The Vintage List directory is about 6 months old now - in that time, I've tried a few different ways of handling membership, none of which have really brought the results I am looking for. (I've never run a directory before, so I am very much in the middle of the trial and error stage!)Anyway... My most recent change - making blog listings free - seems to have had an unintended side effect - I haven't had one shop listing added since then! I think people decide "Well, my blog links to my shop, I'll just get the free blog listing and I'll be all set"...
There's nothing wrong with that line of thinking, of course, but the directory is slowly but surely turning into a blog directory, rather than the shop directory I want it to be. The whole point of the directory is to allow buyers to be able to come to The Vintage List and shop! And we do have traffic coming to the site - keywords such as "vintage shop directory" and "list of vintage stores" are bringing people to us...
So, I've made a decision that I hate to make - I am going back to treating blog listings the way that I used to, where you get to list your blog for free when you buy a paid shop listing. I feel mean for doing it, but I just don't see any other solution!
I am also going to lower the price of a shop listing at the same time though - $15 for a regular listing instead of $25, and $30 for a featured listing instead of $60. That's still a one time fee, and it really is the lowest I can go... So, this is (hopefully) the last change I'll make!
I have high hopes that over time, The Vintage List will become the first stop for buyers who are looking to buy quality vintage from dedicated sellers who are committed to offering the best items with the best customer service! With so many shops popping up all over the web on multiple platforms and on individual websites - having one place for shoppers to go that leads them to the things they are looking for has never been more needed!
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