The question we often see asked in seller chat forums is ‘should I use a selling platform or create my own website?’.
It’s a fascinating question which has obviously been on our minds since, oooh well at least when we started work on our own platform!
In this article, we’ll break down the options and things to consider when choosing how to sell online. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of using a selling platform (like us!) or going it alone into a brave new world with your own website.
Finally, we’ll finish up with some recommendations that hopefully suit your situation.
We hope we can help you to make up your mind, whatever you decide 🙂
Founding Made By Mums
Before we get into all that, here’s a little background on how we arrived at creating a selling platform ourselves, even though we only set out to create a small single seller shop in the first place!
As well as co-founding Made By Mums, I’m also a professional web developer by day, creating numerous websites for small and medium sized businesses.
We came up with the idea for Made By Mums when my other half Jo (our co-founder) was tackling the very same question when she started learning to crochet during her first pregnancy. As she did so, she began to wonder if she could sell her creations online.
After much searching, she concluded the costs involved were just too high, especially as the margins on producing and selling the items was already quite low.
As a web developer, I knew I could help, so we began to conceptualise what would become Made By Mums – primarily at first as a typical single seller website for Jo to sell her creations.
As we worked on it, it began to dawn on us that it could actually be much more. Perhaps we could help other mums and mums-to-be to sell profitably online, by becoming a selling platform ourselves.
It was a big step, but as soon as that exciting little egg was laid in our thoughts, we dedicated ourselves to ensuring our vision was hatched!
What we have now is a fully featured selling platform, showcasing over 1,000 creations from 135+ makers, and charging what we believe may be the lowest fees for a selling platform, anywhere out there.
Website or Selling Platform?
So, should you sign up with us? Or any other selling platform for that matter? Or, are you better off being the master of your own domain, quite literally, by creating your own website?
Well, if you sell handmade goods, the good news is the number of options out there is huge. Of course, the dominant player here is the mighty Etsy, with over 2.5 million active sellers.
However, there are many platforms to look at, from commonly known operators like Amazon Handmade and Not On The Highstreet, to smaller, upcoming UK platforms such as Folksy and Numonday (oh, and us of course! 😀)
If you’re considering using a selling platform, we recommend a good look at all the options out there before choosing.
Choosing a Selling Platform
If you’ve been thinking about selling platforms, whether you’re just starting up, or already use one and are looking at alternatives, here’s a few things you might like to consider.
Selling platform size and saturation
Larger selling platforms like Etsy have a mature and established base of buyers, who trust the platform, and who regularly buy from their sellers. A large addressable market of trusting buyers should mean more chance of making a sale when they come across your shop.
Of course, they also have vast numbers of sellers all competing for attention, so there’s a definite trade off between the two.
Selling platform costs
As we briefly touched upon earlier, it’s unfortunately the case that translating that uniquely crafted and wonderful item into an acceptable selling price that will also actually sell is one of your biggest challenges.
Typically, as you’re likely well aware, every penny counts. When you pay high fees, or have to cover up front costs that don’t scale with your sales (e.g. a monthly subscription), it can be demoralising to realise that that sale you made didn’t yield anything like the return you envisaged.
We know this first hand, as some of our sellers have been through this exact scenario, which is what led them to us.
When making your decision, remember to factor in the costs involved, thinking conservatively about how many sales you might expect, and what the associated costs would be for that. Which leads us onto…
Risks
While using a selling platform doesn’t require anything like the same level of outlay or effort that goes into building your own website, the risks are not minimal. Your time is precious, and it’s not just money you should think about.
There is a risk that the time you spend getting set up on a new platform might turn out to have been better spent optimising what you already have, growing your following on social media, or expanding your product range/skills.
Take into account your priorities and the stage your business is at when making any decisions.
Location
Depending on whether you’re planning to sell domestically, or further afield, certain platforms may be better suited to help you do so. As well as locations served, it’s worth taking note of any additional charges and policies (e.g. shipping) that may apply if you do sell internationally.
We currently address UK buyers and sellers only, but hope to expand soon! 🙂
Promotion, brand and standing out
Standing out in a crowded market is not easy. Larger selling platforms like Etsy and Amazon Handmade are well placed to help you ‘pay to win’ with a suite of advertising options that will get you noticed (although the former is certainly drawing ire right now because of it’s new opt-in by default ad policies).
Smaller platforms have more room to exhibit individual makers and their products, so you may be able to secure valuable promotion at minimal or no cost at all.
At Made By Mums, we absolutely love sharing new makes across our social platforms, as our makers will certainly know – featuring regular product roundups from new and established makers, and featuring select products in our posts.
It’s all part of the service 🙂
Sooo… Website or Selling Platform?
So, to our main question – should you nail your handmade mast to a selling platform, or set sail for the fair weathers of your very own website?
Well, let’s take a look at both options in a bit more detail and find out what’s right for you 🙂
1. Should I create my own website?
Crafting your own website can be truly exhilarating, knowing you have built your very own presence and are in total control of your destiny online. If that’s already you… well, go you!
But, we have to say it, but it’s really not all trumpets and fireworks. Deciding to go for your own website has drawbacks as well as advantages.
But first, template or custom design?
This is a huge subject and really needs a blog post all of its own, but put simply you have two choices when thinking about your own website. Do you use a builder, or get a custom site designed and built for you?
If you’re not technically minded, builders such as those provided by web hosts like GoDaddy and Wix, or managed ecommerce platforms such as Shopify are relatively inexpensive ways to get up and running with your own selling website.
The advantages of these are you can set up a website and customise it with your own colours and logo fairly painlessly, but you’re also limited to a range of templates and themes which they will provide.
Depending on your outlay, you may also experience issues such as slow loading pages, unsatisfactory displaying on mobile phones, and trouble getting your site to appear on Google search results.
A custom built website designed from the ground up for your business eliminates all these issues, and can provide a flawless way for you to exhibit your products and sell them online. But of course, commissioning a website in this vein has high (often prohibitively so) up front costs, and not inconsiderable ongoing costs for hosting and maintaining security.
Subscription based managed ecommerce websites
Another option to consider in a similar vein is what is termed a ‘managed’ website solution.
With this, you typically pay a small up front cost that covers things like website creation and importing your products, along with an ongoing monthly subscription fee that covers day to day maintenance and hosting of your website.
The advantages of this option is you can your own professionally designed, feature rich ecommerce website, without the up front costs of commissioning your own site from scratch. This option is a popular choice for businesses lacking the budget and scope to justify a large initial investment, but still want a professional online shop front to sell their products through.
If the advantages of having a managed website appeals to you, we offer this exact option, via great value pay monthly websites through our sister service, RibbonCommerce.
Whichever option you’re leaning towards, however, feel free to drop us a line if you’d like any advice! 🙂
Advantages of building your own website
Here are some of the key benefits of selling online through your own website.
You have control
Over everything. The look and feel, the colours, the design. Obsess away, you’re making it happen, and no one can get in your way!
Lower selling costs
As you have your own website, you can choose how to process payments. Major platforms like WordPress (via WooCommerce) and Shopify provide a huge range of payment gateways you can use, with transaction fees from the likes of Stripe as low as 1.4% + 20p.
Compared with *some* platforms out there, that ain’t half bad 😉
It is of course far lower than you’ll find being deducted from your sale on a selling platform, where you’re paying for the trade off associated with the simplicity and ease of setting up your shop with them instead.
Reliability and consistency
As a website owner, you’re the ‘gatekeeper’. No ‘key master’ is going to mess with you and open up a proverbial supernatural portal (ok, I’ll end of Ghostbusters metaphor now) and tinker with the design of your shop, or impose unfair new costs or restrictions on you.
Or place an entire new dimension in your refrigerator (sorry).
The only changes you’ll have to deal with are those you instigate yourself. That’s cool – you definitely want that!
Disadvantages of building your own website
The yin to the advantages’ yang. Alas, there’s always some drawbacks…
High overhead costs
As touched on above, with the exception of managed website services like our own RibbonCommerce, the costs of creating and maintaining a website can prove prohibitive. A custom designed ecommerce site can run to between £2k-4k, with more on top for maintenance and hosting.
Builder options are not so high, but are still likely to run into hundreds each year for a suitable package, and come with the myriad of compromises you’ll have to make mentioned above.
Time to create
Whether you opt for a builder or custom designed site, the amount of time you spend tweaking, moving, adjusting, suggesting and tinkering will definitely be far greater than what you envisaged. I can tell you this all too inevitably from my own first hand experience!
Remember, your time is a cost in itself, and be sure to make the decision with the pragmatic realisation that it will keep you busy from day 1 and not really let up… well ever! (evil laugh)
Time to manage your website
So, you’ve spent your time carefully developing your shiny new website. Time to put your feet up with a cuppa, yes?
Err…. no. Well, yes to the cuppa, but you get my point. Once your site is live, you’ll be preoccupied with people’s feedback, addressing the inevitable bugs, and be in contact with web hosts, developers and more to keep your site safe and secure.
Remember, a website isn’t just for Christmas, it’s for life! 🎄
Reaching the masses
Unlike on a selling platform, when you create your website, you’re starting from zero. Nada. Nowhere.
If you do nothing, no one will stumble across your site, no one will find your gorgeous creations through a chance Google search, and no one will come across you when searching their favourite categories on their marketplace of choice.
You’ll need to spend time learning about ‘search engine optimisation’, spamming links to your website on social media, formulating ‘content strategies’ (tip: this article is doing that for us right now!)
In the long term, can it prove time well spent? Absolutely. But such results take time; you need to work at it consistently, and you need to ensure you have the time to dedicate to it around all the other things in your life.
2. Should I use a selling platform?
With a wealth of platform choices at your fingertips and valuable access to a rich stream of potential buyers who use them, selling platforms can be a great choice for selling online.
Selling Platform Advantages
Here’s some great reasons to love selling platforms, providing these benefits right from the moment you create your account.
You’re not alone!
At Made By Mums, we truly cherish our burgeoning community of friendly sellers. There’s a fabulous camaraderie amongst us all and a supportive, inclusive spirit which people love being a part of.
We like to think being with us is more than just a way to sell items, it’s a way to engage with like-minded people and feel supported all the trials and tribulations around bringing up a family.
Other selling platforms nurture similar supportive atmospheres. Together, we’re all stronger! 😊
Lower risks
The decision to join a selling platform is a big one, but the risks around it not being right for you are far lower than going it alone with your own website.
In cases like ours where there’s a fee free option, there’s literally no financial risk involved. Meanwhile, even for other sites that do have subscription-type models, that financial risk remains low as long as you can easily cancel if all doesn’t go to plan.
Put simply, if one doesn’t work out, all is not lost.
An optimised, good looking shop front for your products
Whether it’s a high volume platform like Etsy or a smaller one such as our own, rest assured countless hours have been invested in creating a visually attractive, high performing shop front for all you sellers.
By using a selling platform, all the vital and nuanced ‘user experience’ stuff has been done for you (a serious and ongoing challenge for anyone creating their own website).
Finding and browsing your products is easy, no matter what device the user is visiting from, and buying from you can be done in a matter of taps. What’s more, you can bet that we’re all working hard to keep that experience great, as new and emerging technologies take hold.
Whichever selling platform you choose, trust us, your shop is in great hands!
Saves your time
You can cut down the time it takes to do all the boring stuff. When you make a sale, you receive an order confirmation, and your communications with the buyer are automated in most cases. Beyond updating your order when you ship it, there’s very little more you need to do, admin wise.
Receipts, confirmations, communications… all done for you. Et voila! 🙂
Selling Platform Disadvantages
There are plenty of benefits to using selling platforms as we’ve shown above. But as with websites, all is not quite sugar and unicorns here either. Here’s some limitations to be aware of before making any decisions.
Loss of control
It’s true that as a seller you have little to no control over the wills and whims of the platform holder, as the recent Etsy controversy showed.
If the selling platform you use decides to make an arbitrary change, sadly you just have to like it or lump it. Seemingly no matter how much negative sentiment it seems to generate…
For our part, we truly care about the feelings and realities of our makers, necessarily starting out with an appreciation for their perspectives from day 1. Yet, just with any other selling platform, the future isn’t set in stone.
We’re committed to continuous improvements to our site, which to date have all been warmly received. But yes, there’s always that risk that well intentioned changes won’t be fully appreciated – though we’ll always try our best!
Being unique
Necessarily, every selling platform implements a template system to ensure that all results, listings, categories and pages display the same, no matter whose shop it relates to. This is important so that visitors get the same consistent experience no matter what page on the website they’re visiting.
Of course, this means that however attractive the design, your shop’s layout, and the products you list, will display the same as everyone else’s. This isn’t in itself a drawback necessarily, but it does make you feel more like you’re just one in the crowd.
Particularly if you’re developing your own brand and personality, there’s no better way to complement this than through your own custom designed website.
Difficulties expanding your reach online
Bit of a techie one to end on (because it’s Friday and that’s just how I roll). When you have your own website, every visit, link, share, comment and blog mention is a valuable ‘vote’ for your brand.
Assuming you’ve got the basics right, these form the cornerstone of a successful search engine optimisation strategy.
Over time, you’ll find you reach more and more people, many of whom were totally unaware of you before they stumbled across you in the Google search results. While this works too for your shop on a selling platform – indeed a hefty portion of our search engine traffic does land on our lovely maker’s product listings – there’s a definite loss of potential as you do not own domain to add value to.
So, what should I do? Selling platform or website?
We hope the above has helped explain some of the key issues you should consider when making the choice between using a selling platform like us, or pressing that big sparkly red button marked “Own Website”.
The choice, as they say, is yours. But here’s a few scenarios that might help provide some context.
“I’m just starting out and want to test the water online”
If you enjoy your craft and want to discover whether other people will too, a selling platform is a fabulous way to find out. Yes, sharing your creations with the world can be daunting much less offering them for sale, but if you’re comfortable, take the plunge – with confidence 🙂
It’s low cost, and low risk, and you might make a few friends along the way. Go for it!
“I enjoy consistent sales and people love what I do on social media”
It’s likely you already have a presence on a selling platform. If you’re willing to put the time in to take it to the next level, a website could be the perfect way to do so.
You might also want to test the water on other selling platforms, which should increase your orders (and maybe even cut your transaction costs! 😉), while also having the secondary benefit of increasing your reach and reputation.
“I’m established, growing, profitable and successful today”
If you’re focussed on building your brand, have a growing following of thousands on social media, and people are going gangbusters for your lovely creations, then it’s time to think about that dream custom designed website! Be wary of website builders that will ultimately do a disservice to your products and brand.
Down this route, you can carefully maintain your brand, and show it off in its best possible light. The financial risks may be justified by your growing reputation and the potential benefits for growing your brand value are huge.
“Honest to goodness, I just want to cut the costs of my sales, these listing and commissions are killing me!”
Ok, bit of a plug for us as we end (is that allowed? Thanks!) If you’re a mum or carer who sells their creations online to support their family, creating a Made By Mums shop is compelling alternative to Etsy, and completely free to set up. The only costs involved at all are when you make a sale, where a small commission is deducted.
If you’re interested, sign up for free today or find out more here.
Who Are Made By Mums?
Made By Mums is a UK based handmade marketplace selling a wide range of unique and beautifully crafted gifts created by a growing community of mums, parents and carers who support their families through online selling.
You can join Made By Mums for free at madebymums.co/sellers