IndieMe Difference

IndieMe

• No commission on orders.
• 100% handcrafted.
• Buyers and Artists only from North America.
• Create a relationship with your buyers and have access to their emails!
• Oversee your business. Set your store up as you wish and is right for your business.
• Ease of searching for handcrafted because IndieMe is only handcrafted.
• Customer Service is available to help.
• Decades of wholesale experience including over 15 years of physical trade shows.
• Staff members who are also artists with knowledge and experience in the handcrafted industry.
• Internal private groups for artists to get help and support from fellow artists.

FAIRE

• You are a number and a commission.
• They just want your buyer list.
• They have no experience or knowledge about the handcrafted industry.
• They set the rules.
• They oversee all the money and how and when it is distributed.
• They buy and sell globally.
• Buyers are not fully vetted.
• You are in a pool of thousands and thousands of makers.
• Commission is taken out on every order.
• Requirements and rules are always changing, the bar is always moving and you are working hard to stay relevant. Not on IndieMe!

You can see how IndieMe and Faire differ from the above bullet points. We are two different companies with two very different business models. From the beginning, our mission has been to support and grow the handcrafted industry in North America. We stand firm in that mission and will continue to strongly promote and encourage the makers and buyers that support handcrafted. What does this mean for you and how can you make your business shine on IndieMe?

IndieMe is privately owned and operated by a single owner. What this means is no venture capitalist money, no board of directors to answer to, no layers of bureaucracy. Profits are funneled directly back into the company, and decisions are made on what is best for the members and not for the investors.

Yes, IndieMe charges a monthly web service fee, but we also do not take any commission on your orders because we believe that money is yours. Think of our monthly fee as “rent” as we are hosting your wholesale website, which is a viable business cost.

Managing your IndieMe store is different than your Faire presence. We cannot speak for your experience on Faire, we can only share with you how IndieMe works and our best practices.

• Play an active role. This means adding new work weekly, reviewing product stats, and moving items around regularly.
• Updating keywords frequently. Think about the upcoming buying season. Think about how a buyer would search for items for their store, keeping it simple and direct.
• Stay in contact with your buyers, emailing them frequently with reminders to shop from you on IndieMe. Buyers have a lot of choices, so you need to consistently reach out to them. Check their last order's status and tell them about new designs or a new line. Send samples if you have them. Find ways to stand out.
• Receive a new order off IndieMe? Let that buyer know they can shop from you on IndieMe moving forward.
• Be active on social media and use hashtags like #indieme, #shopindieme and #indiemenow. Share our posts and comment regularly. We will share your posts too!
• Our Limited or New Product Release is a great way to get a ton of attention. When launching a new product be sure to let us know. We will create an email about your new line and send it to our entire buyer database.
• Reach out to us with any questions. We are available to help you and we want you to succeed.