Bundle Sale (!) & An Update on the Search to Replace Makerist

Over a year later, still missing the exposure Makerist provided...

Didn't expect to be back here within a week, but the precise timing of today's post is partly self-serving, as the first half of the title implies. (The other part is informative, as the second half of the title indicates.) In the end, they're both kind of related.

If you're a regular reader, you may recall that Makerist – an online marketplace that allowed us indie designers to sell sewing (and knitting/crocheting, I believe) patterns to the world – closed down permanently about a year ago.

In the weeks and months that followed, I gradually became aware of how much that marketplace meant to me in terms of sales. As in, without it, I've been selling essentially diddly.

It was a conundrum I hadn't expected to last so long.

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In my search for a replacement marketplace last year – and for the record, there is still no real replacement for Makerist, as I will expound upon further at the end of this post – I reached out to three sites.

One was IndiePatterns.com, which appeared – at least on the surface – to be a good match for what I was looking for: various sewing patterns being sold by different designers. In what I can only describe as a business not being willing or able to help itself grow, I made two attempts to make contact and received no replies. (Having described the situation with Makerist in my messages, it was clearly a missed opportunity for any existing marketplace to not even respond.)

One of the other sites that I inquired at was also located in the EU (as in, Makerist was based in the EU) and the prevailing sentiment there was that dealing with their digital tax was too bothersome to accommodate for foreigners; so no luck.

I was ultimately accommodated by Sew Thankful, which has been hosting some of my patterns since April.

Today, I'm here to announce that I've also struck up an agreement with Sew Modern Bags, which is a bag making oriented marketplace that has been around for over a decade.

My shop at Sew Modern Bags...

My patterns are being launched this weekend with an introductory promotional sale. The PDFs for the three projects shown below are available as a bundle for $17 USD.

Sew Modern Bags introductory bundle sale...

The bag making emphasis of Sew Modern Bags means that there is no room for my Voilà Vase pattern, or my Crafty Cosmetics Caddy pattern... not to mention a whole slew of freebie PDFs that have nothing to do with bags.

So you can see how my "what do I do now that Makerist is gone" problem continues.

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Check out crafty classes at Creativebug! [affiliate link]

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Here's the thing: Makerist allowed designers the freedom to set up their own shop on the platform — probably in much the same way as Etsy does, without the onerous fees. I was in control of the messaging behind my shop; I was free to promote and link back to this blog. (I never really considered that Makerist likely drove a bit of traffic to my blog, but the proof is in the pudding there too. A blurb on my shop used to state that patterns were better priced here, and over the past year, direct sales from here have also slowed appreciably.)

[Which is why I figured I'd take advantage of the moment and offer my own bundle sale – with special pricing available for Canadian customers – in conjunction with the one being run by Sew Modern Bags.]

First pattern in my private bundle sale is the Convertible Crossbody FOOLER Bag... 

In terms of pricing, I had the freedom to change product prices at will. I could upload updates to PDFs whenever I wanted, and offer free patterns or "almost free" patterns for customers to sample. If I wanted to make a change to almost anything – at 2:35am in whatever corner of the world I was – I could likely do it on Makerist. (The two platforms that now sell my patterns control all of the back-end, behind the scenes work.)

Second pattern in my private bundle sale is the Bodaciously Basic Bucket Bag...

I had no restrictions as to what price point to sell my products for on Makerist; that's not a luxury I'm currently afforded. (Right now, if I don't sell stuff for a minimal $5, it's likely not worth anyone else's time to promote.) Makerist didn't care that I had a huge selection of freebie patterns on offer. (Right now, at least one of the sites that I work with will not offer free patterns, period.)

Third pattern in my private bundle sale is the Bundled Up Bindle Bag...

The fact that no platform offers these advantages likely means that the arrangement may not have been profitable for the original operator (i.e., the reason why Makerist had to shut down). While I don't know the details, my guess is that the reason for any business to shutter usually has to do with not making sufficient profit.

One year later, I sure wish they had been able to make a go of it, because nothing out there is filling the void that Makerist left. 😞

If you're interested in my private bundle sale above, here's the link to the page to purchase. The three pattern pack for $12 represents a 30% discount and will run for as long as the mood strikes me. (That is, it's subject to end without notice.)

'Til next... 🇨🇦🍁