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In case you don't read the Dorque (who does really?) Etsy is forming a seller and shopper focus group to test improvements (supposedly). Yes-men only need apply? We'll see.
Here is the information and application. The application is supposed to close May 29th but is currently unavailable. Why? you may ask. Well, our astute commenters caught forum threads that explain - wait for it - Etsy was directing people to an unsecure site to provide personal information!
By the way, Etsy, there was no all-member email about this! Come on people, how many times do we have to spell this out? C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N...communication.
We'll see if this council ever gets off the ground - for now though, their idiocy is reconfirmed.
Edited 5/19/09 to include new information regarding Etsy's fuckwittery.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Join the Etsy Community Council
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Okay, no communication to sellers (other than in the Storque... which, for me, is a huge time-sucker I try to stay out of) and ALREADY a disclaimer of sorts that those who participate are no MORE OR LESS likely to appear on the front page.
Hmmm... I'm new to this Etsy thing, but I think I see where this is heading.
So glad I found this site before I drank the KoolAid.
I predict that they will simply stock the "hey kids let's put on a show to make them think we care panel" with Kooldaid drinking cupcake eating syncophants.
All they have to do is read the forums to get priceless feedback. Instead they ignore the forums and put on shows to feign that they care.
I used to think Matt was different, but clearly, lately he seems just as bad as the rest.
Faux concern is worse and more insulting than an honest "fuck you, it's our site and we'll do as we please."
ArtFire has had the 'Handmade Artisan Council' for months now. Etsy's will only be a poor immitation. I believe this calls for a "copycat forum thread".
*snort*
What the fuck? You have to apply to be chosen "mostly" at random by them? By applying after reading a article in their painful to read and less than helpful blog?
Let me translate by using my patent pending admin decoder ring:
"If you're a total etsy brown nose that actually reads this crap, apply to join our little club! We'll 'randomly' hand select you to give us input on the site.
We're sick of having to deal with all the grumpy haters in the forums and we need a panel/board to tell us how to run things around here. We could pay people to do this, like, you know, actual experts, but we'd love if you'd volunteer your time to help us add extra sprinkles to the valium cupcakes.
We figured we'd make a post about this so that when it comes out that we have a little glee club we can say it was "mostly random" and offered to everyone through some obscure blog post. Though, we probably wont say anything at all and just close the thread or comment section."
I enjoy that the bottom-right product picture on the article says, "picking up some milk? (and cupcakes)" right on it. For once etsy has told us exactly what they are doing. Picking up some more cupcakes. Thanks etsy, for the honest communication.
The application closes May 29th!
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No, the application closed today due to "technical difficulties."
Well that didn't last long.
"We have removed the link to the Council application form while we work out some issues."
Dontcha love that Announcement section closed to comments? One step up from heavily edited Dorque comments (and those who have been edited out are sometimes muted as well). Another big no-no on Etsy!
Kinda reads like a sorority hazing and intiation ritual.
Kinda reads like the Merchandising Plan, a snobby, elitist, exclusive country club entry exam. Oh, and yes, you too can do MORE WORK FOR ETSY FOR FREE for 3 months running!
After the "council" members work more hours for free (on top of years of doing all of Etsy's marketing for free) they get the guarantee that they WILL NOT be picked for any Etsy-controlled promotions! Wow, a non-reward reward from a site that has had no seller-recognition, incentive or retention program for 4 years!
A little too late in the Etsy game of courting personal favoritism that is already so pervasive, it's their trademark style.
Oh, and to underline Etsy's (generally negative) attitude towards its sellers, the "council application" has a bug ------- it wasn't even tested out before it was presented to sellers! Ahem, anyone connecting the dots?
"UPDATE: We have removed the link to the Council application form while we work out some issues. We'll put it back up ASAP!"
So, yet another half-assed idea launched with bugs, then pulled back to fix.
Communicated in a way so that people who matter will never see it.
Controlled by a few clueless employees to provide lip-service and wring more free labor from its customers.
Soon to be forgotten when a shiny object distracts them.
Etsy is so predictable.
Regarding the "We have removed the link" business:
Read this thread:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6155774&page=1
Etsy directed it's customers to an unsecured link, so that all of the private information given was wide open to the world.
DUH!!!
Don't these idiots know that when they direct members, who are supposedly logged into Etsy securely, to another page - the members will assume it's secure!
Lots of people have posted their private data including phone numbers onto an unsecure.
Of course, as usual, they had to be told by a seller that they had committed another big fuck-up with the ABSOLUTE BASICS of online business.
I really do hate them sometimes...
hahahahaha technical difficulties might just be defined as ooooops, we admitted we use blatant favoritism so we're stating that handpicked people for the handpicked "council" will not be treated with the same handpicked favoritism as Etsy's usual handpicked favorites.
Or, it could just mean that the mice were playing around again and the cat said, what the hell were you thinking? Ask sellers to participate in a COMMUNITY? Holy batshit!
'technical difficulties'?
The computer people there are some of the most incompetent I've ever seen at a big site. You wold THINK they take forever to do anything because they are being thorough and testing... no, somehow everything they release is screwed up and they have to fix it in the first day or two, or just take it down.
According to a thread yesterday, the application form was NOT A SECURE SITE- so everyone who applied put their personal info out in cyberspace for all to see.
Robb came into the thread and said they were going to fix it.
Glad I didn't rush to apply.
I think they took it down because any information we entered (name, phone number, address, etc.) was not secure. So, for those of us that did apply, we have all of our information "out there". I wonder if mine will count, since they took it down after I filled it out.
I would never apply to help Etsy with it's belated and lame attempt to placate those who got sick of giving imput years ago.
In the first place, I would be the last one they would want because THEY CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
The daytime soap called Etsy just keeps on getting better and better.....
Oh, heads up if you haven't been in the announcement section this afternoon since the Council Debacle. They are doing a survey with sellers on shipping services. Sounds like Etsy is not only thinking of doing in house payment but in house shipping service.
what kind of accurate info are you going to get from people you solicit in the dork????
please,please,please, buy marketing for dummies
Oh yes, the shipping methods survey. Looks like they're planning to implement another handy dandy feature (Etsy's own online shipping) for US based sellers only (who already have online shipping tools available elsewhere).
As a European seller, I'm less than impressed.
Why would they take on a new programming project, whether an IHPS or shipping system, when their shopping cart and listing process sucks?
They can't roll out a "join our council" application without problems, who would trust them with their money? Every single thing they roll out has problems. They clearly have no useful pre-launch testing process.
And the "case by case" meme is the scariest. I know the rules with Paypal and my other cc processors. There is no "case by case" so I'm confident that if I read the rules and understand them that I won't get screwed over by some untrained or clueless employee. If someone makes a mistake I know that I have a "chain of command" that I can use to address the mistake.
Etsy has demonstrated for years that they have no idea how to be impartial or professional.
This shotgun approach to adding "features" when the core business is a mess is beyond reasonable and beyond annoying.
If you can't run your current business properly, why would you add more projects?
As a buyer I would not buy from an Etsy shop if the payment and/or shipping was being handled by Etsy.
Provided a buyer like me can even find something of interest these days PayPal still works and the sellers I've dealt with have been very nice and professional (none of them big sellers, either).
I am not going to be a customer of Etsy itself. No way, no how.
I love the concept of Etsy as a soap opera! That is the Etsy image: over-groomed, over-dressed, ethically challenged, reproduction and wedding obsessed, shallowly presented lip service to the 'issues' of the day, name-dropping and trend placement. But the forums are definitely VH1's Charm School!
It's obvious that Etsy is worried enough about the competition (finally) to be rolling out untested and fly-by-night "enhancements" but it all boils down to their dubious track record. And lack of respect for sellers. It's all an afterthought, not a rollout based on a business strategy. (Or a set of enhancements based on working very hard to build seller-loyalty for the last 4 years.)
This is a site that got so offtrack with branding and telling sellers what to make (in order to be picked for free Etsy promos) that it's no longer about reputation. It's about making money at all costs, including its reputation.
In house payments or shipping, or even a lip-service council is going to be treated just like everything else at Etsy. It's personal, not business, and rules aren't rules. And, without rules, the sellers are always, always at a disadvantage on Etsy.
i've applied - it will be interesting to see what actually does progress from this idea and i'm still quaintly optimistic about it. if it is truly random, and rotating and carries some weight then maybe, just maybe .....
however i think randomness will prob skip my name in the selection process
So, this is another way of getting work from the users of the site for free.
Are they the cheesiest company in the world?
"Hey, we'll over spend dramatically on useless employees, and then be super stingy on things like advertising, market research and so on! but we **value weekends**. Just our own."
A normal company with millions in revenue would hire a focus group. Or, offer something besides glory and etsy merchandise... wtf?
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