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As we wrote earlier today, Etsy has been having some problems with the renewals and relistings not showing up in categories. But the problem goes deeper. There have been more consistent issues with the category batch update that began last year.
What does this mean? Your listings are not getting the exposure they're supposed to. Items are not showing up on page 1 when they are new. If they are consistently 3-4 pages behind, then 1/4 to 1/3 of items never get first page exposure on categories.
Search has been having issues, too.
And then the site crashed...again.
Etsy is just a wee bit buggy lately. Maybe it's the rash of listings from new sellers that sign up every day hoping to sell just by putting up a picture and a price tag. Maybe it's the constant renewals fueled by a change of the text from "expiration dates" to "renew items", which encourages a practice we all know and love. Or maybe, just maybe, an ecommerce site cannot be run on cupcakes and glittery unicorn farts. These problems and crashes are most likely indicative of the fragile nature of Etsy's infrastructure.
We implore you to have your listing information backed up and remember the old addage "don't keep all your eggs in one basket." Promote yourself, not Etsy. Sometimes the site just isn't there.
One final bitch - there were no notifications about these problems outside the forums. All member email update about any of these issues? nope. Any information in the Storque about the category problems? nope.
Same Etsy shit, New Etsy administration
Update: This thread seems to be the one to keep on topic, and keep asking Etsy to do their job and keep us updated.
19 Comments:
I hate this.
I don't know how in the hell any one of the 100000 or so sellers are supposed to have a decent and REAL business experience on etsy.
You can't ask for help because no one returns email. You check the forums and see a ton of bitching on a subject, sometimes for weeks on end with NO admin reply. No mass email, no dorque updates.
This, all of this, in the year 2008, is completely and totally unacceptable for an ecommerce site. When you can set up your own website with more working gadgets that actually pertain to business than etsy has, something is wrong.
WTF? There are a LOT of very upset people these days, leaving etsy. Not in a huff, but sadly- the dream sold was nothing but a childish fantasy.
And anyone that says you should be happy and grateful that they even allow you to sell there, and that you should be happy with the service your .20 gets you, can stuff it between their blue cheeks. Because we all know that is a crock of shit. Etsy isn't doing us a fucking favor letting us sell there, we're making a shitload of money for them, and in fact they should be kissing our asses.
Glittery Unicorn Farts...
hysterical!
Ugh, what a pain in the a$$. I have not listed anything *new* in awhile. I am having Etsy Burnout, for good reason.
~Hyla
http://earthyfinds.blogspot.com
It's weird with all the crap hitting the fan. I've made 5 sales this week and I had not had a sale before that since Feb. Etsy truly is a twilight zone.
Yes, there's an exodus going on, sigh, more in sorrow than in anger.
I'm angry about what Etsy has become, but I'm furious about their inability to tell us what the hell is going on with the site until they're shamed into it.
asking myself WTF am I still even considering leaving my shops open?
So Chad, whilst you were acting as a tour guide to your squid-buddy around the Etsy complex, did you not hear the alarms going off? did you not see the engineers just sitting there with blank looks hanging off their faces? (I don't know, that may be their usual look) didn't your super powers tell you that that the site is in trouble?
So, when do you start writing cheesy articles for the stroque and making crafty how-to videos?
I bet the labs were just humming along while the site was offline, no worries there, while people attempting to 'make a living on Etsy' were sitting there wondering what the hell was happening and why when the site is supposedly 'working' they can't find the items they listed.
Maybe while you're twittering about your movers and your guided tours you could squeeze in some information about, oh, I don't know, an update or two about the company you now work for? Or, better yet, how about giving the twittering a rest and actually DO something useful at Etsy instead of goofing off like the rest of the staff.
Etsy ought to reconsider their policy of not allowing sellers to list items on Etsy that are also listed on their own websites.
Why? Because we can't count on Etsy to appear. I had my Etsy mini on my website as my order page, and every time Etsy slowed to a crawl or died completely, my website ordering was down too.
So I got PayPal for my own site, to protect against the inevitable Etsy Fail.
But then by their policy, I'm not allowed to list those items on Etsy. So by their ineptitude, they forced me to create my own shopping cart, then by their policy they forced me to delete 3/4 of my listings from Etsy.
They are killing themselves with their cyclical catch-22 of Fail.
BTW, apparently Chad is a reader. He quit Twittering this morning.
Come on folks - how much time do you really want to invest trying to track down information about bugs and glitches, begging for the company to respond and wondering if your customers can find you? The writing's on the wall - actions speak louder than words. Vote with your dollars and list elsewhere.
Bwaaaaaaaahahahahahaha! Dontcha get it, hey?
This IS Etsy's new policy going into effect...........
Stem the overall (uncontrolled) increase in total stores by chasing all the stores that have been with Etsy for the last 3 years; the more that close, the happier Etsy is. (Job done without them having to lift a finger!) Yay!
Why, I'm starting to admire Etsy for all the clever ways they think up new ways to get sellers to do all their work for them. Such creativity! Such ingenuity! Such daring! Such a big shit shovel!
You know, I had a question for about editing a listing on handmade fuzion. And someone emailed me back. And they have live help online.
Why is that Etsy isn't capable of such customer service?
The question then is, why are people still wasting their time with Etsy if it has so many problems?
3 years later and still no workable search function. yet they can come up with all these other little working gadgets for the site. it makes no sense.
My best advice to all those out there in Etsy land is to stop wasting your time there and build your own site or go to one of the other ecommerce sites that actually works.
Chad, I know you are new and you're moving in and all excited about your job but if Rob and Maria haven't told you that we are out here, we are watching, we read admin blogs, we google you, we twitter you, we beg you for service and we are at our wits end, it's time for you to take a good hard look under the hood. You may have been sold an unfixable hunk of junk.
done with dopey said...
Etsy ought to reconsider their policy of not allowing sellers to list items on Etsy that are also listed on their own websites.
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Is this actually against the D-and-Ds? Because vintage sellers have inventory on Etsy that duplicates inventory at their own URL, be it a personal website or just a domain directed to another multi shop venue. Unlike handmade stuff, vintage inventory can not easily be duplicated by the seller -- so this inventory is the same items listed at 2 or more sites. Maybe you can fully embrace vintage, and do likewise?
The listing on mulitple sites from the Etsy dos and don'ts is actually about LINKING to sites where the items are listed. Etsy does not claim exclusivity on the items and you can list them wherever you want, you just can't link to the shop in your Etsy profile/announcement/policies/etc..
But if an item sells in both places you're kind of stuck with a problem...so use the power wisely.
Well, I've never had to worry about accidentally selling anything on Etsy.
So no worries about the double listing!
Is it a coincidence that the major problems started right after chad did?
I wonder........
Thanks for the clarification, t.r.o.!
Listing identical items on 2 or more sites is pretty much SOP for vintage sellers...sometimes 4 or more sites, under different business names even. A practice I've always objected to and never used for the reason you give.
This does not apply to a lot of handmade items and supplies on Etsy. It mostly impacts less established sellers because if your name is out there and known you don't need a link in your Etsy shop for customers to find your website. Customers are already searching for your work by your business name.
Or is it coincidence that this started happening right after Haim and RD left?
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