Maker FAQs

MavenFair Makers’ Frequently Asked Questions

This page is designed to provide you will answers to questions that our Makers ask most often. If you do not find an answer to your question please reach out to us at info@nullmavenfair.ca

Mavenfair is All About Handmade and All About Canadians. We are an online marketplace where Canadian Artisans, Crafters, Designers and Makers can sell their handmade products to buyers from around the world.

No. Mavenfair Makers must be living and creating in Canada in order to open a shop. We are proud to showcase Canadian creativity and talent and support our Canadian Makers.

Mavenfair is All Handmade…. All Canadian. You can sell handmade products, art/craft supplies and handmade digital downloads that are created by you (the Maker). Please read our What Can Be Sold in a MavenFair Maker Shop  article for more details.

Mavenfair strives to maintain a family-friendly, inclusive online marketplace dedicated to handmade Canadian products. We do not permit the sale of products which are not handmade, vintage items, mass-produced products or items of an adult nature. Read our prohibited items list in our Terms of Use Agreement. If you are not sure if your products/items can be sold on MavenFair we invite you to complete our Handmade Item Verification Form and submit it for review.

YES you can sell craft supplies on MavenFair. These supplies can fall into two (2) main categories. Handmade Supplies and Commercial Supplies.

Handmade Supplies

  • Craft supplies must be handmade or produced by you.
  • Craft supplies are anything that can be used for crafting so long as they don’t break any laws within the country of origin and the sales destination.

Examples of supplies:

  • A handmade supply such as buttons, beads, fibres etc.
  • A kit
  • A pattern or tutorial

Commercial Supplies

Canadian small-scale craft supply resellers of commercial craft supplies and equipment are required to submit an application for review to sell on MavenFair. Online Small Scale Craft Supplier Shop Application Form . This form allows us to get to know you better and to ensure that we have created the correct categories for you supplies and equipment to be listed under.

  • You must be a Canadian company.
  • Craft supplies are anything that can be used for crafting so long as they don’t break any laws within the country of origin and the sales destination.

YES you can sell Artisan Food and Beverage Products on MavenFair.

As of March 1, 2022, we welcomed the sale of small batch Canadian artisan foods and beverages. There are a number of federal and provincial government regulations that determine how food is made, where food is made, and how it must be packaged. MavenFair Makers who sell artisan foods must be in compliance with all federal and provincial laws that apply to their food products. Below are the basic rules regarding the sale of artisan foods on mavenfair.ca. There are certain food products that are not allowed to be sold on mavenfair.ca. Read our Prohibited Food & Beverages List for details.

  • You must be a Canadian small batch producer and your food items must be made in Canada.
  • Food and beverage products must be made in compliance with all federal and provincial regulations
  • Labelling must be compliant with all federal and provincial regulations.
  • Food and beverage products must be non perishable .

Examples of Artisan Foods and Beverages that can be sold on MavenFair:

  • Pickles and Preserves
  • Spice Blends
  • Chocolates and Confections
  • Tea and Coffee

YES you can sell digital and virtual items on MavenFair.

  • These items must be designed by you and cannot be infringe on any copyrights.

Examples of digital and virtual items:

  • Patterns
  • Tutorials
  • Clipart
  • Digital Scrapbook elements

All fees and transactions are in Canadian dollars. MavenFair Makers require a PayPal Account to open a Maker Shop. You can setup your free Standard PayPal Business account by visiting paypal.ca.

Your monthly Maker Shop subscription fee is paid to MavenFair via PayPal. Buyers will pay for their purchases via PayPal and MavenFair  pays out the Makers as per our  MavenFair Payment Schedule via PayPal. Transaction details can be found in the  How MavenFair Maker Transactions Work article. If you have any other questions regarding Payments please contact us.

The fees outlined in each of the MavenFair Maker Shop Levels (monthly subscription fees and commission on sales) and the applicable taxes are the only fees charged and retained by MavenFair.

MavenFair Makers are required to have a PayPal account in order to open a shop. To open a free Standard PayPal Business account at paypal.ca.

The only additional fees incurred by MavenFair Makers are the transaction fees charged by PayPal. MavenFair DOES NOT up-charge or charge taxes on these fees. We deduct the PayPal transaction fees from the Maker payouts. See an example of How MavenFair Maker Transactions Work .

Opening a MavenFair Maker Shop is very simple. Here are the basic steps

  1. Setup a PayPal Account (if you don’t already have one) MavenFair Makers require a PayPal Account to open a Maker Shop. You can setup your free Standard PayPal Business account by visiting paypal.ca.
  2. Go to our Sell Handmade page and choose the MavenFair Shop Level that best fits your needs. Don’t worry too much about choosing the perfect fit at first, you can easily change your shop level in the future.
  3.  Once you choose your shop level and click the “sign me up” button you will be directed to a simple registration form that will take basic information. You will be asked to provide a username, your email address and a strong password. Please note that your username does not have to be the same as your Maker Shop name. You will setup your Maker Shop name and other details once you complete this transaction. You will also be required to confirm that you agree to our Terms of Use Agreement.
  4. When you have submitted the registration and checked out you will receive 2 emails. One will be a confirmation that you are on our Maker List for e-communications and the other email is a confirmation of registration and a link that will redirect you to your MavenFair Maker Shop Dashboard.

You will now be ready to start setting up your shop!

There are a few ways for a registered MavenFair Member to open a MavenFair Maker Shop.

  1. If you are logged in you can:
    1. Select “My Dashboard” in your Profile drop down menu and click on the “Start Selling” button
    2. Go to your Profile Page and select “My Dashboard” from the menu
    3. Choose “Open a Shop & Start Selling” from the “Sell on MavenFair” menu in the Footer Area
  2. If you are not logged in you can:
    1. Choose “Start Selling” from the upper right menu of the page
    2. Choose “Open a Shop & Start Selling” from the “Sell on MavenFair” menu in the Footer Area
  3. If you are ready to open your MavenFair Maker Shop right now you can OPEN A SHOP & START SELLING.

The  MavenFair Maker Shop Dashboard is a powerful management tool that allows Makers to manage every aspect of their shop. It is also simple to use. Makers can manage their orders including marking the orders shipped, adding order notes and even printing out shipping labels. Makers can create coupons for their customers that will be applied at checkout to their products only. This ensures that coupons created by one Maker cannot be used on other Maker Shops. The Dashboard is mobile friendly, making it simple for Makers to manage their shops from anywhere at anytime.

Makers can get information about their sales data and have complete control over their stores with detailed settings options. If you are already a MavenFair Maker you can access detailed information and instructions about your Dashboard on our Makers Tips & Info page. This page is only available to registered Mavenfair Makers.

Yes! MavenFair Makers have the ability to put up a simple, personal and highly visible “On Vacation Message” on their shop fronts. When Vacation Mode is active the Maker’s products are still visible. But visitors will not be able to purchase them. Registered users (MavenFair Members) will still be able to add the products to their “Favourites” and they will also be able to send the Maker a message.

As a MavenFair Maker you are able to decide where you would like to sell your products. You can choose to sell only in Canada or worldwide. If you do wish to only ship within Canada it is important that you include this information in your shop policies.

Yes you can! Supporting local makers in communities across Canada is critical to the Canadian Handmade Movement. Walking into a maker’s studio is a unique and special experience. MavenFair provides makers with the ability to promote their physical studios on their MavenFair Shop. We make it easy for makers to display their studio name, location and business hours, so local patrons can find them. We encourage Canadian handmade enthusiasts to support their local makers.

Great! We wouldn’t be successful without our Makers, users and visitors so we welcome your suggestions and ideas. If you see something that needs tweaking or are looking for a feature that we don’t offer please take a moment to let us know. Send us your ideas and suggestion to us at suggestions@nullmavenfair.ca   Thank you!

No worries! Your questions and feedback are important to us. Please contact us with any unanswered questions you have. We will answer you.