Etsy or Zibbet?: My Take & Opinion

*This first paragraph explains my nightmarish month of March, scrappy-relevant content is below this first paragraph :)*

Hey scrappers! It's been a bit since I've posted! I was already really bad at remembering to update this blog, but I had a horrible month of March -- It goes like this: tooth causing a lot of pain led to a root canal correction. Still lots of pain afterward, got bite adjusted on the temporary crown. Developed an ulcer on the side of my tongue next to the bum tooth and during the root canal/afterwards I bit a huge chunk of my numb tongue off so that hurt pretty bad for a few weeks. During this I run out of Flonase for my allergies and have to wait for it to get delivered from Germany (much cheaper that way) so I am in utter hell with the tongue ulcer and injury and complete nasal and sinus congestion to the point of tears. I sneezed over 100 times daily, easy and close to one box of Kleenex was used each day for nasal "drainage"...nose and skin below my nose gets painfully raw and red. Then ulcer disappears and the tongue pain stops so I stop prescription painkillers. Bad idea. Should have remembered to taper off. Horrible withdrawal week from Vicodin -- severe depression, absolute insomnia the likes of which I didn't know existed, and stomach troubles. Lots of tears were shed that week and it was nothing short of brutal hell.

Good, that's over with!

So since I last posted I have switched my Etsy store over to Zibbet. The costs of listing and selling are much lower on Zibbet considering I have many different items with various quantities. I was going to stop there, but I want to go ahead and tell you why I am loving Zibbet so much more than Etsy (and if my Etsy graphic thing is still in the sidebar ignore it...you can purchase what is in there but that's not where most of the action is!). I think this might be helpful for anyone interested in selling online and are overwhelmed by the options and where to start.

Let's start with what you get with Etsy since it's so popular and it's what I started with in 2009. Several new features have been implemented since then, and I will include them here:

• - Free to sign up and create a seller's account (PayPal account required)
• - List unlimited number of items
• - Each listed item costs $0.20. If you have multiple quantities of the same item in that listing, you are charged $0.20 for each item -- If you have 5 notebooks for sale, your up-front fee is $1.00. You pay this in a monthly bill whether the item sells or not.
• - Five photo slots
• - Keywords and tagging for each item
• - 10 categories in your store for item types
• - Ability to re-arrange shop (how it appears to customers)
• - Coupon and 'Free Shipping' Code Capabilities
• - Each item listed stays visible to buyers for 4 months. After 4 months it is deactivated. You can reactivate it for the original price you paid to list it initially.
• - Etsy receives 3.5% of what your item(s) sell for, not including the shipping & handling
• - PayPal takes a 2.9% fee plus $0.30 for each transaction. For example, if you receive $100 from a sale (including shipping), your fee would be $3.20 ($2.90 + $0.30 = $3.20).
• - Etsy also lets you accept cash, check, or money order. You choose what to accept. Their newest form of payment is allowing customers to pay with credit cards instead of PayPal.
• - Shipping Profiles

Now let's get to Zibbet. These are the options/benefits of a free account. For a full list see the graphic below. I am currently under the $9.95/month plan.

• - Free to sign up
• - List up to 50 items
• - Four photo slots
• - Etsy importer (for listings on Etsy you'd like to transfer to Zibbet). This is free, and I just now noticed it!
• - Unlimited shop sections
• - Ok to link to other sites from your Zibbet shop (not allowed on Etsy)
• - No final value fees
• - Buyers can pay with PayPal or Credit Card
• - PayPal takes a 2.9% fee plus $0.30 for each transaction. For example, if you receive $100 from a sale (including shipping), your fee would be $3.20 ($2.90 + $0.30 = $3.20).
• - Shipping Profiles
• - Discount/coupon/'free shipping' code Capabilities
• - Keywords and tagging for each item

If having difficulty reading, see it on Zibbet's site here: Zibbet Membership Comparison

I switched to Zibbet mainly because I was sick of all the Etsy fees. When I decided to start selling supplies, I upgraded so I could list multiple quantities of an item (for instance, 3 bundles of lace). I have found that my sale rate is the same on Zibbet so far as it was on Etsy. Zibbet may not be as big as Etsy right now, but it is a large community gaining momentum and more members every day.

I will post again soon with more updates and scrappy goodness, and I promise to have pretty pictures to show next time! In the meantime, check out my shop, Live. Laugh. Scrap. on Zibbet!

~Katie~