Change is in the Air at Zibbet.com!
Change is in the air at Zibbet and we are super excited to announce it to you. An email about this was sent to all our registered sellers today, but here is a re-cap for those that missed it…
Zibbet sellers are currently paying us a 7.5% commission of the sales price of a sold item.
ALL THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE!
We’re excited to present you with our new structure…
Zibbet sellers will now have the choice between two participation levels. A ‘Basic’ and a ‘Premium’ account. Both accounts have NO Listing Fees and NO Sales Fees, which means we don’t take a cut of your sales. You get to keep every penny!
Basic accounts are totally FREE. You’ll get everything you currently enjoy on Zibbet…your own shop, web address, outstanding promotional tools and customer support, all for FREE. With a Basic account you can have up to 15 items in your shop at a time. That means you can list and sell on Zibbet, and pay us absolutely nothing!
Premium accounts are going to be $7/month (limited number available at this special price). These accounts are upgraded and ‘full-featured’. Not only are you able to upload an unlimited amount of items, but you’ll also enjoy a whole bunch of extra features that are exclusive to Premium account holders.
Here is a list of ‘Premium Account’ features that are going to be ready for launch:
- Rearrange the items in your shop. We’re excited to present the ability to rearrange the items in your shop via ‘drag and drop’. Present your items by color scheme, shop theme etc. It’s totally up to you!
- Shop Color Customization. Have the freedom to fully customize the color of your shop, including the logo, header bar, shaded boxes, texts and links.
- Choose from 4 different shop banner sizes (Current size, Large size, Super size, and Etsy size for Etsy sellers that like their banner the way it is)
- Option to enlarge item thumbnail display to fit 3 across the page instead of 4.
- Divide your shop into ’sections’ for easier buyer navigation.
- The ability to add Widgets to the right hand column and bottom of your shop. Widgets are simple, fun and useful applications that can be embedded into your Zibbet shop. As an example, you can keep your customers up-to-date with your latest blog posts, display your tweets from Twitter, input your Etsy mini and so much more. The opportunities are endless!
There are a whole heap of other features still to come in the weeks following the launch. We literally have pages and pages worth! The reason we haven’t listed them all is because we want to hear from YOU about what YOU want! What would make your life easier? What are the features you’ve been waiting on forever for other venues to build?
Tell us in the comments section below. And feel free to share your excitement about the new changes with us as well! 
Exciting changes, though I would much rather pay a percentage of my sales and be able to have more than just 15 items in my shop, for a Basic account. But that’s just me
The changes sound great BUT I left Artfire because of the same $7…I agree with FarAwayDesigns that I’d prefer to pay a percentage. I haven’t loaded my shop yet and now don’t know. I also paid for a banner resize and now I see I could have/should have waited. Hmmm…!
Thanks for your feedback. Glad to hear that you’re excited about the changes.
Don’t forget that a ‘Basic’ account is totally free. You don’t pay us a commission at all and you can have up to 15 items in your shop ‘at a time’. This means that you can sell as many items as you want, for FREE, and replace those sold items with more listings.
Also, through our new Referral Program (will be released 1 week after launch), for every friend you refer who joins at a Premium level, we’ll take $1 off your monthly membership. Therefore, you have the opportunity to earn yourself a heavily discounted/FREE, Premium account…FOREVER!
We’re also putting together a ‘Special Offer’ exclusively for our current sellers. More info about this coming soon.
I agree with the other posters. I’d rather pay a commission, even a large one, than up-front listing and subscription fees. It’s the reason I haven’t upgraded my Artfire account, and I’m thinking of leaving Etsy. The commission-only policy at Zibbet was one of the reasons I was attracted to the site. Could you raise the commission instead? The most expensive commission on one of the websites I list is 18%, and they use their own payment system so I receive the full 82%. I’d need to regularly sell more than $40 a month to match that here with a $7 listing fee. I’m not sure if my shop is going to see that kind of traffic for a while.
I am excited to see all the changes you’re rolling out, and I’m impressed by how the site is continuously improving. The customer service at Zibbet is great, and I’m looking forward to the launch of all the new features and the referral program. Good luck to everyone!
I am excited about the changes coming! The flat fee sounds good to me, especially at $7. I spend that much or more on Etsy for lisitngs and showcases to aid with promotion. Sign me up!
$7 seems like a reasonable price… though I admit that is why I never joined Artfire.
After paying listing fees, and commission on items at Etsy I pay more than that anyway.
Huh? Could be really cool!
What I want to know about is all the referrals made so far. How does that program apply to this new role out?
Hmmm, I am not so sure. I would love access to the premium features but really don’t want to have to pay yet another monthly fee. $7 per month is still better than a (per listing fee) that is for sure, but I was just going to work on my shop and list more items…surely more than 15. I guess I will just have to see how it goes. Glad you are working on things, I have yet to sell anything, but have not yet put 100% effort into my shop yet.
Thanks for the comments everyone.
SpiderDaisy…Our current Referral Program won’t apply with this new roll out. Instead a new one will take its place (as mentioned in my previous comment). In answer to your question, we will tally all referrals made so far for individual sellers and be giving them $1 off an upgraded ‘Premium’ account, for every new seller they have referred to the site. Therefore if a seller has referred 7 or more new sellers to the site, they will be getting a free Premium account. We will be contacting eligible sellers individually throughout the week.
Feel free to share what new features you’d like to see added to Zibbet. We’d love to hear them!
I agree that the lack of a monthly fee and unlimited listings is why I moved from Artfire to here. I do not have the sales that cover a $7 monthly fee at this time. I love the proposed changes but would not be buying a premium account.
It’s hard to justify spending $7.00 a month on a site from which you’ve never had a sale. I’ve paid this on Artfire since January with the same result and am considering dropping that account. I don’t like re-listing fees, but at least I’ve been fairly successful on Etsy. I seriously doubt that I will up-grade.
I just recently opened an account but have not yet set up shop. I joined because I liked the 7.5% commission - it’s much less than standard gallery and boutique consignment commissions. Because I don’t know how I will do here, I’m not ready to commit to a per month fee structure. I think the company is switching over too soon in fact. Moreover, rather than toys on the site, I think marketing and promoting the shops is a better expenditure. We can do our own promoting of course, but unless the site does some of the same our own promotions will be less optimally effective.
I have new shops on Etsy and Artfire and currently pay the $12 listing fee at Artfire, with no sales in the first month-although the changes you offer sound good I would like to suggest a few now-your weight /height box is okay but should be optional-there should be a way to list shipping prices individually (per country) rather than just a one shot international shipping blank-this makes no sense-I do like the layout of the pictures and studio. It would also be nice to have an in-house messaging system (like Etsy’s Convos) it makes things so much easier beween buyer and seller..ande of course Forums are good especially for new seller swith lots of questions, but i’m sure you are considering these suggestions already. thanks for the opportunity to “try out” Zibbet cost free-if it makes financial sense to buy in I certainly will..
Mizdarlin…They are some great suggestions and ones that are on the list. These are all examples of site improvements that would be available to both Basic and Premium account sellers. We actually have an in-house messaging system already but also plan to improve this over time. Currently you have to log into your account to reply to a message so the buyer doesn’t see your email address. This was put in place to avoid business being taken off site, but because we don’t take a commission anymore, we will be able to re-build the system so buyers and sellers can easily converse via email instead of having to login first.
Agree with most of the above comments, I did not join Artfire because of the monthly fee. And Zibbet mainly looked attractive because you don’t pay until you sell. 15 is too less a number to limit, for the Basic account. I’d rather pay a commission and get to list more!
I agree with the folks too. I joined because of the no listings fees and have no problem with paying a commission. I understand the upgrade system and think it would be a good way to bring in more business but not have to pay for your shoppe per month. I can see the pros and cons. I just signed up today and had planned on telling the 200+ folks in the ebay group I am the leader in about here. (not on ebay of course but via our blog). Now I am not sure what to tell them… Free Basic with 15 items??
That is not alot of items to bring in folks to be honest. Will I try it sure but i can’t afford to upgrade at this time.
Change is good - thankyou for the ability to have no list fees (I’m still waiting on a sale:) Not sure if the fee will work for me though-I think I would rather pay a commission on sales. I do like the idea of customizing the shop and think this will be quite attractive to many.
With all due respect, there’s not a whole lot of reason for me to pay to be here.
I like the site, and I like the direction it seems to be going, but $7/mo is a little steep for the sales & traffic that this site has.
Even the freebie/commission based store needs some upgrades - like sections, easier navigation, and possibly an Etsy mini-type widget and an RSS feed.
I sort of feel that this was a little bait-and-switch-ish as well. Zibbet contacted me (and others, I’m sure), told me how great it was, and talked up the no upfront fees. Now, approximately 6 weeks later, the whole game has changed.
Norrkoping Sweden July 29th, 2009
Hello!
I am sorry to hear about these proposed or already coming changes. I’d liked the deal Zibbet was offering with no listing fees and no limit to the number of listings, but with the 7.5% commission when you sell something. This new system sounds like Art Fire’s system and it is not the best system. Not everyone can afford a flat fee when you are starting out. Seven dollars is a lot of money for someone who is not getting any sales. And by limiting the listings to 15 items you are cutting their potential as sellers. Go back to your origina system! But I think you are going to loose a lot of potential sellers and buyers.
Best wishes
Christina Wigren
tradet and TinyTina
I’d like to have personalized banners to promote my shop. I do not have a zibbet banner in my website/blog because it doesn’t show any of my images. A banner is provided by every other site, like Etsy or even Redbubble. I think a personalized banner is an essential to drive more buyers to your shop and eventually to the site. Instead, by making the sellers pay a flat rate, you will be driving away a lot of sellers.
And having categories/galleries in your store is absolute basic. No way a seller should be asked to pay for it.
UPDATE:
We’re putting together a blog post where we will address a lot of your concerns. We’ll let everyone know via email once it’s up (sometime in the next 24 hours). Stay tuned!
I am paying for a web store, advertising for my web store with Yahoo and Google and now more money. I don’t know if I can pay for more than what I’m already putting out. $7 is not a lot it might be worth it, but I have only had 8 hits to my site so fair, with now sales. don’t know what to do at this point, still thinking about it.
Val
I don’t think galleries understand the term “STARVING ARTISTS”! It’s difficult to come up with fees every month, but quite easy to pay a commission from a sale. If you belong to several galleries that charge monthly fees, that can really add up. I would love to have a ‘premium account’ here, but when your sole income is art, it’s hard to know that you will even be ‘able’ to pay those monthly dues. This is why I left BOUNDLESS GALLERY and YESSY. - On the other hand, I do understand that galleries have bills to pay as well. - This just makes me sad to see another gallery switch to monthly fees.
I also agree with the fellow artists on this ite. The main reason this site was so different and so appealing was the vey idae you were offering once you changed the commision to 7.5.
You were offering up and comong artists as well as well establish artists a chance to show all the work thay offer without the heafty fees/ commissions that other sites or galleries charge.
I would much rather be paying you on what I sell, but be able to get more of my work out to buyers at one time.
Although I do see that you raised the amount to 25. That will be a help.
I truly do hope you change it back to the original idea that I am sure drew most of us here in the first place.
Hi Everyone,
We’ve put together another blog of FAQ’s related to the upcoming changes which answers many of your questions. Check it out: http://www.zibbet.com/blog/2009.07.30/faqs-related-to-upcoming-changes
Also, we’re excited to announce that your voice has been heard, and you’ll now be able to list up to 25 items in your shop, as opposed to 15! You can read more about it at the above blog post.
I think the $7/month is a bargain. When I have a good month on Etsy, 14-15 sales, which means I had to renew my listings all month long as well, I pay $60-$70. So, the more you sell, the more you pay. So a year here of no sales is $84. Even with zero sales, I have purchased another presence online, with the ablility to promote myself. Maybe someone doesn’t buy, but follows me on twitter, or becomes a facebook fan or visits my other shops. A sale can come later from it. Think of it as spending only $84/year for advertising and marketing–pretty cheap for a cost of business!
The copying listings feature is going to be great! Also, yes to the convo forum with buyers here.
Nice blog. Thanks a bunch!