So, hi everyone, I’m Una and I’m new here on ribblr. I’ve been crocheting for a couple years now, and I’ve also been designing patterns for a while as well, but I only recently started publishing them on this website. As you may or may not know, I’m only 16 years old and I live in Europe, although outside of the US. That means I don’t use stripe, I only use paypal to connect to my Ravelry shop (which is where I’ve been publishing my patterns since 2021).
I only published 2 patterns on here (and a third one is in testing), both for free, although one of them is available on my Ravelry for 2.99 euros as well. The thing is, the free pattern on ribblr is a simplified version of it, the pattern itself is the same, just with a bit less pictures and less tutorials (the paid pattern includes a few pages of tips and tricks, as well as some other useful information). These dolls have been so easy for me to make and design, so I was comfortable sharing them for free, but I am currently designing some more complex designs that I don’t really want to share for free.
Let me explain. I’m working on a series of amigurumi animals that are all based on a same body, but they have different clothes and are overall just different animals. That means that they can share clothes, since their bodies are the same. I tought maybe I could publish a full version of the patten (containing both the animal and it’s clothes) as a paid pdf on my Ravelry, and a free pattern (containing just the clothes)on my ribblr. That way, someone who has already made one of the animals can just get additional clothes without having to buy another pattern, and I’d also have published at least some part of the patten on ribblr. My question is, whould anyone be interested in this? Or, should I just find a way to charge for my ribblr patterns? The thing is, I think my pdf versions are so much better, and I would feel bad charging for a worse version of the same pattern, that’s why I’ve already released 2 for free.
Also, here is my first animal from this series. He is a polar bear and his theme is autumnal (ll of the animals will have some sort of a theme). The next toy that I’m making is a balerina/cocquette fox.
Oh, and I also publish my patterns on Ravelry a bit earlier, so if you’re interested, I’ve already published my Mermaid doll pattern on there. It will probably be available on ribblr in a week or two as well.
Love your pattern) I have the same problem with that I want to sell patterns but can’t because I live in Europe I think thay should add swish to Ribblr
Your bear is really cute. I’ll be keeping an eye out for it and the other animals. (I also just realized I have several of your patterns from Ravelry).
Your designs are great and you should definitely be charging for them. You can add your original pdfs to your ribblr e pattern as a bonus in the ‘add media’ section which is the icon rhs of the rows.
You can also add just photos or certain pages of your pdf or charts if you wish. That way your ribblr pattern wpukd actually be offer more than just yr pdf does on Ravelry. If you feel uncomfortable about not offering it.
(I understand this as someone who also sells elsewhere and is used to customers having pdfs)
However customers on here buy because they like the interactive features, and would argue its not ‘less good’ just a different way of presenting and using patterns and some people value that experience more because of the features ribblr.
Having said that though there is a culture of free patterns here which means it can be hard to make sales.
I do think it’s important to value your work and that you should be charging for these patterns as tgey are well designed and have lots of components. They are not 5 min makes .
I think stripe does cause issues with designers …I’m not sure the reasons, is there an age limit? Also set up is a bit complicated with business details etc . I agree that a lot of people might join or charge for patterns if paypal was an option. But I think one big issue is to do with sales taxes vat etc which are not collected on your behalf by ribblr, but are collected by other selling platforms . Stripe has a system warn you if you meet thresholds but its is very confusing and should you meet thresholds looks complicated. This issue definitely puts off moderately successful designers because if you are not successful enough to pay for help from an accountant or expert …then the hassle might outweigh any profits. Which I think leads a lot of people who want to make crochet design their career (as in pay their wages!) to use ribblr as a form of advertising with only their free patterns . Which I think is a shame and holds back both the designer and ribblr from development and income.
So short answer. Don’t feel bad. Either charge if stripe will allow a guardian to hold account if age restrictions apply) or just offer what you’re willing to share for free without undervaluing your work , time and effort.
Hope this helps and I hope @ribblr will see that this is a common hurdle for designers who would be keen to join ribblr and/or charge for patterns and really champion the platform if the tax side was simple/taken care of as Ravelry, lovecrafts , etsy, ebay & payhip already do. It’s such a brilliant platform but this is a real sticking point. @ribblr is there any way you could team up with payhip to solve this issue? Please!!!
This is such a common issue! Like if you actually sell lots of patterns eg to usa you have to reg with states and deal with sales tax etc , same Australia and Vat europe etc its so complicated it puts people off selling. So many designers just post a few free patterns.
thank you for your answer! the thing is, i haven’t yet tried stripe, but my dad is a programmer and he told me it’s not worth it because of all the fees. the paypal account that i have connected to Ravelry is technically his, but he doesn’t really use it, so all the money on it is mine. (that is to answer, i don’t really know if there’s an age limit, i just don’t think that it’s worth opening a stripe account because of all the taxes and fees). i really like the attention that my patterns are getting on ribblr, so I’d really like to be able to sell my patterns on here, but it’s not really possible for me… some of my paid patterns i can simplify and publish for free as well, but not all of them, as i spent a lot of time and effort making them
I too cannot sell on ribblr due to issues with stripe, although it is available here, they just won’t help me with an issue caused by a dodgy site linked.
Your patterns are very cute
I have seen a designer link pdf in their media on the ribblr pattern due to complexity of colour changes.
yeah, I’m sure that’s possible, but again, then I’d feel bad charging for a pdf pattern, when i already posted it on ribblr for free (the pdf itself), if yk what i mean. i tried to make the ribblr pattern a bit simplified, to justify the price of the pdf (eg. if you want this pattern, you can get it for free, or get a premium experience with more pictures and better explanations). if i put all of the things that make the pdf pattern premium in the ribblr pattern, i couldn’t charge for it on Ravelry (i mean i could, but I’d feel bad)
Totally get that. I think @ribblr need to offer some more payment options and make it easier for sellers . But sadly whatever the fees at the moment stripe is your only choice.
I think of it like this, whatever the fees are,
you will still make more selling via stripe than you will offering your patterns for free!
And all the while you offer everything for free, why would someone logically pay for it?
You won’t get as many paid sales as free sales, but those that buy actually want v the pattern, not just collecting it because its free.
Ps great topic… i think there needs to be more discussion on this here because it’s putting a lot of serious designers off at the moment
I add pdfs just to try to make the pattern value comparible to those i sell on other sites and encourage sales on ribblr because I think it’s a really exciting site, and to add value to try to compete with the zillions of free patterns here.
I need to charge, this is my job. I think issues with payment options, not collecting taxes on our behalf etc etc means so many people just offer free patterns.
i haven’t tried, but i guess the culture of online payments is a bit different where i live. i have paypal, as i said, but that’s just because my dad was curious and wanted to see how it works. he made the account some years ago and never really used it. people here either just use cash or whatever app their bank offers, so no venmo, zelle or paypal. i think it’s different in the eu, but it’s just not common where i live. that’s why i was hesitant to open a stripe account, and after consulting with my dad, we decided that it wasn’t worth it. to be perfectly honest, the first time that i heard of stripe was a few weeks ago, when i first tried to set up my ribblr shop, and I’m pretty sure noone im ny country uses it
I think that’s fair enough. Unless yr charging on ribblr, keep it basic and premium version for sale elsewhere, which can be downloaded of course which unless you put pdf in yr media files you can’t on ribblr so there’s already something to pay for there.
Loads of designers put basic free versions on their blogs for example and have paid pdf versions on pattern stores. It’s a common strategy so I wouldn’t feel bad. You can always say in paid versions free basic version on ribblr if you want and customers can choose both ways then. Ive had people buy the pdf even when i was giving away free chart in blog hops before. I included the link for paid version with the free chart. So i think its totally fine. You have a good fair strategy worked out in line with common practice so i think you’re all good xxx
Yes you can defo. I’m in uk. Theres just stuff you need to know about if you get lots of sales re: us sales tax etc… stripe has info but tbh its v confusing. And diff rules and threshold for different states. I honestly don’t know how it all works so if anyone or there in the ribblr community is able to summarise it in an easy to understand way that would be amazing!
Currently Ribblr only uses Stripe, but they have said in the past that they’re looking into other options. There’s a thread here to voice what works for you:
Please feel free to add to the thread. More input, from a variety of locations and needs, is always helpful.
Yes, your work is lovely and you do deserve payment for your work - as everyone does.
Hopefully, Ribblr will be able to find ways to accommodate more people.
Great to hear there is discussion and potential change in the way!
Looks like that poll is all about how you like to pay, not how you want to be paid as a seller on here.
These are both important issues but not the main one being discussed in this topic… it’s about designers selling and barriers to doing so.
1 being lack of choice /accessibility/glotches with stripe only
2 being concerns and burden of tax implications if designers are actually selling well x.
