I don't get it, and I do get it

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For a while now, I've been hearing about some Etsians being very dissatisfied with the site, and changes that have been made to it...but I have only recently begun to actually see complaints on the site, in the forums.  As someone who has sold a lot on eBay, and in brick and mortar craft venues, and in shows, I have to say I just don't get how anyone can find fault with Etsy!
It's a wonderful community of sellers to belong to; yeah, of course in any community you're going to have the cheaters and the liars and the people who don't work as hard as others do.  But I have found them to be the exception.  I think it's a great and supportive bunch of buyers and sellers.
Especially after we had our taxes done -- I did all the math in preparation, and saw that my sales as a very small eBay seller had a chunk equal to 10% taken from them with all those eBay fees by the time it was all said and done.  Not Etsy, though!  They only charge 20 cents for a 3 month listing, and then 3.5% of any sale.  I think they just make it so easy to sell and be successful.
They are proactive about giving you all kinds of tools, and advice, and making resources available.  I have learned so much this way in the two years I've been selling there.
I recently had a "bad experience" myself on Etsy: I got my first ever, non-positive feedback.  It was neutral, so it didn't affect my feedback "score", but it really bugged me having that neutral there.  The woman who gave it to me, had purchased 2 items and she gave me a "positive" for one, and a "neutral" for the other.  So, I contacted her to find out why she was displeased.

It turns out the item she bought, a set of snack bowls, she said were "unusable" because they didn't come with lids.  Now, the listing clearly showed all the pieces she was going to get, and I never claimed they had lids.  Furthermore, I didn't sell them as storage containers, but as bowls.  It's completely stupid that I got less than positive feedback for delivering to her exactly what I advertised, just because she didn't read the listing carefully and was unhappy with what she bought!  But, what are you going to do?

I guess I have a very hard time complaining that things on Etsy aren't perfect...because I know how hard it is to be perfect, and to please everyone.  I'm happy with Etsy: they provide a friendly, easy-to-use website that helps me reach customers worldwide!

I just felt like I wanted to express my support for the people that work at Etsy, so that they would feel appreciated right now, while they're under fire.
And speaking of getting it, or not, do you "get" the above?  It's a vintage gutter spout cover, stuffed with shredded ephemera and topped with moss...and as soon as I saw it in this shop I just had to have it!  The shop's owner said she was so happy someone else "got it"!
I love it among my springtime decor in the kitchen!

Oh, and you can click on the other photos in this post to see their listings -- new in my vintage Etsy shop!

Comments

Linda Sue said…
Laurie! Your etsy shop is my fave! Your photos are fabulous and the finds are exquisite! The neutral comments can bother but , you know, she probably does not understand how it all works. When i sole on Ebay i got a negative comment but the woman was clearly mentally ill. She left negative comments for everyone until they booted her, but still did not erase her comments.
Loving the toy organ! Awesome!
Anyway, your shop rocks it and i agree Etsy makes it easy if you know what you are doing. And you do.
March 23, 2011 at 12:13 PM
Anonymous said…
Thank you for all the information on Etsy! I have sold on Ebay but it can get pretty expensive. As far as that woman, some people are just butts. ;-)
March 23, 2011 at 5:24 PM
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