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We've been watching a thread regarding some problems with searching multi-word tags. We figured that bugs happen, we'll give Etsy a chance. That is, we figured that until someone pointed out that this 'bug' was reported a month ago.
Searching for a multiword tag in your item tags, may not find it (example, "sterling silver earrings" or "sterling silver"). The workaround is searching for "word1_word2". But buyers don't search this way! And if you have "word1 word2 word3", searching for "word1_word2" doesn't find it: "sterling silver earrings" won't be found searching for "sterling silver" or "sterling_silver"
We know Etsy is busy fixing the SEO, but we've always been told that different people work on different things - so why can't they fix this troublesome search bug at the same time?
RobWhite chimed in on page 1 of the new thread that the engineers have been notified - there's been no additional word and it's now 2 days later.
Is everyone at Etsy sleeping? Someone better wake up, because their car is on the edge of the cliff - and Toonces is driving.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The engineers are sleeping...still
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But.. it's Thursday! That's like, almost Friday.. And you know how Etsy respects weekends!
I only just discovered this site. The graphics are brilliant, and the writing is very, very good. But...
A couple of things come to mind.
For all the talk about Etsy closing forum threads, the apparent lack of freedom of speech, your exposes about the stores Etsy admin own, etc, I find it strange that the people who run this very blog remain anonymous. Sort of goes against the grain. Yeah, I know, fear of reprisals from Etsy, but still...
I think the biggest problem with Etsy is some of the garbage people try to pass off as "quality". I peruse the Etsy forums regularly, and can't get over the number of people who want to blame Etsy for them not being able to sell their ugly crap. I mean really. Some stuff is hideous, and these people bitch and moan about SEO cock-ups and low views and Etsy not promoting them.
Would they rather take out a mortgage on a store? Maybe schlep all over town with their items, knocking on doors of every gift shop, gallery, and chuchke hut in town? (And how DO you spell chuchke, anyway?)
Yeah, some things about Etsy suck, but it's always easy to slag something off. Fact is, most of the sellers doing really well on Etsy sell really nice stuff, regardless of Etsy's problems. And that's the bottom line. People buy nice stuff. People don't buy crap.
Hey wait, this had nothing to do with the topic of the post!
I LOVE your graphics.
So, this is not related to this post, but have you seen the new "Quit Your Day Job" edition? She's only been selling on ETSY a year and did not quit to sell full-time; she got laid-off from her other job!!
In just a year she's only made about $10,000 and that's before costs, fees, etc. Now I don't know where else she sells, but who can live on that?
That recent piece on Slate was right on -- why does ETSY still have this series going? Frankly, it's insulting and probably serves to make people feel as though if they can't make enough to quit their other job, they aren't doing something right or they're failing.
Wonderful. Thanks, ETSY.
bomobob, Etsy's problems are problems regardless of what a person sells. It's about how they treat their customers. Etsy has a horrible record in customer service and providing what they promise.
It doesn't matter what we sell, how we sell, or who we sell to - Etsy is run by fuckwits who could give two shits about their customers. A faulty search that prevents items from being found and SEO setup that blocks Google spiders affects every seller on the site, especially those with amazing product.
bomobob asked...
...And how DO you spell chuchke, anyway?...
**
It's generally spelled "tchotchke," but there are regional and ethnic variants. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tchotchke
RR
Yes, I remain anonymous for good reason: those people who work for Etsy can be completely arbitrary with their "punishments"-- seems like whoever is around at the time decides who they will feature and who they will mute.
That being said:
I have been a featured seller, been on gift guides, and have been averaging the same number of sales per week for almost three years.
My views died overnight, as did my sales. Until something is done in the so-called tech dept at Etsy, I cannot afford to list my new work there if nobody is going to see it. I do not sell to other sellers; my customers find me in internet searches (or did).
My new work is now going elsewhere until or unless Etsy fixes itself.
My deep feeling is that Etsy is finally now dipped to the low point they seem to have been en route to since last fall: a place for anyone dumb enough to throw money into with no result. A place where some poor fool will actually believe the QYDJ propaganda they foist. A place where talented and experienced artisans are treated like they are a dime a dozen.
Nothing will stop me from creating, but this may stop my work from being readily available. So be it; I may have to email every single one of my customers to let them know where to find my new work, as my older work will just sit there and time out.
Actually, bomobob -- "Most of the sellers doing really well on Etsy" sell supplies. Just sayin'.
Etsy was a sweet, quirky idea from a guy wearing coral nailpolish.
It's obviously grown beyond it's capabilities, and trying to fix it is difficult - like trying to remove duct tape and bandaids and bailing wire from an invention built by a guy with coral nailpolish- and his 3 friends.
Plus, I would guess that the 27 million inventure cash is probably long gone, leaving them scrambling in this crappy economy.
And yeah, I say these things using my real name. I'm not afraid, because I'm retired and don't depend on them for my meds.
girl annoyed, I hear you!
I remember when that seller came to the fora going on about how she had lost her job, so I laughed out loud when I saw the QYDJ feature! I mean, who do they think they're kidding?!
Some interesting comments from all sides of the countless sticky issues on Etsy - and the one about fear of (very real) reprisals just means, bomobob, that you haven't been lucky enough to be subjected to some scary Etsy harassment tactics based on rumors and innuendo. And they like to hold their grudges for a very long time.
The decision by Etsy to stay silent when sellers need immediate help, when bugs are mutiplying like cockroaches, and when Search only gets more bizarre is the most troubling------isn't this the Etsy that just put into writing that they are aware they don't "do enough communicating" with their sellers? Ooops, another case of disappearing ink!
4 years running, NO real customer service, a "punishment" system that never left the Dark Ages for kindergartners, and a complete lack of interest in both the sellers and the shoppers will be Etsy's lasting legacy.
Let's go on to more important things that don't include Etsy the playground, Etsy the site, and for heaven's sake, barf, Etsy THE BRAND. It's so predictable, I'd rather shop at Safeway.
I would really hope that after four years of Etsy being completely fucked up, never doing anything right the first or second time, never fixing things, releasing new features veeerryy slooowwllyy... nobody is at all surprised by this.
Maybe it's a good thing the engineers are sleeping. Like it's a good thing the Lovecraftian Old Ones are sleeping? Who knows what Etsy engineers could do to the site if they woke up? Give Etsy the programmer's equivalent of an 'equestrian goth' FP? From this thread http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6199110
Maybe the engineers aren't available to address Etsy's real issues because they've been assigned to trick out the server racks in Steampunk style? Or cover them with knitting?
Etsy is showing itself to be so silly and incompetent at this stage that they remind me of the badguys in an Ayn Rand novel...too ridiculous to be believed.
Trust is hard to win back, ergo:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6199843&page=12
Check out the Announcement section in the forums because saralouhicks posted an update that Etsy is hiring an SEO expert - she wasn't inclined to let sellers REALLY know because she can't be bothered to send an all-seller email alert. That's because Etsy thinks sellers should search for facts on Etsy for 4 hours a day because sellers do ALL THE WORK on Etsy.
If "hiring an SEO expert" goes the same way as "hiring a Merchandising Consultant" then we can all look forward to:
1. item listings prefaced with "horse" "equestrian" "derby" and "high tea at the country club"
2. SEO titles in all beige, all yellow and all white
3. more snobbery, trendsetting, and more branding so that everything starts to look the same because it is.
That's what makes Etsy's jobs so much easier than they were 4 years ago. With branding and merchandising and a complete promotional infrastructure that actively encourages sellers to make "multiples" of "same style products" at "cheaper prices" --- all they have to do all day is Tweet, which is exactly what they're doing. Customer service is oh so boring.
lol @ Toonces.
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