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Etsy gave us some stats today - something we've been asking for for months, and months. This Auxiliary member punched some numbers, in the face.
"Here are the rest of June’s key numbers:
"$6.5 million of goods sold - roughly the same as May. That represented 442,000 items sold, a slight drop from May’s number. 742,000 new items were listed, up from 730,000 items last month. 80,000 new members joined the Etsy community, including 15,000 new sellers, both slight increases from last month."
Here's what I can figure:
- Page views is internet-ese for just what they are, page views. The total does not break out what views are being counted in the ecommerce realm, and how many views are being tallied for Labs, newsletter articles, tools and toys, forum visits and all the other non-store sections of the site. And how many of the page views are sellers checking in on their stores to add, delete, edit, etc. their inventory.
- The drop in (or stagnant) sales totals from June compared to May is the first sign that things aren't so rosy for Etsy, the money collector.
- Do remember that they added 15,000 stores, BUT SALES were stagnant, or in reality, dropped. 4. 742,000 items listed means what? 742,000 new items or 742,000
- RELISTED items? And it's only 12,000 MORE than May, which means a huge chunk of the listings are from 15,000 NEW STORES.
- Numbers can be deceiving, and why Etsy has chosen to "share" these numbers is also deceiving. They might mean something on the macro level, but what do these stats mean to sellers? Not a goddamn thing. Other than, retail isn't doing so good in the current economy, and Etsy is doing nothing at all to help sellers sell with new promotions, sections for special sales and bargains, something other than Etsy Finds to entice buyers to look, and ignoring constant requests for the company to run an advertising campaign. If, next month, Etsy decides to share stats again, what will they show?
21 Comments:
So figure they'd fudge the stats a little and put their best face forward....
Those are the best they could come up with? The truth is probably even worse than that.
Yep.
Already on my own site.
742,000 items means new items, not renewals. I asked this a while ago in the STorque when they posted some stats. (they have been posting stats every month for a long time) They don't disclose the renewal numbers, so you can't really calculate their total gross revenue.
Showcase income is also not reflected in these numbers.
The drop in sales was probably due to the search engine change and the drop was more strongly felt in the supplies and vintage categories. (my guess)
June, well, summer in general, is notoriously slow for online sales.
I'd rather have my own personal store stats than generic etsy-wide stats that don't have enough info to actually help my business.
i love this blog- but please be more careful in what you post (not every moron that sends you an e-mail deserves to be published)- I don't want you bitches to lose credibility.
This post sucks.
Like eclipse said: Etsy has been posting stats every month for a long time- so saying "finally" is stupid and points out the fact that whoever wrote this is not checking their facts.
Just want to commend you bitches for keeping up the good fight!
ask questions
say it directly
stay connected
keep it relevant
insist on the truth
stay focused on the facts
settle for only the best
expect great things
respect yourself.
etsy has to figure out how to help sellers move product. It can not rely on listing fees alone.
if handmade products don't move, then it snowballs and supplies don't move, and we can't all open vintage shops.
How many times have you heard in the forums, "New sellers, bring in new buyers, and we all sell lots more"? You've heard it a lot.
Those stats prove otherwise.
Discussions about how an online market(open, non juried) creates "A Markets for Lemons" have often centered around ebay. But, I think it's much easier to see in Etsy's platform.
If Etsy were my company and those numbers were followed by 35 people mindlessly shouting hooray Etsy! I would feel a deep responsibility to have some business tutorials. Maybe the new mantra should be People, Process, Product, Morals.
the stats used to be part of those ATROCIOUS Etsy "newscasts", with the silly costumes and wigs- I would cringe the whole way through watching it just to get the numbers. But if the bitches couldn't keep their lunch down long enough to watch those, I kind of understand.
I only endured them so that UEN readers wouldn't have to.
The things I do for you kids.
I love y'all bitches too but I gotta agree with lovethebitches. This post isn't your finest work. If you're going to reference the page view stats then you should probably include that in your quote. And is it me or is there some sort of formatting issue with # 4?
In any case, I do agree that these "stats" are a whole lotta nada. But I'm just sayin', beware of "errirs"...
duly noted wtf and lovethebitches. We will try to do better from here on out.
What's going on with the post from hieronymous??? Looks like some sort of crossword anagram (?) thing when you read the first letter of each line vertically.
wonder if it was intentional :-)
Juicy Fruit, thanks for cluing us in, I completely missed that clever acrostic that hieronymous posted!
Yes it says 'ass kisser' and is also posted in the 'closed threads' most recent post.
The troll strikes again.
AngryHousewife said...
Juicy Fruit, thanks for cluing us in, I completely missed that clever acrostic that hieronymous posted!
_________________________________
Yeah, it's in the closed threads blog too.
Totally digging these blogs...could totally do without this kind of drama *yawn*.
Thanks Angryhousewife. I was trying to think of that word. Acrostic. You learn something new every day. Nice Acrostic there Hieronymous. Who is it directed to?
so is Hieronymous the same person as kiss, or did kiss just steal the post from Hieronymous and repost it on closed threads without attribution?
Because kiss had previously seemed borderline illiterate and not quite clever enough to come up with that.
Ask questions
Say it directly
Stay connected
Keep it relevant
Insist on the truth
Stay focused on the facts
Settle for only the best
Expect great things
Respect yourself.
The stats (or lack thereof) always blow my mind. They really aren't that encouraging...ever...and are only getting worse at the individual store level.
Etsy may be bringing in the bling, but the average seller sure as hell isn't.
Is it just me, or do those stats show that sellers aren't renewing as often as they used to?
Etsy has not yet grasped the concept that there are those of us out there who are business people, not just "crafters". They're catering to the "crafters" not the business people. The cupcakes, the Treehouse, the delayed adolescence and half assed Virtual Labs...all of these make me nostalgic for a childhood I didn't even quite enjoy the first time...and yet don't help my business.
But businesses with return customers and a following would SEEM to be good for THEIR business.
Gimme some shop stats! I'd love some shop stats. You know...for my business. Mmmm, and some advertising...ohhhh this list goes on and on...
I really want to see specific renewal stats for each month. I would suspect they are making quite a bit of $$$ off the "renewal every day=sales" strategy so often touted in the forums.
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