Recently Typepad announced a new widget for bloggers who use Typepad - one that allows you to set up your own storefront, complete with a shopping cart and secure payment via PayPal. And all from your sidebar in a matter of minutes.
So since digital scrapbookers are a group of avid bloggers, will this change digital scrapbooking? Hmmm I wonder....
Since I started digrscrapping, it has gone through a lot of changes. In the beginning (like maybe 3 years ago - LOL!), there were few digital designers and few digital sites. Prices for kits were a bit higher than they are now but still quite reasonable considering how much use you can get out of one kit. As more people started scrapping digitally, the number of sites grew and so did the number of designers. Becoming a digital designer was possible with a computer, talent, time and a high speed connection plus it was easy to do it from home or as a extra business.
Just as market economics would predict, the digital world now has lots of designers - probably more than are needed. Prices have dropped, freebies now appear on such a regular basis that many consumers feel they don't need to buy kits with all the free ones available. In an effort to cope, designers have begun offering more and more sales. But when it takes hours and hours to create a kit that sells for < $5 is it worth it? Digital store sites and designers seem to come and go - this year has seen many designers leave the business. Those designers still left seem to move frequently from one site to another, probably in search of more sales. Without a rise in paying customers or in kit prices, it would seem that we will continue to lose designers in 2008.
So now that Typepad will help you set up a store, will designers just decide to sell from their own blogs? For one, it cuts out the fee designers pay for being part of a store. It certainly seems easier than setting up and maintaining a store site - less hassle, less marketing and if you've had a blog for awhile you have a built in customer base. Plus you don't have to pay for a domain name and hosting. But so far I haven't seem anyone jumping to set up a store. Maybe we're all still wrestling with the holidays and too busy to think about it. Or maybe it is harder than it looks - I haven't tried it yet. Or maybe 2008 will the year of the store-blog? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.....
It might happen - but I for one hope we won't lose the stores. As a consumer, I find it easier to stick with stores rather than follow the designers around blog world. I would do it, though, if my favorite designers decided to sell from their blogs :-)
Posted by: Lilja | December 27, 2007 at 05:56 PM
Nope, not for this designer. I love the idea of not having to pay a fee to be in a store but when you work at home alone, it is nice to have a group of designers to chat with online. Another question is will the customers be happy to have to check out at each designer's blog, or is it not easier to go to a store where the work of several designers are?
Posted by: Scrappy Cats | December 28, 2007 at 01:10 AM