SDD — Blog
Why I Built My Own Store (And Why I'm Not Leaving Etsy)
I get asked sometimes why SongDawg Designs has its own site now, on top of Etsy, Cults3D, and Printables. Short answer: I'm not going anywhere from those platforms — I like them, and most of what I sell still does great there. But a few things pushed me to build a place that's fully mine too.
Marketplaces have to please everyone, and that means limits
Etsy, Printables, and Cults3D are great platforms, but they all operate under policies built for the broadest possible audience — and that means certain categories get treated with a lot of caution. Anything firearm-adjacent, even a laser-engraving jig that never touches a live round, tends to land in a gray area. Enforcement isn't always consistent either, which makes it hard to know where the line actually is from one listing to the next.
I also want room for more creative freedom
Some of what I want to engrave — bold artwork, a little edge, stuff that's tasteful but not exactly corporate-safe — doesn't always fit neatly inside a marketplace's content guidelines, even when there's nothing actually wrong with it. My own site is a place I can offer that without worrying about a policy I don't control.
And there's the practical side
Every marketplace sale comes with a cut off the top. Selling direct means more of what a customer pays actually goes toward the work.
Some of it will only ever be here
Going forward, my best and most out-there designs are going to be exclusive to songdawgdesigns.com — not on Etsy, not on Cults3D, not anywhere else. If you don't want to miss out when those drop, sign up for the newsletter — that's the only place I'll be announcing them.
None of this is a knock on Etsy, Cults3D, or Printables — they're good platforms and I'll keep selling there. songdawgdesigns.com is just the place where I don't have to ask permission first.