If you’ve ever wondered how buying and selling on Direct Creatives is different than other marketplaces, like Creative Market, this is for you! If you’re thinking of selling on Direct Creatives, make sure you grab our FREE Ultimate Guide to Selling Digital Products Online which will get you up and running quicker when Direct Creatives opens the doors again!
Direct Creatives is a multi-vendor marketplace, created by direct sellers and *mostly* for direct sellers. We say mostly because really any small business that dabbles in social media marketing can use what our store owners have for sale. Things like done-for-you graphics packs, Trello templates, digital & printable planner pages, digital art, digital papers, stock photos, fonts, and more are available through direct sellers and creators.
Most of the store owners who are selling on Direct Creatives are direct sellers or have been direct sellers. They have created these items and have been recognized by other direct sellers for their talents in making graphics and other tools for their own businesses. They’ve decided to monetize their talents by offering these digital items as a way to create a passive income stream. Some have chosen to make selling on Direct Creatives their permanent gig; mastering graphic design and other skills to bring useful tools to direct sellers and social sellers to help them stand out in the modern marketplace.
Sounds a lot like Creative Market, you say? Let’s dive in and take a peek at how buying and selling on Direct Creatives compares to Creative Market.
Buying and selling on Direct Creatives
Direct Creatives officially launched January 24, 2020. The direct sales industry has been plagued with ineffective marketing tactics for years. Since 2016, direct sellers have discovered social media to be a haven of untapped marketing potential. But many have continued to burn out their friends and family lists with ‘hey girl’ messages and posts. Social media business coaches have worked tirelessly to change the face of direct sales by coaching social sellers how to market their businesses while avoiding spammy posts and teaching them effective ways to sell themselves online through relationship-based marketing.
In walks the idea of Direct Creatives. A multi-vendor marketplace with store owners who have created all the things to help their own businesses build relationships through social marketing. Direct sellers and small business owners can find just about everything they need to lead their teams, create engaging content, and streamline their business. Buying is simple; create an account, shop the website, add the product you want to your cart and check out. Your digital items will be available for immediate download.
Selling on Direct Creatives is just about as easy. Ideally, sellers should have products ready to list in their store. Having products ready to upload helps store owners begin making money right away. We also have exclusive Facebook communities for our store owners, providing onboarding and ongoing training in how to maximize the effectiveness of their stores.
Because Direct Creatives is closed to new store owners, except for a few times a year, potential store owners have time to get their products ready and decide what they want to sell. It also gives them time to perfect their products and learn what prospective customers will buy.
We invite any creator who is interested in buying or selling on Direct Creatives to our Facebook Marketplace Community where you can mix and mingle with existing store owners and customers.
Buying and selling products on Creative Market
According to their website, Creative Market started in 2012 and caters to businesses looking for fonts, website templates, blog templates, logo/branding, design assets, and product packaging template, among many other things. Creators are typically professional graphic designers who specialize in design theory to create their products.
Social sellers have stumbled upon Creative Market and other multi-vendor marketplaces as a place to find design assets to help create social media posts that stand out among other content creators. While products are more utilized by larger businesses, direct sellers have enjoyed font packages and some of their free goods they send out weekly. The downside? Many of their products carry only a personal license, which limits the use of the products for business use.
Selling on Creative Market is exclusive. They have a certification program where creators are asked to upload a portfolio before opening a shop and an invite will be sent if they like your creations. They are looking for unique designs that are high quality and makes other designers level up their work. Creative Market attracts small businesses who will use these design assets as potential store signage, product delivery assets (like cups, napkins, shirts, etc), banners, and more that are visible to more than just social media traffic. So it makes sense that Creative Market adopt high standards for their potential shop owners.
The Verdict
So as you can see, there are some major differences in buying and selling on Direct Creatives and Creative Market. The most basic difference is the overall target customer of Creative Market is much different than Direct Creatives. While Creative Market caters to businesses who mainly operate with a storefront or larger online businesses, Direct Creatives is a specialized multi-vendor marketplace designed to provide a one-stop shop for everything a direct seller needs to navigate the modern marketplace.
Speaking of marketplace, join us over in our Facebook Marketplace Community and learn a bit more about how Direct Creatives caters to direct sellers and don’t forget to get your free copy of The Ultimate Guide to Selling Digital Products Online if you’re thinking about selling your digital assets!
