear" pull down menus available at all times. The Favorites (the heart) lets you easily mark faves as you browse around. You can favorite the entire page, the store, the items or the category. Next to it is another pull down menu for printing the page, subscribing (rss), e-mailing and inviting friends. Common tasks are also available for adding items, viewing feedback, sending a message, going to your blog or viewing your profile. This is just one more way Silkfair keeps everything at your fingertips. (click pic to enlarge)
If you are interested in signing up - please take a moment to note me as referer using this link - thank you :)added: They now have separate areas for production types when you list: Handmade (with options for One of a Kind, Mass produced and Limited Edition), Vintage or Antique (with era choices and styles)
Hey, there!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review! A step by step Etsy import is explained here: http://www.silkfair.com/forum/thread/821
There also are the special tags for handmade, vintage, the category tree within each shop, blogs and forums for each member, etc.
I do hope you enjoy your Silkfair experience, have sales and a lot of fun, too!
Alice
Great information on Silkfair! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBack to underline some things:
ReplyDeleteTo upload multiple pics, you just have to hold down ctrl key and select multiple files, and all files will upload at same time and display progress indicator bar for each file being uploaded.
Price profile is to set default attributes such as shirt sizes (small, medium, large), default quantities when listing (can be left blank), and default prices when listing (can be left blank).
I hope this helps.
Alice
Thanks Silkfair :) I knew I had to be missing something rather easy with the pic upload.
ReplyDeleteI am still a dork with the price profile...I got the impression that there has to be a default price profile in order to upload etsy listings - it wouldn't let me until I had one...but they are of no use to me b/c everything is OOAK w/different $$$.
But I only wanted to bring over 2 or 3, so manual is easy enough.
You're most welcome!
ReplyDeleteHere are more detailed info on setting up various profile (templates) : http://www.silkfair.com/forum/thread/20
They are basically a handy way so that you get to have reduced number of listings but be able to sell a wide variety of similar items. Additionally, you can also make copies of listings or make a listing template. http://www.silkfair.com/forum/thread/349
There are new identification markers now for Handmade, Vintage, Antique and Eco-friendly goods. We're working on creating special sections for these products. http://www.silkfair.com/forum/thread/868
By the way, we will soon offer an independent custom store option for sellers. Fully customizable (your own domain, you own brand, control over layout, desig, html/css ). We're wrapping up on an online tool right now so that this option is workable by sellers not familiar with html. A number of customizable templates will be provided too. So, if you know how to get set up on blogger.com, it'll be similar.
Here are more info on the customizable shop option :
http://www.silkfair.com/forum/forum/55