I started selling on Creative Fabrica in June, and now, two months and 19 uploaded products later, I want to share my experience and what I've learned so far. I'll also explain why Creative Fabrica, unlike Etsy, is a completely passive income source once the product is uploaded. If you want to start a Creative Fabrica store, read this first!
*This post contains affiliate links
Buying vs Selling on Creative Fabrica?
As I've mentioned many times on this blog, being someone who buys at Creative Fabrica is, without a doubt, a great deal, especially with the yearly membership access (check out the links below to read more).
But what is it like being a creator?
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Getting started
To open a shop on Creative Fabrica, you need to have a portfolio somewhere online to show off your work. Since I already have an Etsy shop selling digital stickers and some textures, I simply linked to it. They also make you insert a verification code to your other shops/website to prove that you are the artist you claim to be.
I think that's great! As much stealing there is in the digital product world (luckily, I have yet to experience that, but I've read about many cases), this is a great way to make sure a seller is somewhat legit. Besides this, the process of opening your shop is pretty easy.
Uploading listings
One thing I really like about Creative Fabrica is how easy it is to upload listings. You enter a title, category, short description and at least three tags. You can also add three pictures. The process is much quicker than on Etsy since Creative Fabrica is a platform only for digital products.
You don't have to add things like "this product is a digital download, no product will be shipped to you" or explain how your license works or how to download the product.
Very easy, compared to all the steps for listing a product on Etsy
Once you've completed the uploading process, they will review your product before it's live in your shop. It took up to two days initially, but now it only takes a few minutes. They may have a stricter review policy for brand-new accounts.
Creative Fabrica's commercial license
All products you list on Creative Fabrica are sold with the same commercial use license. Buyers cannot redistribute or sell the original files but can use them in their designs. Every time the buyer downloads something, a license key is issued automatically.
This gives the sellers some power when it comes to checking if people are using their products correctly, as you can always request the license key if you see your work elsewhere. Hopefully, if someone breaks the rules, Creative Fabrica will take action on your behalf.
Income
Most users on CF are subscription members, meaning that the price you set for each product rarely matters. Most people won't buy your product; they will download it through their yearly or monthly membership. You will get a commission, but the commission is very low, in my experience.
My earnings go up almost daily, but it's so tiny that I assume it will take another 3-4 months to make even 5 dollars with my current 19 products.
But your commission also depends on what type of product you are selling. A template is better paid than, for example, a texture because it takes longer to create it. But still, most of my textures take a long time to make, and I feel like they are worth more than just a few cents – especially with an included commercial use license.
Update: Sign up for my free video run-through of my income from November 2023 to March 2024. I currently have over 60 products, and my earnings are steadily increasing. And luckily it didn't take 3 months to reach $5, as I initially thought!
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Is being a creator worth it?
I think it is, at least partially. All in all, I'm very impressed by Creative Fabrica, especially as a buyer, but as a seller, I'm positively surprised by their amazing customer service. They are quick to respond if you have a question their chatbot can't answer (and the chatbot is pretty good!) and are always very helpful and friendly.
Plus, your income is entirely passive. There's no customer contact whatsoever, and once you've uploaded your products, you're done. This feels very familiar to me, as I've made passive income from stock photography for a few years. Selling on CF feels very similar to selling on stock sites.
Screenshot from my shop on CF
There's also no cost to be a creator on CF. You don't need to pay anything to start selling, and there are no listing fees like on Etsy, where you are charged 0.20 dollars every time you list a product and every time the listing renews (every four months). That's 15 dollars a year for me since I have 25 products ( + $5 to upload them in the first place) in my shop. That might not seem like a lot, but 25 products is also not many products for an Etsy shop.
On Creative Fabrica, you are paying indirectly since you don't get much for each download from a member. And if you make a sale to a non-member, CF takes 50 % of the commission, just like Creative Market does. But at least you don't have to pay anything upfront.
My goal
I aim to upload a new product to my Creative Fabrica shop every week the rest of this year, and then figure out what I feel about it. My uploads are different from the ones I sell in my Etsy shop. I upload products to my CF shop that are beautiful, but relatively quick to make and save the more time-consuming ones for Etsy, where I usually only sell products with a personal license. I also upload single textures I created long ago, which I would normally sell in sets on other platforms.
I've realised that it doesn't make sense to make big sets of clipart or digital paper packages, as I seem to be paid the same whether someone downloads a product consisting of only one texture or a product that consists of five textures.
A tip for you
Since you're reading this post, I assume you are interested in using your creativity to make money online? If that's the case, you should check out my resources hub, where I share all the programs that has helped me as a small creative business owner. Whether you've already started your business or aspire to do so, there are plenty of valuable resources for you to discover! If you happen to be bilingual, take a look at my post on how I make money as a freelance translator. It's been a steady income for years for me, and it's a great way to make money while building a creative business.
Want a new update?
Don't forget to sign up for my video run-through of my results from November 2023 to March 2024! You'll get the link instantly when you sign up :)
That's all for now! I'm interested to hear your opinion! What do you think?