To be totally honest I had no intention of trying that new product by Etsy but I got a free year to try it out so I tried.
If you haven't heard of Pattern yet, it's basically your standalone website hosted by Etsy.
It costs $15 per month, it's free to list items (unless you want them to appear in your Etsy shop too, then it's the usual 0.20 per item).
Unlike Etsy you can sell anything you want there (as long it's legal)...handmade, mass produced, vintage, not vintage...
The good surprise is that it is really easy to set up...if you already have an Etsy shop that is.
It took me about 5 minutes to get mine up and running.
You can choose from several templates. I went for a very simple one. It is not working the way it should though...in the preview you're supposed to have a cool javascript shop window but it just won't appear on the actual website.
As I already owned my domain name I linked it to my Pattern site. Be warned that that part actually requires some technical knowledge but you can easily find help online.
If you don't already own a domain name you can buy it through Etsy which is probably easier.
All your Etsy listings will appear in your Pattern site. All is handled from the same dashboard.
You can't really make it easier.
If your item is listed on your Pattern site only, there's no time limit. If it's both listed on Etsy and Pattern, it'll be there for 4 months.
If you translated you shop into several languages, you can choose in which language you want your shop to be. You can also leave it on "default" settings and the language will adapt to the location of your customers.
Payment methods are the same as on Etsy, as are shop policies and FAQ's.
From a stats point of view...you're on your own. It's up to you to bring people to your website.
I have had my domain name for almost 10 years so it's hard to tell if any new views are coming from "Pattern" . And let's add that after 2 months I am still waiting for my first sale from the Pattern site.
So in short:
The + sides:
- it's easy to set up
-it's easy to list new items
-you can sell whatever you want
-listings are free if only appearing on Pattern
The - sides:
-you depend on Etsy
-you still pays selling fees to Etsy
-you are responsible for your own promo on the Internet
-it costs $15 per month
What could be improved:
It should be possible to import items from another of your Etsy shops. In my case I have 2 Etsy shops but if I want the items from my second shop to appear on my Pattern site, I'll have to re-list all the items one by one...which is not happening any time soon.
www.dinafragola.com
