Why did I stop selling on Storenvy?.
I have been delaying this post for some months because of 3 main reasons:
1. I didn't want to write it while was still fresh, to give it a wider perspective
2. I wanted to move on to other venues,
3. My computer time and creative time were mixed with extended family visits.
So, here is my answer to the topic: Why did I stop selling on Storenvy?
Let name the good things of Storenvy before answering to give a wider picture.
Everything sounded great. You might think "where's the p**p?" Well, here is my experience.
The website is visually overwhelming, there are too many options, it is not intuitive at first. I would like to say I'm tech-savvy, so I can't imagine this website for other people.
(Etsy is fairly easy to use, Redbubble is more or less intuitive and very easy to upload as well as Printful, Zazzle can improve a bit, Merch by Amazon is way too easy, CreateSpace is great I guess it's because of the history of doing exactly what they do, publishing Books)
They divide your connection of payments into two: Pay for goods, Get paid when you sell. They promise integration with PayPal, which it is my only option because of my location (Not U.S.), and honestly, I don't mind using it because my experience has been good. However, Storenvy forced me to use Stripe to receive Payments. At that moment it sounded fishy, Stripe is new compared to Paypal and it looks like is created by the same people from Storenvy (Similar icons, not an intuitive interface, and so on). Giving your bank and security number info it's a delicate subject, so you think about it.
When I say they forced me to use Stripe is because my Paypal connection for buying was normal, smooth; but when setting it up for receiving payments, was a pain in the butt. It never connected, I tried doing it manually following their instructions in the help section, I tried multiple e-mails to them and even to Paypal. Storenvy e-mails were always answered by a different person, so clearly, there was not a follow up of my case. Until finally a guy helped me little by little, sending all my screenshots. Still, nothing. I had already set up the marketplace, the storefront and I was ready to sell. So, I read and read about Stripe and finally went for it. Though, It was cumbersome to have the money in Stripe because I use Paypal to pay to Printful. Anyway, I tried.
After opening a separate Instagram account to show my products from Storenvy, and three months of learning a bit of how "the Envys" worked, I only got followers in Instagram but none on the platform and NO SALES. Many will say three months is nothing, but I started selling on Etsy in the first month, and so I did in Redbubble and Merch. I searched more about what customers thought about Storenvy, and it hit me. The number of negative reviews was overwhelming. I read of several scams, fake stores, poor customer service on both ends customer and sellers (mine was not the best experience either). So, I decided that it didn't worth my time to be in a platform that has such reputation, still misses against the big Amazon and the star Etsy, plus all the other platforms doing great as Redbubble, Society6, and so on. Only thinking of the troublesome possibility of finally selling something, not receiving the money immediately on my Stripe account, but still have to pay to Printful for the item and then get scammed, was enough. The site has a lot to improve, specifically in avoiding creating a space for easy fake stores and scams.
The "Envy" system. The marketplace is similar to Etsy and social media where you can "Like", "Heart", "Favorite", in this case, "Envy" an item. But, I got the feeling it's more intense about it, and also I got the feeling there are bots doing so :/
I didn't erase my account though, just closed the stores, to give them time to grow in all those aspects. I will come back when I feel safe, when I feel I can relate to a platform that cares about the customer as I do in my Etsy stores.
If you are reading this and want to comment, please do it below. I would love to know more about experiences with this and another platform/marketplace.
Have a great day ☺️
Disclaimer: I am not related to any of the businesses named here beyond my efforts of opening stores with them, or earning royalties from my designs and creations. I do not monetize my comments, meaning I don't receive money or goods for commenting good or bad about something. My comments are based on my experience and my opinions with the objective of helping others in the same situation.
1. I didn't want to write it while was still fresh, to give it a wider perspective
2. I wanted to move on to other venues,
3. My computer time and creative time were mixed with extended family visits.
So, here is my answer to the topic: Why did I stop selling on Storenvy?
Let name the good things of Storenvy before answering to give a wider picture.
- Storenvy has integration with Printful which was the first reason I chose to open a venue with them. I already had some designs I wanted to see them on products.
- They don't charge you for publishing the listing with them, as Etsy does. So, I said, "Yeah, why not. I can upload many items, and only get charged when selling".
- You have the opportunity to post in their Marketplace (similar to Etsy) and automatically all the listings can be published on your personal storefront. That's awesome, you basically get 2 x 1, with no upfront cost.
Everything sounded great. You might think "where's the p**p?" Well, here is my experience.
The website is visually overwhelming, there are too many options, it is not intuitive at first. I would like to say I'm tech-savvy, so I can't imagine this website for other people.
(Etsy is fairly easy to use, Redbubble is more or less intuitive and very easy to upload as well as Printful, Zazzle can improve a bit, Merch by Amazon is way too easy, CreateSpace is great I guess it's because of the history of doing exactly what they do, publishing Books)
They divide your connection of payments into two: Pay for goods, Get paid when you sell. They promise integration with PayPal, which it is my only option because of my location (Not U.S.), and honestly, I don't mind using it because my experience has been good. However, Storenvy forced me to use Stripe to receive Payments. At that moment it sounded fishy, Stripe is new compared to Paypal and it looks like is created by the same people from Storenvy (Similar icons, not an intuitive interface, and so on). Giving your bank and security number info it's a delicate subject, so you think about it.
When I say they forced me to use Stripe is because my Paypal connection for buying was normal, smooth; but when setting it up for receiving payments, was a pain in the butt. It never connected, I tried doing it manually following their instructions in the help section, I tried multiple e-mails to them and even to Paypal. Storenvy e-mails were always answered by a different person, so clearly, there was not a follow up of my case. Until finally a guy helped me little by little, sending all my screenshots. Still, nothing. I had already set up the marketplace, the storefront and I was ready to sell. So, I read and read about Stripe and finally went for it. Though, It was cumbersome to have the money in Stripe because I use Paypal to pay to Printful. Anyway, I tried.
After opening a separate Instagram account to show my products from Storenvy, and three months of learning a bit of how "the Envys" worked, I only got followers in Instagram but none on the platform and NO SALES. Many will say three months is nothing, but I started selling on Etsy in the first month, and so I did in Redbubble and Merch. I searched more about what customers thought about Storenvy, and it hit me. The number of negative reviews was overwhelming. I read of several scams, fake stores, poor customer service on both ends customer and sellers (mine was not the best experience either). So, I decided that it didn't worth my time to be in a platform that has such reputation, still misses against the big Amazon and the star Etsy, plus all the other platforms doing great as Redbubble, Society6, and so on. Only thinking of the troublesome possibility of finally selling something, not receiving the money immediately on my Stripe account, but still have to pay to Printful for the item and then get scammed, was enough. The site has a lot to improve, specifically in avoiding creating a space for easy fake stores and scams.
The "Envy" system. The marketplace is similar to Etsy and social media where you can "Like", "Heart", "Favorite", in this case, "Envy" an item. But, I got the feeling it's more intense about it, and also I got the feeling there are bots doing so :/
I didn't erase my account though, just closed the stores, to give them time to grow in all those aspects. I will come back when I feel safe, when I feel I can relate to a platform that cares about the customer as I do in my Etsy stores.
If you are reading this and want to comment, please do it below. I would love to know more about experiences with this and another platform/marketplace.
Have a great day ☺️
Disclaimer: I am not related to any of the businesses named here beyond my efforts of opening stores with them, or earning royalties from my designs and creations. I do not monetize my comments, meaning I don't receive money or goods for commenting good or bad about something. My comments are based on my experience and my opinions with the objective of helping others in the same situation.
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