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For those new readers who havent heard about DanielleXO's ineptitude, we're gonna lay it all out for you.
DanielleXO used to help run EtsyLabs. Her and Anduh solicited the forums for donations of supplies for the labs. Did anyone get a thank you for what they sent? Not that I've ever heard of, and I know people who did send things to them.
She held a Labs workshop about working with metals, and when asked about gauge sizing, she had no clue what the seller meant.
In Feb 2008, Danielle was suddenly appointed as forum moderator. During her 1-2 day reign, she poked fun at people, made veiled threats, muted people for no reason and was privately convo'ing people telling them off and threatening their posting privileges.
Many people complained to Matt, which got her moved to another department. Some of us received apologies, but she was not fired.
She was moved to the Storque. Then when Sara was unceremoniously let go from Teams (seriously, letting Sara go and keeping Danielle??), Danielle took over teams.
Most recently, Danielle tweeted about accepting a gift from a user who is frequently on the front page. Ethics 101 no-no. When called out on this, Anda tweeted that we were "birthday haters" because we said this was bad business ethics. Even if it was her birthday, the implications of accepting gifts from a frequent FP'er makes it look like bribery.
So, really Etsy why are you keeping such a liability on staff?? This cannot be the depth of the applicant pool in NYC or even DUMBO. At any other company, even laid back ones, this repeated fuckupery would not be tolerated.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Dear DanielleXO
Posted by The Sneaky One at 6:18 PM
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33 Comments:
From what I've seen, DXO still does the convo-spam thing when comments really tick her off & it doesn't take much....
Someone is obviously protecting her and my advice is to avoid a formal complaint - Etsy will come after you like a bat out of hell. Lock & mute will look tame in comparison!
She likes the attention and Etsy likes her screw ups - it diverts seller attention from the real issues like "all things handmade" is the biggest online UNTRUTH of 2009.
"All things priced under cost & picked personally by Etsy Admins to be promoted ad nauseum until the cows drop dead."
I had a thread up on the subject, saying that I wasn't saying that there was any bribery going on, but that Etsy should absolutely avoid the stench of bribes... they spread! But of course, that thread was closed on calling out... as usual...
Hope DXO will have a nice Christmas, and we'll not see her in the New Year...
When so many Etsy sellers are struggling to make ends meet in an economy with so few jobs, stories like this raise my ire quite quickly. Wow. :(
I remember when she said that she was now "boss of the forums."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I wish I kept a link to that post. She muted at least two people during that two day trainwreck and at least one had the muting reversed since DXO was completely out of line.
DXO is a disaster and why she still has a job is beyond me.
Etsy...hiring the incompetent (with few exceptions) for years.
Dear Danielle,
You really should be embarrassed. Really. Since you aren't that means you are clueless.
Dear Anda,
Grow up. DXO is a disaster and your "hater" comment puts you in the same "employee as disaster" category.
Dear Maria,
If you don't know what "handmade" means then you probably need to do some research or step down as CEO. I had high hopes for you. Clearly you are nothing but a know-nothing figure head. P.S. Etsy doesn't have to process payments for discount coupons to work. Duh.
What a fucked up mess Etsy is and continues to be.
I recently received an email from DXO alerting me to her new Etsy shop. I never signed up for a mailing list but apparently ended up on one when I bought from her- way back in 2006! It goes against Etsy policy to spam your buyers, yet DXO doesn't give a shit.
I read that previous comment as "until the cowls drop dead." I have been reading this blog for too long.
Jose said...
I recently received an email from DXO alerting me to her new Etsy shop. I never signed up for a mailing list but apparently ended up on one when I bought from her- way back in 2006! It goes against Etsy policy to spam your buyers, yet DXO doesn't give a shit.
---
Well, DXO's current "best" advise is to spam the crap out of social networking sites, your family, your friends and TOU of any site be damned.
Good to know she doesn't give a shit about the Etsy TOU either. At least she's a consistent incompetent.
I would say "report her" for it, but clearly she has something on someone there, and clearly something HUGE, and they will never do anything about her or her bullshit behavior.
Dear Anda,
DXO is a spammer. Time to wake up.
DXO isn't worth the salary she's paid. Even if she was doing the job for free, she would be costing the company more than she makes for it.
She gets bounced from group to group as her utter incompetence amd total lack of professionalism become obvious.
I've heard that she is a nice person. Personally, I value competence more than being nice; as far as I'm concerned, since DXO has shown herself to be utterly incapable of doing a professional kpb, she should be fired.
I don't think Maria sees the problem. Perhaps she thinks that DXO is "nice"... or thinks she herself is "nice".
Fortunately, I rarely post in the forums these days.
To be fair, as a metalworker myself I have no idea at all about gauges of metal because in Australia gauge is almost never used for precious metals. I only ever use millimetres to refer to the thickness of wire and sheet, as do my local suppliers and those in the UK.
Danielle is Canadian and I can only assume her experience was much the same prior to moving to the US.
"P.S. Etsy doesn't have to process payments for discount coupons to work. Duh."
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They do if they want to charge commission on the Full price rather than the Discounted price. What, you don't think they'll let go of that sweet little chunk of income, do you?
I've seen people fired for less. I'm not kidding. "The company that will remain unnamed" fires the last person hired to cut costs no matter their competency or how hard they work. It seems the incompetent are kept around to make the higher ups look good [ie they can BS more]. I'm just glad she didn't run into me at all. We wouldn't have gotten along very well, it seems.
The only reason I'm still on Etsy is my listings haven't expired. ;P I sell more locally and have a shop on Artfire. Artfire seems to be learning from Etsy's mistakes. I just hope it continues in the new year.
@chantelle HeyMichelle also thinks she's a sweety. I have nothing nice to say about her and didn't like her from the moment I saw her [etsy podcast], before I knew who she was.
They're all snobs. The whole lot of them. I'm tired of the front page; I'm tired of the favoritism; I'm tired of Etsy sheeps. It's enough to drive a girl to drink.
Off the topic, but check out the NY Times article about Etsy from the 16th.
http://tinyurl.com/yjskat7
They feature all of the Etsy's favorites as the success stories. Yokoo earned over 140,000 last year!!!
WTF. You too can do well on Etsy, if hey promote your ass 24/7. Otherwise, good luck to you.
I wish I had the minutes from the "Town Hall" in the Lab that Matt held about DXO..in it I asked if deleting moderator post was acceptable..Matt said never and DXO said "I was kidding".I said no you weren't..she left the Lab...
My shop name was thegypsyjewels..I wish I had saved that ..DXO should have been fired then...
They're all snobs. The whole lot of them. I'm tired of the front page; I'm tired of the favoritism; I'm tired of Etsy sheeps. It's enough to drive a girl to drink.
_________
I'll toast to that!
************
They feature all of the Etsy's favorites as the success stories. Yokoo earned over 140,000 last year!!!
WTF. You too can do well on Etsy, if hey promote your ass 24/7. Otherwise, good luck to you.
____________
That makes me feel like I suck even more than I already did.
Thanks for the link to that New York Times article about Etsy, DAngIt!
I wish I'd known about that fawning NYT article earlier (EB is my only source of Etsy news; I don't read the Fora or other Etsy-related blogs). The article is so shamelessly pro-Etsy, it is too bad that the comments were closed. The reporter obviously did not do much research or interview anyone that was not hand-picked by Etsy admin. It seems the Times's standards have sunk pretty low.
No wonder nobody reads newspapers anymore. They are now as shallow and one-sided as blogs, and the editing as lazy.
Thanks RRobin, my thoughts exactly, even as an ex-newyawker. The NYT does "trendy" with dripping sarcasm, and it's evident that the article was probably pre-approved by Etsy since it glazes over some of the public issues about Etsy and sellers' dissastifaction. The reporter may have been told specifically not to contact EB (which Etsy sees as a flea stuck in a cowl).
I immediately thought, after reading it a 2nd time, that it's crap journalism not to investigate the larger community, including the fact that OTHER SITES for handmade exist and are gaining enough sellers to be a significant factor.
They should have at least interviewed 5-10 sellers who are NOT selling on Etsy since it changed to branding and big-boxing.
$7 an hour is high for 99% of most Etsy stores, who list so many below cost items, labor is not a factor. It's a joke and a hobby for those who thought jumping on the trend was a fun thing to do.
For weeks, I've had nightmares about $8 "hammocks for cellphones" promoted all over Etsy because it's likely to be floating on top of a landfill in the next 3 weeks.
Green, NOT, handmade NOT, promotes small business NO, supports sellers NOT. The only thing Etsy has going to it is anyone can list anything for 20 cents a pop. That's it and that's just what the brand says ---- cheap, mass produced, and throw it out next week.
THE ONLY ONES MAKING MONEY ON ETSY IS ETSY.
Simone said...
To be fair, as a metalworker myself I have no idea at all about gauges of metal because in Australia gauge is almost never used for precious metals. I only ever use millimetres to refer to the thickness of wire and sheet, as do my local suppliers and those in the UK.
Danielle is Canadian and I can only assume her experience was much the same prior to moving to the US.
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i still refuse to give her the benefit of the doubt. if i were hired in the uk or australia as a jewelry artist representing a company similar to etsy, i would absolutely educate and familiarize myself with the proper measurements and terms that are commonly used there before making an ass out of myself, and embarrassing my employer.
On behalf of Canadians everywhere, I can assure you that most of us are familiar with the term ''gauge'' as it refers to metal.
How is it possible for a person who does wire or metal work to order supplies without know gauge?
Answer: It isn't.
If you don't know what wire or metal gauge is there is no way you can order online or in person.
It doesn't matter if you know it by millimeters or gauge, you have to know one or the other.
You can't just say "give me a sheet of Sterling Silver." They would ask you, "what gauge?"
Same with wire. You say "give me some Sterling Silver wire" and they say "what gauge and hardness?"
DXO is an idiot.
This is the chick that emailed Pussdaddy with her phone number so PD could call and hear her side.
WTF? Like PD is the moral compass of commerce? Or Etsy sellers are all hanging on her every word? Or even read that blog?
Really, Danielle, you are sweating how PD feels about your behavior?
If Danielle would start with an apology to those who pay her salary, well...
But PD? Shows a total lack of, well, everything.
PussDaddy. Now there's a name I have not seen since I swore off the Fora lo these many moons ago. I remember initially thinking she was smart and amusing, but very soon she came to embody what a writing professor once said: that it is far, far easier to appear clever if you are saying something mean-spirited and negative than it is if you are saying something nice and positive or even neutral.
Just read that article...thank you for the link. Before I opened it I said to myself "I wonder how much Palomas Nest earned" and lo and behold, there was a blurb from her and $120K....Nice.
Her work is lovely, but for Fucks Sake, she's featured in gift guides that don't even make sense for her work CONSTANTLY...constantly on the front page. Etsy's BLANTANT favoritism of these shops totally sucks. I worked my ass off and did 800 sales this year. I was never featured in a gift guide and made the front page via a user made treasury once. Oh how I wish I'd get NONSTOP NEVERENDING exposure for FREE...wouldn't that be nice?
In the meantime, my 800 sales equaled about 5K...clearly I am doing something wrong.
These favorites make so much money because they have all that free promotion. They don't have to invest in advertising.
I'm sick of that seller who is friends with Daniellexo being in tons of gift guides, etsy finds and on the FP almost twice daily. It's ridiculous. What does it do to the image of Etsy. I don't get it......
These last 2 comments make me wonder if sellers who do read the NYT thing actually get the real meaning of what Etsy turned into in '09 - a promotion machine for a small number of sellers (3 in the article, maybe 25 site-wide?) who make money because Etsy's current structure works 24/7 to promote them (for free).
Yes, we ALL might sell and make money on Etsy if we had 80 people promoting us (for free)......but while Etsy is riding the brand-wave, they forget that their huge profit margins are based on getting sellers to fork over a lot of fees while the entire structure of the site is to PROMOTE AND SELL ONLY A FEW PRODUCT-TYPES FROM A FEW STORES.
Etsy's main source of income will, one hopes, wake up and smell the scam and realize that the site is now structered so that you have less chance of reaching buyers and selling ANYthing than you did just 12 months ago.
Even their SEARCH doesn't work!
If the NYT could only find THREE money-making sellers while extolling the million hits on QYDJ --- what's Etsy but a "myth machine"? Did anyone realize it wasn't a story about making quality HANDMADE products for a fair price? About the special and distinct characteristics of the handmade product?
No, it was about how Etsy the Big Box Brand handpicked THREE sellers to promote (for free) while it changed Etsy into a site that scams millions in fees out of hundreds of thousands of would-be sellers.
It's a scam. But what's most dangerous is that it's a scam that removed "handmade" from the equation while driving prices down the toilet.
Etsy has done more damage to handmade in 4.5 years than any other e-commerce trend, and when you add in the real condition of the retail economy, handmade may NEVER RECOVER.
Etsy is not a site for all things handmade, but I wonder how long it's going to take sellers to stop sending money (for nothing) to Etsy every month for a site that is doing more damage than good for handmade, the artisan, and small businesses based on selling handmade products.
Although this post was not originally about the NYT article that is the topic I really want to comment on, well actually my point is to the people being promoted there, and this thought on their selling such high numbers of product. A few short months ago while taking a break from my on-line work, (I am an etsy seller by the way), I came to check out EB, clicked a link to another article, and then another until I was at a forum for which I have no recollection of how I got there. It was a rant about Yokoo and her ugly, overpriced shit. I checked out her shop and concluded that it's not ugly, just basic and thought,"hey, if she can get those prices for her stuff more power to her". I also decided that these nay sayers were probably just envious of her success, I know I am. So I started looking around etsy and at a site that tracks front pages and sure enough there are a pretty good sized handful of people out there making the same type of basic, giant hats, scarves, and cowls and they are all selling fairly well. And although none of them is charging quite as much as she is they are charging a pretty fair price. I decided to add some of this type of stuff to my repertoire, so I went to my fave yarn store, bought a bunch of super chunky and started to knit and crochet the hours away. I wrote aproximately 10 patterns for hats, cowls, scarves, and fingerless gloves and after about two weeks of doing nothing but working on these items, (and I mean nothing, no other work, dirty dishes for days, take out food, the whole shebang), I had around 35 items and I needed to see a chiropractor. Although I've not seen an increase in sales in my shop these items are selling like hot cakes at the shows and festivals I've been doing. Anyway, I tracked my time while working and these artists are charging between $25 ands $30 and hr. for their labor with the exception of Yokoo, (who's jacked her prices up since the article), who is probably charging $40-$45 and hr. Now I don't mean this to slam her or any of the other artists out there making this type of product, after all so do I now and I decided to charge $30. I did realize though that there isn't a chance in hell that one lone knitter can produce all of this product in a timely fashion and I highly doubt that a person who pays upwards of $100 for a cowl is going to be willing to wait 3 months or more while you get to their order! I'm not suggesting that anyone is using wholesale sweatshop labor here, but no one is disclosing that there are more than one person working on these items either.
I also thought to ask some of the other artisans I know who use other mediums, jewelers, candle makers, etc.. and we all concluded that there is certainly a finite number of pieces you can make in let's say a week if even just because of the amount of hours in a day.
OK, so I suppose there was no real point to this rant other than to, well, bitch.
I can't figure out what this twitter user is thanking DXO for.. may be something in a PM. I just hope it's me she's sending that box to? I live in the snowy north.
"@daniellexo ohmahgah! thanks! (PS I'm getting a package together for to send up to the snowy north! *hint*)"
Sun Dec 20 13:00
ShamArama said...
"P.S. Etsy doesn't have to process payments for discount coupons to work. Duh."
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They do if they want to charge commission on the Full price rather than the Discounted price. What, you don't think they'll let go of that sweet little chunk of income, do you?
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It wouldn't be hard for Etsy to store the full price for the commission and send a different price to Paypal as the sale price, if they wanted. I'm not sure why Maria says they need to do payments themselves to enable coupons.
now that Maria has left and Rokali is back in the throne... who knows what the future holds ...
DAngIt said...
Off the topic, but check out the NY Times article about Etsy from the 16th.
http://tinyurl.com/yjskat7
They feature all of the Etsy's favorites as the success stories. Yokoo earned over 140,000 last year!!!
--------------------
I suspect that is gross sales, NOT take home pay or profits.
The huge gaps between these two numbers is something never really mentioned when the top sellers are discussed. Like when Theblackapple was on Martha, Etsy had told Martha she sold over 100K and Martha reported that as her profit. BIG difference.
I know this person is not popular in some quarters and is no longer on Etsy, but Shadejewelry made a really informative post once )before he got kicked off) about the realities of "making" 100K.
He broke down all his expenses, fees, materials costs, etc. His actual take-home was almost less than minimum wage if I recall.
Whether you like him or not I think those numbers are relevant and useful to many sellers with stars (or dollar signs) in their eyes.
On the subbject of DXO, how many departments on Etsy has she worked for now?
Labs
forums
marketing
storque
teams
With Matt going to Germany and with Saralong gone, the Etsy Teams are now stuck with inept DXO. May heaven help us all.
Can someone explain what DXO protecting her tweets does?
She has so many followers how does it help? Obviously some of her followers may not be fans of hers and since so many people can see her tweets it would be easy to just share them off twitter.
She's a complete twit.
she can't block all the grumpy haters, for they are legion...
Oddly I agree with every thing saywhat said on December 20, 2009 9:23 AM.
PussDaddy
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