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We want to hear from you on the privacy issues at Etsy.
How did it effect you? What have you done to fix? Have you lost customers/business? Or did you buy products that you were mortified about when you were exposed with real names and googleable?
Email us at etsybiatch@gmail.com and tell us about it.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
We want to hear from you
Posted by The Cranky One at 2:14 PM
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15 Comments:
Can someone remind me again why Etsy thought it was a good idea to put people's real names up? On the other hand, why would anyone include that info if they didn't have to? I left it blank and I was still able to sign up for a shop.
When I go to b&m shop, I do business with _____ (shop name). The owner doesn't come up to me and make sure I know his/her name. Wtf?
I did not add my real name when they suggested it and have made my purchases and favorites private. I don't know if it has affected my sales but I did notice that my views were very low for a few days after the media frenzy about Etsy. I really think that Etsy should make EVERYTHING opt-in, including feedback and other features. They obviously have a lot riding on this Circles things and decided not to offer the opt-in because they were afraid too many people would not take part in Circles.
"products that you were mortified about when you were exposed with real names and googleable"
is not the issue. Please stop framing this as about embarrassing products. A privacy violation is a privacy violation, period. Ain't nobody's business what you buy, period, end of story. Even if I am buying a simple, "innocent" pair of silver earrings, a vintage handkerchief or a handmade bag for myself, not even a surprise gift for someone, it isn't anyone else's business.
So get over the embarrassing products fixation and move on.
We all have a right to privacy. The desire for privacy should not be correlated to having "something to hide."
I had two buyers-VERY good buyers-convo me this morning and ask when my website was going to be ready, because they had just closed their etsy accounts due to "privacy issues". I told them that they could buy from me off-etsy until my webdude got off his can. But the buyers are horrified and running for the hills. They come to etsy to buy stuff, not to schmooze and chatter. At least, that's what these two ladies told me, and they didn't appreciate one damn bit having any part of their profiles or purchases made public. Sure lit a fire under me, because these two are very heavy hitters in my shop. I expect more to follow. Fucking etsy..slimeballs!
A bit off-topic, but I was amazed to get a Google Alert today on my complete UEF profile.. Yikes!
RRobin is correct but that's the hook of sensationism that grabs headline attention - and after all that attention what do Etsy sellers have? Nothing, no legal notice about invasive Privacy Settings and no disclosure about how Etsy plans to use all this new private data.
Etsy is so good a confusing the issues and they continue to get away with it. All of the propoganda being writting by Etsy employees on & off the site indicate that sellers MUST reveal this private data TO SELL, yet there is no proof that turning all of this valuable private data for Etsy to use for UNDISCLOSED PURPOSES including selling it for profit has anything to do with sales.
Etsy is a scam. It started with the listing/relisting scam and continues today with Find Friends and Circles.
It has nothing to do with selling on Etsy.
It has to do with Etsy collecting, saving and selling YOUR PRIVATE INFORMATION for their own corporate financial gain.
{{It has to do with Etsy collecting, saving and selling YOUR PRIVATE INFORMATION for their own corporate financial gain.}} I posted in the forums that Etsy wants all those names to be able to sell the lists and some posters said that "Etsy has no such plans, they said so". Um, yeah? And I have a beachfront property in Arizona to sell to these posters.
...and what's the purpose of buyer accounts being searchable /public at all?
isn't the whole point of the people search + the circles (neither of which one can opt out of) to spam people?
there's no other purpose to be searching people out by their NAMES.
I've put my shop into vacation mode, probably permanently. I'm shifting focus now to my Zibbet and Artfire locations.
got over 200 customers to email MYSELF to inform them of what is happening on ETSY.
Will it take someone suing over losing their job, being beaten/harassed by a stalker, etc for Admin to take notice of the concerns we've had since they started this nonsense?
I clicked on a forum topic "are you selling on Ebay?" and I got an UH OH you are not allowed to view this discussion. Then I went back to the forums & the topic was missing. There were over 100 comments, why wasn't it viewable? I no longer sell on Etsy, but my account is still open and that shouldn't make a difference anyway...CENSORSHIP
I don't get many sales on Etsy anymore - I've worked hard to move my customers to my main shop elsewhere. However, I get enough business on Etsy to stay open, plus if Etsy ever works out how to make favourites searchable, then there are thousands of potential customers who might actually find me again!
I've pondered emailing all of my past Etsy customers to tell them about the privacy issues because I feel very bad about the situation they've been put in. Still thinking about that because I know it has the potential to annoy people or make them think it's a marketing ploy.
For now I'm including a note with every Etsy sale telling the customer of the issues and how they can change their settings if they wish to. Plus I remind them of how to find my non-Etsy shop and that many other sellers can be found elsewhere too.
As a buyer, I immediately checked that all of my information was hidden and that I hadn't put my name on my account.
Luckily some of my most favourite shops either have a standalone website or an Artfire. If I see anything I like on Etsy, I'll be contacting the seller to see if there's any other way I can buy from them. I'll not be using the website to make a purchase again. A) too risky and B) Etsy's capacity to completely ignore the needs of its users just disgusts me.
If a potential customer contacts you avout this stuff, give them your paypal address and they can buy it without going thru etsy.
QUID PRO QUO
You know..I wonder what the investors think of all this-the bad publicity, the seller revolt, the ongoing childish behavior on the part of the Etsy employees. Or are they even aware of all this turmoil? Do they read the forums, or EtsyBitch, do they know about Regretsy? If I had money in Etsy, I'd pretty damn well demand they shape up pronto, or I'd pull out. There is so much that's absolutely cringe worthy about etsy, I have to wonder..
put my shop into a probably permanent vacation mode, left breadcrumbs for my customers to contact me on FB or twitter...
I'm horrified by the gap between the privacy policy (which has been changed in increments to be significant changes)and privacy PRACTICES.
Was the whole point of ETSY, from the start, to be mining and selling our data?
WTF ETsy, just WTF!?
Hi there - would love to hear your thoughts about the new localiation
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