From AuctionBytes: One of the most popular features we've run on AuctionBytes during the past 11 years has been our "Sellers Choice Awards." The Sellers Choice Awards allow sellers to rate their favorite online marketplaces in five important areas - Profitability, Customer Service, Communication, Ease of Use, and whether or not you would recommend the venue to other sellers.
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Ok, guys, time to let your voices be heard. I know who will NOT be receiving my vote this year! To Nominate: CLICK HERE.
Showing posts with label sellers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sellers. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Sellers Silenced Sanctimoniously about Storque Scandal - it SUCKS.
The epic thread on Etsy's forums, and the one area of the site members were allowed to discuss the topic of the Storque coral article by Temple St. Clair - has been closed.
Expect mutings and bootings in the days ahead, as Etsy cleanses its image for an upcoming partnership with HGTV, and other corporate interests.
Meanwhile, I have just finished writing up my experience with Etsy and sending it to EtsyBitch which has generously invited me to share my story. Stay tuned for more details.
On a personal note, I took most of yesterday off to rest and unwind from a stressful month of Etsy-related upheaval. Thanks to all for your messages of sympathy and support, I sincerely appreciate it. I didn't realize how exhausting the whole thing was until it was really over. I swear, I could sleep for a month.
I look forward to re-connecting with my Etsy friends in the weeks to come, (off-site), as well as working on getting my Artfire shop ready for the holidays. Incidentally, I just found out that sellers there have organized themselves to tweet about #artfire all day Thursday to get the term to trend worldwide! I will definitely be participating in that to some extent.
yours,
Joan
Expect mutings and bootings in the days ahead, as Etsy cleanses its image for an upcoming partnership with HGTV, and other corporate interests.
Meanwhile, I have just finished writing up my experience with Etsy and sending it to EtsyBitch which has generously invited me to share my story. Stay tuned for more details.
On a personal note, I took most of yesterday off to rest and unwind from a stressful month of Etsy-related upheaval. Thanks to all for your messages of sympathy and support, I sincerely appreciate it. I didn't realize how exhausting the whole thing was until it was really over. I swear, I could sleep for a month.
I look forward to re-connecting with my Etsy friends in the weeks to come, (off-site), as well as working on getting my Artfire shop ready for the holidays. Incidentally, I just found out that sellers there have organized themselves to tweet about #artfire all day Thursday to get the term to trend worldwide! I will definitely be participating in that to some extent.
yours,
Joan
Saturday, October 23, 2010
The Love Affair Is Over
Embarrassing confession... I was just remembering that less than a week ago I literally said the words:
"oh Etsy, if lovin' you is wrong, I don't wanna be right!"
Part of me wants to barf when I remember that, and part of me wants to cry. I mean, how Fucking sad is that? The fact is, I feel betrayed. I feel betrayed and I have, in fact, been betrayed. I also feel really stupid now that I know how much disdain EtsyCorp had for me, and my fellow sellers all along. Are we nothing but their crafting Ho's??? How about a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T?
I know everybody always says this, but when it comes down to it, the thing I loved about E was talking to the other members, most of whom were amazingly intelligent, funny, kind, generous, interesting, MIND-BLOWINGLY talented men and women. There really is so much love flowing through the community. It's completely beyond belief.
I was very hesitant to find fault with E at first, but as it became more and more clear that this wasn't JUST an ironic little cock-up, that it had layers and layers and layers of "FUCK YOU" written all over it, inside and out, and when the site itself addressed my concerns with a response that was beneath contempt... well... here I am... Illusions definitely shattered.
Part of me is starting to feel that way one does when you start to heal from a bad relationship, where things are starting to normalize in your life again and you kinda just want to call them that ONE last time... BUT THATS HOW THEY SUCK YOU BACK IN (LOL)!!
What I need right now is a hot beverage and one of those emergency blankets they use on crash victims to keep them from going into shock. That's how fast this whole thing took place. I'm just amazed that what I am experiencing is the result of a business relationship, and not escaping from some 3rd world dictatorship where dissenters get silenced and disappear mysteriously. A place where pronouncements and proclamations are made from somewhere "on high" - but no one knows quite where or by whom. A place where they wring the peasants dry for all they have, and convince them to think of the bright new day that is coming for the community, just around the corner, if you just stick around until the holidays... until the new shiny button comes out... you just have to work on your photos...
Holy wake-up call, Batman.
"oh Etsy, if lovin' you is wrong, I don't wanna be right!"
Part of me wants to barf when I remember that, and part of me wants to cry. I mean, how Fucking sad is that? The fact is, I feel betrayed. I feel betrayed and I have, in fact, been betrayed. I also feel really stupid now that I know how much disdain EtsyCorp had for me, and my fellow sellers all along. Are we nothing but their crafting Ho's??? How about a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T?
I know everybody always says this, but when it comes down to it, the thing I loved about E was talking to the other members, most of whom were amazingly intelligent, funny, kind, generous, interesting, MIND-BLOWINGLY talented men and women. There really is so much love flowing through the community. It's completely beyond belief.
I was very hesitant to find fault with E at first, but as it became more and more clear that this wasn't JUST an ironic little cock-up, that it had layers and layers and layers of "FUCK YOU" written all over it, inside and out, and when the site itself addressed my concerns with a response that was beneath contempt... well... here I am... Illusions definitely shattered.
Part of me is starting to feel that way one does when you start to heal from a bad relationship, where things are starting to normalize in your life again and you kinda just want to call them that ONE last time... BUT THATS HOW THEY SUCK YOU BACK IN (LOL)!!
What I need right now is a hot beverage and one of those emergency blankets they use on crash victims to keep them from going into shock. That's how fast this whole thing took place. I'm just amazed that what I am experiencing is the result of a business relationship, and not escaping from some 3rd world dictatorship where dissenters get silenced and disappear mysteriously. A place where pronouncements and proclamations are made from somewhere "on high" - but no one knows quite where or by whom. A place where they wring the peasants dry for all they have, and convince them to think of the bright new day that is coming for the community, just around the corner, if you just stick around until the holidays... until the new shiny button comes out... you just have to work on your photos...
Holy wake-up call, Batman.
Etsy Alternatives
Etsy is just a bunch of (often malfunctioning) code without its sellers and the community that built the DIY, Handmade, and Micro-business movement. We are what makes it special. We can bring our awesome community to a new home and make it every bit as awesome and special. WE HAVE THE POWER, not the venue. Many of us have chosen to board up our Etsy shops and move on due to our dissatisfaction with Etsy's business policies, and recent incidents. Much discussion (and confusion) has ensued about Etsy alternatives. What sites can act as our Methadone in our dependence upon Etsy's Heroine? Here are a few options, feel free to add your finds and reviews as well!
www.craftisart.com
CIA has tons of awesome looking seller tools that we've been BEGGING for on E, but have never been provided for us. How awesome would it be to just press a button and put something on sale for the specified percentage, just for example? However, this one looks kind of desolate, from reading the forums, but I might set up a presence there, and if many dispossessed ex-etsians do as well, it might prove to be a lively community.
www.Artfire.com
Chances are you have heard of Artfire, Etsy's main competitor in the handmade marketplace. Many of us already have shops there, but if you are like me, your main focus has been on Etsy until now. I am really liking what I've read in regard to the responsiveness of the staff to the needs of the sellers, its ability to accept fault, and to take ACTION to make it right when it feels it has failed. You are also allowed to link off-site which is like a whole new level of freedom. I have not heard anything about people being censored or cast-out to the outrageous degree that Etsy has demonstrated again and again... and again. THis is where it seems most of us will be putting the bulk of our attention from now on. They even offer immediate SYNDICATION! Wow! And they have easy-peasy coupons! I was spending an average of 60 dollars a month on E, and for a "Pro" account on Artfire, the going rate is currently $9.95 a month.
www.Zibbet.com
I don't know all that much about it but it was easy for me to set up a shop there and listing is free. You have basic membership where everything is free, and a paid membership with more bells and whistles.
www.supermarket.com
We need to check this one out further, but here's what I know so far; it's a juried or curated site, so your products have to be able to "make the cut". Interesting...
It looks to me like there are considerably more options for the exclusively UK sellers, and that the USA, predictably, relies on monopolistic entities like Etsy more heavily.
Another alternative that many of us have been chewing over is starting our own Etsy Alternative, (Alternetsy?) which is a pretty massive undertaking, not that I doubt our talented bunch could do it, and heaven knows we are all crying out for more alternatives! Many of us are also hoping to get our own stand-alone websites ready, and I hope we can help one another out with that, too! I have only taken SECONDS of my time to research other places we could grace with our presence, money, and energy, and they DO exist after all! So please do keep adding to the list, and discussion of Etsy Alternatives as we begin to move forward together!
To Be Investigated:
Boingboing
http://makersmarket.com/collections/boing-boing-bazaar
http://www.rubylane.com/info/shop.html
www.craftisart.com
CIA has tons of awesome looking seller tools that we've been BEGGING for on E, but have never been provided for us. How awesome would it be to just press a button and put something on sale for the specified percentage, just for example? However, this one looks kind of desolate, from reading the forums, but I might set up a presence there, and if many dispossessed ex-etsians do as well, it might prove to be a lively community.
www.Artfire.com
Chances are you have heard of Artfire, Etsy's main competitor in the handmade marketplace. Many of us already have shops there, but if you are like me, your main focus has been on Etsy until now. I am really liking what I've read in regard to the responsiveness of the staff to the needs of the sellers, its ability to accept fault, and to take ACTION to make it right when it feels it has failed. You are also allowed to link off-site which is like a whole new level of freedom. I have not heard anything about people being censored or cast-out to the outrageous degree that Etsy has demonstrated again and again... and again. THis is where it seems most of us will be putting the bulk of our attention from now on. They even offer immediate SYNDICATION! Wow! And they have easy-peasy coupons! I was spending an average of 60 dollars a month on E, and for a "Pro" account on Artfire, the going rate is currently $9.95 a month.
www.Zibbet.com
I don't know all that much about it but it was easy for me to set up a shop there and listing is free. You have basic membership where everything is free, and a paid membership with more bells and whistles.
www.supermarket.com
We need to check this one out further, but here's what I know so far; it's a juried or curated site, so your products have to be able to "make the cut". Interesting...
It looks to me like there are considerably more options for the exclusively UK sellers, and that the USA, predictably, relies on monopolistic entities like Etsy more heavily.
Another alternative that many of us have been chewing over is starting our own Etsy Alternative, (Alternetsy?) which is a pretty massive undertaking, not that I doubt our talented bunch could do it, and heaven knows we are all crying out for more alternatives! Many of us are also hoping to get our own stand-alone websites ready, and I hope we can help one another out with that, too! I have only taken SECONDS of my time to research other places we could grace with our presence, money, and energy, and they DO exist after all! So please do keep adding to the list, and discussion of Etsy Alternatives as we begin to move forward together!
To Be Investigated:
Boingboing
http://makersmarket.com/collections/boing-boing-bazaar
http://www.rubylane.com/info/shop.html
Friday, October 22, 2010
A Place To Heal
Dear Fellow Etsy Refugees,
It has been a rough week for many of us who have chosen to seek refuge outside of EtsyCorp, mostly due to the coralgate scandal which has rightfully upset a large portion of sellers.
As I write this, I am physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. I'm hoping this can be a place where we can come together to support one another in this difficult transition, free from censorship, muting, deletion, and undue criticism of our motives and integrity. I hope you will join me in crying, venting, celebrating, laughing, and hopefully, finding a way forward.
Leaving a place that was like a second home to you, and closing up the shop you worked so hard on, is an emotional experience, and I know I sure could use some support and camaraderie!
Welcome and grab a seat, a cup of coffee, and a box of kleenex if necessary.
Love,
Joan
It has been a rough week for many of us who have chosen to seek refuge outside of EtsyCorp, mostly due to the coralgate scandal which has rightfully upset a large portion of sellers.
As I write this, I am physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. I'm hoping this can be a place where we can come together to support one another in this difficult transition, free from censorship, muting, deletion, and undue criticism of our motives and integrity. I hope you will join me in crying, venting, celebrating, laughing, and hopefully, finding a way forward.
Leaving a place that was like a second home to you, and closing up the shop you worked so hard on, is an emotional experience, and I know I sure could use some support and camaraderie!
Welcome and grab a seat, a cup of coffee, and a box of kleenex if necessary.
Love,
Joan
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