Code for free trial of a premium account down the bottom of this post!Zibbet is a new international site for handmade and vintage, created by two Sydneysiders ('Zibbet' comes from the word 'exhibit').
As well as the fact that it's an Aussie-based site (but for international buyers and sellers), I wanted to share it with all of you because Zibbet now allows you to set up your own store and
sell items for free- with a
free basic account, you can have 25 items in your shop and pay
no listing fees and no commission on sales either!!!
I thought this would be fantastic for many who may have been reluctant to try out additional online venues because of the fees involved- this way you can sell for nothing :)
There are some other really cool aspects to the site as well. I have just set up a
premium shop for my new scientific jewellery line
Morphologica, which allowed me to customise the colour scheme and sizing of elements in my shop, and
add widgets to my store including a box for my
facebook fan page, an etsy button (you can add an
etsy mini too and
twitter feeds,
blog links etc), and I'm planning to add some
project wonderful ads to earn some advertising money! You can also add selected
photos and a YouTube video of your crafting to your shop profile!
Premium shops have unlimited listings, and again have no listing or selling fees (subscription is $7/month). You get $1 off this monthly fee for life for each person you refer to the site who then signs up for a premium account, meaning that
if you refer 7 people your premium account will be completely free forever (
please note this is the current referral program- the referral info on their website regarding earning commissions hasn't been updated yet and no longer applies).
Part of my customised shop front
Facebook box and button for my etsy store on the side panelZibbet also plans to introduce the ability to offer discount coupon codes so that we can run promotions for our stores easily, and the option to import listings from etsy (although I found just copying and pasting very easy because the layout is very similar).
An excellent feature that's already available is that you can
sort your search results so that sellers close to your location are listed first, making it easier to find items from Australian sellers!
So far I really like Zibbet. It's still developing of course, but the Zibbet team is very helpful and attentive, and it's great to see (and support) another promising handmade site to come out of Australia. I think it could be particularly good for the traffic that sellers generate by themselves using project wonderful, blogs, twitter etc.
If you're going to work hard generating the traffic yourself, why not send some of it to a shop where you don't have to pay any fees, and also where your items are more likely to stand out?
There are a few issues that do need to be addressed, such as limitations in shipping options (location and abilty to discount combined shipping), lack of a geekery section for me (hehe), the currency is not clear enough (and it would be wonderful to have the option to view it in AU$ of course, particularly as it's an Aus-based site), and of course many people are not yet aware of the site.
I think it's a great way to gain a bit more exposure and to benefit more from the effort we all put into promotion, and
being able to place project wonderful advertising in our shops might mean they end up paying for their own advertising!
. . . . . . . .
Announcing a special offer:Zibbet is offering a special 7-day free trial of a premium shop to all Australian Etsy Blog readers!! That means you can easily copy your etsy listings over to your
FREE premium customisable Zibbet store and have fun playing around with the colours, banner and photo sizes, lots of different widgets, and post a video of yourself for us to watch :)
To take advantage of this exclusive offer just for us, enter the code AUSFREE when registering for a premium account, and you'll get a 7-day free premium account trial!There is a space to enter the coupon code on the last page when signing up for your account.Sign up to Zibbet
Feel free to post your new zibbet shop links in the comments and I'll put them up in a blog post so we can all visit (and let me know in the comment if you're running a promotion during that period).
(Please note- links in this blog post are mainly referral links for a new store that I am thinking of setting up in addition to my Morphologica store)
'Morphologica is a neuroscientist in the final stages of her PhD who also makes wonderful brain-inspired jewellery. The piece in the picture is the lovely pyramidal neuron necklace, although there are also earrings and necklaces inspired by the double helix, the contours of the cortical surface and cell proliferation. And if you're a jewellery wearer (sadly, I can never find the shoes to match) you can pick up any of the pieces from Morphologica's online store.' www.mindhacks.com
Helical Symmetry- double helix DNA necklace
bRain- raindrop necklace with brain contours
Multiply- proliferating cell earrings
Pyramidal- pyramidal neuron necklace
bRain- raindrop earrings with brain contours
Geek is the New Cool- geek necklace
Section- laser-engraved brain necklace
