TikTok Selling Shops

[kmmcrafts]

A lot of the social platforms have tried to get into the shop / selling piece of the pie but many have failed or not taken off like they had hoped. TikTok is doing it a bit different as those other social sites send you off to a purchasing site.. TikTok you can purchase right then and there from the social site and then go back to watching your tiktok videos. It growing big time and is actually ahead of all other platforms other than Amazon and they are coming in hard and closing that gap too.. If you're looking to move some products you may want to take a look into selling on there. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Tik Tok will not be around much longer if the politicians have any say. I would be weary of that site. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

All these social media sites as well as Ebay and Etsy are not directed at the hobby makers. They are not in the business to serve them. You see it with every new rule change they make. Etsy may have started with good intentions but grew too fast and you see what is happening. The handcrafted item is just a hard sell these days. 

[kmmcrafts]

8 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Tik Tok will not be around much longer if the politicians have any say. I would be weary of that site. 

It'll be interesting to see what happens with this. Most of the users are from the USA and so many people saying they will sell to USA based company otherwise they'll lose their revenue and close down anyway. They've already moved the servers to USA servers from that last time they threaten to ban it. 

[kmmcrafts]

8 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

All these social media sites as well as Ebay and Etsy are not directed at the hobby makers. They are not in the business to serve them. You see it with every new rule change they make. Etsy may have started with good intentions but grew too fast and you see what is happening. The handcrafted item is just a hard sell these days. 

Well, you are correct on this point and every other site that had started as handmade either shut down or conformed into making money and start letting non handmade stuff to be sold. GoImagine is another that is new and is juried ( sort of ) as you have to apply to be accepted. They've so far been good at removing non handmade stuff that does slip through the door. Great customer service but the issues are they are very small and new so not much foot traffic yet.. One thing with them is they are nonprofit and are different than any of the others I've seen and been on. If they keep their standards they could be the place to be. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

3 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Well, you are correct on this point and every other site that had started as handmade either shut down or conformed into making money and start letting non handmade stuff to be sold. GoImagine is another that is new and is juried ( sort of ) as you have to apply to be accepted. They've so far been good at removing non handmade stuff that does slip through the door. Great customer service but the issues are they are very small and new so not much foot traffic yet.. One thing with them is they are nonprofit and are different than any of the others I've seen and been on. If they keep their standards they could be the place to be. 

How is the Amazon site doing and how does it compare?

[kmmcrafts]

5 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

How is the Amazon site doing and how does it compare?

Amazon does quite well considering I don't have a lot of product on there and no more effort that I put into it. There is things I like about it and things I don't really like but honestly that is every marketplace. They take a higher % for the selling fees.. I believe it's 15% but that is both transaction fee and payment fees combined. No listing fees on Amazon like there is on Etsy though and at the end of the day it's comparable to the cost of etsy.  They are very strict on the products you can sell though.. They've been taking my clocks down saying the button batteries no matter if they're sealed in package or not is against the new rules they just put in place. I think I can get a license or place a disclaimer of some sort but I honestly don't do much sales of clocks on there anyway so I'm probably going to just do ornaments there. The whole battery thing probably hit other sites too at some point. 

I couldn't do it without both etsy, and Amazon.. back in the day I did really well with just one site.. but the more competition and different group of buyers on all these venues it's really a must to sell on several platforms. Ebay is one place I never had any luck on at all for selling crafts.. back in the day it was awesome for old car / tractor parts etc.. and may still be but I got out of the reselling and dropshipping bit.. once ebay started catering to what they called power sellers where you sell high volumes of product for pennies above wholesale. Now I feel like similar is happening on the handmade sites.. and it's just not doable for a one man show to do more.. When etsy started letting people sell that wasn't actually making the product is when things started changing. They say you can have business partners and have a few employee's etc. and it's making it harder for the real handmade to make it.  

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

4 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Amazon does quite well considering I don't have a lot of product on there and no more effort that I put into it. There is things I like about it and things I don't really like but honestly that is every marketplace. They take a higher % for the selling fees.. I believe it's 15% but that is both transaction fee and payment fees combined. No listing fees on Amazon like there is on Etsy though and at the end of the day it's comparable to the cost of etsy.  They are very strict on the products you can sell though.. They've been taking my clocks down saying the button batteries no matter if they're sealed in package or not is against the new rules they just put in place. I think I can get a license or place a disclaimer of some sort but I honestly don't do much sales of clocks on there anyway so I'm probably going to just do ornaments there. The whole battery thing probably hit other sites too at some point. 

I couldn't do it without both etsy, and Amazon.. back in the day I did really well with just one site.. but the more competition and different group of buyers on all these venues it's really a must to sell on several platforms. Ebay is one place I never had any luck on at all for selling crafts.. back in the day it was awesome for old car / tractor parts etc.. and may still be but I got out of the reselling and dropshipping bit.. once ebay started catering to what they called power sellers where you sell high volumes of product for pennies above wholesale. Now I feel like similar is happening on the handmade sites.. and it's just not doable for a one man show to do more.. When etsy started letting people sell that wasn't actually making the product is when things started changing. They say you can have business partners and have a few employee's etc. and it's making it harder for the real handmade to make it.  

 

What is the story with button batteries? 

[kmmcrafts]

12 minutes ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

What is the story with button batteries? 

I'm not certain really, other than you can't mail them to other counties and now on Amazon you can't sell them without some form of paperwork. I'd guess it's to do with the Lithium Ion hazards that go with them. Supposed to mark shipping boxes with a toxic and fire hazard I think. They've been cracking down on some of that stuff but it originally started with international shipping several years ago.. I might call Amazon sellers service and see if I can find out more info on it. It may be that I do ship to Canada and a couple other countries and they just removed the listings because I can't ship the batteries to them. I wasn't going to bother with it since I don't sell to many clocks on there anyway, but curious mind wants to know and unlike Etsy.. Amazon has a great seller support person you can call and talk to. Probably 24 hours too but not sure of that.  

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

4 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I'm not certain really, other than you can't mail them to other counties and now on Amazon you can't sell them without some form of paperwork. I'd guess it's to do with the Lithium Ion hazards that go with them. Supposed to mark shipping boxes with a toxic and fire hazard I think. They've been cracking down on some of that stuff but it originally started with international shipping several years ago.. I might call Amazon sellers service and see if I can find out more info on it. It may be that I do ship to Canada and a couple other countries and they just removed the listings because I can't ship the batteries to them. I wasn't going to bother with it since I don't sell to many clocks on there anyway, but curious mind wants to know and unlike Etsy.. Amazon has a great seller support person you can call and talk to. Probably 24 hours too but not sure of that.  

Amazon sells tons of button batteries. I have bought many and still do from them. They sell mini clock inserts with batteries installed. 

[kmmcrafts]

3 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Amazon sells tons of button batteries. I have bought many and still do from them. They sell mini clock inserts with batteries installed. 

Yes I know that, This is something that was just implemented and you can fill out paperwork to continue to sell them.. The issue I have with it is that there is probably a fee to do that and no more than I sell of my clocks on there it's not worth the hassle when there are "other venues" where I can sell them without that hassle... Yet anyway, LOL.. It's not that you "can't " sell them.. it's filing paperwork so that you can sell them.. paperwork that didn't used to be there before.. IF etsy did this then yes I'd fill out the paperwork because that's mostly what I do sell on there. 

For me Amazon is a lot like Ebay in that.. kinda like the flee market scene.. people go there to look for "cheap prices and free shipping or very fast shipping because they need it sooner than later. I sell a ton of ornaments on there.. as I also do on Etsy.. but Etsy is where more people go to look for that unique gift that you can't find much of anywhere else and they buyers are more likely to dig into their pocket for that gift.. However with many changes that Etsy has been doing that is slowly going wayside.. They are trying to be more like Ebay and Amazon pushing people to ship free and ship faster etc etc.. and showing other shops with similar items that are maybe cheaper.. Etsy is a business too so they are encouraging buyers to buy...as they have to make profits too.. so you see them letting a lot of products slide past the rules until someone reports the shop etc..It's like anything else.. the dollars greed helps bend the rules until someone notices.. When they shut down that shop another is created or two more is created.  

[kmmcrafts]

On 4/22/2024 at 3:14 AM, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Amazon sells tons of button batteries. I have bought many and still do from them. They sell mini clock inserts with batteries installed. 

I don't know if this link will work if you're not a Amazon seller as this is from the sellers forum I think. I just did a google search and it came up with this topic. If you can't view it let me know and I'll just copy and paste it here. 

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/da752b4d45d5bd9dad917e908e95d821

This is probably what the deal is with these batteries... thing is... my batteries are inside the clock so not sure i really have to comply with this. I'm probably getting hit with these takedown or show compliance warnings because I have in the description that they come with the button battery.. Probably if I take that sentence out of my listings I'll be fine. I need to give them a call probably and clarify but this could be coming to the other sites too.. 

Edit:

Well here is another info thing I found searching online.. It's not worth this effort for me to do this on Amazon.. 

 

Edited April 23, 2024 by kmmcrafts

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

4 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I don't know if this link will work if you're not a Amazon seller as this is from the sellers forum I think. I just did a google search and it came up with this topic. If you can't view it let me know and I'll just copy and paste it here. 

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/da752b4d45d5bd9dad917e908e95d821

This is probably what the deal is with these batteries... thing is... my batteries are inside the clock so not sure i really have to comply with this. I'm probably getting hit with these takedown or show compliance warnings because I have in the description that they come with the button battery.. Probably if I take that sentence out of my listings I'll be fine. I need to give them a call probably and clarify but this could be coming to the other sites too.. 

Edit:

Well here is another info thing I found searching online.. It's not worth this effort for me to do this on Amazon.. 

 

If they are claiming choking hazards then they need to look at lots of items sold on their site. Anything small can be a choking hazard. I guess parents do not play a part in the kids lives any more. 

[kmmcrafts]

12 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

If they are claiming choking hazards then they need to look at lots of items sold on their site. Anything small can be a choking hazard. I guess parents do not play a part in the kids lives any more. 

Maybe they have looked at all the other things.. It's not that I "can't " sell the clocks.. I just can't sell them without adding the product info.. The other sellers that sell the clocks and other things have filled out the proper forms to be in "compliance" and I have not.. Not worth that effort to me for no more clocks than I sell on there at the moment.. I may in the future fill out the proper info and start selling them again.. or take the batteries out and not offer them with the battery..but rather not do that but is an option, and what I used to do for the certain countries that wouldn't allow batteries to be shipped into them.. customers accepted that and got their own batteries and it really didn't affect my sales numbers to those countries either like I thought it would.