ArtFire.com is great for buyers but how is it stacking up for sellers? I'd been exploring a few new sites for buying or selling handmade items, art work, and vintage goods. Services change often on the Internet, so I wanted to know what experiences may be available other than venues such as Etsy.com and e-Bay auction formats. In this space I'll discuss my experiences with ArtFire http://www.artfire.com/ There have been several updates to this post so I am placing the most RECENT first; to start from the beginning you'll need to go to the bottom of the page. Be sure to check the comments to this post -- go ahead and add your own while you're at it. Let me know if this post is helping you, or even let me know if talking about negative aspects of ArtFire burns YOU up! Even though my personal experience with the site has gotten better, others are still sharing woes. Perhaps this post will someday reach AF admin and the needed changes will happen so that the site can blossom for each selling member in the same way.
I want it to be clear that, as of the original post date of this blog entry, ArtFire is a very new site; some bugs or hassles are to be expected, and things can change further down the line with good service. Sellers should expect a site to better itself as time goes onward; better customer service and not just cool new features. At this time the ArtFire site is in Beta mode, yet does charge a fee for an upgrade or "Verified" services to sellers. I joined on November 3, 2008 so do have continuing experiences because I've really tried to stay with the site and stick it out.
NEW -- MARCH 6, 2010
In reply to comment below from Tony Ford Chief Operating Officer, Artfire.com : Most all of the issues are still there. The problems seem to return each time there's an update to the AF site. This began in 2008, not 2009, and now it's 2010 so I'm starting to feel a little stupid for hanging on this long. Right this moment there is a red X where one of my paintings should show in my AF studio. I respect my art & if it isn't shown correctly it's a disrespect & waste of time for visitors to my studio space there. I've read through your site & found several remarks from paid users who can't get images to show either (NOT the other issues that was recently fixed) and also have consistent terrible difficulties listing at all. They too have asked for AF help only to get tutorials that don't work or a standard reply. A second attempt at contact again offers the same tutorial. I have just posted on the ArtFire site message boards and got that standard reply...
"First lets make sure your images are within the guidelines. We accept gif, jpg, jpeg and png formats, and the file size needs to be under 2MB each. If you meet those requirements a couple things you can try are:
1.See if the images work in a different browser. If you do not have the problem in another browser, then this would indicate there is a security setting set too high (in most cases)
2.Ensure that when your editing an item, you click the save button at the bottom when finished making changes.
If you are still experiencing issues i can troubleshoot with your further."
I just about have this memorized by now. If I can get photos to upload I'd love to list more -- giving my fire a chance to burn brighter there. I upload to a listing and either the image doesn't post or takes the second image, not the first. I have to go through edit 3-5 times for each & every item I list because editing a listing removes all associated images. I've tried several changes to my photos -- thinking it may be a size issue -- updated my browser & then have also upgraded to a very high speed connection. AF is already in my "allowed sites" list & I think I've done all I can from my end really. I just tried to edit a listing now and got the same results, except now I can't get the main image back. Other areas of the listing change also such as the main color associated & categories, but it's not always the same combination of issues at the same time. The only thing that is the same is the fact that this began when I upgraded & hasn't changed for the better.
A variation of the above has been mailed to Tony Ford Chief Operating Officer, Artfire.com. I will share any resolution with those of you who follow this post here. For those who have contacted me directly, I'm sorry that I can't update you personally -- there are simply far too many comments to address. Please keep checking back here for updates.
UPDATE DEC 4, 2009
Is there a need for an additional selling site?
I decided to move my fine art and ACEO supplies to ArtFire -- even put the address on my business cards; I sure hope I don't regret that choice. I have a lot of little hearts at my old Etsy.com address for my fine art, and though hearts don't mean dollars it's hard to walk away from a site where you know people at least enjoy viewing your work. Right now a lot of folks who want something crafted with care know about Etsy and Ebay, so that's where they tend to look for our products. That Etsy store is still there, but empty b/c I'm not sure how I feel about posting the same one of a kind item at several different sites -- it makes me feel a little scammy; Is that just me? Do we really need another selling site anyway?
UPDATE August 8, 2009
The action to delete my account didn't work -- I never got a response or action from the company. My "studio" just sat there looking empty and stupid on search results when I googled my own name. I couldn't take that, personally, so have opted to give ArtFire another try.
I must say that ArtFire is getting better -- bugs are working out... but I also must say that I'm saying that because I have a free charter member account now. I never was able to totally remove my account, just the listed items. I re-listed recently; items seem to be showing fine and I've not been charged, as the customer service rep promised. As long as it doesn't cost then the extra exposure is worth the time of listing. I wonder what will happen if sales begin to generate there though? Will I suddenly be charged the monthly fees? If so, will they back charge me too? Will things stay the same?
They offer a feature that rather quickly allows me to post new items to my Facebook profile (my FB Artist Fan Page), but so does Etsy now (sometimes b/c the Etsy feature comes and goes). The ArtFire Market Hub feature works for me now too, allowing visitors to quickly access most all of my other locations, which I think is very cool. Take a look at that by visiting my ArtFire studio and clicking on an item for sale. At the bottom right hand sign you should see a line of symbols, including the Etsy red "E" and Bloggers "B"; these link to other locations of mine on the Net. If you browse my blog here you'll also see some entries with a sort of quick purchase feature. This allows buyer to really "buy now", without needing to join the site. Many of my Etsy sales are from people who have no feedback because they only join Etsy to buy a particular item, and I get emails from folks who don't want to join, but would like to purchase an item. I'm glad they contact me, but the extra steps are time eaters. I personally don't want to take the time to become a member of a site I may not plan on visiting again, so the swift purchase feature from ArtFire is cool. That feature can allow a sellers products to be added to nearly any site making a personal web site a useful thing again.
I recently made a small purchase through ArtFire to see what the system is like. I like it better than Etsy because it sends out a confirmation email to the buyer when purchase is final and again when item(s) are shipped. As a buyer this is nice to know, but as a seller it really saves me some needed time because I don't have to write out confirmations myself. I've not had any luck with the ArtFire search feature -- I can't even get my own items to pull up. Unless that changes I just can't walk totally away from my customer base at Etsy. ;/ I'm going to sort of push the line of activity here soon and try to join some ArtFire groups to see how that goes, and I will post results here in this post.
Keep creating with fun folks! -- artist Tree
*UPDATE DEC. 13, 2008 I was only able to get action in the first place by using the "Report A Bug" link on Art Fire, and once I did it took a week to finally get the following (though there has STILL been no action taken by ArtFire to seriously resolve this matter)...
"I completely understand your frustration. I am going to be canceling your membership subscription and giving you a free Verified account until we can get you up and running without any problems. I am going to be forwarding your emails again back to our technical team, perhaps one of them can contact you to try to see if there is anything else we can do or perhaps initiate an Internet connection with you so that we can have someone on our staff look at the settings on your computer system with Remote Assistance (software provided by Microsoft) You will be getting a notification shortly from PayPal indicating that your membership subscription has been canceled, please don’t be alarmed by that, because this will prevent your account from further being billed for your membership." (smiley face was added)
The customer service rep did not get back me before I would have been charged for another month of no service -- thankfully I'd already taken care of that myself. It's not a lot of money, but every penny counts these days and few can afford to just give money away for nothing. I should have been forwarded to a tech department and not charged from the start. I personally don't feel this site is professional in it's dealings (my opinion mind you) and want my association with them ended. I've already put in enough work -- I REALLY tried to make the site work. Now, how do I delete my ArtFire account? That's not easy either.
There is no place on the ArtFire site to remove your account. First, I recommend going to your PayPal account and stop further charges from being made! Then, if you really want to remove your seller branding from the site you'll have to change your images and information to something generic, because there's no way to remove images either. I looked in the ArtFire Help section and discovered this... "If you have considered this and really want to take this action, you will need to contact our support staff. Send an email to service@artfire.com with the subject line DELETE ACCOUNT. Be sure to include your username in the email body and send the email from the email address that you have on file with Art Fire for your account."
* November 3, 2008 I'm sad to say that, thus far, I am disappointed in my overall experience with ArtFire. The ArtFire.com site operation is obviously designed for those familiar with using Etsy. ArtFire does, however, have an easy to read layout, and a much more hip style than Etsy. They offer a "Studio" rather than a "Shop", and claim to have no selling fees among other services not offered by other selling web sites. Sounds cool. Remember though, if you want full "My Studio" services you'll have to pay for an upgrade called a "Verified Registration". I listed my first item for sale and went about setting up my cool new Studio store.
I reported the numerous problems I was having with the site system to a customer service representative. The site did contact me within 24 hours with a reply, so that was good. The situation, however is still unresolved. I paid for an upgrade, the Verified Registration, on November 12. The first real problem came when my policy and user information was removed or shortened each time the page was changed or uploaded. After a few days the information was only visible in part, but did at least load. There seems to be no place to view your account with the site either. You can edit a "My Account" area, but can not see what you may have paid to or owe the site; BTW, on Art Fire "My Account" is the same page as "Edit Profile". At this time, a seller has to go to PayPal to see any charges from or payment made to the site; not for purchase of goods from other sellers, but for purchases of Art Fire site services. I chocked it up to Beta mode and tried to move onward.
I then noticed none of "My Studio" information was showing. This is the upgrade that required payment fee. My upgrade didn't go through, though the payment charge did, and the funds were gone from PayPal. The reason, I was told in email, was because I signed up spelling my user name like this... "Artist-Tree". I was told that I can't use the dash, but that information wasn't posted anywhere that I could see, and the system did allow me to join with that version of a name. So, they stated my user name had been changed for me to read as... "ArtistTree". Fine, I thought, but then I could not upload a second item for sale -- I couldn't add a new product! I tried everything I could think of to fix, to help; I took notes of my efforts for the customer service person who is in contact with me, but still I cannot add a new item.
Customer service states that they don't have an answer. Now, here it is the very day a new charge is set to go through PayPal for a second month of no service. I put in hours of effort trying to resolve the situation, and I paid money for nothing. I think that a good business would do one of two things; refund my payment or offer a month for free, and not just thank me for taking the time to point out site error bugs. It certainly does not seem to be true that Art Fire is any sort of a scam, but for myself thus far it has been a stinker. I certainly feel a bit ripped off. I cancelled the payment for this month and sadly plan on closing my account at Art Fire. I've just now gotten an email from art fire.com, (not the service rep) again telling me that my payment was received but there was a problem. Now, I did cancel their payment authorization and have not gotten a notice from PayPal telling me of a new charge. I will add any new information or resolution to this post, so check back later to find out if artfire.com goes from a bad thumbs-down to a happy thumbs-up. We'll see!
Journal of art & handmade goods by artist Tree Pruitt: paintings, assemblage art, found objects, jewelry, pyrography, techniques & methods, plus inspirations
