Anyone here on Etsy?

[Orrex]

I need to gripe, but only if there's an audience able to give feedback.

[catbyte]

1. I don't sell, but I buy. What's up?

[Orrex]

2. They made a drastic change to the format recently

Previously, the seller could tell at a glance how many views their shop had received, which items were viewed, and how many times each item was viewed. Now, Etsy shows how many *visits* the shop gets. The other information can be derived, sort of, but it's a manual calculation of uncertain accuracy, whereas before it was immediately visible through the page.

There seems to be absolutely no reason for Etsy to make this information more difficult to obtain. The visit-count is indeed helpful, but the view-count helps to determine which items are popular, etc.


In addition, when I post (on social media) a link to an item in our shop, the top of the linked page is a banner of thumbnails, most of which are for "similar" items in OTHER sellers' shops. In other words, my efforts at promotion are directly benefiting my competitors. This, too, has a workaround, but it's an extra step that sellers shouldn't have to undertake.


Etsy used to be a venue supporting small-scale sellers of handmade items, but over they years it has morphed into a machine servicing the profit of high-volume "repackagers" who order in bulk from international distributors. Etsy cares less and less about individual sellers. No matter how much promotion we do and how much "SEO" we attempt, the entirety of our effort can be neutralized by a single format change from Etsy.


Sellers have complained about this on the Etsy community forums, and (predictably) a bunch of people have chimed in to swear that they love Etsy and wouldn't change a thing.

[catbyte]

3. That makes absolutely no sense. I used to frequent Etsy much more than I do now for the

exact reason you stated--instead of a forum for purchasing unique, handmade or vintage items, it's become a dumping ground for cheap mass marketed crap that I could find anywhere. It's harder for buyers like me who want to purchase quality items to wade through the junk to get to the good stuff. Has it recently changed management or something? It appears that the "improvements" for both buyers & sellers are anything but.

[Orrex]

4. Thanks for the response!

It isn't always clear to us how the changes affect the buyers, so your feedback is very helpful.

[OilemFirchen]

6. Their new format sucks.

I can appreciate that they now filter out "misleading" stats, but it seems to be chin music. Why do I care if some percentage of views were extraneous? So are some "visits", I presume. All of the stats are relative, anyway, and, prior to this "improvement" I got a much better overview of growth (or the lack thereof).

And with this redesign they still don't use (insofar as I can determine) push technology. So I still have to reload the page to see orders, conversations, et al. Granted, I receive emails and only sell a half-dozen items a month, but it still would be nice to have a single location to view activity in real time.

Color me annoyed, at best.

[Orrex]

7. I can't say for certain that it's a factor...

But our sales appear to have suffered in the wake of the change. Like you, we weren't a high-volume outlet, but we could count on about a dozen sales per month.

Since the update happened, we've had one.

[OilemFirchen]

9. Our sales are consistent for this time of year.

We don't tend to update our inventory during the spring or summer, so our sales drop off. We've had a few more than usual for this time of year, so I don't think their redesign is affecting revenue.

[Orrex]

10. Etsy has helpfully made it very difficult to compare year-over-year

But our sales are significantly down from this time last year. As I mentioned, we get about a dozen sales per month until the change happened.

Sure, it could be a coincidence, but the same "coincidence" happens every time Etsy changes the format. We adjust our promotion strategies and just start to build our business back to a comfortable level, and then Etsy changes the format again.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.


Etsy has a de facto monopoly in that there is simply no other online handmade market space to compare with it, and they know it. Therefore they have little incentive not to do this sort of thing, especially if it benefits the "repackagers" and the big retail marketers that Etsy has grown to adore.

[sharp_stick]

15. My wife is furious at the changes

Especially the way the android app functions now.

[samnsara]

5. yes i have a store there..

Manastash Pines. I would love to know others stores so we can check them out..favorite them. I have seen so many changes on there that I kind of use the site as an inventory more than a store.

[Orrex]

8. You feature some lovely pieces!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ManastashPines

Very nice work. I know what you mean about the shop being an inventory, but I'd still like to sell something now and then!

(our shop is in my sig line)

[crazycatlady]

11. I'm a seller

(Shop link is in my signature). I'm on a 24/7 job now so I'm inactive with checking stats.

However, I hate the new 'shop manager' format.

BTW link your shop and you will get a favorite.

[Orrex]

12. Link's in the sigline--and thanks!

Likewise, we'll favorite you if you give a link.

[crazycatlady]

13. Link's in my signature

Thanks

[Orrex]

14. Whoops--how did I miss it?!?

Favorited!

Nice needlework!