What are some of your online shopping alternatives to major storefronts like Amazon (for physical items or digital)?
What are some of your online shopping alternatives to major storefronts like Amazon (for physical items or digital)?
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follow brands and creators, not stores. shop directly from their sites or support local stores
even better: reduce, reuse
most products end up in landfills, buy used, ebay, local groups, thrift, etc
learn to upholster clothing, bake bread, etc, take money away from corporations
As a small business owner (blacksmithing), I fully support this. However, about 85% of our business is through an Etsy storefront, about 10% through Amazon, with the remainder through our own site.
I'd appreciate advice on additional storefronts.
Ebay. I buy new and used things there fairly frequently.
Have you looked into selling to reenactors?
They seem willing to pay for handcrafted stuff.
Haven't focused on reenactors specifically. Most of our stuff is home furnishings. Hooks, plant hangers, curtain rods, pot rack bars, drawer pulls, joint braces for woodworking, fireplace hardware, decorative chains (like for chandeliers), etc.
Ren faire folks LOVE stuff like that, you should absolutely see if you have one nearby. If you're in the states, each state usually has one.
By states I'm guessing america
Please remember that lemmy is a global platform and not everyone will know what states mean
remember that this is the internet, not america so please don't resort to us defaultism
Jesus Christ. You've canvassed every fucking comment in this thread, and this one is actually doing what you want. Give them a break.
State where your from please
Lemmy is global
Shipping is global.
Most small creators do not have their own online stores. They depend on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or some combination of the three
Ugh fuck Etsy. I used to sell on there. I'd make maybe $60 on a $100 item after their stupid fees
Many small creators also sell directly on social media. Unfortunately that's mostly corporate owned social media, but at least they dont typically get a cut of the sale.
Even still, local creators will often pop up at events and conventions and stuff. They may not have a permanent presence, but you can still often buy stuff from them in person if you keep up with where they'll be.
And often a bit cheaper through outlets even if they do have their own store. Still, I'll pay a little extra to keep it in the family.
Buying a domain and a webhost costs money and people would need a regular income for that
What I'd like to see is some co-op online platform where people can collectively contribute to online costs though a small percentage of fees and / or donations
This is what I do too. I try to go directly to the source either online or in person
This is great advice.