Etsy Took a Wrong Turn Down the Wrong Road

Etsy in 2011 is a completely different company than it was in 2006. While it still touts “all things handmade” in its logo and mission statement, sellers who have been on Etsy since the first year know that in 2011 it’s not about handmade and for heaven’s sake it isn’t about selling a damn thing.

It’s about a popularity contest to be the next Admin darling amidst gobs of nonsensical, forced “social tools” that have nothing to do with selling and buying handmade online.

What Went Wrong?

All the recent press about Etsy including some precautionary quips about its financial future got me thinking about what went wrong at Etsy.

Despite public acknowledgements that “sellers are not happy with the changes”, don’t go to the restructured Forums for clues about what sellers really think.

Etsy has scoured the Forums to be a mere ghost of Etsy-past with even more aggressive censorship. Any and all posts are subject to immediate lock down and commenters are swiftly punished at a faster clip. In the past, Etsy showed how nervous it was about public criticism and reacted poorly - now they just cut it off at the knees and go on with their own agenda, damn the sellers’ questions and opinions.

Etsy has been known to blatantly ignore any and all sellers’ request for changes and improvements for years, so it’s not new that Etsy continues to take the site in a direction that is divorced from the real seller experience. Arguments that it meets the needs of its most successful sellers is not the real picture either since these sellers (few and far between) are treated to free editorial promotion on the site that all other sellers are not.

The Social Experiment That’s Failing

Before sellers were silenced even more than usual, they did make several issues crystal clear – they don’t understand, need, like, or use the new social tools, including Circles, making personal info public, joining Teams, Suggested Shops, Taste Tests, and Shopping Local. They aren’t happy with the weekly changes in Search that have made Search worse than ever before, if that was even possible ---- Etsy made sure that it was!

Sellers are also clear when they complain that all these social tools just click customers right out of their shops to shop elsewhere or completely off the site, so fed up are they with the convoluted, nonsensical, totally crappy navigation. Search for an item, are you kidding?

Etsy’s facebookization of the site has been one big dismal experiment, and you know why?

Etsy had its own social structure built up over years by sellers who had both a personal and business interest in the site, including an intense interest in the handmade product.

Instead of adapting those strengths, Etsy decided to IMPOSE ANOTHER SOCIAL STRUCTURE on the site that doesn’t fit its users or its users’ goals - which is to sell handmade products with the side benefit of a social structure that developed along with the needs of a growing seller membership.

The ecommerce mission of the site became subservient to the new mission to click, connect, and pick favorites for a popularity contest within the site that hasn’t improved traffic or real sales but has worked to send sellers and shoppers chasing their tails with a lot of forced navigation that never ends up in a shopping cart.

Etsy picked a bunch of tools they saw popularized on other social sites, gave them a zippy title and funny icon and foisted them week after week on sellers without working through one damn consequence which may well turn out to be less traffic and less real sales.

People don’t join Etsy, set up a store on Etsy, and shop on Etsy to run around socializing — they go there to SELL and SHOP.

Forcing the wrong social tools on Etsy has consistently pushed eyeballs away from selling and shopping to doing everything but ecommerce.

We need to only look at the growing pains of social networking sites that are adding ecommerce components to their sites. They were social first, so the ecommerce part makes little sense; it may catch on, it may not. But it is not their core strength.

Etsy was originally an ecommerce site that dumped that whole concept to jump on the social networking bandwagon without realizing what a bad fit it is.

Social and ecommerce is not an easy fit. Instead of building on the strengths of the social-Etsy that already existed before Etsy started throwing out the baby with the bathwater, Etsy dropped ecommerce for social.

No wonder sellers and shoppers are shocked and dismayed and going elsewhere fast.

Etsy got it wrong and gets it wrong with every new trick they force on the site. While outside critics and watchers may predict “slower revenue growth” for Etsy, how about no growth at all? Etsy is strangling the very foundation of their business which is to sell and buy handmade.

I’d take a much more critical look at the statements Etsy makes about its sales profits because it’s not the real story.

I’d take an even closer look at a business that forces new tools on its users without giving them a Scorecard (both internally and externally) about the results of those new tools. The least Etsy can do it to take a quantitative look at each change it makes — and if it doesn’t improve traffic and real sales, Etsy needs to admit it’s on the wrong path and drop the social tricks pronto.

I don’t think sellers who voice their concerns are on the wrong track – they suspect that the new social Etsy has stifled both traffic and real sales because that’s what their store stats tell them. Just because Etsy doesn’t admit its mistakes doesn’t mean they didn’t make them.

When the numbers start running in the negative direction, Etsy may pay attention. I’m with other sellers who have voiced their concerns over the last 3 years on Etsy and off — Etsy may admit its mistakes so late in the game that Etsy is no more.

Shiny yet functional

You know how Etsy likes to put shiny things in front of sellers when they fuck up? Well this time the shiny thing is actually useful...if you're selling anything that is.

They've made the Orders(Sold) page (from the left menu of Your Etsy, fifth link under Items) more functional, as described by ericds in this forum announcement:

When you click "Show buyer address and message" we now remember that preference when you return to the page. If you prefer to see the buyer address and message, you no longer need to click that link each time you view your orders.

When you click the buyer username associated with an order, we used to simply send you to the buyer's profile. You now have options! Clicking the username reveals an overlay with links to send a Conversation to the buyer, view the buyer's profile, or view all orders from that buyer. It's now easy to contact a buyer from the Orders page and check if a buyer is a repeat customer.

I was a bit skeptical, but the execution appears clean and managable. Even the show/hide appears to actually remember my preference, even after logging out and back in. For those who like to reward return customers, the new way to view all orders from a buyer is going to make your lives easier. And the direct link to convo a buyer - well, it's about damn time!

We always say we'll give Etsy kudos when they're due, and they do deserve cookies for this...or better yet brownies...who's got the chocolate-flavored ex-lax?!

Shipping tool - For European sellers only

I was very excited when I saw that the beta testing for the new regions shipping tool was complete...we could finally set shipping to the USPS zones in the United States, or handle the range of costs to ship within Canada, or set Continent to Continent shipping instead of hoping that the Everwhere Else covers the cost of actually shipping everywhere else!! *Loud Buzzer* nope. That isn't what it does.

So what did Etsy unroll with the new Shipping tool? You can now list Europe as a region. If you live in Europe, this is wonderful for shipping locally (geographically speaking). But for everyone else, this means you can add one more line on the shipping profiles, which may be somewhat beneficial, but is likely no more helpful than Everywhere Else, so no changes are needed.

This is a nice step forward, but really, if you can add Europe as EU and non-EU subgroups, why not Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, Central America, South America, etc? Also, what we NEED are the U.S. and Canadian regions as well. This is great for the European sellers you always shun, but you're ignoring the largest group of sellers on the site!

So, European Etsians, you are in luck. Let us know how it works so we know whether we should be drooling over a U.S. and Canadian add-on they're promising.

Maria Talking Shi err Shop

I'm sure that by now you all have seen the second volume of Etsy CEO Maria Thomas's "Talking Shop" in the Dorque. If not, then you haven't missed much - It's just a lot of hot air. Many of the things sellers have been clamoring for in the forums for the past 3 years are still unnoticed. (And she gets to inappropriately plug two random shops in the opening section, nice to see they're listening to our concerns of unequal exposure).

According to Maria, checkout might get improvements in March...and throughout the year. In the next few weeks (2 years in Etsy-speak) they'll change the checkout wording for buyers to better understand that they've made a purchase and haven't paid. And in March, they'll be beta-testing sellers paying their Etsy bill with Paypal.

Other than that, there's just a list of priorities:

As we move toward the second quarter of the year, the following are our product-related priority areas:
Search
Payments
Checkout
Registration
Safety, security, trust
Seller tools
Showcase
Site performance
Favorites

I wonder if their order is indicative of their importance. If so, then "safety, security, trust" should be at the top. Also, if I may be so picky, WHAT seller tools specifically? hrmmm? And why is registration a priority? Did I miss issues with people signing up? The fact that there are 2 million people already signed up indicates that's the least of Etsy's worries. And where is "formation of a customer service department including a phone number for emergency account inquiries" or "advertising" or, to go along with favorites, "organizing convos and favorites". And she stated that there will be no major changes around search - yeah, well, that doesn't help.

Oh and, Etsy, by the by - a usability area? really? isn't every computer in that damn office a "usability area". Yes folks, Etsy actually had to set aside office space with a lonely computer dedicated to testing the usability of their product - a website - that's available on any computer connected to the internet. I guess it's more difficult to get the admin to sit still and do their job than Maria thought, they actually had to dedicate space to it.

I'm not even going to touch on the design fiasco and box-fitting that will be the introduction of Sagar into Etsy's midst (and discussed in length in the comments of our other post). It's punctuated with utter ridiculousness by the CEO that was supposed to save Etsy's handmade vision looking up to the CEO of Zappos - a site that sells mass produced shoes for themselves - not a venue, not art, not handmade, not even small scale production concerns.

I have to quote eneefabricdesign from the hot forum threadbecause it's too good a summation to not:

If Zappos is the model, and building a brand around the product is the goal, then Maria has actually stated what's behind this completely contradictory marketing plan. If Zappos works to make their product fit the site, then that appears to be what Etsy is doing.

But, you are dealing with handmade made by individuals. And if you take the handmade product and squeeze it into an Etsy model, then what do you have in the end, an Etsy Product? I think that's exactly what's going on; subversion and elimination of the individuality and value of the actual handmade product. Now, then, what makes Etsy different from other retail sites that sell unlike objects? Nothing much, except that Etsy objects are promoted according to an Etsy style which actively exludes most products listed on the site. Even Amazon has more variety than that model.

Trying to make the sellers fit a retail model that does not fit the actual meaning of handmade is just not going to be successful in this economy. It has some short term benefits to those who decide to make the products that Etsy wants to sell,but it will not have any longlasting positive effect on the ability of artisans
to protect, promote, and sell their work.

Working from a Zappos model eliminates the one value that Etsy had and did not use to its advantage, and that is the uniqueness of the handmade product sold direct by the artisan who made it.

Maria is traveling to talk to Etsians may be in a town near you. If your street team visits with her in her travels, and she actually answers your questions, let us know in short or long form. We still accept leads and Auxiliary posts to etsybiatch@gmail.com.

By the way, Maria asks:

what business do you think Etsy is in?

We 'd like to know, too. Etsy, maybe YOU should tell is instead of the other way around!

New tool: Etsyfeeder

There's a new off-Etsy tool for Etsians, both buyers and sellers - Etsyfeeder, a way to organize your favorites!

UEN got the official scoop from the man himself, husband of Etsy seller soapdeli

Though Etsy may make it difficult to support your favorite artisans, tools like this can make it a little easier.

EtsyHacks - FINALLY!

Hurrah! Finally someone has created some Greasemonkey scripts for Etsy! And of course the husband of an Etsy seller had to be the one to do it. We love developers who make tools for sellers that Etsy can't/won't make so I was sure to rush over to post this.

If you don't know, Greasemonkey is a killer plugin to Firefox that essentially adds functions to pages. There are a few hundred for Flickr that streamline things immensely, and personally I find a number of them essential and I'm lost if I use a computer without them. Now there are some for Etsy!

There are a number of them to be had - here's the descriptions:

printable receipt enhancer
Apply IDs and class names to elements on the printable receipt page, so that you can use stylesheets to change the appearance of the page. Change the font size, hide sections, change colours, add a logo - see the example stylesheets for examples.
(This one is more for techno saavy folks... you have to know some css to enter into it.)

transaction id to url
Change the text "Transaction ID# ..." for each item on the "printer-friendly" receipt page into a URL.
(especially helpful for cancelling transactions!)

convo linker
Automatically turns the text "listing #..." or "transaction #..." in a convo into a link. Useful for when a customer uses the "contact the seller" link to send you a convo.
(I have dreamed of this since day one... when they write about a item, you know what one!)

buyer info
Add extra information to the "buyer" box on a receipt page - a link to convos with that user, a link to their feedback page, a link to send them a convo, and a link to their email address.
(This is AWESOME. Links the email, ads links to send a convo, and to jump to convos from that buyer!)

printer-friendly linker
Add a link to the "printer-friendly" receipt view for each order on your orders page, next to the link to the regular receipt.
(This one speeds things up and saves you a couple clicks!)

Don't let the scripts word throw you off, getting and installing Greasemonkey could not be easier! If you can click a link or button, you can do it.

1. If you are runnning Firefox, go here, then click the "Add to Firefox" button.
2. Firefox will pop up a dialog box asking you to confirm that you want to install Greasemonkey - click on "Install".
3. Restart Firefox (See that part was easy!)
4. Next go to the Greasemonkey scripts for Etsy page... and click on the name of the ones you want.
5. The next page you will see an install button... when it's ready to click, click it. DONE! Go back and add another!
   

Seriously that's it folks! Click the install buttons! Done!

I love this so much I want to have it's babies.

(edit: BTW, if you want to find this site later, you can find it listed in our EtsyLinks on the left, and under "etsyhacks" or greasemonkey" in our labels)