Arts-and-crafts supplies retailer Michaels launched a new marketplace with over 750,000 items from sellers of “supplies and componentry.” Michaels, which said it has tens of millions of visitors to its website each month, said it curates the sellers allowed on the marketplace.
The cost to sellers: A 15% commission paid only when an item sells. A spokesperson for Michaels told EcommerceBytes, “Unlike competitive marketplaces, Michaels does not charge additional fees or require a monthly subscription. Rather, we offer third-party sellers an industry standard rate on commission sales.”
Michaels is not welcoming individual creators of handmade goods – it’s looking for vetted brands and companies that can provide high quality products to its customer base at scale. Marketplace sellers can offer relevant products in categories including Arts, Crafts, Hobbies, Baking & Cooking, Tools & Tech, Yarn, Stitchery, Kids, Toys, Education, Home Décor, Office, Journaling, Candle Making, Soap Making, and Seasonal products.
It’s unclear how Etsy may view the competition. While Etsy is known for its finished handmade and artisan products as well as vintage goods, sellers also offer arts and crafts supplies.
Readers may remember that crafts store A.C. Moore partnered with Australian marketplace Zibbet to power Marketplace.ACMoore.com before the company shuttered its business.
The Michaels spokesperson told us the curated selection of third-party sellers would help the marketplace exponentially grow Michaels’ online assortment in new and existing categories.
“This announcement is the latest in Michaels’ ongoing digital transformation, increasing the online assortment of its U.S. site from 250,000 to more than 1M SKUs from sellers eager to reach Michaels’ highly diverse and engaged customer base while helping those customers find even more of what they need to bring their creative dreams to life,” she said.
You can find more information and FAQs on Michaels.com/marketplace.
For a look at how another retailer, Target, is faring after opening its marketplace to sellers on a “curated” basis four years ago, check out this article on Marketplace Pulse, which said it has only 650 third-party sellers as part of a deliberate strategy to not overwhelm visitors to its site.
Etsy had “Etsy Studio” for a minute or two … several years ago. It didn’t last long.
https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2018/02/28/etsy-close-etsy-studio-manufacturing-sites/
It looks like Michael’s wants wholesale vendors selling supplies on their marketplace, not mom & pop shops. From a business standpoint, it seems like a WIN for Michaels! Instead of Michaels buying more supplies to stock their cyber shelves, they’ll charge the wholesale vendor a fee for providing the merch to their marketplace!
Add bulkapothacary.com to the list of companies who have added this.
IF I had a website & wanted to add product lines that met the style of the site I’d loved to have wholesale handmade additions. For me, it was the soaps & scents. I was also able to buy in small quantities & test out the products. This turned out to be important as some of the handmade soaps bled colors–not acceptable.
If you check their site–click on the “Wholesale” tab. It’s also a good way to pick up new wholesale customers & move them off to your own site.