In the last two years, two websites have popped up where artists, craftspeople, clothing designers, jewelry makers and pretty much everybody who makes their own things can sell their stuff. Dawanda.com and Etsy.com. Dawanda is a German website and Etsy is American. Etsy was the first site to open, proclaiming itself a place “to sell all things handmade”. Dawanda came later, first opening a German version, then adding a French site and finally, last year, an English site. It’s the site for “unique and individual products and people”. But which one is better?
I have opened up shops on both sites, shops that sell my original artwork and prints. I’ve been on Etsy for almost a year, and on Dawanda for five months. I’ve sold more things on Etsy and nothing, so far, on Dawanda. But making a choice on which one is better is easy for me. Dawanda wins hands down, and here’s why.
Listing Fees
Shops are free to open on both sites, but Etsy charges a listing fee for each item. At only 20 cents per item it’s much cheaper than somewhere like EBay, but the big problem with Etsy is their search engine doesn’t work. What this in effect means is, unless your items have been newly listed, nobody can find your stuff. To solve this, you have to list and relist items every day. A 20 cent listing fee very quickly becomes a $1 to $2 listing fee, while people compete with each other to see who’s listings are on the top couple of search pages. For people like jewelry designers it’s a nightmare, as there are more than 200,000 jewelry items listed.
Dawanda, however, does not charge a listing fee. This means you can list and relist as many times as you want, it’s still free. You also have a high placement on their search engine, as their search engine actually works.
If you read the forums on Etsy, you’ll see thousands of people complaining that the search engine doesn’t work. You type in a search for “blue necklace” and you get paintings, t shirts, shorts, prints, anything but the blue necklace you actually wanted. Etsy administration has been ignoring their sellers and customers complaints about this issue for almost 2 years. Their search engine is still one of the worst on the internet, while their programmers waste their time creating pretty programs that nobody needs.
Dawanda’s search engine is amazing. You type in your “blue necklace” search and up pops a couple of pages of blue necklaces. No shorts, no shoes, no t shirts, just necklaces. Dawanda wins hands down here too.
Ease of Listing
When you list a new item for sale, you have a lot of information to put in. Descriptions, photographs, keywords, prices, shipping charges etc. and it all takes time. Etsy sellers have been pleading with Etsy administration for the ability to have a template they can save, so listing a new item is only a matter of a couple of minutes rather than the 10-15 minutes it now takes. Etsy administration completely ignores them, and has yet to produce a template feature.
Dawanda’s system automatically saves a template for every item you list. Listing a new item on Dawanda takes no more than 2 minutes, because all your information is already in there. Click a couple of buttons, add some new photos and you’re done.
The Ability to Request Things Designed Especially For You
Dawanda has an amazing system where a shop owner (i.e.: you, the designer) can go into Style Lab and create a listing to do a special design for a potential customer. The customer then clicks on the “Create my style” button and can have their own design made by you. Wonderful idea, a unique product just for you.
Etsy used to have this feature. It was called “Alchemy” and was popular with sellers and buyers alike. Like many things on Etsy, though, it stopped working and Etsy has yet to fix it. It’s on the long list of stuff they keep saying they’re “getting to it” but nothing ever happens.
The Site Administration
As a seller, you want to be on a site where the administration (the site staff) are responsive to any problems or concerns you might have. Etsy, absolutely hands down, has the worst site administration of any website I have ever visited. I’ve had concerns, none of which were addressed or dealt with, and my friends recently were kicked off Etsy after they were harassed by a small group of sellers in the Forums. They were told by Etsy admin to report the people, so they did. Over and over again. Etsy admin responded by basically doing not much at all. Then, two weeks ago, after my friends complained for about the 50th time, they were told the complaint would be dealt with. Four hours later, they received an email from Etsy admin saying they were being kicked off the website for “too many conflicts with other sellers'”.
The only conflicts my friends had had were in response to a small group of sellers lying about their products in the Etsy forums. So, on Etsy, if you think another seller is competition for you, it seems all you have to do is to keep harassing them. Eventually, after they have complained too much about you, they will be kicked off not you. .
Dawanda’s site has probably one of the best administration staff on the internet. Very responsive to questions and concerns, and my friends who were kicked off Etsy have told me they have been welcomed by Dawanda and told the kind of abuse they received on Etsy will not happen there.
Overall, Dawanda wins over Etsy in every category. Etsy has grown too fast, and with site engineers who don’t seem to know what they’re doing. Etsy admin is young and talented, but they are also conceited and have little regard for their sellers. They also speak down to their sellers in the forums, and generally treat them like 5 year old children. Many sellers are angry with Etsy and many others are convinced Etsy is setting themselves up for a sale. At this point, a sale would be a good thing as new management could not be any worse than the current management is.
Dawanda is a new site, but is showing promise to be a powerful force in the internet marketplace. Their site is run with stereotypical German efficiency – basically everything works! And with an administration that genuinely seems to care about its sellers and buyers, this site really can’t lose.
