Group Deal of a lifetime on ARTFiRE.com

Last night when Etsy was once again experiencing an all system crash, a "Whoopsie" as they call it (BIG sigh)... ArtFire was co-incidently bursting with energy and excitement. WHY ?

"ArtFire will be exiting beta very shortly and to celebrate we’re offering, for a limited time only, the chance for up to 50,000 members to lock-in a Pro account for $5.95/month."

The current monthly fee for a Pro account is $15.95/month and what sellers get for that is pretty extraordinary. At the time that I signed up or upgraded my Basic account here's the list of Pro tools that came with all PRO account:

* Unlimited Active Listings

* Full Custom Fusion Studio

* Personal Domain / URL

* Free Web Hosting of Your Studio

* Preferred Placement in Searches

* Enhanced Customization Options

* Up to 10 Pictures Per Product

* Education/Training/Support

* Listings SEO Optimized

* Google Base Shopping (Auto Submit)

* View Prices in Any Currency

* Global Shipping Profiles

* Live Instant Flagging

* Categories Displayed Randomly

* Fast, One-Page Listing Process

* Sticky Cart (reserves buyers item)

* Multiple Quantity for Items

* Full Community Interaction

* Social Media Promotion Tools

* Rapid Cart (sell straight off your blog!)

* Market Hub (Link to your other Venues)

* Add Custom Widgets in Studio

* Integrated Payment Processing

* Google Analytics & Site Statistics

* Kudos / Karma Feedback System

* Artisan Guilds

* Artisan Councils

* No Third Party Ads on Listings

* Global Product Editor

* Etsy Item Importer (up to 5 etsy accts.)

* Advanced Banner Options

* Credibility Program (Artifacts)

* NO other Seller's Items in Your Studio

* Trend Pages Exposure

* Gift Guide Exposure

* Coupon Codes with Tracking

* Facebook Kiosk Application

* One Button Downgrade

* Full Feature Studio Blog

* Front Page Exposure

* Category Landing Page Exposure

* Item Of The Hour Exposure

* Bid on Buyer's Forge Requests

* Item Promo Labels

* Featured Item Gallery

* Quick One Button Relist of Sold Items

* Vacation Mode & Sales Mode

* Customizable Meet The Maker Bio with Links

* Fast, Relevant Site and Studio Search

* Up To 99 Studio Categories / Sections

I imagine the list is longer now... as I have personally seen improvements on the site since I came on board full time in May of this year. Click HERE to view ArtFire Pro account information.

ArtFire is an amazing community in that there is ACTIVE and POSITIVE interaction between its members and the ArtFire staff. Questions get answered in a timely manner by either the staff or addressed by the Mavens, a group of inspired ArtFire members who help to test out all its new features before they are made available site wide. ArtFire members are eager to help each other out and the Forums are very friendly indeed. Not only friendly but educational... the number of Help Guides available through Forums prove that ArtFire wants their sellers to personally succeed... its a lovely feeling, let me tell you.

So back to the current Group Deal that is sweeping the ArtFire community !

"Just in time for the upcoming holiday season, ArtFire is emerging from beta testing! What does that mean? Early next week the site will be getting an updated look and interface, and 50,000 people will be getting the chance to get in on a huge group coupon promotion. Normally the monthly rate for a Pro account on ArtFire is $15.95/month, but for a minimum of 20,000 people this rate will be cut by more than half!"

As a part of the exit from beta, ArtFire is lowering the Pro account rate to just $5.95/month. This rate CAN ONLY BE LOCKED IN IF 20,000+ PEOPLE PARTICIPATE (the promotional rate is only activated after a total of 20,000 users accept the offer). It doesn’t matter if you are new to ArtFire or already have a Pro account; everyone is eligible to get the discounted group rate as long as they are a member of ArtFire. Right now this offer is only available for ArtFire members (both Basic and Pro). If the offer reaches 50,000 internally on ArtFire before Monday the 20th of September, the deal will not be offered outside of the ArtFire community. As always with ArtFire, there are no hidden fees and no surprise charges. If the group deal goes through you will have a Pro account at $5.95 a month for as long as you maintain an active subscription with ArtFire."

"If you already have an account on ArtFire, you can log in and sign up to be a part of the group coupon here. If you do not have an account with ArtFire, you can join by getting a free basic account here and then join the group coupon."

Click HERE to view this full announcement on ArtFire.

I personally want to emphasize how ArtFire makes a great complimentary ADDITION to any other online venue you may currently be selling in. I view ArtFire like a satellite, for one because of its incredible Market Hub which provides quick links to other online sites you are connected to: websites, blog pages, Flicker, You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, My Space, Etsy shop... Your ArtFire Pro Studio has its own Blog, Bio and Gallery pages and has the capacity to have widgets placed on its front page !

I believe that what ArtFire is creating is different and unique to other marketplaces. Click HERE to read a noteworthy Forum thread about ArtFire's Marketplace Philosophy that Tony, ArtFire's Marketing guru, wrote in July, 2010.

I will be the first to say that I am not experiencing a whole lot of sales in either of my ArtFire Studios- about 30 sales at Brizel Supplies and 3 at Brizel Handcrafts' BUT it is early days yet... I only stocked up the studios in June and summertime tends to be slow online. ArtFire is also a new marketplace- less than two years old- with approx 70,000 members... It is a full three years behind Etsy... AND this too shall pass and our time on ArtFire will come !

So there it is... a fabulous opportunity to open or upgrade your very own ArtFire Studio... WELL WORTH IT at current prices & an absolute MUST with this Group Deal. Click HERE to see/read ArtFire's Group Deal Forum announcement. Imagine a dynamic online store for only $5.95 month- it just doesn't get better than that !

If you'd like to see what ArtFire Studios look like... Click HERE for Brizel Handcrafts and click HERE for Brizel Supplies.

And finally, to see how close we are to achieving the Group Deal (we need a minimum of 20,000 sign ups) Click HERE to see the counter, which also happens to be the sign up form for folks with existing ArtFire accounts :)