6.16.2010

Swallowing the bitter pill

There are a few things in life that drive me absolutely nuts: stupid people; drivers who don't use their turn signals; rudeness; and shortsighted, blame-everyone-but-me, ignorant (but not in the 'stupid' definition, because stupid people have their own reasons for garnering my head-shaking and eye-rolling) twits.

Things - sales, views, whatever - at Etsy have apparently been in upheaval for the last few months. I wouldn't know because I stocked my shop the day after the proverbial shit hit the fan. What that proverbial shit is, I have no idea... still. I'm not going to throw around accusations or spread rumours, but some sellers are quite upset with how Etsy runs their website.

Why?

I haven't got a bloody clue. I don't have a problem with how Etsy runs their website and, as an extension, their business. Or their office.

No business is perfect, including our own personal businesses. Or Etsy. Just because we give them money (20¢/listing, every 4 months, and 3.5% per sale) to essentially give us some space on their server to upload photos and try to sell our products does not mean we - the sellers - have any right to butt our noses into how things run.

I give lots of businesses money all the time. I give the government money all the time. I have absolutely no say in how they operate, no matter how inefficient or shoddily I think they are doing so. I certainly do not think that when I book a table at a craft show that I should be able to tell the co-ordinators how to set things up, how to promote, or go crying to them at the end of the show accusing them of 'not holding up their end of the deal' (that's not a quote from an Etsy forum post, as far as I know, it's just something I wanted to put in quotes for emphasis) because I didn't sell enough or anything.

Nope, the only person responsible for making sure my products sell is me. And me alone. There is no rule that Etsy is the only place you can sell your home/handmade products or vintage pieces or supplies online. It may be the most popular, but it is certainly not the only. There's Artfire and Zibbet and even eBay, just to name a few. But if you want to be 'noticed', you go with Etsy.

Am I happy with my experience with Etsy so far? Yeah. I still haven't sold anything, but I will. Do I think Etsy is doing a good job? Sure, but I'm just a customer (and that's what a lot of people forget). Do I think they could do more to help the sellers (and even buyers) to get the most out of their experience with Etsy? Of course, but what business can't improve their customer relations on some level?

Not everyone is going to be happy with change (or what they perceive as a lack of change), but oh lord, the way some people go on in the Etsy forums, you'd think that the world was ending because the admin chose to use black pens over blue without consulting the sellers first. (Totally random, made-up example, just to help prove a point.)

I'll close with this: if you aren't happy with the results of what you're paying for, be it Etsy or a mortgage provider or a shoe brand, MOVE ON. How much energy can one waste bitching all the time? Based on what I read on forums (and this applies to ALL forums, not just Etsy), a lot... like life-sucking amounts of energy. I'd hate to be one of those people.

Tomorrow, I'm going to *hopefully* create a few new pieces to list in my shop, because I want to. And then I'm going to work on improving my shop and making my brand more effective, which may, in turn, bring me a sale. I may also keep researching new products to work on for the craft shows I'm entering this fall. All depends on time and organization, something we all know I'm deficient in :)

But it's what I have to do to improve my business so I can be successful... and if I don't do any of that and continue to not do any of that and then wonder why I have no one looking at my work or any interest at all in my work, the only person I can blame is me. No one else. Maybe some people need to start taking responsibility for themselves and stop blaming everyone else.

(the photo? yeah, no relation to the post at all...but it is the second year in a row I got a shot of a bee in that plant. woo, me.)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Speak up