ArtFire

Artfire claims to be the Premier Marketplace for Handmade Items. Its a scam! You sign up... post products and thats all that its good for. If someone buys something from you... the customer does not get an email confirmation or invoice. The seller does not get an email saying ArtFire got an order. Even if they log on the site... there is no notification there is an order waiting for them. What kind of online market place does that? Back in the day in the late 90's there were terrible shopping cart scripts out there... that were terrible with notifications... but at least you got an email.

So no client email... no seller email. When I did find the test order my husband placed... it was incomplete. Even when I tried to mark the order shipped and completed... it confirmed the order was completed... but when I looked back at the order... it did not show as shipped or completed... so the order is in limbo.

Artfire tried to copy Etsy... which I can understand... They probably bought a script like an etsy clone and slapped tehri name on it and started scamming sellers as they have this little disclaimer that says... NO REFUNDS. So they promote how they are a premier marketplace... but their marketplace does not work. So how are they premier? Customers get frustrated as they dont get orders... thats because the sellers are not notified of the incoming order. Artfire is to blame... not the sellers.

So I contacted customer service with no help. I told them I had the order that did not have any notifications... and I brought up other bugs and concerns with missing or broken services. Again No help. I request a cancellation and refund from customer service. They replied they have canceled my account but I will not be refunded. They also said they would look at the order to see what happened and said they need the order number... but being that the account is now cancelled they could not look at the order. So why not look at the order when I first inquired? Or even prior to cancelling? They are a scam.

I would not recommend Artfire to anyone. In fact Anyone who pays artfire and is not happy... file a dispute with your credit card company. File a complaint with the BBB, Attorney General for Tuscan AZ and the Federal Trade Commission. Enough of us complain... they will eventually be forced to clean up their act or shut down!

I believe that everyone should stay away from this site and all sellers. I try to buy an item and thankfully I used my PayPal and not an actual credit card. I bought an item and got an e-mail verifying the purchase. Waited until about a week and still never received the shipping confirmation email and try reaching out, 3 emails later nothing. Contacted customer service and got nothing to help me move forward other than them telling me to reach out to my payment provider to get a refund. I asked for another email from the seller, but ArtFire told me that they wouldn't be able to do that because it's to protect the privacy of the client. About a month goes by and it was just this back and forth with customer service (All emails BTW their phone number doesn't work, Should've been the final red flag but anyways.) and I was beyond done. Within 24 hours I got more info from PayPal from business name, name, email, and phone number, and tracking, nothing that Artfire would give out. PLEASE STAY AWAY AND FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR MONEY IF YOU DON'T STAY AWAY USE A SECURE PAYMENT METHOD IF YOU DECIDE TO BUY SOMETHING OFF OF THAT SITE.

artfire.com is totally fraud company, its only designed to get credit card information of sellers. Once you filled credit card information on artfire.com... your bad time starts... now you start listings your items on artfire. ArtFire will charge you $1 for one visit on 1 item for example you have 100 listing and you got 100 visit on your items then you will have to pay $100 for visits + monthly charges, (please do not worry, they can deduct monthly charges several times in a month:-) because they have your card details. Now you are stunned. You run into billing section on artfire.com but omg... artfire have not any option to remove credit card details. You will not be able to remove your card details... but please do not worry, you can add as many card to give your money to artfire... after all thing there is only one option contact your credit card company block your credit card and issue new one... Thanks for using artfire.com

This platform is the most poorly run business that I have ever come across. ArtFire claim that they have no regulatory guidelines for the sellers they allow on their platform. I'm sure there are some good ones but imagine after making a purchase from a seller, and not receiving any notifications about your item, being told that the seller is no longer represented on the platform. My question: why haven't they been removed? If it weren't for legitimate businesses like PayPal, you'd be better off taking the money you want to throw away and flush it down the toilet. Essentially, this platform just watches you make a transaction and when it goes south they say, we have no control. Thank God for platforms like Amazon, Ebay and PayPal at least your money is protected from scammers. Do not use this platform, it's a complete joke!

I purchased a Vintage Blue Ball Mason Canning Jar Soap Dispenser on Artfire (countrybarn 2011) on October 7,2014. I waited and waited for some type of email showing that my order was being mailed. I finally sent them an email asking about my order and never received a response. I just received an email on 11/10/14 telling me my item was being mailed. I no long want this item and after reading the Better Business Bureau complaints and the complaints on this site I am stuck with the item. Artfire has the same response on all of the BBB complaints. I will not do business with them again.

Just to let folks know even though ArtFire said it was mailed I never received it. They finally refunded me my money; however, I will never do business with them again.

BEWARE of Artfire.com The website is barely functional... and very clunky... annoying to use. I would imagine that ArtFire hook in many with the 14 DAY FREE TRIAL... I signed up to give the 14 days a try and I cancelled my subscription on the 14th day. A day later I was charged for a month.

When I tried to get my money back I was told that somewhere in the terms of service there is a clause that you must cancel at least 72 hours prior to the end of the 14 day trial in order to not be charged for the month... WOW... TALK ABOUT SHADY BUSINESS!

This site is obviously set up to scam people... It's unfortunate how many people are out there trying to steal a few bucks from creative people who just want to make their items available for sale. Whoever runs the Artfire.com website, they do not have the user's interest in mind... and from most of these 1 star reviews, they don't have any safeguards set up for buyers either.

Very disappointing. Very shady business. Stay away! Etsy might not be as good as it used to be, but at least their website functions very well and looks good, and they won't charge you for absolutely nothing!

"Doesn't get any worse than this. Stay away!" That is the best explanation I can give of this website and the seller Grime Designs on this website. Grime Designs shipped me an unapproved wedding program, which had spelling errors, I received the shipment the day before my wedding even though I placed the order a month and a half before my wedding. When I received the programs there was a misspelling and upon checking the proof I approved, I found there was no misspelling. Grime Designs made changes to the program after I approved it, did not take responsibility for making this change, did not offer any apologies for making the error and only refunded half of my money, even though ArtFire are the ones who made the error. Artfire.com has an option to rate the seller, but BUYER BEWARE because it is up to the seller as to whether or not they post your rating, so I gave Grime Designs the lowest score possible and it did not affect their rating at all. So if you go to ArtFire and look up Grime Designs it looks as if they have never had any negative feedback. When contacting Artfire.com to log a complaint about the rating system, they quit responding to my emails, even though they were fast to reply when they knew I was trying to set up a rating. Once they found out I had a complaint, I could not receive any replies back from them. I would never suggest anyone make any purchases from this website, they have horrible customer service and no interest in helping the buyers feel safe when making purchases.

This merchant stole $150 from my account.

Merchant:
Sun in Virgo
*******@mail.com
AKA
*******@gmail.com

Artfire.com is a website designed for scammers to phish and steal your information. This site should be closed down immediately and the owners charged with fraud or for associating with sellers commiting fraud/scams.
This website needs to be closed down for the financial safety of the people. There's countless amounts of money being stolen from people through this website. I'm hoping a hacker will read this and go into action to close them down or cause them the financial ruin ArtFire deserve. I have contacted support and still haven't received a response. The merchant clearly lied about refunding me and I never received it. I'm going to link the emails from the seller so you can see all they had to say. My payment wasn't even sent to the email connected to the website. As far as I'm concerned this is a problem for not only the merchants that are scamming, but the owners of the website. The owners of this site are adding onto the problem. Many people are getting scammed here and nothing is happening. The site is still up and sellers are still scamming. The owners of this site should have a lawsuit filed against them for conspiracy to scam the people. Major problem here that hasn't gotten anywhere. Even though there's 260 reviews and only 1 star.

ArtFire will charge you nonstop to your credit debit and PayPal for services and subscriptions. They don't explain charge or have a page that does. The link to erase your card won't show up or work either they won't answer emails and there is no way of speaking to a customer service agent... Awful and a total scam... I believe them because they be other sellers there but they must have a list of seller that they do legit business with d the rest of the other they just scam money out of them... Do not give them your PayPal they will tell you is for you to get paid but they will automatically charge you nonsense do not give them your payment info they'll do the same I had to close a card but they still have my PayPal anf can't do nothing about it because it won't erase...!. Find other source of selling!

10/3/20 Order confirmed by ArtFire.com. Estimated arrival date 10/27/20.
11/4/20 I contacted *******@hotmailcom via email when I did not receive the merchandise on the designated delivery date of 10/17/20.
11/5/20 No response – sent another email identifying "second request." Still no response.
11/5/20 Sent email to LuxeBeachBoutique requesting status. No response.
11/5/20 Received email from Sara Smith item will arrive on Monday 11/9/20 and will send tracking info.
11/6/20 No Tracking info received. Sent Email to Sara Smith requesting tracking info as previously stated in email would receive
11/9/20 Item not received; no tracking info sent from Sara Smith (seller).
11/9/20 Sent email to Sara Smith re: no item received nor tracking info.

11/9/20 Received email from Sara Smith re: will receive shipment "this week and to be kind."
11/9/20 Sent email to Sara Smith re: I'm very kind; however, no item receive and paid if full over one month ago. Receiving conflicting delivery info. Will cancel order and redact payment via American Express.
11/9/20 Received email from Sara Smith – "go ahead and redact payment, cancelling shipment."

1) ArtFire take 2 biz days to respond.
2) They don't read the emails; rather they blindly respond to a few words -- thus, your 2 days have now expanded into 4 days or more.
3) I had to make the same request 3 & 4 times because they did not read emails thoroughly.
4) There are hidden details which don't come up until you're ready to open your shop. I told them that all info like this needs to be revealed upfront.
5) I spent about 3 weeks trying to open a shop -- what with the delays & the staff not understanding English, I ended up asking them to delete my account.
6) Even when you follow the directions, their directions are scrambled, not clear, one hand does not know what the other is doing -- NO ONE IS MINDING THE SHOP!

KEEP AWAY FROM ARTFIRE

Is there an option to rate with NO STARS? The site itself looks horrendous! It looks like a 10 year old designed it. The font is huge! It looks ridiculous. The first time I signed up for the site, I was signing up for a free trial. I am sure that I would not have chosen to pay for such a crappy site with horrible functions. If anyone from Artfire reads this I would like them to take some constructive feedback from this:
1. If you want to improve redesign the entire site at your appropriate age level.
2. Navigating through the site is not simple enough. Sellers need a clean site to have a comfortable selling experience.
3. NOTIFY PEOPLE WHEN YOU ARE BILLING THEM!

I had the horrible experience of thinking I was signed up for a free trial and really getting billed $12 a month without knowledge of it! I didn't post on the site and didn't make any money from it and I was still billed!

I waited for my order to be filled and shipped for approximately one month, the seller never progressed past confirmation that my payment was accepted. The only reason I gave ArtFire one star is bc of how promptly ArtFire refunded my money after I sent a refund request their way. I was actually surprised by the speed lol bc until this interaction, I would have sworn on a stack of bible's their contact info (email) was a complete fake. So, ONE STAR and I'd really only give them a half star if I could. Word of mouth advertising is the best advertising a company can get when it's positive. However, it can sink a company when it's negative. I will have nothing nice to say when asked about this "company" of scammers and swindlers. I'm only thankful I had enough sense to keep security on my money so it'll be coming back to me!

I would give them 5 stars except for the fact that ArtFire do not have nearly as much traffic as Etsy. I sold over 2,000 items in the first 9 months on Etsy and only 344 in 12 months on Artfire but I will say that Artfire is the way to go if you have 100s of items like I do. The fee's on Etsy sure adds up quickly. I pay only $5.95/mo on Artfire regardless of wether I sell or not and no limit on how many items. On Etsy my fee's with re-listing and commission is anywhere from $100-$350 every month! And I hardly ever re-list unless it expires. Many sellers go on a re-listing frenzy in order to stay on the top which I consider to be a waste of $$$. I just hope that Artfire will catch up in terms of traffic and sales. Otherwise they are perfect!

I started selling at ArtFire in 2009 and at first really liked it. The forums were friendly, there was a real sense of teamwork, everybody was helpful, including the COO, Tony Ford, and my sales were terrific. Last summer, the entire site took a nosedive and became the opposite of what it was. There has been a great deal of contention, implementation of crazy programs that don't work, kicking sellers off the site or muting them if ArtFire ask too many questions, a drastic reduction in the number of sales for many of us, and blaming sellers for problems.

In addition, there is a secret forum where where about 7 to 10 members of Tony's "Team" decide how they are going to handle unhappy sellers, which is usually to gang up, swear at them, make fun of them, and take any serious subject off topic. The mavens in Tony's special group will tell people they are "similar to a dangling turd" or to "F off" and "blow me."

The site is broken, it doesn't work, and the COO, Tony Ford, has a million excuses. ArtFire is not a healthy place to be, either for your pocketbook, or your psychological state.

Dont use any of these sellers! Artfire, Fansheaven, Epic, Edgesports!
I purchased a jersey for my son, from "Edgesports" which obviously was passed over to "Epic"?, that hasn't arrived now almost three weeks later and no response as to its location. You get bounced around emailing some seller or manufacture in china, that hides behind Artfire and gives horrible customer service. On top of that, I ordered two custom jerseys that arrived made and the wrong sizes, that I made perfectly clear during ordering. Then I tried to communicate with this "FansHeaven" seller, and was told ArtFire would give me $20 back and I could keep the wrong size jerseys. After asking for a quick correction on the order and get me my jerseys, I was told they would give me half the money back and I could keep the wrong size jerseys. After asking when I would be refunded, I was told they would refund the money right after I put in a good review for them. I again asked for them to correct the order and send me the right stuff, give me return postage verification, and then again I was told I would be refunded after putting in a good review. This company refuses to correct any mistaken orders then talk to you like you're wasting their time. After taking your money. They take no responsibility for their mistakes. I side of it taking forever to receive an order, just hope they don't mess up because you'll be stuck with it. Yes I feel using anyone or any site that represents the sellers is all part of the scam. Absolutely horrible customer service. I agree 100% with the many reviews stating the negative experience with using Artfire or it's sellers.

I would definitely characterize this as an etsy alternative, in terms of selling. In terms of buying, although when artfire first started out I found that the quality of items weren't as snazzy, high quality or varied as Etsy I think artfire is gaining popularity slowly with handmade sellers for their considerably different selling framework. Currently, I think there's still a lack of popularity for artfire and that hinders it from really being a "competitor" to Etsy but I hope that this changes with time.

That being said, the benefit of selling on artfire is if you're either confident that you'll sell a certain amount per month or if you already have an existing base of customers that will buy your items, then the pro account for right now $9.95/month with no listing or final fees is definitely a lot cheaper than Etsy. However, if you're starting out and you sell absolutely nothing, you're "wasting" $9.95 but artifre DOES use that towards mass advertising for you that you would have to pay on your own in other ways so in that light, I would say it's worth it if you're serious about starting a handmade business - keeping in mind that artfire is still nowhere was popular as Etsy. That problem might be bridged by your listings showing up in Google, but some people might be hesitant about buying from somewhere lesser known if they're unfamiliar with online transactions. There are other also some nice features for the pro account that you can read about. You can also stay as a basic seller with limited features and an initial trail of unlimited listings to get a sense of how their platform works.

I sell at Artfire and have been satisfied with their service. I've never had any problems getting questions answered and have been amazed that a real live person has answered the phone when I've call with questions regarding my site set-up. I think that most people's bad experiences listed here have been the fault of the individual vendors, and not with Artfire itself. I give great customer service, and I send out orders within a day of receiving payment. I answer questions promptly, send tracking numbers when items are shipped, and communicate with customers whenever needed. Their price cannot be beat for an online shop. I have over 600 sales, and not one bad review. I have 67 ratings, all 5 stars, on my site, so there are many happy Artfire customers.

I was SO happy on Artfire. As of Oct 2015 ArtFire started a down hill spiral. First destroying our shop layout. Got rid of any personalization. Only when the forums lit up with complaints did they bring back a banner space though not nearly as nice.
IF that wasn't bad enough, suddenly, and very sneakily google adsense ads started appearing in our listings. Only if the seller is logged in they don't see them. Many were unaware. I counted no less than 14 of these PER LISTING and I had over 500 listings. I had a "locked in rate" which said nothing about them putting ads all over. In fact they claimed all the time how they wanted us to succeed. That links leading out of our shops would not happen. Well... times have changed.

Again the forums lit up only now some long time sellers started closing up.

So then... they came up with a new fee plan to start in June. Now we can pay a monthly "locked in" fee AND pay commission on sales including shipping!
Well I was furious as are many others and probably over stepped my bounds in their forums. Suddenly my shop, with my over 500 listings and perfect customer feedback, is closed. And I can't even SHOP on Artfire anymore.

This is a bad way to do business. I tried calling but... as expected, no answer. Found a page where you can call in complaints. Only again no answer and the "mail box is full." GEE I wonder why?

I had planned to move off artfire anyway but wanted to do it slowly and keep my ability to shop alive. But they slammed that door.

And that's it for me and venue sites. NO more. This is not the first to get bit by the stupid bug. I'm done with all of them. I'll put a shopping cart on my personal site and be done with all their greed.

Sellers... avoid artfire.
Shoppers, be aware, prices are likely going to go up across the board to offset all the fees.
I would suggest contacting sellers and see if they might invoice you directly. Probably save you a few bucks.

We've been selling via Artfire as well as other platforms online for years, then all of the sudden we're lock out from Artfire for no reason. Post contacting Artfire, only Facebook works guys, there is no email contact, we tried, did not work. Anyway, the problem is ArtFire claim we have a unprocessed order. We keep better records than Thomas Jefferson and show them that that order was shipped and delivered 2 months ago-that somehow their system had a bubu and lock us out. There were no email warning or inquiry, had no problem withdrawing account payment form us-they set that up very well... just close the door on us. During and after our communication with them, there were no apologizes of any kind or professional manner in dealing with problems originated by their poor system, as if the whole thing was run by some teenagers... bad experience over all.