Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,982
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Post by Tommy on Jul 17, 2018 11:53:58 GMT -5
I failed to mention that with Etsy Premium coming it's definitely a wait and see approach for me. I wonder what new things they can come up with beyond what they offered with Etsy Plus that would entice me to voluntarily take on a new major expense. It better knock your socks off and hand you a clean pair to put back on  |
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Don
Cave Dweller 
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Jul 17, 2018 14:43:27 GMT -5
I failed to mention that with Etsy Premium coming it's definitely a wait and see approach for me. I wonder what new things they can come up with beyond what they offered with Etsy Plus that would entice me to voluntarily take on a new major expense. It better knock your socks off and hand you a clean pair to put back on Tommy, how have your stats been looking recently compared to last year? Mine are trending down to lows that I've never seen before. Don't need specific numbers, just wondering if your views and visits are trending upwards or downwards compared to where you were last year at this time of year. |
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,982
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Post by Tommy on Jul 17, 2018 16:29:52 GMT -5
Tommy, how have your stats been looking recently compared to last year? Mine are trending down to lows that I've never seen before. Don't need specific numbers, just wondering if your views and visits are trending upwards or downwards compared to where you were last year at this time of year. Hi Don, I can't really answer that because the first half of last year I was pumping in new inventory at a record pace and my views, inventory, and sales reflected it. This year has been a completely different story because my production has been very low so far. On top of that, my youngest son and his wife bought a fixer house in May and I basically worked there on renovation projects almost every day through the end of June till they moved in first of July. In other words up till last week I didn't make or post a new cab for the better part of four months.. |
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 2, 2018 12:23:17 GMT -5
I find myself in a unique position of defending Etsy in the face of several very unpopular changes lately but it is what it is. I like Etsy as a platform that allows me to sell my stones in an easy and organized manner with many established repeat customers since I started in 2014 and a steady stream of new customers and a lot of one-and-done's along the way. I have tried establishing myself on Ebay selling the same stones with ZERO result. Literally 100 listings (at lower prices) with zero sales. I also personally detest the structure of selling on Ebay more than I can even voice. On top of that, I was rejected twice by Amazon Handmade apparently because I sell a "craft supply" but if you search the site you will find many many other cabochon sellers actively selling their wares. I have also sold on Facebook in the "cabs and slabs" type groups with moderate success BUT it's a LOT(!!) of work keeping it all organized, sending out Paypal invoices, creating shipping labels, not to mention the task of constantly chasing posts up and down the wall due to the schizophrenic Facebook page sorting algorithms. I have also created my own website using Wordpress and Woocommerce and I can't even express what a ROYAL pita that was in every way. I got the whole thing set up and had my security certificates purchased (https) and everything then took a step back and realized how much I like the simplicity of Etsy. I know there are lesser sites that dabble in the same arena as Etsy but for purposes of this essay (haha) we'll leave those for another time. The bottom line for me has been that of my available choices that have the potential of generating the sales needed, Etsy is the shining star - FAR ahead of the others. I do not begrudge Etsy an increase to 5% and I am sure I will not notice it especially since I already offer free shipping on everything and so that new dip into the cookie jar by Etsy will not affect me. At the same time I commiserate with those who have to ship large items and hope they develop new effective strategies to cope. I'm sure that Etsy is eventually going to figure out that they could be tacking on a surcharge for the slick and easy posting printing system they have provided but until that happens I won't worry about it. I freaking LOOOOOVE Etsy's postage printing tool - it literally rocks and I get happy every time I use it. In closing, I find that for what I create and sell on the Etsy platform, activity breeds sales and I'm OK with that. If I'm active and posting new and unique cabochons, which I have not been doing much of lately, steady sales immediately follow until my inventory has dropped down to what seems to be my 'baseline' where sales turn into a mere trickle almost overnight. For three and a half years I've enjoyed having very robust sales - I won't say how much but it's way more than we ever expected it to be and it has allowed us to ride out these last two years that I've been off work. In fact I probably would not have 'retired' from my corporate heart-attack-waiting-to-happen job if it weren't for Etsy. Our belts are tighter than they were before but that's OK too. There is a seller on Amazon sawthatrock that currently has 749 items listed under cabochon and 100+ pages of mainly lapidary items. He included his id BUTW which I knew them as on ebay and purchased lapidary items from in the past. I'm not sure what search I did on Amazon, but I started getting emails from Amazon for cabs. I bought some table tennis supplies recently and now I get emails from Amazon regarding table tennis supplies. ebay does the same thing but many of their emails are shotgun, not relevant to my purchasing and annoying. Getting emails from Amazon must generate business. The effort required for the seller to maintain this large an Amazon store must be considerable and I have no idea of cost. His cabs are in the moderate price range. I only looked at a few pages. |
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Post by stonemon on Nov 6, 2019 18:36:13 GMT -5
My turn to gripe about etsy. Today I got an e-mail from them that they had removed 9 of my listings. Seems that Trent Agate is a poison in their minds.
They specifically say the arsenic sulphide and oxide disqualify the stone from sale on their platform...
I asked them to take another look as it is a very good seller and one of my signature offerings.
Makes me crazy!
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Nov 6, 2019 18:51:40 GMT -5
My turn to gripe about etsy. Today I got an e-mail from them that they had removed 9 of my listings. Seems that Trent Agate is a poison in their minds. They specifically say the arsenic sulphide and oxide disqualify the stone from sale on their platform... I asked them to take another look as it is a very good seller and one of my signature offerings. Makes me crazy! Wow. How the heck would anyone at ETSY know those details about that stone? Did you have those details in the listing? If not maybe a shopper to your page brought it to there attention? Chuck |
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Post by stonemon on Nov 6, 2019 19:15:32 GMT -5
I include a description of the mineralization in my listings. It is such a rare and unique stone.
I assume that the description triggered their search algorithm and set off an alarm.
Still waiting for a second opinion from them.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Nov 6, 2019 19:37:00 GMT -5
I include a description of the mineralization in my listings. It is such a rare and unique stone. I assume that the description triggered their search algorithm and set off an alarm. Still waiting for a second opinion from them. Bummer. Figured that may have been it. Too much information is not a good thing I guess. Good luck getting it rectified. Chuck |
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Post by MsAli on Nov 6, 2019 19:50:29 GMT -5
My turn to gripe about etsy. Today I got an e-mail from them that they had removed 9 of my listings. Seems that Trent Agate is a poison in their minds. They specifically say the arsenic sulphide and oxide disqualify the stone from sale on their platform... I asked them to take another look as it is a very good seller and one of my signature offerings. Makes me crazy! Quite a few gems and minerals then that wont be able to be sold then. |
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Post by opalpyrexia on Nov 6, 2019 21:24:24 GMT -5
I include a description of the mineralization in my listings. It is such a rare and unique stone. I assume that the description triggered their search algorithm and set off an alarm. Still waiting for a second opinion from them.
Doesn't seem consistent given that Etsy is loaded with cinnabar jewelry.
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Post by stonemon on Nov 6, 2019 21:31:57 GMT -5
It appears to just be my shop that was targeted. A search of the platform shows all the other vendor's Trent is still listed...
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 7, 2019 8:28:16 GMT -5
It appears to just be my shop that was targeted. A search of the platform shows all the other vendor's Trent is still listed... Someone, probably your competition, reported it. I had some maw sit sit pulled down a few years ago. After a lengthy back and forth with etsy, they pretty much admitted I was reported. Other shops still had Maw sit sit listed. If you reported the other shops, it would probably include whoever reported you. |
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herb
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 473
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Post by herb on Nov 10, 2019 9:37:05 GMT -5
I'm late jumping in to this topic, but regarding etsy starting to apply fees to the shipping charge, ebay does this too. It's even worse for ebay because they charge the same 10 or 15 percent they take from the item price. They do it so someone doesnt sell something expensive for a penny with 1000 dollars shipping. I can understand that, but what bothers me is they still charge it when you buy the usps shipping label thru their site.
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julieooly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2018
Posts: 721 
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Post by julieooly on Nov 10, 2019 14:02:23 GMT -5
Don't try to sell whale bone, they pulled it from me. Not that that million year old whale was endangered by modern fishing....
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Post by stonemon on Nov 13, 2019 23:53:45 GMT -5
After a bunch of communication with some drone named Giddeon at Etsy, it has become clear that I will not be allowed to sell Trent again on the platform. I have had a communication from another seller/customer overseas that she has received the same verdict.
Thinking I should set up a website....
sigh
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Post by rockjunquie on Nov 14, 2019 6:28:27 GMT -5
After a bunch of communication with some drone named Giddeon at Etsy, it has become clear that I will not be allowed to sell Trent again on the platform. I have had a communication from another seller/customer overseas that she has received the same verdict. Thinking I should set up a website.... sigh It's a lot of hard work to drive people to your own site, but you won't be under etsy's big thumb. |
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