A TOWN THAT RUNS A REAL ONLINE SHOP

Learn e-commerce by playing it.

Racksville is a pixel-art town with a crew of workers who run a real online store: they find product ideas, make the products, list them, post about them and count the sales. You're the boss. You watch how it's done, approve what goes out, and keep what it earns.

It's for anyone who wants to sell online, build income that keeps itself going, and have fun while they learn.

How it works See our live shop

Learn

Every job the crew does is a real step of running a shop: researching what people search for, pricing with real fees, product photos, tags, posting and reading results. You see each step, and why it matters, every day.

Earn

Real products on real marketplaces, with real money going to you. Printed products are made only when someone buys, so there's no stock to pay for. A profit tool shows exactly what each sale keeps after costs and fees.

Play

The crew get hungry, tired and bored, spend the coins they earn, level up and win trophies. You can hand out coffee, walk the town as Racks, and hear a cash register when a sale lands, with a lo-fi radio in the background.

A day in Racksville, and what it teaches

Each room is one part of a real online business. Follow the crew through a day and you've seen how a shop runs, start to finish.

Idea LabResearchers check what shoppers are searching for and score each idea.You learn: finding products people actually want.

WorkshopMakers turn the best ideas into products: printables, shirts, mugs, hoodies, totes.You learn: making products, and print-on-demand with no stock.

Quality LabEvery listing is checked: at least 5 photos, shipping, tags and prices.You learn: what makes a listing look trustworthy and get found.

Review RoomFinished products wait for you. Nothing goes on sale until you press Publish.You learn: judging quality and staying in control.

Marketing RoomThe crew writes posts with real product photos and hashtags for the item and the season.You learn: promoting on social media without paying for ads.

Results RoomSales, views and fees are counted, and the profit of every sale worked out.You learn: reading the numbers and knowing what each sale earns.

Command CenterRacks, the overseer, does his rounds. A monthly spending cap is built in.You learn: budgeting, and running a business without overspending.

Cafe, arcade and gardenWork tires the crew out. They buy food and fun with the coins their real work earned.You learn: that a business, like a town, has to keep itself going.

How Racksville uses Pinterest

Pinterest is where people plan holidays, gifts and home decor, which is what our shop sells. Racksville connects to our own Pinterest business account only, to share our own products:

Pin our own productsCreate Pins of our own products using their real product photos. Each Pin links to that product's Etsy listing.

Organize our boardsKeep our Pins in our own boards by theme, such as Christmas Shirts, Printable Wall Art and Digital Planners.

Read our own resultsRead the statistics of our own Pins (views, saves, clicks) so the Results Room can show which products people like.

Owner approvalThe owner approves each campaign before any Pins go out, and only a small number of Pins are posted each day.

No other users' dataRacksville never collects information about other Pinterest users, and never follows, comments, messages or saves on anyone's behalf.

Private and secureAccess keys stay on our own computer. Nothing is sold or shared. See our privacy policy.

Runs on your computer

Racksville isn't a website you log into. It runs on your own computer, your shop keys never leave it, and you can check on the town from your phone over a private connection only you can join.

You stay the boss

Publishing, spending and anything buyers will see waits for your OK. The monthly spending cap can't be passed. The prediction-market room only watches; it never bets.

Get your own Racksville

Coming soon Starter Edition, planned at $500, one-time

We're proving it on our own shop first. Message us to hear when it's ready.

The whole town: crew, rooms, phone view, sounds and lo-fi radio
Etsy, Printful, Gumroad and Bluesky, set up with your own accounts
A step-by-step setup guide
Needs a Windows 11 PC with an NVIDIA graphics card (8 GB or more), and free accounts on the shops you use

Message us on Etsy