Small Bump on the Journey

It's turning out to be a very busy fall. I've been doing 2 shows per month since July and while some have been better than others, all have been at least a moderate success. We've made money at every show and our recycled jewelry still sells twice as fast as our traditional line.

So as I try to turn out new steampunk designs for our show in Wethersfield, Ct., on Oct. 2, it's very discouraging to receive an email from 1000 Markets informing me that the site has been purchased by another online market and will cease to exist on Sept. 30.

I still have a few hundred business cards with the 1000 Markets website on them. And I have 60 listings on the site that will have to taken down or moved.

I could move to Bonanza. com, the new owners. They tell me it will be an easy transfer of all my listings. But I really don't like their website. I guess I was spoiled by the high end look and feel of 1000 Markets. It's the site I listed on all my craft show applications. And it was a juried site strictly for handmade items.

Bonanza is a lot like Ebay, full of resellers and cheap jewelry. Many of the 1KM artisans are moving over though lots are not. I'll just be adding all my listings to my site on Etsy for now. This means several hours of work copying and pasting from 1KM to Etsy, a lot more work than moving to Bonanza.

I guess I should be thinking about creating my own website, and I will. Maybe once the craft show season is over. Until then, look for lots of new listings on Etsy.