Comments on: Blogging the road to international design success

By: alan

alan — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 08:48:07 +0000

who knows, with the recent noise Google has been making locally, they might just get Checkout to work locally.

By: Christopher de Beer

Christopher de Beer — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 08:57:52 +0000

Great article.

Heather really is way up there in terms of making a name for herself and South African bloggers in general.

Its thanks to her that I got both my blog and my Etsy shop off the ground. She’s been a great help.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:34:03 +0000

There are other payment options that you can use on Etsy – it’s a bit of a wiggle, but it works. Setcom, Auctionchex…. there are a few more. Google Checkout doesn’t work in South Africa either. The Etsy forums are really helpful for finding out more. Browsing various Etsy shops and looking at how they are set up, reading sellers’ profile and policy pages, is the best way to find out more.

There are other countries with the same Paypal problem (can’t recall which ones right now) but people are selling on Etsy from there.

By: Brandt Botes

Brandt Botes — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:51:07 +0000

Well done Heather!

Thanks for your comments Jesse – not being able to accept money via Paypal is a huge issue. Is there somewhere we can learn more about the process of how to sell through Etsy?

By: Laura Bucci

Laura Bucci — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:42:51 +0000

Interesting to know the challenges for artists and craft artists in SA. I’m in Canada. Great story on how Heather got started.

By: bronwyn

bronwyn — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:44:48 +0000

Excellent comment Jesse. You make an interesting point and this is something I wasn’t aware of. I can see how the financial system puts local sellers at a disadvantage and this is a real pity especially as you say taking high shipping costs into account. On the other hand Heather seems to have made a real good go of it on Etsy and it would be great to see other South Africans doing likewise. But yes I can see how this would be a major stumbling block. Perhaps this is something that needs to be taken up by the DTI seeing that they appear so keen to promote SA crafts etc overseas. I also still think it would be great for more local designers to have a web presence in the design blogosphere to put SA products out there and help raise our design profile internationally.

By: alan

alan — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:40:11 +0000

Agreed re great article.

Well done Heather: it’s really interesting hearing more about your story.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:06:06 +0000

Great article!

One reason SA bloggers are slow to sell their goods internationally is that Paypal is only partially functional here. We can send money, but we can’t receive it. Etsy is one of the few sites where we can sidestep this by using another pay site. Most online shops and galleries are unable or unwilling to accommodate anything other than what they’re already set up for. The only way to sell on these sites is then to use an intermediary site that accepts the payment through Paypal and passes it on – for a fee. This, along with the high shipping costs (because SA is fairly far away from most of the potential customers), can make selling online quite expensive.