My fellow Refugees,
I just wanted to let you know that even though my shop on Artfire isn't fully set up yet, I have already received an order from it!!! Yes, that's right! My first order from AF, and I've only been on it for 3 days!!
The longer I am gone, the more I realize I can make it without Etsy! Having your products fed to Google is AMAZING. I have a huge range of new business open to me now.
I just feel that this proves that we can take our success with us wherever we go, and the important thing is preserving the handmade philosophy, and community that has given us so much. I realized I was taking a risk when I closed my shop, but now I find that it may wind up being the best business decision I've made in a long time.
I just wanted to share the positive news with you guys, and say again, you CAN make it without Etsy!!
XOXOX,
Joan
Artfire will eventually acquire the market niche in this field. Etsy was good in the beginning but it has now fallen behind. Customer service is really lacking on the Etsy team and furthermore most of the employee lack real life experiences. Artfire ROCKS!
ReplyDeleteAmen!!
ReplyDeleteWhoop!
ReplyDeleteThe only down-side is now I actually have to WORK again :/ heheeh.
ReplyDeleteThe forums had me down tonight. I need to be propped back up. Sometimes I feel so lonely going out on my own, away from Etsy, where I've spent pretty much every waking hour of my life for the last 6 months...
I know I am in good company, but sometimes I still feel scared and vulnerable, like someone walking the ridge line of a steep roof... *shiver*
"Sometimes I feel so lonely going out on my own"
ReplyDeleteOh that's rather melodramatic LOL, as far as I can see from initial explorations of AF you are far from on your own. I am seeing so many old Etsy peeps there including many of my own Etsy Team who are going there and reporting that its better than expected and their regular customers are telling them how much easier it is to purchase there than on Etsy.
A drip turns into a trickle, a trickle turns into a stream and before long there is a raging torrent and so it can be when people begin moving.
The big fish benefits from fear of the danger of moving to a smaller one but when enough make that move then the small company is no longer the little fish in the ocean and sometimes gets big enough to turn round and eat the former big one.
While it wouldn't happen to Ebay because they are so big globally they are a household name but Etsy hasn't got itself into anything like that position of safety.
That's great news. I'm on AF now too. I left Etsy Oct 1, before coralgate.
ReplyDeleteActually the turning point for me was the EtsyBitch post LAST Halloween. I clicked onto the photos etc of the Etsy staff partying it up and mocking the sellers and showing themselves to be clueless hipsters and I knew the tide had turned for me, E would not be viable much longer. And the Etsy scandals continued almost monthly. Whatever.
Then the researching to find the next great site for handmade began, I thought it just may be ArtFire, but waited and watched. I stopped posting in the Etsy forums and focused on creating.
I learned how to design and create my own website while I began phasing out of etsy.
Now I'm on ArtFire and it's great. They are the future of handmade IMO.
I will never shop on Etsy again. Ever. My last few items on E will expire at year end and that's it.
So for now, I'll not leave my name but I'm giving my support. Just tune Etsy out and move on. It isn't worth your time or energy. Etsy is going down in flames of (art) fire.
:P
ReplyDelete