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As many of you have noticed, Etsy unveiled their new Community Hub. With the cutesy Kindergarten sketch border at the top, and the Dorque articles prominently featured as Etsians try to find the forums - lacking a log in link but making sure you can buy crap from EtsyStore - Etsy has pushed branding and confusion to a new low.
So, dear EB readers, what are your thoughts on the Hub?
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The Hub - Where Annoyance Gathers
Posted by The Righteous One at 10:21 PM
Tagged: community, community hub, Etsy
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42 Comments:
That Etsy store makes me want to puke. It would be one thing if actual sellers with shops on Etsy were contracted to make Etsy branded things, and then when you click on an item it takes you to that sellers actual store- like a "live" link tresury.. but this???
First of all, any Etsy employees having a store is a conflict of interest. Secondly, who gets the money? The employees that are making the stuff? Third, they are competing with sellers, in fact they used to let sellers make Etsy stuff but put the kabosh on that.
As far as that Community page? Another red herring. BUT there isn't a shopping cart on it, what gives? Yep, a Dorque promoho page.
I don't think they should even HAVE a blog. All those employees, all that time and money... for what? Lame, half assed, poorly thrown together "articles" on shit that should be said in one sentence. For example
"Click here to get in on the BUST magazine ads" (ripoff anyway!)
"Here's a link to a forum post a seller wrote with good info on Customer Service" (since they haven't the first clue)
I don't have the time to sit and read all the bullshit on that blog. I have other blogs I like to read for entertainment.
The whole place there is one big, sick dysfunctional hot mess. Why shouldn't the new page be?
Yeah, um, I don't understand how you can promote this as a great new feature that serves the Etsy community, when all it really does is bury the useful stuff under a bunch of Etsy-serving, space-wasting articles and links. ??? Really??? Why?
Gee...another page that makes no sense? gosh, I wonder how many mind bending hours it took to put that together.
It's just another page to advertise their favorite picks from the gift guides and the dorque, how many more of those do we really need?
Were is the link to the FAQ's and the things that can actually help sellers and buyers with their questions and concerns,. Where is the link to the treasury, the treasury west and the poster sketch? things people always want to know where they are and how they work.
A hub should be the center of the Etsy universe, giving people direction on where to find useful information on the site, not just another advertising opportunity for a select few.
Etsy fail, once again.
So there's this thread on the forums somewhere - that of course now I can't find - where the SEO guy explains that people should change their shop titles to, essentially, a string of search keywords. This will improve your store's google ranking, etc.
OK, fine. So you do it, and now instead of a shop title under your banner you have a dorky string of keywords. Maybe instead of putting their time to pointless rearrangement of the community stuff they could have worked on, I don't know, HIDING THAT? Like every other website on the planet hides their SEO keywords so they aren't just blatently hanging out there at the top of the page? Even back in the dark ages when we handed coded all our html we managed to hide our search engine keywords. Stick a new box on the appearance page labeled 'search engine keywords' and write some code to insert those keywords in appropriate places.
I give up. And, oh, shoot me in the head already.
Is there really anything "new" about this design? It's basically the same furniture in a different configuration in the room...
I guess there's a link to the voter.
But really, the time could have been better spent just putting a link to the forums in the tool bar that appears on every (?) page on etsy. That would have been the only useful development to me. And, as one can see -- it isn't there.
But etsy has now tried to direct me (the unmarried one with the long time boyfriend) that it's chic to wear my grubby old cowboy boots to a wedding if I happen to be the bride... how countrified... or etsycountryfied.
I simply don't really see what rearranging the stuff on this page accomplished.
But hey, we still have ONE seller featured in 7 different gift guides, yippee!
(I love that my word verification for this post is "crank"...)
It's just as sophomoric and unprofessional as the etsy employees, so am not surprised, but I hate it (because it's sophomoric and unprofessional and way too cluttered and busy).
Not only is what everyone else has said true, but once again, it's just another feature Etsy has released that was not asked for and doesn't work.
Why must they continually skip over needed functions like a proper site search for this crap?! Is it an unwritten rule that says things must not work properly for at least a year before you maybe fix them?
Useless. Juvenile. Messy. Navel-gazing.
Typical.
Needs to be re-labelled "How To Open an Etsy Fave Store and List Etsy Fave Products using Etsy-Style Pix to fit the Etsy Branded Brand, that Appeals only to Etsy Hipsters, and We'll Promote You For Free Until We Find Another Store We Like Better"
Subheading: "Then You Too Will be our FS (3x or even 4x!), Blog Darling, Etsy Finds 4x a month, and Graduate to our latest QYDJ Etsy Groupie For the Month!"
What really got to me is that I needed to find something very specific in the Etsy Handbook, which can't even be found on the "Community Hub" --- if you want to see Etsy Branding in it's shining glory, take a look (after a few stiff cocktails, believe me).
That's what Etsy's done to handmade.
Turned it into a big box concept that has NOTHING to do with handmade and the artisan who creates it.
Community Hub, my ass. It's how to produce for a brand so you'll be selected as a cookie cutter frontrunner in a big box store aisle. Only Etsy doesn't have to pay wholesale for the junk up front ---- they just make a profit from the hard labor of others who have to actually sell it on a site that is set up to work against more sellers than for them.
No wonder no one's going to craft shows anymore - they're scared it's going to look like Etsy!
Ditto all the comments above.
I am beginning to wonder if etsy is purposely coming up with shit just to piss off the grumpy haters?
And that bride in the snapshot is anorexic.
LOL did you see the seller in the discussion forum about this scolding the objectors to the new hub because they were hurting the feelings of the graphic designer.
I have to admit that I'm glad Etsy doesn't advertise more than it does or found the free advertising it could gain from things in NYC that would be highly profitable.
So glad my website is up and running and it's what I advertise. I'm so sad about Etsy. What amazing things it could've done if run properly.
Btw, no one has mentioned the Dorque article about writing stories into you descriptions. That should make for interesting descriptions now.
The Etsy furrow on my brow gets deeper every day.
onagainoffagain, didn't the 25-page SEO manual basically say NOT to write stories in your descriptions? I changed all mine so they were more "keyword specific."
onagainoffagain, the Admin post about "writing stories" and who it came from is already enough reason not to read through this other piece of junk from a paid employee.
What? Write a story and shoppers won't notice you've only taken pix of the model pressing her eyeball against the camera lens? Where the hell is the product you're selling?
Just cut and paste all the Admin-authored dorkies written just like every other dorkie (yuck factor included) and paste it into your item description! Job done!
NOT a fan... I'd like to see the energy spent on these things put to better use.
cliquey, childish, poorly thought out, badly programmed.
pretty much sums up most of the etsy experience. if it's working well, they'll be sure to 'fix it', fuck it up or put it on hiatus.
etsy corporate culture encourages it's employees to act like candy flipping, brain dead, forever 13, gum popping fluffy twat muffins. i hate that.
the only thing etsy has going for it? ebay is the bigger mess.
Just another perfect example of Etsy giving us cupcakes, when what we really need are meat and potatoes!
Words cannot express my opinion of the cretans who are responsible for the day to day running of this site. They are a toxic blight on all true artisans and craftsmen.
I don't like it =(
the idea to write a story about your item 'true or not!' is only going to encourage some outrageous lies and misinformation. in the business world it's called fraud.
can't wait to see the plethora of vintage 70s avon bottles that belonged to marie antoinette.
TOTALLY appalling. Especially the "Etsy" store. VOMIT.
but equally annoying is the anorexic "bride".
So now you have to wade through all this gunk to yet to the main stuff. I just go through the community hub to get to the forums, if I want to see this BS, I'd read the storque,NOT. With all that they NEED to fix, this is their choice of what to do.
God am I glad I found somewhere else to sell.
A puzzling addition to the site.
The 'Etsy Store' links don't belong there.
The Google Calendar really doesn't match, visually.
Loading a video player - what's the point?
AND to touch it all off, they haven't bothered making the central account menu at the top work. It seems like you know, they wouldn't have thought it was DONE or EVER CONSIDERED RELEASING IT until someone got that menu working. Putting a page on the site where the top menu does not function is incredibly shoddy and does not suit a professional site at all.
Quoting Old Hippie Bitch:
"I am beginning to wonder if etsy is purposely coming up with shit just to piss off the grumpy haters?"
**
Ya think?
Take a look at the front page, which, as I write this, it is all cowls and gloves, largely fingerless, and one full length scarf for variety -- made of crocheted cupcakes.
Quoting Stiflers Mom:
"LOL did you see the seller in the discussion forum about this scolding the objectors to the new hub because they were hurting the feelings of the graphic designer."
**
That same theme -- of not criticizing the change because it'll hurt the designer's feelings -- came up in a Forum discussion of the insipid new sign-in page graphics, too.
Is this a business or a little girls' tea party (with Barbies)?
Quoting antimonkeybuttpowder:
"the idea to write a story about your item 'true or not!' is only going to encourage some outrageous lies and misinformation. in the business world it's called fraud.
"can't wait to see the plethora of vintage 70s avon bottles that belonged to marie antoinette."
**
Oh, those bottles will be right at home with the genuine 1920s Ann Taylor polyester flapper dresses and the genuine Victorian frocks with the power shoulders, nylon zippers and serged seams.
Vintage on Etsy is an even bigger joke than handmade.
It appears etsy admin has too much time on their hands. Instead of doing their real jobs and fixing the real problems we've been begging to be fixed for years, they waste time slapping another junk page together to pretend they are working.
Pathetic!
Stuff like this is why I took a break from selling. Not that I was holding my breath on things to get better, but this was just another thing to remind me why I'm not giving etsy my money anymore. I pity the sellers who admin has actually tricked into believing they are trying to help us because they aren't. Seems the longer the site stays, the further away admin gets from doing what is right for the people bringing the money to them.
The more I see of etsy, the more I question if the people running the joint realized that the site is supposed to be a place to sell. More and more, etsy is looking like a social networking site for teenagers rather than a professional selling site.
True or not. Tell me that they didn't advise this sort of thing. Please!!
I used to tell my students to lie in their creative writing to pass the standardized tests, because the lies read better. But THESE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DESCRIPTIONS!
Writing for the sake of writing and taking photos for the sake of the photo is not the way to do BUSINESS, EtsyTwats!
The "Hub" has no links to the 2 most important items of the central hub of a selling site:
Shopping Cart
Help Menu
There shouldn't be any page anywhere on the site that doesn't have the Shopping Cart.
The central hub should be where you find useful resources, like Help.
This is just a Dorque intro page.
And putting their own store in that prominent position is shitty. To think those Admins are getting well paid to make crafts instead of customer service, when most sellers are barely squeaking out a few sales per month.
Etsy is a colossal fail.
Looks childish in the way that a site intended for children would look. Obviously designed by committee. Look on the bright side: playdates like this keep them away from the item page, which is still sublimely clean and professional. Once they start bastardizing that, Etsy will go into a tailspin just like Ebay.
Someone said "twat muffins" Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I hope that isn't copyrighted, because I am going to insert that into my vernacular at every possible, appropriate moment!!!
LOL!
Etsy is a cult....
it's odd that Etsy would encourage, explicitly or implicitly, creative writing style descriptions and artsy photos for rather ordinary items. I mean, Etsy has thousands of actual artists strugggling to be seen on Etsy, while admin doesn't seem to acknowledge their existence. Including most of the photographers.
I've seen a few of the story-telling style descriptions for vintage items on Etsy. A lot of speculative blather about the life and feelings of the designer or whether some starlet or film character would have owned/worn one. Not a word about the dimensions, condition, marks/labels, and all the other good stuff that cool catalog writers know they have to fit in somewhere.
I'd like to see a Dorque article encouraging sellers to include the (boring?) facts with their listings, but I doubt that will happen.
Subheading: "Then You Too Will be our FS (3x or even 4x!), Blog Darling, Etsy Finds 4x a month, and Graduate to our latest QYDJ Etsy Groupie For the Month!"
__________
Hey, if you can work it, do it! You can use Etsy to your advantage. you just gotta know what to make (cowls, etc).
I HATE the new "Hub". Stylistically, it doesn't look like the rest of Etsy. There was nothing wrong with the old one either. Whoever said it about the shopping cart is right and someone said in the forums that if someone maneuvers away from a page with the cart, they will become confused.
sigh....
(I love how my captcha word for this is "unessis", is that like a baby amanuensis -or whatever the hell Rokali is?)
Hey, is that Ralph Lauren's new model on the bottom of the Hub page? Because she sure looks like her head is bigger than her pelvis.
HOW THE hell is Etsy going to attract customers for us with this sort of headline:
"This Monday’s Craft Night: Felted Photo Pockets"
God, it's so embarrassing. What's the object of all this? Etsy cannot be "just a venue" when it makes us all look like amateurs.
This drives me INSANE! It is out of sync with the rest of the site, looks like crap and isn't practical.
I am **SO** tired of seeing whichgoose (that 'bride') all over Etsy-- enough of the girls trying to make their eyes huge and looking up/sideways while super pouting their lips. Just act natural, ladies! Honor the women's movement and stop trying to look like a little girl. Blah! I hate that!
The Etsy store looks like it needs to flagged for selling mass produced bumper stickers and buttons....sheesh! (if flagging was actually effective)
That's a bride at the bottom? News to me. I thought it was a picture of someone waking from the dead for the Dia de los Muertos feature, probably from drinking too much Etsy Kool-Aid.
Take another look at that bride. Note that the title of that feature is "Etsy Bridal Crowns With Whichgoose." Not "Whichgoose Bridal Crowns" but "Etsy Bridal Crowns." Poor Whichgoose doesn't even get credit for her own work. Etsy does.
The moral of the story is that even those select few who Etsy chooses to promote are taken advantage of, to where they aren't even allowed to "own" their own creations. The brand is still Etsy, regardless of how favored a seller you are. In fact, the more Etsy likes you, it seems, the more they take advantage of you in this way.
This is very definition of an abusive, dysfuntional relationship.
Etsy bridal features? Bah. Etsy may forsake all others for its chosen sellers, but even those sellers are in serious need of an annulment and/or a divorce, if for nothing else than to regain custody of their own work.
Well, I was cool with it :)
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