Where do I begin? I opened my store, fauxshowart.com in January 2018. No traffic, nothing. To be fair, I didn't really do much with it until the past couple of months with regard to SEO and asking Google to crawl my website. I didn't have my SEO set up properly and honestly, I still don't think that I do. The directions provided by Weebly are obtuse which surprises me since they are a web building company and I feel the instructions should be ironclad and precise. Maybe I'm just thick. The places where they tell you to enter your SEO, are not the same sections (they don't have the same names in the page builder), so it's really puzzling and highly frustrating.
Google and other search engines like Bing now require you enter a verification tag so that they know you are the owner of a URL. This makes sense to me as you do not want someone to make requests for a site that is not theirs.
In order to be put into Google Analytics and or Search Console, you are given a clump of data that must be pasted into the head of each page of your site. This allows for tracking and analytical information gathering. Easy, right? Wrong. Here is why. I had an Etsy Pattern site for about 14 months. For the site, I paid for my own URL. fauxshowart.com Well, when I closed Pattern and opened a Weebly site, I had to get a 'key' from Etsy that I carried to Weebly so that I could retain my store's URL, which I renewed for a year. Great, right? Maybe not. I asked that Google Search 'crawl' my site to catalog it only to find 11 broken links. They were links to items that were no longer available, in other words, sold, on my Etsy site. What Google Search did was crawl my old Etsy Pattern website, which is no longer active. How is that even possible?
What's worse, the name in Google Analytics is Faux Show Art - Etsy. ??? I'm completely confused and really quite upset about the entire thing. It can take Google a long time to crawl your site.
I'm going to have to dive into this again and probably even call Weebly support to help me muddle through all of it.
It's this type of thing that keeps people bound to entities like Etsy and it's unfortunate. Etsy is as expensive as Ebay, they are no longer about cottage makers and artists. They allow mass-produced items to be sold on their platform and I want nothing more than to be free from that.
Later
Monday, September 10, 2018
Saturday, September 8, 2018
Testing Plastic
I'm a hoarder. A hoarder of shrink plastic. I come across a batch of good plastic, I buy all that I can of it. A mother lode is worth every penny, so save them up for when you come across it. What exactly is good shrink plastic? Good shrink plastic has many connotations; good color reproduction, nice surface, nice edges, good stiffness, good thickness, relatively even shrink (lays back down flat, shrinks evenly top to bottom and side to side. In today's plastic, these qualities are a rarity and are not come by often.
Because I have been making shrink plastic jewelry for so long, I have a ton of the older vintage stuff. Cases of it in fact, and no, I'm not interested in selling it. I have had people ask and because I use it, I sadly have to say no to them. However, that does not mean that you don't sometimes come across plastic that is really good. It's out there, but only by chance.
Most plastic made today is labeled with a lot# for easy identification. It didn't used to be that way though. It was always a crap-shoot and the best you could do is buy bulk from the same supplier at the same time in order to get all of a good batch.
I seek perfection because I make jewelry, which unfortunately requires a certain level of quality. If I buy plastic that stretches badly and distorts the finished item, I have to return what is left for a refund and try my luck elsewhere. I have been doing this a lot the past 4-5 years as the quality and number of suppliers have dwindled. Unfortunate.
So what do I do when I order a pack or two from online? I run a test of course! I have a pre-set template in my cutter software (multiple squares and/or circles of different sizes). I print this onto one sheet of the plastic, cut them out with my cutter, and bake them looking for any big issues. If there are, I return what is left. That is all. Now that is not to say it can't be a little off. You can still use plastic that is a little off, generally without any problems. Or, you can decide to design items that do not have to be perfectly symmetrical. This also works well and also fuels creativity in thinking outside of the box.
Yes, most packages are 5-6 sheets, some only have 3 sheets. Sometimes you can buy bulk in 50-100 sheets. It is still worth the effort, at least it is to me. I get quite a few pieces of jewelry from the remaining 5 sheets and this makes it worth it. Below are pictures of what I do. I keep it until I get the next package or when the packages of the same lot run out. The images are from a couple of different batches from the past. You can see the squares are tilted, but in the other the circles are perfect. You just never know until you test it.
My family thinks I'm nuts, but that is how Ms. Faux Show Art rolls. Hope this gives you some direction in where you want to go.
Happy shrinking!
Because I have been making shrink plastic jewelry for so long, I have a ton of the older vintage stuff. Cases of it in fact, and no, I'm not interested in selling it. I have had people ask and because I use it, I sadly have to say no to them. However, that does not mean that you don't sometimes come across plastic that is really good. It's out there, but only by chance.
Most plastic made today is labeled with a lot# for easy identification. It didn't used to be that way though. It was always a crap-shoot and the best you could do is buy bulk from the same supplier at the same time in order to get all of a good batch.
I seek perfection because I make jewelry, which unfortunately requires a certain level of quality. If I buy plastic that stretches badly and distorts the finished item, I have to return what is left for a refund and try my luck elsewhere. I have been doing this a lot the past 4-5 years as the quality and number of suppliers have dwindled. Unfortunate.
So what do I do when I order a pack or two from online? I run a test of course! I have a pre-set template in my cutter software (multiple squares and/or circles of different sizes). I print this onto one sheet of the plastic, cut them out with my cutter, and bake them looking for any big issues. If there are, I return what is left. That is all. Now that is not to say it can't be a little off. You can still use plastic that is a little off, generally without any problems. Or, you can decide to design items that do not have to be perfectly symmetrical. This also works well and also fuels creativity in thinking outside of the box.
Yes, most packages are 5-6 sheets, some only have 3 sheets. Sometimes you can buy bulk in 50-100 sheets. It is still worth the effort, at least it is to me. I get quite a few pieces of jewelry from the remaining 5 sheets and this makes it worth it. Below are pictures of what I do. I keep it until I get the next package or when the packages of the same lot run out. The images are from a couple of different batches from the past. You can see the squares are tilted, but in the other the circles are perfect. You just never know until you test it.
My family thinks I'm nuts, but that is how Ms. Faux Show Art rolls. Hope this gives you some direction in where you want to go.
Happy shrinking!
Thursday, September 6, 2018
In the Salt Mines
Yes. I've been busy. Even in this terrible, unforgiving heat. This summer has been awful. Up and down swings from highs of 90+ to highs of 78 and overnight lows in the 80s and 70s which is pretty unheard of in Michigan. I don't like it, not one bit. Oh, I realize the snow will be here soon, but if this overly hot summer is any indicator, it may not get cold until December.
I refuse to let the heat stop me though. I've continued designing and making new items that I love. I recently got into making 'halves' bracelets. Or halved-cuffs if you will. I put the seam straight down the middle and I like it! It opens the door to all new types of looks and plays on the idea of opposites or sides. On top of that, they fit every size wrist and forearm for super easy wearability!
Also, this allows you to make some mighty large pieces. If you are a shrink plastic jewelry designer, you know that the plastic does not shrink to 40% its original size, as some brands advertise, it's more like 20%, which means a ton of shrinkage. You can have a piece that measures 5"x 5", and it ends up 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" or a little smaller. Okay, so maybe not 20%, but you get the idea. This can make for a very small bracelet. While I do like petite and delicate, I like bracelets you can SEE and FEEL even more. :)
I have also been getting into more bold and graphic imagery. It just feels so right to me at the moment. I have worn several of my pieces and get compliments regularly, a definite good sign!
My love of shrink plastic will never end. I always have so many ideas and so little time to play and execute them due to the constraints of a full-time job and a house that must be maintained. I have some of my latest shown below.
After this huge storm of bracelets, I have just two days ago changed gears and gotten into earrings and necklaces to mix it up. These look fabulous on! Only the beginning in this direction, more beauties to come soon!
While I'd love to list these on Etsy, where I have been actively selling for almost 4 years, my wish is to list them on my Weebly site, but I'm having issues with that and I'm not sure Google is cataloging any of it so that when people search, they find me. Who knows? Also, I think the user Weebly user's instruction manual that is provided is weak and at times quite obtuse leaving a new online store owner shrugging her shoulders when it comes to REALLY understanding SEO. I sometimes wonder if I made a mistake by going to Weebly and not Shopify. I think the website choices at Shopify far outnumber those offered by Weebly, but Weebly layouts and store set-up were rated the easiest by many so that is what I did. We'll see!
I refuse to let the heat stop me though. I've continued designing and making new items that I love. I recently got into making 'halves' bracelets. Or halved-cuffs if you will. I put the seam straight down the middle and I like it! It opens the door to all new types of looks and plays on the idea of opposites or sides. On top of that, they fit every size wrist and forearm for super easy wearability!
Also, this allows you to make some mighty large pieces. If you are a shrink plastic jewelry designer, you know that the plastic does not shrink to 40% its original size, as some brands advertise, it's more like 20%, which means a ton of shrinkage. You can have a piece that measures 5"x 5", and it ends up 1 3/4" x 1 3/4" or a little smaller. Okay, so maybe not 20%, but you get the idea. This can make for a very small bracelet. While I do like petite and delicate, I like bracelets you can SEE and FEEL even more. :)
I have also been getting into more bold and graphic imagery. It just feels so right to me at the moment. I have worn several of my pieces and get compliments regularly, a definite good sign!
My love of shrink plastic will never end. I always have so many ideas and so little time to play and execute them due to the constraints of a full-time job and a house that must be maintained. I have some of my latest shown below.
After this huge storm of bracelets, I have just two days ago changed gears and gotten into earrings and necklaces to mix it up. These look fabulous on! Only the beginning in this direction, more beauties to come soon!
While I'd love to list these on Etsy, where I have been actively selling for almost 4 years, my wish is to list them on my Weebly site, but I'm having issues with that and I'm not sure Google is cataloging any of it so that when people search, they find me. Who knows? Also, I think the user Weebly user's instruction manual that is provided is weak and at times quite obtuse leaving a new online store owner shrugging her shoulders when it comes to REALLY understanding SEO. I sometimes wonder if I made a mistake by going to Weebly and not Shopify. I think the website choices at Shopify far outnumber those offered by Weebly, but Weebly layouts and store set-up were rated the easiest by many so that is what I did. We'll see!
Monday, August 6, 2018
Etsy's Rate Increase
I guess it was bound to happen. Etsy has just recently upped the ante and increased the cost of doing business on their platform. Once the whole "Pattern" thing flopped, they had to try another tack.
A little background first. Etsy Pattern came out over two years ago. The idea was to give sellers an "independent" website using their own custom URL (which buyers would need to purchase). Mine was www.fauxshowart.com. Nice, huh? The only problem was, you were locked into overly structured, pre-determined layouts, and, when customers tried to check out, they were re-directed back to Etsy, causing all kinds of mayhem. I paid $14.95/month for 14 months and made 1 (one) sale. LOL, I dumped Pattern last November and signed-up for a Weebly site at $35/month. I have yet to make one sale, but I'm not giving up just yet as I know there are things I could be doing, but haven't gotten myself together enough to dig in and figure all of it out. I really need to start working on that.
On my Etsy store, since pretty much the beginning, I signed up for internal Etsy Ads. These can cost anywhere from $1/day up to $10/day, depending on what you choose. The idea is that when a potential buyer does a search, your items will be given the advantage of being sprinkled in with the first items that are listed. Why not? Right? I chose $1 to be spread over all of my items (about 250 items).
Later, Etsy added Google Shopping ads. These can cost anywhere from $50/month up to a whole lot more. I chose the $50 route. When people do searches and then click on the "Shopping" button from Google, your items will be given a place on the list. On this, you are billed on a per Click basis. The drawback to this, and it's kind-of devious, is that a competitor can do a Google search and unscrupulously repeatedly click on one or two items, and blow through your budget for the day. Now, my hope is that there really isn't someone out there who feels so threatened by your work that they do this, but I have read that it does happen. These fees were fine while sales were rockin', but when the bottom fell out, I felt nothing but the pain in my bottom line.
I have several items that sell well as most Etsy retailers and online retailers can identify with. These items are really your bread and butter and carry you through. In my case, they were the bulk of my income. When the trend for one design dies, however, the gravy train stops and you must reassess and come up with another amazingly wonderful idea! But, when the bottom falls out, and you gross $75 in one week, and Etsy takes $35-50 of it, it stinks. I have had weeks where I gross only $45 and have $10.75 deposited on Monday. How is that for a slap in the face? I dumped Google Shopping and the Etsy Ads. I'll take my chances.
I'm not going to go into the Etsy "search algorithm manipulation" stuff too deep, but I do agree that I have experienced such incredibly acute and abrupt changes in item "favorites" shop "favorites" and sales that I do believe there is merit in seller's rancor over Etsy stacking the deck or at least rearranging it unfairly. That is all.
First, Etsy is raising their 3.5% to 5%, that is a whopping increase.
Second, they are now going to charge 5% on your shipping charges!!!! No lie.
Third, they have added a "Plus" feature that will cost $19.95/month and a "Super" feature that will cost even more (to be disclosed in January 2019).
Etsy says the fees will help them advertise Etsy on TV nationally to bring buyers in to let them know that Etsy even exists. My hope, deep down is that this works and helps all of us who sell through Etsy, but the 5% on shipping is just plain wrong. I make no money on shipping fees. I wonder if it is an attempt to push sellers into including shipping in the cost of the item so that you can claim "free shipping" even though it isn't free, the fees have just been rolled into the price of the item? Lawsy.
I need to re-vamp my Weebly site and get Google and Bing to "crawl" it. I would love to be independent of Etsy or any other similar selling platform. There are definite pluses to these platforms, but if you are not a big-time seller and more the cottage jewelry maker, the fees can kill you.
A little background first. Etsy Pattern came out over two years ago. The idea was to give sellers an "independent" website using their own custom URL (which buyers would need to purchase). Mine was www.fauxshowart.com. Nice, huh? The only problem was, you were locked into overly structured, pre-determined layouts, and, when customers tried to check out, they were re-directed back to Etsy, causing all kinds of mayhem. I paid $14.95/month for 14 months and made 1 (one) sale. LOL, I dumped Pattern last November and signed-up for a Weebly site at $35/month. I have yet to make one sale, but I'm not giving up just yet as I know there are things I could be doing, but haven't gotten myself together enough to dig in and figure all of it out. I really need to start working on that.
On my Etsy store, since pretty much the beginning, I signed up for internal Etsy Ads. These can cost anywhere from $1/day up to $10/day, depending on what you choose. The idea is that when a potential buyer does a search, your items will be given the advantage of being sprinkled in with the first items that are listed. Why not? Right? I chose $1 to be spread over all of my items (about 250 items).
Later, Etsy added Google Shopping ads. These can cost anywhere from $50/month up to a whole lot more. I chose the $50 route. When people do searches and then click on the "Shopping" button from Google, your items will be given a place on the list. On this, you are billed on a per Click basis. The drawback to this, and it's kind-of devious, is that a competitor can do a Google search and unscrupulously repeatedly click on one or two items, and blow through your budget for the day. Now, my hope is that there really isn't someone out there who feels so threatened by your work that they do this, but I have read that it does happen. These fees were fine while sales were rockin', but when the bottom fell out, I felt nothing but the pain in my bottom line.
I have several items that sell well as most Etsy retailers and online retailers can identify with. These items are really your bread and butter and carry you through. In my case, they were the bulk of my income. When the trend for one design dies, however, the gravy train stops and you must reassess and come up with another amazingly wonderful idea! But, when the bottom falls out, and you gross $75 in one week, and Etsy takes $35-50 of it, it stinks. I have had weeks where I gross only $45 and have $10.75 deposited on Monday. How is that for a slap in the face? I dumped Google Shopping and the Etsy Ads. I'll take my chances.
I'm not going to go into the Etsy "search algorithm manipulation" stuff too deep, but I do agree that I have experienced such incredibly acute and abrupt changes in item "favorites" shop "favorites" and sales that I do believe there is merit in seller's rancor over Etsy stacking the deck or at least rearranging it unfairly. That is all.
First, Etsy is raising their 3.5% to 5%, that is a whopping increase.
Second, they are now going to charge 5% on your shipping charges!!!! No lie.
Third, they have added a "Plus" feature that will cost $19.95/month and a "Super" feature that will cost even more (to be disclosed in January 2019).
Etsy says the fees will help them advertise Etsy on TV nationally to bring buyers in to let them know that Etsy even exists. My hope, deep down is that this works and helps all of us who sell through Etsy, but the 5% on shipping is just plain wrong. I make no money on shipping fees. I wonder if it is an attempt to push sellers into including shipping in the cost of the item so that you can claim "free shipping" even though it isn't free, the fees have just been rolled into the price of the item? Lawsy.
I need to re-vamp my Weebly site and get Google and Bing to "crawl" it. I would love to be independent of Etsy or any other similar selling platform. There are definite pluses to these platforms, but if you are not a big-time seller and more the cottage jewelry maker, the fees can kill you.
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Know Your Audience, Check the Weather
This past weekend I did another crafts show. It cost me $20 and a Saturday of my time. I forced my daughter to help me...She wasn't having any of it and was quite annoyed.
It was in a rural community that my sister is a school teacher in. A really cute typical midwestern town. However, when it comes to selling more unusual items, like shrink plastic jewelry, and odder designs, it doesn't really resonate well. I made a total of $77. It would have been $87, but I undercharged for one item... We ate the rest of the profits in gas and shaved ice! LOL
First, "know your audience", is spot-on. Had I made some earrings that were of John Deere tractors, and the local school mascot, it would have generated more interest which would have led to more sales. It's that easy. No, I'm not being catty, it's true. These were farmers.
Second, "check the weather". It was HOT, flaming hot. It was humid, and 88 degrees F. We both ended up with sunburns and packed up by 3PM. It was far too hot, this also added to slow sales and was probably the biggest factor in few sales. People would come under the tent and comment about the sweat burning their eyes. So yeah, it was too hot for a crafts show. What we should have done was get there, pack up the canopy which had been put in place the night before, and leave. We would have been ahead of things.
To put a positive spin on it I'll say this. We didn't lose anything other than 7 hours of a very hot Saturday. We made enough to pay for everything else.
Final thoughts: If you know the weather is going to be bad; too hot, too cold, high winds, or rain. Don't go. If your items are something that may not be too well received by the demographic, don't expect to sell much, and, make some items that may interest the demographic, local teams, colleges, etc.
It was in a rural community that my sister is a school teacher in. A really cute typical midwestern town. However, when it comes to selling more unusual items, like shrink plastic jewelry, and odder designs, it doesn't really resonate well. I made a total of $77. It would have been $87, but I undercharged for one item... We ate the rest of the profits in gas and shaved ice! LOL
First, "know your audience", is spot-on. Had I made some earrings that were of John Deere tractors, and the local school mascot, it would have generated more interest which would have led to more sales. It's that easy. No, I'm not being catty, it's true. These were farmers.
Second, "check the weather". It was HOT, flaming hot. It was humid, and 88 degrees F. We both ended up with sunburns and packed up by 3PM. It was far too hot, this also added to slow sales and was probably the biggest factor in few sales. People would come under the tent and comment about the sweat burning their eyes. So yeah, it was too hot for a crafts show. What we should have done was get there, pack up the canopy which had been put in place the night before, and leave. We would have been ahead of things.
To put a positive spin on it I'll say this. We didn't lose anything other than 7 hours of a very hot Saturday. We made enough to pay for everything else.
Final thoughts: If you know the weather is going to be bad; too hot, too cold, high winds, or rain. Don't go. If your items are something that may not be too well received by the demographic, don't expect to sell much, and, make some items that may interest the demographic, local teams, colleges, etc.
Thursday, May 3, 2018
A New Beginning for Faux Show Art
Yes. I just opened up my very own storefront on the internet. Come see me! Faux Show Art It will most likely take me 20 years to be noticed, laugh out loud. I am an idiot when it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Meta Tags, Meta Description, Meta Title, the list goes on.
I bought my space through Weebly, which was the best fit for me. Shopify was a close runner-up and I also liked that they mailed me a free chip reader for my phone, everyone else wants 50-75 dollars for one. But, after reading reviews, Weebly came in at the top for what I was looking for and the set-up was easy. I imported all of my Etsy listings in a snap. When I tried to do that with Shopify, it was somewhat nightmarish because the formatting didn't import right.
There are a ton of apps that you can add to your Weebly package, but beware, many of them want additional money every month and my efforts were to keep costs down. Etsy takes a lot of my money overall and the way they mess around with their own internal algorithms is disturbing. For example about a year ago, on Etsy, I was getting between 20-30 favorites a day and business was never better. Then overnight, literally, crickets... I was not the only seller screaming bloody murder, there were tons of us. Etsy came back with some lame excuse about how they were better serving buyers and all I could think was: Okay, I was receiving tons of favorites and sales were booming, you updated your algorithm, then it was gone! So, whatever customers were finding me before, were lost in the ether. This is not helping customers find what they are looking for. Many suspected the move to do this by Etsy was to coax sellers into paying for additional advertising through Etsy. Additional money for Google Ad Words, IntraEtsy Ads, etcetera. Let's face it, the day Etsy said it was okay to sell mass-produced goods, their sparkle faded for me.
I had talked about getting off of Etsy as my sole outlet but never did it. I paid for Weebly for four months before finally flipping the switch and opening my store. I had a Pattern site (provided by Etsy to the tune of $15/month) for 15 months and made ONE sale. I pray it is not that way for Weebly. That would stink.
I am offering all of the same items in my Faux Show Art store, but I am doing so at a 10% discount over Etsy, so if you see something on Etsy that you like, head over to Faux Show Art and save some coin!
Peace!
I bought my space through Weebly, which was the best fit for me. Shopify was a close runner-up and I also liked that they mailed me a free chip reader for my phone, everyone else wants 50-75 dollars for one. But, after reading reviews, Weebly came in at the top for what I was looking for and the set-up was easy. I imported all of my Etsy listings in a snap. When I tried to do that with Shopify, it was somewhat nightmarish because the formatting didn't import right.
There are a ton of apps that you can add to your Weebly package, but beware, many of them want additional money every month and my efforts were to keep costs down. Etsy takes a lot of my money overall and the way they mess around with their own internal algorithms is disturbing. For example about a year ago, on Etsy, I was getting between 20-30 favorites a day and business was never better. Then overnight, literally, crickets... I was not the only seller screaming bloody murder, there were tons of us. Etsy came back with some lame excuse about how they were better serving buyers and all I could think was: Okay, I was receiving tons of favorites and sales were booming, you updated your algorithm, then it was gone! So, whatever customers were finding me before, were lost in the ether. This is not helping customers find what they are looking for. Many suspected the move to do this by Etsy was to coax sellers into paying for additional advertising through Etsy. Additional money for Google Ad Words, IntraEtsy Ads, etcetera. Let's face it, the day Etsy said it was okay to sell mass-produced goods, their sparkle faded for me.
I had talked about getting off of Etsy as my sole outlet but never did it. I paid for Weebly for four months before finally flipping the switch and opening my store. I had a Pattern site (provided by Etsy to the tune of $15/month) for 15 months and made ONE sale. I pray it is not that way for Weebly. That would stink.
I am offering all of the same items in my Faux Show Art store, but I am doing so at a 10% discount over Etsy, so if you see something on Etsy that you like, head over to Faux Show Art and save some coin!
Peace!
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Etsy's Unfair Seller Rating System
I'm lucky. I'm lucky in that the overwhelming majority of people who buy my jewelry love it and take a minute to tell me so. For that, I am truly grateful.
However, even the most wonderful 5 star rating with a kind word, does little to salve that loathesome negative review...
In a nutshell, negative reviews hurt. I take them very personally. This is because I put my all into the items I make. I want them to be perfect. I want my customers to love them as much as I do. I want to have happy people wearing my hand made items.
I mean, if you buy something, and it isn't what you like or thought it would be, you contact the seller and ask to return it. Right? I know that I do. And, it takes a lot for me to leave less than 5 stars. I don't take away a star if the item is lost, or late because of the post office. Even if it takes the seller 4 days after I order it to get it in the mail. I mean, if it's just what I ordered, I don't usually leave anything negative. But that's just me and I am a seller, so I know how it feels I guess.
I will say this right now: Etsy's star system stinks! It is so vague and can have such a devastating effect on a business from just one 1-star review. And this 1-star review can be left by someone who is having an awful day, or just being plain vindictive.
I think there should be a few categories. Delivery/Timeliness, Honesty in the Listing, Seller Communication, Presentation. And, if the review is 1 up to 3 stars, the reviewer must elaborate on WHY they feel this way for EACH category. This helps sellers to make changes and also keeps the review legitimate.
I know this will never happen, because I think customers would be like "that is too much time to do". But if you leave someone 2 stars, you should have to elaborate on it.
I have had people in the past give me 4 stars because they felt a stud earring was too small (hey, it's a stud), or that an earring is not long or big enough. This is after having an insanely clear and very detailed description with explicit measurements in the "details" section of the listing, along with 8+ images of the earrings which included a photo of the item on a life-size mannequin and a photo of the item compared in size to a US Quarter Dollar!
People don't read sometimes and the seller pays for it.
Getting tired,
have a great day!
However, even the most wonderful 5 star rating with a kind word, does little to salve that loathesome negative review...
In a nutshell, negative reviews hurt. I take them very personally. This is because I put my all into the items I make. I want them to be perfect. I want my customers to love them as much as I do. I want to have happy people wearing my hand made items.
I mean, if you buy something, and it isn't what you like or thought it would be, you contact the seller and ask to return it. Right? I know that I do. And, it takes a lot for me to leave less than 5 stars. I don't take away a star if the item is lost, or late because of the post office. Even if it takes the seller 4 days after I order it to get it in the mail. I mean, if it's just what I ordered, I don't usually leave anything negative. But that's just me and I am a seller, so I know how it feels I guess.
I will say this right now: Etsy's star system stinks! It is so vague and can have such a devastating effect on a business from just one 1-star review. And this 1-star review can be left by someone who is having an awful day, or just being plain vindictive.
I think there should be a few categories. Delivery/Timeliness, Honesty in the Listing, Seller Communication, Presentation. And, if the review is 1 up to 3 stars, the reviewer must elaborate on WHY they feel this way for EACH category. This helps sellers to make changes and also keeps the review legitimate.
I know this will never happen, because I think customers would be like "that is too much time to do". But if you leave someone 2 stars, you should have to elaborate on it.
My Etsy Negative Review Story:
- This takes me back to the very first, and only, thank God, 1-star review I have ever received. I believe it was from the 4th or 5th item I sold! Not only was it 1-star, it was absolutely scathing. It was so full of venom I was dumbstruck into paralysis for a short minute. I wanted to cry. I was so injured that someone would say such horrible things about a necklace that was so carefully and expertly finished and really very pretty.
- When I regained my composure, I called my big sister and read it to her. Her reaction? "oh my gosh! Listen to what she said! She sounds like a shrink plastic jewelry maker who is doing her best to put you out of business! She sounds like a competitor". And after reading the review again and again, I realized that every biting insult this person dished out to me sounded like insults the buyer herself might have heard from potential buyers of her own shrink plastic jewelry at crafts shows. Yes,. the criticism was that pointed. "it is cardboard" "the bead is not ceramic". etc. Everything she said was not true. Everything.
- They tell you to never respond to negative feedback and carry on. I'll tell you, if someone gives me a 1-star or 2-star review, I will have a response. It is that simple. However, I won't make my response a personal one with regard to the buyer. My response to the review made me look the way I felt; like I had just had the wind knocked out of me and was seriously injured, that I was never contacted by the buyer asking for a refund, that after multiple attempts to reach the buyer and offering a full refund, she never responded and decided to keep the necklace, and that down the list, for every thrust of her knife, I had an answer. Which was, the item is shrink plastic, the bead is ceramic, and that I and my shop are not going anywhere, etc.
- I even had a customer who, shortly after my awful review, mentioned how suspicious the review sounded. Yay truth! Yay other honest customers!
- In the end, I realized that this particular customer had an address that was in the very same city as a super-huge shrink plastic jewelry maker on Etsy. Call it coincidence, but I don't think so.
- Anyway, that is my horrible review story, I had to share it!
Observation of another Etsy seller who was slammed
- I remember browsing other shrink plastic jewelry shops and coming across one in particular. She make shrink plastic pins and bracelets but also made resin jewelry. Well, apparently, some of her resin had bubbles in it and apparently, the bubbles weren't small. The buyer purchased several items, about 5 I think and for each one, she left 2 stars. Even though the problem was with only one item. I felt so sorry for the seller. All of those 2 star reviews knocked her rating way way down. It was so unfair. I realize the upset of the buyer with the bad resin work, fair enough. But to take away stars from every item when it wasn't deserved was just plain mean.
Oh, and one more small story...
I have had people in the past give me 4 stars because they felt a stud earring was too small (hey, it's a stud), or that an earring is not long or big enough. This is after having an insanely clear and very detailed description with explicit measurements in the "details" section of the listing, along with 8+ images of the earrings which included a photo of the item on a life-size mannequin and a photo of the item compared in size to a US Quarter Dollar!
People don't read sometimes and the seller pays for it.
Getting tired,
have a great day!
Sunday, February 18, 2018
The Trouble With ETSY...
When I first took my show to Etsy, it was still promoting the 'handmade' cottage industry that had been so underrepresented by all other online venues. It was where Grandma Evans could make a few extra bucks selling her hand crocheted slippers that she made in her spare time. Or where Uncle Bill could sell his happy-faced hand whittled figurines. Those days are gone for Etsy. It took a few years, but Etsy's thirst for money has allowed all kinds of 'production partners' in the mass production of goods sold there.
Hey, I'm not knocking the dabbler-turned-full-time Etsy makers. Ones who may hire family members or help/seasonal help to piece together and sew clothing or jewelry. I'm knocking the full-out selling of mass produced items from other places with unfair labor practices, we all know who they are. The items are "hand made", by a worker in a sweatshop. I also have a problem with sellers who design items and have them mass-produced in factories i.e. enamel pins and other media, and call them hand made. Yes, the design is original art (kudos), but, it is NOT handmade by you or someone in your small shop. Cafe Press and Zazzle come to mind. Etsy no longer has seller/store spotlights, which used to give props to shops and shop owners showcasing their ideas/wares/practices. No longer do they allow sellers to create 'collections' of items. Just nothing that once made Etsy more unique.
On top of all of the new commercialization stuff, Etsy seems to constantly be changing their 'search algorithms'. Any time a change occurs, you can hear the sellers scream bloody murder wondering why they used to get a bunch favorites on their items every day or have 10+ sales a day and see it tank overnight. Only to be told by Etsy 'we are making changes to more accurately direct shoppers to what they are looking for'...which is false.
I pay $1/day for Etsy ads (ads inside of Etsy that are supposed to help get me noticed) and up to $30/month for Google shopping. In a month, that is $60. For a little fish like me, that is a lot of money, $14/week. Add to that Etsy fees for listing ($0.20/per item every 4 months), 3.0% from each sale and 3.5% + $0.25 per sale to a credit card and it comes out to almost 10% of every single sale. Steep.
To follow and track the changes in minute detail was never something I aspired to since I am a small time side-seller who is not about to give up her day job. Good money+benefits means I'm not moving to Etsy full time. Thank you. But other sellers do, and man are they sharp. When they dissect the reality of what Etsy is doing to what Etsy says they are doing is so disappointing and disheartening. Many times over the past year I have contemplated moving myself off of Etsy altogether. Fear of the unknown and comfort have kept me on Etsy, but this coming new year, 2018, I'm taking the plunge and going my own way. Independent of Amazon, Etsy, Artfire, etc.
I took my Pattern site domain (which was sponsored through Etsy, and man what a laugh that has been), and I've transferred it to my very own independent presence on the internet. The site is sponsored through Weebly, but it is mine, and Weebly doesn't promote products, shops, owners, etc. you are simply on your own to do it your way. Good luck. I'll take it.
Let me break down the Pattern experience for you. I started by paying $15/year for my domain name, plus $15/month for my Pattern site. Since April 2016 through December 2017, it generated 4 sales worth $101 total... It's like Pattern 'floated' on top of my Etsy store. True, I had my own domain, but it was an exact duplicate of what ETSY was, and when a buyer put an item it the cart, they were redirected to my ETSY store to pay, which was confusing and stupid. Really strange and totally not worth it. I would not suggest Pattern to anyone. If you want to sell on Etsy, keep it an Etsy shop and don't add Pattern to the mix.
I am still working on my Weebly store, it has a long way to go and I think the template I picked is quite ugly LOL Yes, I have a lot of work to do! But , the import of items to Weebly was very easy and details and whatnot transferred over well. I tried a Shopify store months ago and the transfer happened, but I was forced to re-type tons of stuff. I let that entire idea die :)
So, I figure another month or so and my fauxshowart.com store will be alive and well. It will probably take a century to generate my first sale, but it's a chance I'm willing to take and it gives me comfort knowing my items, being found in a Google or Bing search, are not going to be affected by Etsy meddling with search algorithms within their domain. I kept saying I wasn't going to list one more item to Etsy, but I just listed 15 items this weekend and I need to stop doing it. I need to walk away. Yes, my store will remain open, but new items will not be added.
Have a good day!
Hey, I'm not knocking the dabbler-turned-full-time Etsy makers. Ones who may hire family members or help/seasonal help to piece together and sew clothing or jewelry. I'm knocking the full-out selling of mass produced items from other places with unfair labor practices, we all know who they are. The items are "hand made", by a worker in a sweatshop. I also have a problem with sellers who design items and have them mass-produced in factories i.e. enamel pins and other media, and call them hand made. Yes, the design is original art (kudos), but, it is NOT handmade by you or someone in your small shop. Cafe Press and Zazzle come to mind. Etsy no longer has seller/store spotlights, which used to give props to shops and shop owners showcasing their ideas/wares/practices. No longer do they allow sellers to create 'collections' of items. Just nothing that once made Etsy more unique.
On top of all of the new commercialization stuff, Etsy seems to constantly be changing their 'search algorithms'. Any time a change occurs, you can hear the sellers scream bloody murder wondering why they used to get a bunch favorites on their items every day or have 10+ sales a day and see it tank overnight. Only to be told by Etsy 'we are making changes to more accurately direct shoppers to what they are looking for'...which is false.
I pay $1/day for Etsy ads (ads inside of Etsy that are supposed to help get me noticed) and up to $30/month for Google shopping. In a month, that is $60. For a little fish like me, that is a lot of money, $14/week. Add to that Etsy fees for listing ($0.20/per item every 4 months), 3.0% from each sale and 3.5% + $0.25 per sale to a credit card and it comes out to almost 10% of every single sale. Steep.
To follow and track the changes in minute detail was never something I aspired to since I am a small time side-seller who is not about to give up her day job. Good money+benefits means I'm not moving to Etsy full time. Thank you. But other sellers do, and man are they sharp. When they dissect the reality of what Etsy is doing to what Etsy says they are doing is so disappointing and disheartening. Many times over the past year I have contemplated moving myself off of Etsy altogether. Fear of the unknown and comfort have kept me on Etsy, but this coming new year, 2018, I'm taking the plunge and going my own way. Independent of Amazon, Etsy, Artfire, etc.
I took my Pattern site domain (which was sponsored through Etsy, and man what a laugh that has been), and I've transferred it to my very own independent presence on the internet. The site is sponsored through Weebly, but it is mine, and Weebly doesn't promote products, shops, owners, etc. you are simply on your own to do it your way. Good luck. I'll take it.
Let me break down the Pattern experience for you. I started by paying $15/year for my domain name, plus $15/month for my Pattern site. Since April 2016 through December 2017, it generated 4 sales worth $101 total... It's like Pattern 'floated' on top of my Etsy store. True, I had my own domain, but it was an exact duplicate of what ETSY was, and when a buyer put an item it the cart, they were redirected to my ETSY store to pay, which was confusing and stupid. Really strange and totally not worth it. I would not suggest Pattern to anyone. If you want to sell on Etsy, keep it an Etsy shop and don't add Pattern to the mix.
I am still working on my Weebly store, it has a long way to go and I think the template I picked is quite ugly LOL Yes, I have a lot of work to do! But , the import of items to Weebly was very easy and details and whatnot transferred over well. I tried a Shopify store months ago and the transfer happened, but I was forced to re-type tons of stuff. I let that entire idea die :)
So, I figure another month or so and my fauxshowart.com store will be alive and well. It will probably take a century to generate my first sale, but it's a chance I'm willing to take and it gives me comfort knowing my items, being found in a Google or Bing search, are not going to be affected by Etsy meddling with search algorithms within their domain. I kept saying I wasn't going to list one more item to Etsy, but I just listed 15 items this weekend and I need to stop doing it. I need to walk away. Yes, my store will remain open, but new items will not be added.
Have a good day!
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