If you're selling on Etsy or considering it, you probably have heard of Pattern - Etsy
website builder.
This is not a new feature.
It was first released, I believe in 2016, so it's time I do a review about it.
Should you use it?
Is it worth it?
Let's get into it.
When Etsy first announced Pattern, I was pretty excited because I'm the website girl, right?
I love branding, graphic design, web design...
That's my background originally.
So I was really excited about the opportunity of having a professional looking site without
the hassle of setting up a website from scratch.
Right?
It would pull your listings from Etsy and help you set up a shop on your own domain
with an easy drag and drop builder.
And it all sounded delicious.
Really, it sounded perfect, but to be honest, I'm not really sold on Pattern.
So this is not going to be a video where I do, you know, why it's good?
Why it's bad?
It's a little bit biased because I am not super into it, but I don't want to just say
that and I want to explain to you why I think Pattern may not be the best option if you
want to sell on your own website and on your own domain and that's what I want to get into
today.
But first let's review the basics.
How much does this thing cost is always a very important question, right?
That's in at the date of this recording, which is at July 2018, it costs $15 a month.
The listing fees that you pay on Etsy only apply for items that you sell on the Etsy
marketplace, so they do not apply to Pattern.
You get free listing on Pattern if that item is sold on the Pattern only, right?
If you sell it on the Etsy marketplace, but also on your Pattern website, then you still
pay the twenty cent listing fee from Etsy, if that makes sense.
Same transaction fee as Etsy, so you get 3.5% of the item price.
Actually, let me correct that.
It is now 5% because the fees just increased a little bit.
So, same transaction fee as you usually have on the Etsy marketplace and you do have to
buy your own domain name, which costs, depending on the provider that you pick, but they're
mostly the same price and it's usually 10 to 15 US dollars for a full year.
So this is more or less what it would cost you.
So pretty much the same thing as Etsy plus $15 a month and $15 a year for your domain
name itself.
So what does Pattern actually do?
Right?
Let's talk about that.
So what it does is it takes your Etsy listings or any new listings that you may want to add
on top of your Etsy listings and sell only on your own website and it grabs those listings
and it adds them to your very own website on a custom domain name so people can reach
your store and purchase your products using not the Etsy marketplace like you're probably
doing now, but using your own domain, your own url, so www.my cuteshop.com for example.
It will also let you pick a theme, so when you're first signing to Pattern, you can decide
the theme.
It is pretty much just the design and the layout of your shop and there are a few options
there that you can pick from.
And then it will let you make changes to that website in terms of the pictures and the content
that you want to add pretty easily, I must admit.
It is not the most intuitive option out there.
Again, I'll talk about it later.
I think there are better options with Shopify or WordPress, but it is easy to make changes
to it and it is really, really easy to set up if you already have an Etsy shop.
So why is this interesting?
Right?
Well, it is more professional to get your own website and it is a growth strategy that
I always end up recommending to Etsy sellers as they grow out and want to expand outside
of Etsy.
And for some people, I would also recommend it from the get go, getting your own website.
So the fact that it is easy to set up and that you don't have to understand how WordPress
or Shopify work because you already have your Etsy store and you can just create your website
like this is really attractive, right?
There's also no need for stock management like you would; I know a lot of makers often
complain that once they have their own website, they got to watch out because some people
will be buying on their Shopify store and then on their Etsy and so they have to make
sure that the inventory and the stock is dealt with so that you're not selling something
on Etsy that maybe you sold out and because you sold it on Shopify.
It simplifies that as well because it really is all under the same Etsy umbrella.
By the way, if you're enjoying this video, I recommend you subscribe just below by clicking
that red button before you forget, because every Tuesday I release a new video just to
help you start, grow and profit from your handmade shop.
Why do I think that you should stay away from Pattern, and again, I'm really open to your
conversation in the comments below.
I believe that when you sign up for Pattern you're losing what Etsy does best, which is
bringing traffic to the platform for you and putting buyers in front of your products without
getting any of the benefits that you would have from a platform, a website building platform
like Shopify or WordPress, right?
So let's get into more details.
The cost to start with: you'll still have to pay the Etsy fees, right?
On top of that, you have to pay $15 a month, which is honestly a lot considering how many
features they actually give you access to for that amount of money.
So yes, you don't have to pay for hosting for example, that's included in your $15 a
month, but with WordPress
you can find hosting for as little as $5 a month.
And with Shopify it is a bit more expensive, the monthly ongoing cost, but it is because
it comes with a ton of features and flexibility and more support and generally more of everything
like you can be sure that Shopify or WordPress will grow with your business and that you
will always be able to add marketing features and add ons or plugins as you need them and
as your business grows, which you don't get with Etsy Pattern.
In terms of the design, you also have much more options available to you with WordPress
or Shopify and most themes on those platforms are really easy to modify and to play with
really into design was drag and drop builders.
So it's not like Pattern is super easy and there's no other option out there,
there really is.
There are themes that are great and that can help you get set up really quickly and make
changes without knowing a single line of code.
Right?
And I can put link below to resources to help you for that, for Shopify and WordPress if
you're interested.
Now, something else that I found a little bit disappointing was analytics, which with
Pattern you sorta get just the same thing as you were getting with your Etsy shop, which
is not great to start with.
Whereas with Shopify or WordPress you can integrate fully with something like Google
analytics and really dive deeper into understanding the behavior of your visitor on your shop
and changing your marketing strategy accordingly, which is really important if you're serious
about growing this handmade shop.
So I really want you to think longterm here and I just don't think that Pattern will be
enough for you to grow as much as you want to.
Whereas something like Shopify and WordPress, that's what they do.
That's their core focus and so you will be able to evolve and grow on those platforms
much more than you would with Pattern.
Another thing that comes to mind is that I want you to own your own website, to own your
email list, and I did a video I can link to it below about what marketing your Etsy shop
and real estate have in common and it's all about owning your business rather than renting
it.
And the concern with Etsy Pattern is what if Etsy decides to close Pattern tomorrow?
I know they don't have any plans to, but a couple of weeks ago they actually decided
to close the whole wholesale Etsy feature and you know, we didn't know about that until
they announced it.
So the idea is to not put all your eggs into one basket.
So if you're already selling on Etsy marketplace, go and set yourself up with something else
like Shopify or like WordPress so that if anything happened with Etsy or Etsy Pattern,
then you have those other options for yourself.
Don't put all of your eggs in the same one Etsy basket is my top recommendation here.
So here's the sort of conclusion, right?
Building a platform, in my opinion, the way WordPress or Shopify have done it takes a
lot of time and a lot of effort and I just don't think that this is where Etsy will focus
their effort the most.
Etsy is amazing at gathering handmade shop buyers and driving that traffic to the Etsy
marketplace so that you can take advantage of it as an Etsy seller, but as soon as you
sell on Pattern you're not really getting that traction anymore and you still have to
bring your own traffic to your website.
But as I was saying before, you're also missing out on all the features
that something like Shopify or WordPress would allow you to have in place on your own website.
So I do really think that is worth the time and it doesn't have to take long, again, I'll
put some resources below the video just for you to set up your website on a platform like
Shopify or WordPress and to use Etsy as what it is for what it does best, which is a handmade
marketplace.
So I would love to know, and let me know in the comments below: have you used Pattern
yourself or are you considering it?
What's your thoughts on it?
I'd love to know.
I'd love to get the conversation going in the comments below, and if you like this video,
make sure to subscribe and to like this video.
Also check the resources just below because I have a free library of resources for Etsy
sellers and handmade shop owners that you can access for free and full of guides and
ebooks and checklists to help you start grow and profit from your handmade shop.
I will talk to you next Tuesday.
Bye Bye.