Felt.co.nz

[marika3]

http://felt.co.nz/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not an auction as such, but still nice little NZ venue for crafters and artists to sell their work.
Handmade NZ-made goodies only.

I joined it about three weeks ago, and today made my first sale there.
Noticed that visitor counters are much higher, than for the same items on TM. I initially thought that site counts my own visits to listings, but no, it's only other users counted.
Free gallery, which is the norm everywhere but TM :)
To list an item for 4 months, you have to pay 50c, plus 5% fee when sold.

What's been new to me so far:
- when lot is sold, seller is not supplied with buyer's email address. All communication during and after sale goes through internal messaging.
- there is no place in your "sold items" to find buyer's details or postal address. Instead, delivery address supplied by email from Felt "You have made a sale on Felt", with details of the item sold, fees taken and buyer's username and delivery address.
- there is no option to check buyer's feedback or profile. Search engine only allows search by sellers usernames, not all members. And buyer's username everywhere is not clickable.
- there is no "sell similar" option on Felt, which is very inconvenient. For every item you have to start from scratch.
- I could not find "fee refund" option anywhere on site or in "sold" email. My buyer paid promptly and item already posted, but I would not know what to do if buyer is a timewaster.
- site forum is quite slow, my only question to more experienced users had been answered 6 days later.

If you ever used Felt or plan to use it in near future, please share your findings.

I think that idea of separate marketplace for handmade goods is great, but it would be even better if large auction sites like TradeMe have separate sections for "handmade only", for better traffic.
Mixing locally handmade unique items with mass-produced imports in one category makes it impossible for buyers to find and for sellers to sell.
For example, one of my items was listed on TM for 4 weeks, no sale, avarage 5-6 views a week.
The very same item listed on Felt for 2 weeks had 8-10 views a day and sold.

[dobby]

Some tips for you ...

Noticed that visitor counters are much higher, than for the same items on TM.

Be aware that when items are relisted, the counters are not reset.

there is no option to check buyer's feedback or profile

From the Orders tab, click into the sold listing. There will be a header outlining sale date/time, seller, buyer,
cost, reference and commission paid.

The buyer name will be clickable. This will take you through to the buyer profile, and feedback will be clickable
from there. It's a complicated way of getting there, but it does the job.

when lot is sold, seller is not supplied with buyer's email address. All communication during and after sale goes through internal messaging.

The internal messaging facility is useful. If you have PayPal set up as a payment method, you'll receive the
buyers email address via the payment confirmation.

there is no "sell similar" option on Felt

True, and this is a frustration. There is a 'relist' feature if an item is sold, and you can include multiple
(but identical) items for sale which will relist automatically on sale. Other than that, cut & paste is your
friend.

I could not find "fee refund" option anywhere on site or in "sold" email.

There is no automated process currently for requesting refunds on the site. I've had to do this once (buyer
accidentally bought item twice), and emailed admin for advice. Mail either admin@felt.co.nz or rose@felt.co.nz if you have any
questions - I've always found her to be very responsive and helpful and she generally replies very quickly.

It's a nice little site which is maintained and developed/improved regularly. It has a good following in handmade circles.
I'm not doing much there at the moment, but have had only positive experiences. I agree that the form is under-used.

Good luck with the selling and drop me a line if you need any advice.

[marika3]

Some tips for you ...

Noticed that visitor counters are much higher, than for the same items on TM.

Be aware that when items are relisted, the counters are not reset.

Aware of that, some overseas auction sites do it the same way - Delcampe, Bonanza, Etsy, in particular.
Any way, my listings still have three months to go till relisted.

there is no option to check buyer's feedback or profile

From the Orders tab, click into the sold listing. There will be a header outlining sale date/time, seller, buyer,
cost, reference and commission paid.
The buyer name will be clickable. This will take you through to the buyer profile, and feedback will be clickable
from there. It's a complicated way of getting there, but it does the job.

Wow, thanks for that, I wouldn't find it myself. Seems it's the only place where buyer's nick is clickable.

when lot is sold, seller is not supplied with buyer's email address. All communication during and after sale goes through internal messaging.

The internal messaging facility is useful. If you have PayPal set up as a payment method, you'll receive the
buyers email address via the payment confirmation.

I do like it more with messaging system, in fact. It keeps my email hidden from everyone, unless I supply it myself. The only other trading site which operates this way is OneWay.

there is no "sell similar" option on Felt

True, and this is a frustration. There is a 'relist' feature if an item is sold, and you can include multiple
(but identical) items for sale which will relist automatically on sale. Other than that, cut & paste is your
friend.

Cut and paste, or just a fresh typing is not a problem for similar listings titles and descriptions. What frustrates me is the need to select 2-3 levels category, postage options and other site settings every time. Cut/paste can't be used there.

Thanks, Dobby, for your advice.

[marika3]

Chinese mass-produced items listed on Felt as hand-made:

http://felt.co.nz/shop/cnonlineshop" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

cnonlineshop
2 sales
No feedback yet
Registered in Aug 2011
Located in beijing
Outside NZ

There are about 50 items listed in this shop, all advertised as "handmade", and priced at $10-$20. Nice looking stuff, but when you look closely and do some homework, it's very easy to find that items are factory-made in numbers.
For example,
http://felt.co.nz/listing/61941/Cute-little-fox-ring" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Search on eBay for "Fox ring" shows dozens of these items from different sellers around the world, with same pictures, and priced much lower than "handmade" on Felt:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... _sacat=281" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Same with all other "handmade" products from this Felt seller.

Felt is for hand-made goods only.

I wrote PM to one of Felt admin several days ago, no replies, no action.
Wrote to another one, got reply yesterday:

Hi Marina
Thank you for following up. Lucy apologies for not getting back to you, but she has been flat out this week with preparations for promoting Felt at the women's lifestyle expo. She has got your message and we're in the process of dealing with the situation as it was already on our radar.
Thank you for the heads up!

Warm Regards,
Rose
Felt Admin

But still no action, shop is still there and just made another sale.
Very disappointing.

[digidog]

For a site that describes itself as, "New Zealand's online marketplace for handmade goods" it's ad that they allow anyone
from China to list tacky items in the first place. I understand that Felt has a good reputation and they do not need this sort of
rubbish masquerading as handmade kiwi goods. So I've also sent them an email.

It's been brought to my attention that someone from China is listing "handmade" items on your site when in fact
they're mass-produced factory items from China. Here's one of the listings.

http://felt.co.nz/listing/61941/Cute-little-fox-ring" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All of this seller's listings are described as "handmade". As you describe your site as "New Zealand's online marketplace for
handmade goods" I'd like to ask, does felt condone this sort of fraudulent behaviour? And is it policy for people in China to
be able to list on your site?

Thanks...

[marika3]

Digi, you are really in heavyweight league - all these fake "handmade" listings were deleted today by Felt admin.

[digidog]

I received a lovely email from Lucy who owns Felt.

Thank you for your email. Felt certainly does not condone fraudulent
listings and it is our policy to follow up reports of non-handmade
items with our own investigation.

Some sellers on Felt do source mass-produced components from overseas
to be hand assembled into their own designs, so we will not
automatically withdraw listings if these components appear on Felt,
however we are already aware of the shop in question and have
contacted the seller involved. I am awaiting her reply and in the
meantime I have withdrawn her listings.

Felt itself is New Zealand-based and most sellers on the site are
also, but we do allow listings from sellers outside New Zealand. We
monitor the site closely and do our best to keep Felt free of mass-
produced and non-handmade items so that Felt's customers can buy in
confidence.

Thanks again for your enquiry and please don't hesitate to contact me
if you have any further questions.

I understand that Christchurch-based Felt were affected by the earthquakes which I'm sure makes
running any business much more difficult than usual. I'm sure that Lucy and her team are providing
a great service for kiwi crafts people and I was delighted at their speedy response.

If only all site owners were this responsible. Are you listening Sella?