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Valerie

One-half of the husband-and-wife team business, Walnut Studiolo and a writer for fun. Walnut Studiolo makes unique designs of leather goods in the categories of interior design, games, and bicycle accessories, as well as a few other fun things.

Join Our Founders Circle Before July 31st

We’re offering special perks – including a lower sales commission – for the first 25-100 artisans to join our Founders Circle. Let’s take back control from big marketplaces together!

Cover photo for blog with picture of pink desktop, calculator and desk tools, and title "Bylaws and Board"

Our Bylaws & Board

In this post, we’re sharing our rules of engagement: our cooperative bylaws. In enacting the bylaws, we also had to appoint an interim board and create a plan for board elections.

Cover photo for blog with picture of hands typing on keyboard and title "Marketplace Development Plan"

Marketplace Development Plan

In this post, the Tech Team willl break down how we’re going to build the website on Shopify in phases before October launch.

Blog post cover image with the words Our Points & Tiers Policy and a picture of Brook the Artisans Cooperative chicken mascot tucking into a slice of blueberry pie

Our Points & Tiers Policy

In this post, we’re presenting the details of our innovative Points & Tiers policy. The purpose of the Points & Tiers system is to incentivize member engagement, equitably value and reward all kinds of contributions (not just cash), and help the co-op be successful.

Line graph showing our fundraising plan with time on the horizontal axis and money on the vertical. Includes a combination of donations, grants, member investments, and lending before sales revenue - with title block

Our Funding Plan

We’ve built the tools we need to develop a cooperatively-owned handmade marketplace. In this post, we’ll discuss how we’re going to pay for it all with our 5-stage fundraising plan. 

Word Image Graphic Financial Survey Results for Artisans Cooperative Handmade marketplace

Financial Survey Results

In this post, we’re sharing the results of our “Financial Expectations Survey” for our handmade cooperative marketplace.

Bar chart titled "Sales Commission (%) Research". showing a bar chart comparing sales commission at handmade marketplaces. The sales commission is split into three colors: transaction fees, payment processing fees, and other fees. Etsy's is the highest with 15% other fees and a total of almost 25% fees. Amazon Handmade and eBay are both at 15%, and two smaller sites, Ko-fi and AFTCRA are at 8% and 11% combined transaction and payment processing fees.

Financial Expectations Survey (5 Min)

Now open, take the survey! We created a survey to learn your expectations on the costs, commissions, and fees you expect on the Artisans Cooperative handmade marketplace. In this post, we’ll talk about why and how we developed a financial expectations survey.