Thursday, April 21, 2011

Etsy, Etsy, Etsy...

*shakes head in sadness*

Etsy - I used to love you. Yes - I may not have ever had a ton of sales through you, but I did in fact love and respect you and all that you used to represent. I told so many people about you and the great and unique items that could be found on your site. I told strangers about you. I loved you and cared for you. I met new and wonderful people through you. Then like a romance going bad, you started making little changes that show me that the end of our love story is coming. And it makes me sad, very, very sad.

I have not given up on our love just yet. Oh no. But be aware that I see the signs coming. You can still change back into the site I used to love, although my hope diminishes by the day. You keep making changes that cause hundreds if not thousands of vendors and buyers beg you to change, and you quite simply, ignore them. I do not want you to become another EBay or Facebook because you are Etsy - and that is indeed a grand and glorious thing!

In the past six months, I have seen you change the thriving forum community on Etsy into a fond memory. Oh sure - they are still there - but they are a fragment of what the community once was because YOU disbanded them. You forced people to join teams for the same things that they used to do in the forums - only we reached a much larger audience through the forums. By doing this, you have made it much harder for customers to actually be able to find us. (Not that it was ever easy to find us through Etsy - but the old forums did make it easier.)

Then there was the whole privacy debacle that occurred recently. What would EVER possess you automatically "opt in" everyone so that their information would be shared on the site??? Why would you think that this would be a good thing? Why did you not notify everyone of this change ahead of time??? Whoever thought that this was a good decision, needs a serious time out in the corner to think about what he has done. I don't need another Facebook in my life - one is enough.

And then there are the front page listings I have seen of late. The one that really made me upset - and made me realize that my unique, handmade, original jewelry designs mean nothing to you - was the listing for "sawdust"(http://www.etsy.com/listing/68853679/throw-sawdust-instead-of-rose-petals?ref=sr_gallery_1&ga_search_query=sawdust&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade). Yes - a listing for FRESH (because who wants stale) sawdust made it to the front page of Etsy. (You can throw it instead of rice at a wedding.) So for $2.99 + shipping and handling, you can own a 5x7" bag of sawdust. Now Etsy, I realize that I am MUCH more expensive than $2.99, but you know - I was really hurt by this betrayal. I put a lot more effort into my items than scooping some sawdust off the floor, so I do feel that I am worth more than $2.99 + s&h. And you felt that this was front page worthy??? Really. Well - that does make me feel pretty worthless to you - and makes me pretty darn angry.

I was thinking that maybe I would open another store called "Stuff in A Jar" or even "Sh*t in a Jar" and see what I could come up with that might be front page worthy. I have some dryer lint around here - I know I could get a jar or 2 of that pretty quickly. And I have some pretty unruly dust bunnies ("Just in time for Easter!") that I could wrangle up. (They are organic, free-range dust bunnies.) And I have plenty of dust around here as well. All of these would go nicely in a jar. I could even add glitter and sequins to them for that added touch.

Please Etsy, don't make me break up with you. I don't want too. Please don't make me. I want us to be happy and committed to each other and walk into the sunset hand-in-hand together. I want us to be "happily-ever-after." Please stop the suicidal mission that you seem to be on - one that is driving away vendors and buyers. We love what you once were...

3 comments:

Jami Mathias said...

Sawdust? Seriously?

Julie said...

Yes - really. I guess the same day, there was also a front page listing for bricks. As in someone pulled up bricks from their sidewalk and decided to sell them.

mdgtjulie said...

Etsy is really sad. They keep driving the vendors and buyers away the way they are, and they're gonna have nobody left. What a waste. Some of the things they sell on Etsy are quirky, but sawdust and bricks are no brainers. It's ridiculous to ask you to roll with all those changes.