Yeah, sometimes we take a day off. We're human, although I'm sure there are a few of you who think we're scary assholes or something equally heartless and android-like. And then there are you stupid assholes who think that we're bitter and probably terrible crafters who take bad photos of our crappy products... and we're litterbugs and hooligans or whatever.
Actually, we're gamblers.
We played some front page bingo, and we placed our bets. Much to the chagrin of everyone, I nailed it! Whooooooooo! Boo-yeah! That's right Lirola made the front page on Wednesday, not once but TWICE! Who called it? Oh yeah, that's right, me!
So, we did the only appropriate thing we could do: we went out to a bar and got hammered to celebrate the fact that I totally called it.
It was the only thing we could do, clearly.
Front page treasury repeats on Wednesday:
humblebea (perennial repeat, this week, last week, etc)
Lirola (TWICE on Wednesday, every other week before that X infinity)
olaladesign (regular repeat, repeat curator)
maclancy (regular repeat, TWICE on Wednesday, + last week, the week before last)
rafya (regular repeat, regular curator; she was on FP on Tuesday, TWICE on Wednesday)
seapinks (regular repeat, repeat curator)
yoola (regular repeat)
Front page treasury repeats on Thursday:
humblebea (perennial repeat, this week, last week, etc)
iktomi (regular repeat, this week + last week)
IslaNewYork (regular repeat)
Lirola (TWICE on Wednesday, every other week before that X infinity)
maclancy (regular repeat, today, TWICE yesterday, + last week, the week before last)
rafya (regular repeat, regular curator; she was on FP on Tuesday, TWICE on Wednesday)
terminy (regular repeat)
yoola (regular repeat)
------------
On a general note: where goes Lirola, generally one finds galit, rafya, and terminy.
Would someone on the etsy staff like to specifically explain to the rest of us peons why it is that the ISRAEL ARTISTS TEAM gets so much face time on the front page so frequently? Because it certainly doesn't escape the average viewer that not only does Lirola appear there on a weekly basis, but usually always with galit, rafya, and terminy... Why the favoritism of the ISRAEL ARTISTS TEAM?
It's not like we see POE (photographers of etsy) on the front page every day, or Quiltsy, or the Dachshund Team, or Trashion... okay, so I'm just guessing that maybe one of these teams makes regular treasuries. But seriously, why the preferential treatment of the Israel Artists Team?
And really, etsy, you just can't go ONE fucking day without featuring maclancy? Because, really, you're making my photoshop cry. There's a reason it's crying, and from what I can gather it's sputtering something about bad editing. How many fucking etsians are there who make prints or cards of images they have created with photoshop? How many fucking etsians are there who make prints or cards of images they have created with photoshop that they are actually licensed to use? Really, maclancy is inevitable? Unavoidable? Like inclement weather? Or bad photoshoping?
Your treasury rules still state that you may promote whole or partial lists to the front page.
How about showing me a whole hell of a lot less maclancy? We can't start placing meaningful bets on it until it disappears for a few days.
Ask yourselves: why can etsy do so very much for maclancy in regards to the free front page exposure at the behest of employees who are paid through your listing fees, but what have they done for you lately?
There are more than 40 sellers on etsy. Do Not Patronize front page repeats. Don't buy from them. Don't put them in your treasuries. Don't enable the unprofessional etsy employees to continue to put them on the front page with your shop name credited as responsible. Favoritism is an unfair business practice. Do Not Patronize front page favorites.
perennial etsy fuck up, favoritism, repeats and other unsavory behavior that erodes the trust of your member community.
"etsy suck" on every level of social commerce.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
front page repeats, again
Oh etsy staff, you're such a heap of disappointment.
If this was a drinking game, I would still be hammered from yesterday, the day before, and every preceding day. At some point I would probably need to check into a rehab facility.
Tuesday's front page repeats:
DearDodo (regular repeat, featured twice in the span on 1 day)
krize (regular repeat, TWICE this week + last week)
munieca (regular repeat, this week + at least TWICE last week , the week before last X infinity)
rafya (regular repeat, regular curator)
xenotees (regular repeat, TWICE this week + TWICE last week, the week before last)
xenotees was featured on the front page on Sunday and Tuesday.
It was also apparently somehow impossible to not feature irenesochocki on the front page twice in the span of a day.
As it was also apparently somehow impossible to not feature sjengraving on the front page twice in the span of a day.
You know, in spite of the fact that etsy's own policies dictate that they may promote "whole or partial lists to the homepage".
perennial etsy fuck up, favoritism, repeats and other unsavory behavior that erodes the trust of your member community.
"etsy suck" on every level of social commerce.
If this was a drinking game, I would still be hammered from yesterday, the day before, and every preceding day. At some point I would probably need to check into a rehab facility.
Tuesday's front page repeats:
DearDodo (regular repeat, featured twice in the span on 1 day)
krize (regular repeat, TWICE this week + last week)
munieca (regular repeat, this week + at least TWICE last week , the week before last X infinity)
rafya (regular repeat, regular curator)
xenotees (regular repeat, TWICE this week + TWICE last week, the week before last)
xenotees was featured on the front page on Sunday and Tuesday.
It was also apparently somehow impossible to not feature irenesochocki on the front page twice in the span of a day.
As it was also apparently somehow impossible to not feature sjengraving on the front page twice in the span of a day.
You know, in spite of the fact that etsy's own policies dictate that they may promote "whole or partial lists to the homepage".
perennial etsy fuck up, favoritism, repeats and other unsavory behavior that erodes the trust of your member community.
"etsy suck" on every level of social commerce.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
A word about Treasuries, repetition, and curators
From the editorial desk in response to emilybidwell
If you make claims about faults in the member curated treasuries, then as an employee you should seek out means by which to correct those faults.
If etsy has a policy about not promoting treasuries to the front page that lack alternates, then it should be stated at the bottom of the treasury with the rest of the rules.
If etsy has a policy about not promoting treasuries to the front page that contain items from the curator, then it should be stated at the bottom of the treasury with the rest of the rules.
Why isn't it?
If etsy is misleading its users about a feature, then the fault lies with etsy. Only a total coward with no integrity whatsoever would place the fault on it's users.
So, while this here is a strictly volunteer endeavor, I am fortunate to have a savant at my disposal.
Having read the comments that emilybidwell left in the thread -- I sent The Savant to the treasury. The Savant is the one who generally supplies The List. Yes, I'm capitalizing these things to be An Asshole. It just sounds more official that way, anyway The Savant approves, just like Mikey.
So, The Savant went to the Main Treasury. Mind you, The Savant is a generic run-of-the-mill etsy user. So, The Savant has no admin powers, and therefore cannot see your alternates. But well, fuck it, because The Savant is a savant. You know, one of those phonebook reading "Rain Man" types.
The Savant took some statistics based on the groupings:
category 1: no repeats / no curator featured in the treasury
category 2: front page repeats
category 3: curator featured in treasury
There is no bleed between the numbers compiled in The Savant's assessment. Curators who featured themselves in their own treasuries were treated as their own grouping which negated any qualities of repeats or lack of repeats.
Total number of treasuries sampled: 293 in 1 sitting of the Main Treasury.
category 1 - there's nothing wrong with this treasury: 200 treasuries
category 2 - front page repeats: 51 treasuries
category 3 - curator featured in treasury: 42 treasuries
The Savant looked at 293 treasuries; 200 of which contained no front page repeats or curators featuring themselves. Of those 200 only 4 were blatantly Christian-only, 1 was Jewish. There were no Hispanic, Arabic, Indian, or Asian themed treasuries in the Savant's sample. There were no treasuries involving nudity or Nazism or racism.
So, if you disqualify the 5 religious pandering treasuries from the mix, then 195 out of a sample of 293 is 66.55% of treasuries that ought to be usable with no repeats or crossover or curators featuring themselves. And those were just samples from the Main Treasury.
If there are currently 195 treasuries with no repeats, why then, are there all the repeats? This doesn't square.
It doesn't square more when you consider that 12 front page treasuries per day are specifically selected by the staff. If the etsy staff who are paid via the listing fees of the etsy users have the time to "browse through etsy's categories" to find things, then you should easily be able to come up with 1 to 4 items to use as alternates in the instance that a member-curated treasury does not contain them.
What is the justification for having the ability to select items for etsy curated front page treasuries while not possessing the same ability to add potential alternates to member curated treasuries that don't have alternates? You have the unbelievable ability to compile your own treasuries, but you are suddenly incapable of finding 1 to 4 extraneous items to potentially add to someone else's list? Really? That seems contradictory and mendacious.
The only way that it's believable that etsy employees are incompetent when it comes to generating fresh alternates is if the "search" function is completely useless or your employees are in fact all comatose.
And moreover, the curator featured treasuries: why don't you just use your own policy about promoting a whole or partial list to the homepage? Again, etsy is capable of cobbling together approximately 12 front page treasuries per day, has a policy about promoting whole or partial lists to the front page, and yet will not take a few minutes to edit a treasury simply because the curator put one of their own items in it? How fucking lazy are you motherfuckers? That has got to be the most incompetent pool of humanity on the planet. A cat running across a keyboard could generate alternates and replacements, and probably without repeats.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Now, because The Savant sat there and stared at the computer for 2 hours reading, observing, tabulating, and otherwise being savant-like, The Savant wrote down some treasuries of note.
It does actually feel kind of wrong to feature these people here, but, what the hell, if it keeps my emotionally dead quasi-autistic number cruncher happy...
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111757
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111759
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111749
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111735
and The Savant recommends this replacement after 1 minute of searching
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39101681
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111905
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111904
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111938
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111937
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111805
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111722
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111667
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111569
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111638
If you make claims about faults in the member curated treasuries, then as an employee you should seek out means by which to correct those faults.
If etsy has a policy about not promoting treasuries to the front page that lack alternates, then it should be stated at the bottom of the treasury with the rest of the rules.
If etsy has a policy about not promoting treasuries to the front page that contain items from the curator, then it should be stated at the bottom of the treasury with the rest of the rules.
Why isn't it?
If etsy is misleading its users about a feature, then the fault lies with etsy. Only a total coward with no integrity whatsoever would place the fault on it's users.
So, while this here is a strictly volunteer endeavor, I am fortunate to have a savant at my disposal.
Having read the comments that emilybidwell left in the thread -- I sent The Savant to the treasury. The Savant is the one who generally supplies The List. Yes, I'm capitalizing these things to be An Asshole. It just sounds more official that way, anyway The Savant approves, just like Mikey.
So, The Savant went to the Main Treasury. Mind you, The Savant is a generic run-of-the-mill etsy user. So, The Savant has no admin powers, and therefore cannot see your alternates. But well, fuck it, because The Savant is a savant. You know, one of those phonebook reading "Rain Man" types.
The Savant took some statistics based on the groupings:
category 1: no repeats / no curator featured in the treasury
category 2: front page repeats
category 3: curator featured in treasury
There is no bleed between the numbers compiled in The Savant's assessment. Curators who featured themselves in their own treasuries were treated as their own grouping which negated any qualities of repeats or lack of repeats.
Total number of treasuries sampled: 293 in 1 sitting of the Main Treasury.
category 1 - there's nothing wrong with this treasury: 200 treasuries
category 2 - front page repeats: 51 treasuries
category 3 - curator featured in treasury: 42 treasuries
The Savant looked at 293 treasuries; 200 of which contained no front page repeats or curators featuring themselves. Of those 200 only 4 were blatantly Christian-only, 1 was Jewish. There were no Hispanic, Arabic, Indian, or Asian themed treasuries in the Savant's sample. There were no treasuries involving nudity or Nazism or racism.
So, if you disqualify the 5 religious pandering treasuries from the mix, then 195 out of a sample of 293 is 66.55% of treasuries that ought to be usable with no repeats or crossover or curators featuring themselves. And those were just samples from the Main Treasury.
If there are currently 195 treasuries with no repeats, why then, are there all the repeats? This doesn't square.
It doesn't square more when you consider that 12 front page treasuries per day are specifically selected by the staff. If the etsy staff who are paid via the listing fees of the etsy users have the time to "browse through etsy's categories" to find things, then you should easily be able to come up with 1 to 4 items to use as alternates in the instance that a member-curated treasury does not contain them.
What is the justification for having the ability to select items for etsy curated front page treasuries while not possessing the same ability to add potential alternates to member curated treasuries that don't have alternates? You have the unbelievable ability to compile your own treasuries, but you are suddenly incapable of finding 1 to 4 extraneous items to potentially add to someone else's list? Really? That seems contradictory and mendacious.
The only way that it's believable that etsy employees are incompetent when it comes to generating fresh alternates is if the "search" function is completely useless or your employees are in fact all comatose.
And moreover, the curator featured treasuries: why don't you just use your own policy about promoting a whole or partial list to the homepage? Again, etsy is capable of cobbling together approximately 12 front page treasuries per day, has a policy about promoting whole or partial lists to the front page, and yet will not take a few minutes to edit a treasury simply because the curator put one of their own items in it? How fucking lazy are you motherfuckers? That has got to be the most incompetent pool of humanity on the planet. A cat running across a keyboard could generate alternates and replacements, and probably without repeats.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, because The Savant sat there and stared at the computer for 2 hours reading, observing, tabulating, and otherwise being savant-like, The Savant wrote down some treasuries of note.
It does actually feel kind of wrong to feature these people here, but, what the hell, if it keeps my emotionally dead quasi-autistic number cruncher happy...
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111757
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111759
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111749
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111735
and The Savant recommends this replacement after 1 minute of searching
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39101681
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111905
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111904
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111938
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111937
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111805
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111722
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111667
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111569
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111638
front page repeats...
Etsy staff are completely incompetent and shameless.
Now, these are some of the repeats from SUNDAY
Sunday saw these front page repeats...
allencompanyinc (regular repeat, this week + TWICE last week, the week before last)
AwakenJournaling (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
humblebea (perennial repeat, this week, last week, etc)
NanLawson (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
quotesandnotes (this week + multiple times last week)
RUBYrecycled (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
slinkymalinkicat (perennial repeat, this week + multiple times last week, and the week before last)
xenotees (regular repeat, this week + TWICE last week, the week before last)
So, surprise surprise, who are the MONDAY repeats?
AwakenJournaling (regular repeat, this week Sunday + Monday, + last week, the week before last)
humblebea (perennial repeat, this week Sunday + Monday, + last week, etc)
maclancy (regular repeat, this week + TWICE last week, week before last)
marysgranddaughter (regular repeat)
NanLawson (regular repeat, this week + last week, week before last)
olaladesign (regular repeat, repeat curator, this week + last week, week before last)
StudioZen (this week + last week)
So, emilybidwell, what was that you stated?
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6190337&page=4
While humblebea in a 11 treasuries: http://www.craftopolis.com/index.php?user=humblebea
That still leaves a minimum of 544 treasuries to pick from.
When you featured a treasury with XX on SUNDAY, you're then going to justify featuring XX on the front page on MONDAY and blame the repetition on the curators of treasuries? How is that?
The most plausible extremely half-ass excuse for curators being blamed for repetition by etsy staff is in a scenario where etsy staff have endorsed favorites. If you put people they like in your treasury, then you might make it to the front page. As it turns out, it's the way etsy staff have been operating the front page treasury curation for the past year. Etsy staff have entrenched the favoritism and have fostered an environment with has encouraged the repetition.
What kind of paid employee of a company blames its members for its own faults? A coward.
So, if etsy may promote whole or partial selections, why then are they A. incapable of removing repeats, and B. incapable of replacing them with items not by other repeats?
Presumably, the listing fees generated by your users are generating your salaries. You know, etsy isn't staffed by volunteers. So if the paid employees are "browsing through etsy's categories" as they so often claim with the front page treasuries curated by etsy staff, then why are those treasuries always riddled with repeats? Why can't etsy staff find new things? How fucking broken is the search feature? Is there something wrong with etsy's computer equipment? Is your internet connection fucked up? Do you need to call tech support? Are you blind? And if you are, then are the universal access features on your computers broken?
What's the next excuse? Because apparently the current one is that you can't be bothered to use your own provision to "promote whole or partial selections from a Treasury list to the home page."
If you can't follow or practice your own provisions, then what can you do?
Perhaps etsy should have some staff turnover and employ some people who are competent.
Perennial etsy fuck up, favoritism, repeats and other unsavory behavior that erodes the trust of your member community.
"etsy suck" on every level of social commerce.
Now, these are some of the repeats from SUNDAY
Sunday saw these front page repeats...
allencompanyinc (regular repeat, this week + TWICE last week, the week before last)
AwakenJournaling (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
humblebea (perennial repeat, this week, last week, etc)
NanLawson (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
quotesandnotes (this week + multiple times last week)
RUBYrecycled (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
slinkymalinkicat (perennial repeat, this week + multiple times last week, and the week before last)
xenotees (regular repeat, this week + TWICE last week, the week before last)
So, surprise surprise, who are the MONDAY repeats?
AwakenJournaling (regular repeat, this week Sunday + Monday, + last week, the week before last)
humblebea (perennial repeat, this week Sunday + Monday, + last week, etc)
maclancy (regular repeat, this week + TWICE last week, week before last)
marysgranddaughter (regular repeat)
NanLawson (regular repeat, this week + last week, week before last)
olaladesign (regular repeat, repeat curator, this week + last week, week before last)
StudioZen (this week + last week)
So, emilybidwell, what was that you stated?
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6190337&page=4
As a rule of thumb, we do not alter member's Treasuries. We are currently using nearly all the Treasuries that are offered, but cannot force people to select different items for their collections. Since there is no way for community curators to cross reference eachtother's items, the more community Treasuries we use, the more repeats we should expect to see.Not only is that statement completely false.
While humblebea in a 11 treasuries: http://www.craftopolis.com/index.php?user=humblebea
That still leaves a minimum of 544 treasuries to pick from.
When you featured a treasury with XX on SUNDAY, you're then going to justify featuring XX on the front page on MONDAY and blame the repetition on the curators of treasuries? How is that?
The most plausible extremely half-ass excuse for curators being blamed for repetition by etsy staff is in a scenario where etsy staff have endorsed favorites. If you put people they like in your treasury, then you might make it to the front page. As it turns out, it's the way etsy staff have been operating the front page treasury curation for the past year. Etsy staff have entrenched the favoritism and have fostered an environment with has encouraged the repetition.
What kind of paid employee of a company blames its members for its own faults? A coward.
http://www.etsy.com/treasury.php?ref=fp_nav_treasury
Only one Treasury list per person. Do not create lists with multiple accounts at the same time.
Treasury is not intended for personal promotion. Please do not include more than one of your own items.
Etsy may, at times, promote whole or partial selections from a Treasury list to the home page.
This list will expire two days after creation. Bonus time (up to 24 hours) may be randomly added to the lifetime of your list.
Etsy reserves the right to remove Treasury lists at any time.
So, if etsy may promote whole or partial selections, why then are they A. incapable of removing repeats, and B. incapable of replacing them with items not by other repeats?
Presumably, the listing fees generated by your users are generating your salaries. You know, etsy isn't staffed by volunteers. So if the paid employees are "browsing through etsy's categories" as they so often claim with the front page treasuries curated by etsy staff, then why are those treasuries always riddled with repeats? Why can't etsy staff find new things? How fucking broken is the search feature? Is there something wrong with etsy's computer equipment? Is your internet connection fucked up? Do you need to call tech support? Are you blind? And if you are, then are the universal access features on your computers broken?
What's the next excuse? Because apparently the current one is that you can't be bothered to use your own provision to "promote whole or partial selections from a Treasury list to the home page."
If you can't follow or practice your own provisions, then what can you do?
Perhaps etsy should have some staff turnover and employ some people who are competent.
Perennial etsy fuck up, favoritism, repeats and other unsavory behavior that erodes the trust of your member community.
"etsy suck" on every level of social commerce.
Monday, February 8, 2010
front page repeats, still...
You know, I wrote some long ass editorial on Saturday, but it's not like I stopped paying attention or something...
Saturday saw these front page repeats...
GollyBard (perennial repeat, more than TWICE this week)
krize (regular repeat, TWICE this week + last week)
thrush (perennial repeat)
toybreaker (perennial repeat, TWICE this week)
Sunday saw these front page repeats...
allencompanyinc (regular repeat, this week + TWICE last week, the week before last)
AwakenJournaling (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
humblebea (perennial repeat, this week, last week, etc)
NanLawson (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
quotesandnotes (this week + multiple times last week)
RUBYrecycled (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
slinkymalinkicat (perennial repeat, this week + multiple times last week, and the week before last)
xenotees (regular repeat, this week + TWICE last week, the week before last)
Now at the bottom of etsy's front page is the "New Storque Articles & Related Items" box, you know the thing with the scroll screen...
So, there's this article:
Etsy Finds: Revenge of the Nerds
And what is featured in the graphic for the article? Why the foliage handsoap set, of course.
So, guess what's already on the front page (if you guessed hand shaped soap by foliage, give yourself a silver star!)? Why it's a treasury titled "browsing through etsy's categories", which of course, was selected by etsy staff -- you know the people who are paid through your listing fees. Hey, guess which item was found by etsy staff while supposedly "browsing through the categories"!!!!
(rolls eyes)
if you guessed: foliage handsoap set
then give yourself a gold star.
What are the chances that an item that is A. already on the front page, and B. has already appeared so god damned many times on the front page, in Storque articles, the etsy finds email, and too many times in the gift guides to possibly count — anyway, what are the chances that some paid etsy employee was actually spending company time looking through the etsy listings in the categories and found that one? What are the chances? Zero.
Stop fucking calling it browsing through etsy's categories. Call it shit that I found a year and a half ago while I happened to accidently be forced to browse a category, which I have then featured in every possible location on this site I could jam it into because it's one of my personal favorites.
Showing us the very same shit by the very same people who have been featured there previously that week, the week before that, and every preceding week is fucking insulting, it's a demonstration of contempt, and it's lazy.
I'd like to end with "etsy fail", but well, I think the employees are too dense and self righteous to get it... so we'll go with:
perennial etsy fuck up, favoritism, repeats and other unsavory behavior that erodes the trust of your member community.
"etsy suck" on every level of social commerce.
Saturday saw these front page repeats...
GollyBard (perennial repeat, more than TWICE this week)
krize (regular repeat, TWICE this week + last week)
thrush (perennial repeat)
toybreaker (perennial repeat, TWICE this week)
Sunday saw these front page repeats...
allencompanyinc (regular repeat, this week + TWICE last week, the week before last)
AwakenJournaling (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
humblebea (perennial repeat, this week, last week, etc)
NanLawson (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
quotesandnotes (this week + multiple times last week)
RUBYrecycled (regular repeat, this week + last week, the week before last)
slinkymalinkicat (perennial repeat, this week + multiple times last week, and the week before last)
xenotees (regular repeat, this week + TWICE last week, the week before last)
Now at the bottom of etsy's front page is the "New Storque Articles & Related Items" box, you know the thing with the scroll screen...
So, there's this article:
Etsy Finds: Revenge of the Nerds
And what is featured in the graphic for the article? Why the foliage handsoap set, of course.
So, guess what's already on the front page (if you guessed hand shaped soap by foliage, give yourself a silver star!)? Why it's a treasury titled "browsing through etsy's categories", which of course, was selected by etsy staff -- you know the people who are paid through your listing fees. Hey, guess which item was found by etsy staff while supposedly "browsing through the categories"!!!!
(rolls eyes)
if you guessed: foliage handsoap set
then give yourself a gold star.
What are the chances that an item that is A. already on the front page, and B. has already appeared so god damned many times on the front page, in Storque articles, the etsy finds email, and too many times in the gift guides to possibly count — anyway, what are the chances that some paid etsy employee was actually spending company time looking through the etsy listings in the categories and found that one? What are the chances? Zero.
Stop fucking calling it browsing through etsy's categories. Call it shit that I found a year and a half ago while I happened to accidently be forced to browse a category, which I have then featured in every possible location on this site I could jam it into because it's one of my personal favorites.
Showing us the very same shit by the very same people who have been featured there previously that week, the week before that, and every preceding week is fucking insulting, it's a demonstration of contempt, and it's lazy.
I'd like to end with "etsy fail", but well, I think the employees are too dense and self righteous to get it... so we'll go with:
perennial etsy fuck up, favoritism, repeats and other unsavory behavior that erodes the trust of your member community.
"etsy suck" on every level of social commerce.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
etsy, it's not me, it's you
This has got to be the stupidest thing I have read in this entire thread. I am simply gobsmacked by the total and complete stupidity of LucyBlaireCreations. I am so stupefied by this shit that I had to share it, well, that and I am now dumber for having read it, so I think the rest of you should share in my shame and horror.
Can you believe this asshole? Seriously? This fucktard just told you guys that you suck, your products suck, it's your fault, and the quicker you blame yourself... then, well, you're still never going to be featured... so, uh, yeah, learn to live with disappointment.
Holy shit, what a moron, and what an asshole.
Newsflash, LucyBlaireCreations, quitters never win, and winners never quit. But, apparently you're a quitter, and a lazy one at that. I am also assuming that you quit that whole "spelling, grammar, and punctuation thing" in the fourth grade too. Because, my god, what the fuck was that abomination of words thrown together without the use of punctuation or apostrophes? My spell check / grammar check is about to have a seizure.
Double negative time here, but there isn't nothing that we Etsians can not do about problems with the staff; doing nothing is what gets nothing done. Doing unnecessary shit like fixing things that aren't actually broke (your listings) is actually a waste of time.
It's assholes like LucyBlaireCreations that give all the forum assholes a bad name.
If you are one of the many etsians who was never in a gift guide and hasn't seen the front page in ages (and by ages I don't mean since last week... 7 days is not an eternity), it is not, in fact, because you suck, or your products suck. It's because the etsy employees continue to feature their favorites / the same sellers over and over in all those free promotional spots because the etsy employees are careless and lazy. It's not you, it's etsy. Let the blame lie with the real culprit: etsy. Go ahead, actualize it.
The gift guides, at their peak, and well, always, were a beacon of etsy favorites. CardboardSafari was once featured in 8 gift guides simultaneously. Toybreaker was regularly in 7 gift guides simultaneously. Lirola was usually in 6 simultaneously. It's not because these people make great stuff. It's because etsy staff are lazy, shallow, and incompetent and with the protection of "no calling out" in place couldn't possibly be held accountable for actually being altruistic about the free promotional spots on the site. If no one is allowed to say anything, then who can voice dissent?
No one.
So, you know what, start fucking talking. And I don't mean TOU violating or blanketly insulting your fellow etsians like LucyBlaireCreations did by suggesting that there is "A LOT" of "crap". I mean cleverly omitting the names, and just state the facts.
Everything that PetitPoulailler stated on the next page was dead on correct, and also lacked any form of TOU violations.
It is annoying to have to take the high road when dealing with the employees of a company who have acted in such an unprofessional, immature, incompetent, and childish fashion unchecked for way too fucking long, but it's the way to get things done.
Don't let these stupid fucks tell you it's you and 'learn to live with disappointment.' Don't get pissed at them and lose your forum privileges. Take the high ground, rebut them like some technical thesis paper, and when they blanketly insult: report their posts. But don't get all reactionary, unless, of course, you're doing it from the comfort of your blog.
Demonstrate to etsy that trust is a thing that they have lost, and that it is the hardest thing to regain. I don't trust their employees, and neither should you. Let your lost trust be known. Because they let you down. It's them, it's not you. You quit, they win. Never quit pointing out that they continue to let you down with their incompetence, their petulance, and their continual favoritism.
LucyBlaireCreations saysNow that you've read that, I would actually suggest that you log into your etsy account and report LucyBlaireCreations' post. She just insulted you: "there is A LOT of crap here on Etsy". People have been muted for less, so the more of you who report the post - the better.
First off I love Gift Guides and I'm SUPER pissed they're gone.
That being said, lets start out by saying, life isn't fair and that uphill battle should be what motivates you, not makes you quit and ask for the unfair thing to be completely removed because every single one of us can't be involved. Trust me, I get frustrated all the time seeing the same sellers on the FP and GG's and the Storque but it makes me work harder! Photographing and rephotographing, working on my descriptions, etc etc.... learn to live with disappointment people and maybe tell yourself perhaps I'm not there because my stuff isn't good enough. If you don't believe that about yourself than maybe its because you aren't "out there" enough, how can Etsy put you in something if they don't know you exist?
There is ALWAYS something to improve upon. You can say its Etsy's fault if you want, and hey, it pretty much is, but thats a battle you can't win, but if you tell yourself its you and if only YOU could be better, then theres hope.
I'm sorry, but there is A LOT of crap here on Etsy and as a seller with MILLIONS of things to do I don't have to time to "shop" through the crap. I start in Gift Guides, get an idea, and then go search for the more specific thing. I don't know how thats not useful. I have a feeling there will be a buyer backlash on this.
Can you believe this asshole? Seriously? This fucktard just told you guys that you suck, your products suck, it's your fault, and the quicker you blame yourself... then, well, you're still never going to be featured... so, uh, yeah, learn to live with disappointment.
Holy shit, what a moron, and what an asshole.
Newsflash, LucyBlaireCreations, quitters never win, and winners never quit. But, apparently you're a quitter, and a lazy one at that. I am also assuming that you quit that whole "spelling, grammar, and punctuation thing" in the fourth grade too. Because, my god, what the fuck was that abomination of words thrown together without the use of punctuation or apostrophes? My spell check / grammar check is about to have a seizure.
Double negative time here, but there isn't nothing that we Etsians can not do about problems with the staff; doing nothing is what gets nothing done. Doing unnecessary shit like fixing things that aren't actually broke (your listings) is actually a waste of time.
It's assholes like LucyBlaireCreations that give all the forum assholes a bad name.
If you are one of the many etsians who was never in a gift guide and hasn't seen the front page in ages (and by ages I don't mean since last week... 7 days is not an eternity), it is not, in fact, because you suck, or your products suck. It's because the etsy employees continue to feature their favorites / the same sellers over and over in all those free promotional spots because the etsy employees are careless and lazy. It's not you, it's etsy. Let the blame lie with the real culprit: etsy. Go ahead, actualize it.
The gift guides, at their peak, and well, always, were a beacon of etsy favorites. CardboardSafari was once featured in 8 gift guides simultaneously. Toybreaker was regularly in 7 gift guides simultaneously. Lirola was usually in 6 simultaneously. It's not because these people make great stuff. It's because etsy staff are lazy, shallow, and incompetent and with the protection of "no calling out" in place couldn't possibly be held accountable for actually being altruistic about the free promotional spots on the site. If no one is allowed to say anything, then who can voice dissent?
No one.
So, you know what, start fucking talking. And I don't mean TOU violating or blanketly insulting your fellow etsians like LucyBlaireCreations did by suggesting that there is "A LOT" of "crap". I mean cleverly omitting the names, and just state the facts.
Everything that PetitPoulailler stated on the next page was dead on correct, and also lacked any form of TOU violations.
It is annoying to have to take the high road when dealing with the employees of a company who have acted in such an unprofessional, immature, incompetent, and childish fashion unchecked for way too fucking long, but it's the way to get things done.
Don't let these stupid fucks tell you it's you and 'learn to live with disappointment.' Don't get pissed at them and lose your forum privileges. Take the high ground, rebut them like some technical thesis paper, and when they blanketly insult: report their posts. But don't get all reactionary, unless, of course, you're doing it from the comfort of your blog.
Demonstrate to etsy that trust is a thing that they have lost, and that it is the hardest thing to regain. I don't trust their employees, and neither should you. Let your lost trust be known. Because they let you down. It's them, it's not you. You quit, they win. Never quit pointing out that they continue to let you down with their incompetence, their petulance, and their continual favoritism.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
A special case from the editorial desk about repeats
This blog is not supposed to make people happy. I think you all know that. At least, I hope you all know that. The purpose of this blog is to make people angry or at the very least make them very uncomfortable.
I stated my mission statement in the first entry of this blog, if you need a refresher, then seek it out.
Regarding front page favoritism:
Naming names is a necessary tactic. It is imperative. It isn't supposed to feel good.
Etsy has a policy of not naming names. Except, in etsy's own childish and immature fashion their policy refers to "calling out." What a stupid phrase. It's naming names.
As an etsy member you are not allowed to publicly on etsy specifically refer to anything when there is a problem. If you do, then you are in violation of their terms of use.
If you email a problem or concern to etsy, you get an immediate form letter, and days or weeks later you may get a short, generally non-helpful response from a staff member.
You can't actually get in touch with anyone in a reasonable amount of time, and when you do, the communication is generally useless. That is not good social commerce. Societies communicate. The good ones communicate effectively.
So, this blog names names. This blog also suggests that you should not patronize those who are named. Why? Because activism is necessary. Otherwise, some forum assholes would just try to misdirect and pretend like this was free advertising. This is advertising, just not the good kind.
You should all be angry, or, at the very least, very uncomfortable with the fact that etsy has a front page treasury that is curated by paid staff members that continues to feature the same sellers repeatedly with no explanation, accountability, or transparency. If those were paid spots, like their showcases, then there would be nothing to gripe about (unless, of course, the ability to purchase such paid spots was somehow limited to the same small group of people). The front page treasury is not a paid spot. Essentially, it is free advertising.
Now, some goonie moron is going to throw up some half assed tripe about "front page doesn't equal instantaneous sales." First off, fuck you -- you moron. Seriously, you're an asswipe. Don't you have better things to do with your time, you idiot motherfucker, than to not understand anything about sales or marketing and have the gall and stupidity to put forth something so absolutely mentally void as a counter opinion. Really, dipshit? C'mon. That is the dumbest fucking canned response on earth, emphasis on dumb. The room is all stupider from having heard your moron ass give that for the millionth time. Shut the fuck up.
Answer: being featured on the front page treasury is exposure. Exposure is very important in every business. Every time I drive through a new city, and go down main street, do I see the shops (we'll assume I'm not speeding or blind)? Yes. Do I stop my car immediately and go in? Maybe, maybe not. But I've seen them, and unless I have some sort of memory problem, then chances are, I will remember them, and if I have a need in the future, since I know where they are, then I will probably patronize their businesses instead of lugging out the phone book and trying to figure out what glossary term I am actually trying to look under.
Exposure is important in business. Is is everything? No.
So, if the front page treasury is theoretically free to all users with reasonably non-offensive products who are presumably within the bounds of acceptable items in terms of etsy's handmade, supply, and vintage categories, then why do we see the same people getting featured there with regularity?
There are 2 simple answers, and actually, one of them is a gateway to the other: laziness and favoritism.
Laziness, by the way, is the gateway to favoritism.
Why should I see slinkymalinkicat on the front page every week? Could that possibly be the only person with an endless supply of "vintage" prints? I could name 3 sellers off the top of my head who sell similar items. And yet I don't see them on the front page every week.
Why should I see prints by GollyBard on the front page multiple times in a week? Is GollyBard the only person selling prints of badly drawn illustrations? No, there are tons of people on etsy selling badly drawn illustrations. Just like there are tons of people on etsy selling prints of big-eyed girls.
Why should I know by heart that those baby-doll hand shaped molded soaps are by foliage every time I see them? Because I've seen them that many god damned times. One of these days I'm actually going to order some just to see if they have their original molded copyrights on them just so that I can contact the company from which those are molded to ascertain whether or not that's legal. Fortunately, I'm lazy and I don't like buying crap that I find distasteful.
But I see the same things on the front page by the same sellers because of incompetency on the part of the etsy staff which stems from laziness and favoritism. I'm tired of seeing the same 40 people get all the exposure, and the rest of you should be tired of it as well... especially if you see etsy as a venue for full time employment. A responsible social commerce site would have a level playing field for all of its selling members with items within the bounds of its categories that are not mis-representational or offensive. Yeah, I'm saying no nazi crap on the front page, and really, I don't want to see gay-hating crazy christian jesus freak shit there either, or your genitals (whichever they may be). And, yes, your listing needs to have a picture. So, what, that leaves 80% of the 3 million items on the site up for consideration.
2.4 million items could not possibly all be by the same 40 shops that I have seen constantly for the past eternity. Lirola could not possibly currently have 60,000 ruffle shirts in stock... unless, of course, she's a factory, which she isn't.
So, Lirola doesn't have a current standing inventory of 60,000 items, and yet, not a week goes by without her shop specifically making the front page? Why is that? I know people who haven't made the front page in over a year, let alone the last 6 months. Why is Lirola on the front page on a weekly basis? Why is GollyBard on the front page on a weekly basis while being featured multiple times in a week and also appearing in a current Storque article. Are the spots in Storque articles paid advertising? No. So, why do the same people get the same free opportunities for exposure over and over again?
Well, some idiot fuck asshole will try to feed you some tripe about "photo quality" or "quality products" or "photo quality" or "photo quality." Yes, I said it 3 times just to demonstrate what an asshole someone sounds like when they say that shit about photos. You moron motherfuckers are really willing to passively insult your fellow etsians with this "photo quality" bullshit? What an unbelievable bunch of cunts you are.
Some of the most successful sellers on etsy have some of the crappiest photos. There's someone who sells an awful lot of soap that comes to mind. Beyond that, most people's photos don't actually suck. That's like telling someone who buys a medium cardigan from the misses department of an average clothing store that they're fat. You're fat when you're buying the one with the label that says 3X, not the one that says M. If some moron motherfucker blanketly says the reason you never make front page is probably your photos, then know that they have just insulted you, remember them, and let's say: don't buy from them.
Speak with your dollar.
Speak with your dollar because you're not allowed to speak freely with your mouth. You're not allowed to pop onto the forums and wonder why artmind is featured on the front page treasury on average of 3 times per week, every week... when so many people haven't had that level of exposure ever or in the past 6 months. So, speak with you dollar, and don't buy what their paid staff, who earn their salaries from your listing fees, are specifically using company time to promote: the same 40 sellers with regularity while leaving the vast majority of their sellers with no free exposure or promotion.
Every time you pay to list, you are paying for the operation of the website. When the website's employees can do so much to promote 40 specific people with regularity — if you are not one of them, what are you really paying for? Why don't your listing and selling fees go into time and energy exerted by the staff to freely and indiscriminately promote your work?
Etsy needs to answer for that.
Now, there are the whiners and bitchers and complainers and bellyachers who will tell you that the 40 people who get the constant front page exposure that your listing and selling fees pay for the salaries of the company employees who promote them are not to be named, blamed, or take any level of responsibility or negative publicity for being favorites.
What an utter line of bullshit, eclipse.
If you're "in it to win it" as some recent forum thread suggested (e.g. you are listing here to make money) then you ought to be paying attention to all aspects of your business. From you materials and craftsmanship, to the accuracy of all parts of your listing, to your packing and shipping, and all other business expenses and necessities. The ones who are paying attention know how much materials cost, the cost of labor, shipping, packing, and possibly advertising... and that just popping onto a site like etsy and simply listing stuff with no extra effort probably isn't going to get you a whole hell of a lot.
There are plenty of people who do that: take care in making the item, the listing, shipping it... every thing but promoting the product... and generally, their stuff just sits there. Mostly because etsy's searching system is almost completely useless.
So, if your shop seems extra busy and you know you spent no money on advertising, aren't part of a team, group, faceboook fuckery, twitter nonsense, etc. Then, as a "business person" it is your responsibility to figure out where your exposure came from. You know, it's what Google Analytics is for. Pop into your account every now and then and you'll be able to find if you were featured on the ultra popular some crazy fuck's blog, or craftgawker, or art wall, or whatever the hell. How fucking arrogant it is it to just assume that you're spectacular? If you can't be bothered to figure out how your shop is getting exposure, then I really doubt you're reading the forums, random blogs, or whatever other source of information would require a nominal amount of effort to ascertain.
If you are, and you're bothered about the way you've been treated, then consider contacting someone who is not me, like say the etsy employees who are being paid to do your promotion for you while not promoting a damned thing for the vast majority of the site users whose fees are generating their salaries. Drop them a line that says "I'm grateful and all, really... but uhmn, maybe cool it a little, the natives are starting to get restless and I think someone just threw a stone at my window."
Etsy's paid staff and what the items they place in the front page treasury, the storque articles, and wherever else on the site there is room for non-paid spots are acting as the invisible hand of the market by specifically choosing what gets into those spots. Why not make them accountable for only promoting the same 40 people repeatedly? Oh, wait, because we're not allowed to say anything.
So, you know what, if we can't say anything, then the responsibility in an atmosphere of social commerce does fall on the heads of the people who are getting all the exposure: the front page repeats.
Don't want to be on this blog? The act on behalf of your own best interests and the interests of the rest of your social commerce etsians — start privately holding the staff accountable.
You see the repeats and the favoritism, then contact a valid staff member every time and point it out.
Look at which staff member wrote the article and specifically contact them with your concerns about having seen the same items featured repeatedly. Ask why, specifically request an accurate explanation. Be polite, don't get yourself kicked off the site, but be firm and criticize the repeats and the favoritism, and specifically name the shops you have seen repeatedly.
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=julieincharge
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=marymary
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=missbatch
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=mtraub
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=stellaloella
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=TeenAngster
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=Vanessa
These etsy employees get paid because you sell and pay fees. Have them work for you.
Better yet, start a movement to specifically identify the etsy staff members who curate the front pages. Transparency is like light to mold. Once you know who they are, then you can ask them directly.
I stated my mission statement in the first entry of this blog, if you need a refresher, then seek it out.
Regarding front page favoritism:
Naming names is a necessary tactic. It is imperative. It isn't supposed to feel good.
Etsy has a policy of not naming names. Except, in etsy's own childish and immature fashion their policy refers to "calling out." What a stupid phrase. It's naming names.
As an etsy member you are not allowed to publicly on etsy specifically refer to anything when there is a problem. If you do, then you are in violation of their terms of use.
If you email a problem or concern to etsy, you get an immediate form letter, and days or weeks later you may get a short, generally non-helpful response from a staff member.
You can't actually get in touch with anyone in a reasonable amount of time, and when you do, the communication is generally useless. That is not good social commerce. Societies communicate. The good ones communicate effectively.
So, this blog names names. This blog also suggests that you should not patronize those who are named. Why? Because activism is necessary. Otherwise, some forum assholes would just try to misdirect and pretend like this was free advertising. This is advertising, just not the good kind.
You should all be angry, or, at the very least, very uncomfortable with the fact that etsy has a front page treasury that is curated by paid staff members that continues to feature the same sellers repeatedly with no explanation, accountability, or transparency. If those were paid spots, like their showcases, then there would be nothing to gripe about (unless, of course, the ability to purchase such paid spots was somehow limited to the same small group of people). The front page treasury is not a paid spot. Essentially, it is free advertising.
Now, some goonie moron is going to throw up some half assed tripe about "front page doesn't equal instantaneous sales." First off, fuck you -- you moron. Seriously, you're an asswipe. Don't you have better things to do with your time, you idiot motherfucker, than to not understand anything about sales or marketing and have the gall and stupidity to put forth something so absolutely mentally void as a counter opinion. Really, dipshit? C'mon. That is the dumbest fucking canned response on earth, emphasis on dumb. The room is all stupider from having heard your moron ass give that for the millionth time. Shut the fuck up.
Answer: being featured on the front page treasury is exposure. Exposure is very important in every business. Every time I drive through a new city, and go down main street, do I see the shops (we'll assume I'm not speeding or blind)? Yes. Do I stop my car immediately and go in? Maybe, maybe not. But I've seen them, and unless I have some sort of memory problem, then chances are, I will remember them, and if I have a need in the future, since I know where they are, then I will probably patronize their businesses instead of lugging out the phone book and trying to figure out what glossary term I am actually trying to look under.
Exposure is important in business. Is is everything? No.
So, if the front page treasury is theoretically free to all users with reasonably non-offensive products who are presumably within the bounds of acceptable items in terms of etsy's handmade, supply, and vintage categories, then why do we see the same people getting featured there with regularity?
There are 2 simple answers, and actually, one of them is a gateway to the other: laziness and favoritism.
Laziness, by the way, is the gateway to favoritism.
Why should I see slinkymalinkicat on the front page every week? Could that possibly be the only person with an endless supply of "vintage" prints? I could name 3 sellers off the top of my head who sell similar items. And yet I don't see them on the front page every week.
Why should I see prints by GollyBard on the front page multiple times in a week? Is GollyBard the only person selling prints of badly drawn illustrations? No, there are tons of people on etsy selling badly drawn illustrations. Just like there are tons of people on etsy selling prints of big-eyed girls.
Why should I know by heart that those baby-doll hand shaped molded soaps are by foliage every time I see them? Because I've seen them that many god damned times. One of these days I'm actually going to order some just to see if they have their original molded copyrights on them just so that I can contact the company from which those are molded to ascertain whether or not that's legal. Fortunately, I'm lazy and I don't like buying crap that I find distasteful.
But I see the same things on the front page by the same sellers because of incompetency on the part of the etsy staff which stems from laziness and favoritism. I'm tired of seeing the same 40 people get all the exposure, and the rest of you should be tired of it as well... especially if you see etsy as a venue for full time employment. A responsible social commerce site would have a level playing field for all of its selling members with items within the bounds of its categories that are not mis-representational or offensive. Yeah, I'm saying no nazi crap on the front page, and really, I don't want to see gay-hating crazy christian jesus freak shit there either, or your genitals (whichever they may be). And, yes, your listing needs to have a picture. So, what, that leaves 80% of the 3 million items on the site up for consideration.
2.4 million items could not possibly all be by the same 40 shops that I have seen constantly for the past eternity. Lirola could not possibly currently have 60,000 ruffle shirts in stock... unless, of course, she's a factory, which she isn't.
So, Lirola doesn't have a current standing inventory of 60,000 items, and yet, not a week goes by without her shop specifically making the front page? Why is that? I know people who haven't made the front page in over a year, let alone the last 6 months. Why is Lirola on the front page on a weekly basis? Why is GollyBard on the front page on a weekly basis while being featured multiple times in a week and also appearing in a current Storque article. Are the spots in Storque articles paid advertising? No. So, why do the same people get the same free opportunities for exposure over and over again?
Well, some idiot fuck asshole will try to feed you some tripe about "photo quality" or "quality products" or "photo quality" or "photo quality." Yes, I said it 3 times just to demonstrate what an asshole someone sounds like when they say that shit about photos. You moron motherfuckers are really willing to passively insult your fellow etsians with this "photo quality" bullshit? What an unbelievable bunch of cunts you are.
Some of the most successful sellers on etsy have some of the crappiest photos. There's someone who sells an awful lot of soap that comes to mind. Beyond that, most people's photos don't actually suck. That's like telling someone who buys a medium cardigan from the misses department of an average clothing store that they're fat. You're fat when you're buying the one with the label that says 3X, not the one that says M. If some moron motherfucker blanketly says the reason you never make front page is probably your photos, then know that they have just insulted you, remember them, and let's say: don't buy from them.
Speak with your dollar.
Speak with your dollar because you're not allowed to speak freely with your mouth. You're not allowed to pop onto the forums and wonder why artmind is featured on the front page treasury on average of 3 times per week, every week... when so many people haven't had that level of exposure ever or in the past 6 months. So, speak with you dollar, and don't buy what their paid staff, who earn their salaries from your listing fees, are specifically using company time to promote: the same 40 sellers with regularity while leaving the vast majority of their sellers with no free exposure or promotion.
Every time you pay to list, you are paying for the operation of the website. When the website's employees can do so much to promote 40 specific people with regularity — if you are not one of them, what are you really paying for? Why don't your listing and selling fees go into time and energy exerted by the staff to freely and indiscriminately promote your work?
Etsy needs to answer for that.
Now, there are the whiners and bitchers and complainers and bellyachers who will tell you that the 40 people who get the constant front page exposure that your listing and selling fees pay for the salaries of the company employees who promote them are not to be named, blamed, or take any level of responsibility or negative publicity for being favorites.
What an utter line of bullshit, eclipse.
If you're "in it to win it" as some recent forum thread suggested (e.g. you are listing here to make money) then you ought to be paying attention to all aspects of your business. From you materials and craftsmanship, to the accuracy of all parts of your listing, to your packing and shipping, and all other business expenses and necessities. The ones who are paying attention know how much materials cost, the cost of labor, shipping, packing, and possibly advertising... and that just popping onto a site like etsy and simply listing stuff with no extra effort probably isn't going to get you a whole hell of a lot.
There are plenty of people who do that: take care in making the item, the listing, shipping it... every thing but promoting the product... and generally, their stuff just sits there. Mostly because etsy's searching system is almost completely useless.
So, if your shop seems extra busy and you know you spent no money on advertising, aren't part of a team, group, faceboook fuckery, twitter nonsense, etc. Then, as a "business person" it is your responsibility to figure out where your exposure came from. You know, it's what Google Analytics is for. Pop into your account every now and then and you'll be able to find if you were featured on the ultra popular some crazy fuck's blog, or craftgawker, or art wall, or whatever the hell. How fucking arrogant it is it to just assume that you're spectacular? If you can't be bothered to figure out how your shop is getting exposure, then I really doubt you're reading the forums, random blogs, or whatever other source of information would require a nominal amount of effort to ascertain.
If you are, and you're bothered about the way you've been treated, then consider contacting someone who is not me, like say the etsy employees who are being paid to do your promotion for you while not promoting a damned thing for the vast majority of the site users whose fees are generating their salaries. Drop them a line that says "I'm grateful and all, really... but uhmn, maybe cool it a little, the natives are starting to get restless and I think someone just threw a stone at my window."
Etsy's paid staff and what the items they place in the front page treasury, the storque articles, and wherever else on the site there is room for non-paid spots are acting as the invisible hand of the market by specifically choosing what gets into those spots. Why not make them accountable for only promoting the same 40 people repeatedly? Oh, wait, because we're not allowed to say anything.
So, you know what, if we can't say anything, then the responsibility in an atmosphere of social commerce does fall on the heads of the people who are getting all the exposure: the front page repeats.
Don't want to be on this blog? The act on behalf of your own best interests and the interests of the rest of your social commerce etsians — start privately holding the staff accountable.
You see the repeats and the favoritism, then contact a valid staff member every time and point it out.
Look at which staff member wrote the article and specifically contact them with your concerns about having seen the same items featured repeatedly. Ask why, specifically request an accurate explanation. Be polite, don't get yourself kicked off the site, but be firm and criticize the repeats and the favoritism, and specifically name the shops you have seen repeatedly.
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=julieincharge
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=marymary
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=missbatch
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=mtraub
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=stellaloella
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=TeenAngster
http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=Vanessa
These etsy employees get paid because you sell and pay fees. Have them work for you.
Better yet, start a movement to specifically identify the etsy staff members who curate the front pages. Transparency is like light to mold. Once you know who they are, then you can ask them directly.
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