Share The Joy! (And The Savings!)

Time To Start Your Holiday Promos, Folks!!

I do Hope that by now the Original Refugees reading this have set up a new shop somewhere.  Are you running any promotions?  Artfire lets us use coupon codes!!  WOW!!  So, here are some coupons for you, and I hope you will share your new locations and special discounts in the comments section so we can all share the joy!

Enter the coupon code CORALGATE10 and receive 20% off your order of $40 or more!  Good now through January 1st, 2011!!  Come check out my awesome NON-ETSY STUDIO and stock up on your Holiday gift-giving needs!!

Don't forget to post promos for your new non-etsy shops in the comments section.  Let's show the big E what integrity, customer service, and real success looks like by supporting each other this holiday season!!

Testimony Of DancingWindDesigns

Here is yet another stirring testimonial from a fellow Etsy Refugee...


Etsy dearest,

I know, I'm asking for my shop to be shut down by being a loud, dissenting voice here, but I closed my shop here months ago over the lack of respect etsy has for it's sellers-the ones who pay the bills. 

You have shown time and time again that you have nothing but contempt for the people who have made etsy what it used to be-an e-commerce site for handmade items. Coral gate is the last straw-it's like spitting in the face of all those who have supported you the last 3 or 4 years. That's despicable behavior. If it wasn't for the wonderful people who created the handmade items you used to sell here, you would be nowhere. Instead, you have become almost a joke. Allowing people who sell mass produced stuff in sweatshops in here to sell disguised as collectives. Now, you allow a "guest commentator" or whatever you called her in that so called apology, to come in and post links to her off site sales when she doesn't even make the jewelry is selling. She designs mass produced stuff using petrolieum products. For crying out loud-remember the Gulf Oil Spill??? 

You are the most hypocritical bunch of people I have run across in ages. You have been hiding behind the curtain like the Wizard of Oz, but now, that curtain is being pulled back, and you are being exposed for the frauds you are. IMHO, you are slowly killing what you built by your constant thoughtlessness in your lack of response to sellers, your bland, robotic responses to sellers and all the other ways that you denigrate them. But that's right, you have the money and don't care. What do you expect from a guy who conned his way into NYU or wherever it was. I have to go dig out last Dec.'s Readers Digest. It's not a site I care to be associated with. I bet you will find in the coming weeks that I'm not the only one who feels that way. Don't worry, we will keep the starry eyed newbies up to date on how you are. 
P.S. Since I posted this, you have been busy creating other changes that will basically stab sellers in the back yet again. Changing search so everybody is going to have to keep renewing to be seen. Listen-what's that sound? It's the sound of thousands of renewing dimes pouring into the etsy coffers. You found a way to get around people who weren't renewing and who were cutting into your lunch money by doing that, didn't you? Making people's favorites link buyers right out of their shops. Smooth move-NOT. How blind do you think people are? One day, this place is going to collapse and the sellers are going to find out that etsy has no clothes. 

Why am I doing this since I really don't sell here anymore? Because I believe in doing what's right and etsy, you guys ain't right. I can't stand to see people taken advantage of and misled the way you do-especially people who are your customers. Yes, we paid you to sell here. That means we were buying a service from you and you have really crappy customer service. YOu have let a ton of people down. I know you don't care because you guys are the coolest thing on the web-or so you think. You have no clue of the power the voices of the people in this thread have, but you are about to find out in the coming months.


by DancingWindDesigns

Seeking Asylum

Good Evening, Refugees!

Today I briefly activated my listings on Etsy so that I could import my stock to Artfire and to Zibbet .  Both imports were quick and painless, taking me less than five minutes, though I should warn you that Artfire's importer is only available to "pro" level accounts.  The going rate is only $9.95 per month right now, and if you lock in, your rate will never increase.  I have signed up for a pro account and I am impressed with all of the wondrous functioning tools at my disposal.

I also would like to report that I got an email from Etsy's @support address today to notify me that my shop announcement has been removed by Admin, and not to post it again.  My shop announcement said more or less that in solidarity with my fellow jewelry makers I was moving my business as a result of the coral article.  Etsy's support team has yet to respond to my second email asking that the coral article be corrected or taken down, but they acted swiftly to reprimand me for my shop announcement, so I know that someone is still awake over there.

There was also a bit of "push back" on the AF forums regarding the sudden onslaught of Etsy refugees coming there to talk about their negative experiences, mostly triggered by some sock-puppet drama, and though the posts were too generally worded to make a distinction between those of us seeking asylum and deranged people coming over to create drama that started over at E, many, many AF users were quick to let me know that we ARE most welcome there, and offer their support in finding our way around the site.

Now that I have experienced how easy and painless it is to move my shop, I am stunned that I was so afraid to do it.  The questionable practice of relisting is a non-issue in these new venues, and I'm already seeing familiar faces on these sites.  I realize that many people feel that they can not leave behind their Etsy shops for various reasons, but I have taken the plunge, and I feel much, much more comfortable, and highly motivated to get back to work building my business in a place where I am not treated with utter disdain.

The fact is, Etsy is not going to get its much-needed wake-up call if we continue stick around and enable their maltreatment of users.  For those of you who have chosen to keep a presence on Etsy, I respect your decision, and understand the difficulties involved. Just don't expect to see any change in behavior on their part, because you will only be hurt and disappointed.  There ARE alternatives out there... and good ones, at that.

So how are all of my 'fugees doing?  Keep us updated on where you are moving, and how it is going!

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