How it is going

 

Hand dyed thread "Summer Trail" size 3

So far I'm really liking my new online shop, Marilee's Tatting on Goimagine. I've had some sales which have helped me gain experience in how the site works.

It has an "analytics" page for the seller to see charts for how many views their shop is getting and which items are getting the most views. So far the size 20 "Summer Trail" thread and the "Celtic Triangle" pattern have been viewed the most.

It seems that I don't receive an email notice if I've had a sale, so I'll remember to check the shop each day. The seller's dashboard does have a notice there.

All credit card payments on Goimagine are accepted. But, it cannot take PayPal. I don't know if it would take the PayPal debit card.

The seller needs to print the shipping labels using another service such as USPS Click-N-Ship. For me that means I need to copy and paste the customer's address onto the label. I don't mind, it's not hard.

So far I have not had a sale of a digital item yet. I did buy a digital pattern from another seller to see how it worked. Since I have an account, I just needed to click on "Your Account" and select "downloads". The pattern was there. But, a buyer does not need to have an account to make a purchase, so then the pattern would be emailed by the seller. Since I haven't had a digital pattern sale yet, I don't have any experience about it yet.

Just thought I'd share how it's going so far! Keep on tatting and crafting!

Open!

 

Still need to add a lot of my original digital patterns, but all of my current hand dyed thread in stock has been added. Just so you know, you don't need to sign up for an account in order to make a purchase there. Let me know about any glitches, please. The link to my new shop: https://goimagine.com/marileestatting/

Setting up in progress on Goimagine

 

I'm working on it! Nothing is ready yet except the main banner, so here's a screenshot. My new shop will be called "Marilee's Tatting". It's taking me some time to get all my products moved over, but hoping to be ready to open for business soon!

Take a look at the Goimagine main page here: https://goimagine.com/ 

I really like their "Handmade for Good" concept. This seems like it will be the right place for me. 

Where to sell?

 I've put my Etsy shop on vacation until I figure out what to do. For those who haven't heard (and I didn't myself until a few minutes ago) Etsy has become a place where uncaring people are making a profit off of suffering by selling "Alligator Alcatraz", fake "ICE Agent" costumes, and other offensive items promoting cruelty. 

These items break Etsy’s Terms of Use, specifically the Hate and Discrimination Policy. Etsy clearly states that immigration status is a protected characteristic, and content that mocks, dehumanizes, or targets people based on that is not allowed.

Apparently Etsy is not doing it's job to enforce that policy...yet. Perhaps it will if enough people complain and protest, or especially if they start losing significant amounts of money.

I don't know how long this will last, but I may start looking for a different selling platform. Very inconvenient, especially since I just finished hand dyeing a new batch of thread ("Summer Trail") and currently nowhere to sell it!

Ginkgo Leaf

 

Last week I made a "short" (brief video in vertical format) of tatting this Ginkgo Leaf pattern and uploaded it to YouTube. It's also on Instagram and a slightly longer version is on TikTok. 

Since it's a short, it's not a complete how-to, but only a quick peek to get people interested. Although... surprisingly it contains a nice demo of the Catherine Wheel Join. 

My original, longer video of a Catherine Wheel Join is still on YouTube, uploaded 14 years ago. Wow, that old one looks so blurry! Amazing how far technology has come in 14 years. :-)