Tuesday, January 12, 2010

shake up or shake down on Etsy

Rob Kalin is back, the original CEO of Etsy he has been gone for about 2 years and in that time Etsy has finally made a profit although arguably from signing up new sellers and near riots have been occuring on the forums about deteriorating customer service and major features of the site just not working like SEO. There is a breath of hope wafting through the forums tempered with a good dose of cynicism and I must admit I feel the same way. I've had a shop on Etsy for more than a year now and have watched it fall down on the job more and more everyday, from the ever increasing hordes of resellers allowed and even promoted by Etsy against Etsy's own TOU's to severe hang ups in Check Out hampering and even preventing buyers from shopping. I ahve grown alarmed, Etsy is the most viable handcrafted venue on the Net, what will I do if it becomes impossible to run a successful shop there. I pray Rob actually listens and acts quickly on the many pleas of its own customers, us, the sellers on Etsy, and the confused and angry stirring from our buyers, frustrated with a Search feature that doesn't work due to rampant uncontrolled mistagging and the inablility to easily pay for their purchases. And I hope he does it NOW, business has fallen off for many sellers, the economy is not good, we need the site to pop! I love Etsy, the community of Etsy, and the promise of Etsy, and there is no sane reason Etsy should not be THE foremost place to shop for quality handcrafted goods, supplies, and vintage.

8 comments:

Erica said...

hmmm.

I am hopeful, but there is only so much that he can do.

2 Virgos Designs said...

Yes, he is just one man, but we can hope he gets it going in the right direction strongly! Fingers crossed!

Patrice-The Soap Seduction said...

I don't believe I was part of the Rob Kalin era when I joined (or he was transitioning out..), so I really have nothing to compare today's situation too. I, too, am hopeful that etsy will do a 360 and get its act together. I'm not sure what's worst: the resellers or blatant favoritism. I wait patiently in the background....

2 Virgos Designs said...

you're right Patrice, that blight of favoritism is horrible, it has got to stop, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of Front Page worthy shops who have never been featured. They deserve a chance too! I will never be one of them , my pics are just so so but still, I believe in equity and a level playing field.

Piggy said...

I am hopeful too. Etsy is one of the best thing that has happened to me and like you said, it is one of the most viable places to sell handmade stuff.

Let's pray and fingers crossed!

God Bless
Alice
http://piggylittleshop.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/piggylittleshop
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Piggy

SleightGirl said...

Wow! I didn't realize it was so bad! I usually find stuff I search for with only a few "what's-that-doing-there" moments...I guess I need to get on the forums more.

Janine - Foxtail Creek Studio said...

What you've written here is exactly my take on everything as well. I am guardedly hopeful that Rob can make the changes necessary...from his posts, it looks promising. At least he acts like he knows what the site needs to improve upon, which is more than I've seen in a long time.
I have to admit, the day the thread started with all of the Admin posting their hellos and quotes, and then the impromptu chat lab 'party' thing (I had never been in one before or since)...I was so happy I was like a giggly schoolgirl! But that's died down, and I'm back to being just cautiously optimistic for a new & improved Etsy in 2010 :)

Unknown said...

I'm on the fence about this. I 'closed' my shop at the beginning of the year and left a forwarding address because of the sudden drop of my previous steadily growing sales AND the sudden severe drop in my views of the seo mess up. If E cleans up their act I might return but otherwise I'm done with E because of the drop off and the insane favoritism. It's great to know the right people but at least have the people you're promoting follow you're own rules and don't be so obvious about it.