platforms for selling handmade goodies online?

I love etsy.  I've been selling on there for almost the start.  What I love most about it is that it's easy.  I get retail price for a low amount of effort.  

But lately, they've made some changes that are taking my time away from creating.  Little things like the product description is now hidden on the side of the listing so people contact me and ask me to reassure them that they have the right product.  Eight emails later (an email takes me about twenty minutes to write - even a short one), and half the time they say "oh, I don't understand etsy, I guess I don't need suchandsuch..."

That's not good enough.  

I love etsy.  I expect things will improve.  I don't plan to leave etsy just yet.  

But I would like to brainstorm some ideas for other places to sell handmade goodies online (to the international market).  So let's make a list.

First up - here on permies.

The Digital market allows us to sell physical as well as digital items.  

My wife belongs to a few online retailers that automatically send her things to buy. For her it is clothing and shoes.

I think this would be a great way for smaller cottage sellers like you to tap into. I say that because you bring a personal touch, so when people sign up for the service, every month they would automatically get your latest creation. If they did not like an item, they could send it back and get their money returned to them. But here is the thing, they probably would not because they know it would be sent to a real live human being, and not some corporation.

And so you would get an automatic sale every month (assuming you did a monthly service) without really working for each individual sale. If they like your items, they would be pleasantly surprised every month with something new, yet they could opt out on any item they did not want too.

It would not be for everyone granted, but for some, it would be great for the, "Oh look, a cute pot holder hand made by R Ranson." and the following month, "Oh what a cute woolen shawl." These are just examples, but you would inevitably get more sales, with less times trying to sell each item. The hard part for you would to not be offended if someone returned something. My wife does it all the time, even for things she likes, because she does not want to spend the money that month. It happens...so a return might not be because they disliked your pot holder, they just did not want to spend an extra $20 that month.

r ranson wrote:
But I would like to brainstorm some ideas for other places to sell handmade goodies online (to the international market).  So let's make a list.

I guess etsy is good to sell itens to USA, and Europe. But not to my country, Brazil.
Most brazilians don't  have an internacional credit card. Besides, shipping fees are very expensive.
Most brazilians buy online at Mercado Livre, very popular hier. Not sure, but I think sellers outside Brazil can't  sell at Mercado Livre.
I don't know an online shop outside Brazil that sell to Brazilians who don't have an internacional credit card or any card at all.

How's the usage of Paypal in Brazil? Etsy should accept that and you can tie PP to a regular bank account.