Infected by the meh bug

[valis2]

Went to the doctor and was told that I have a sinus infection. Otherwise known as my perpetually reoccurring friend. Anyway, bactrim + valis = soon to feel better. Thank goodness. It came in under my radar because a) I have not been congested and b) the headache was mistaken for my usual hormonal headache because it came in at the same time. I only realized what was going on just yesterday when I thought, "Hey, this headache has lasted six days and shows no sign of stopping..."

Am trying to take some pictures of merch. I've been bummed because Etsy really slowed down, but then I listed three new items yesterday, and sold nine today. Nine inexpensive items, but still. I've spent a lot of time going through the Etsy forums over the last few days. This has answered many questions for me (such as--there has to be a better way to look at hearts/views (there is a third-party website that can do this for you, but nothing through Etsy), how can we track hits (can't, other than views--google analytics and the like aren't allowed), how to promote).

One of the biggest questions was the renewal question. I'm always fascinated by how eBay sellers work with the tools at hand to forge the best possible system, and it turns out that Etsians are the same way, of course.

When you first list something, say, a squid shirt, it shows up on the new page. This is apparently where most of the magic happens. These are the most-browsed pages. Squid shirt will be proudly displayed for a little while. In the shirt category, it could stay on pages one through three (the goldmine pages) for anywhere from an hour to a day, depending on the category and its popularity. Eventually, though, squid shirt will be relegated to the later pages.

Clever Etsians began using a "relist" style feature to list the same item again on a different day, bringing the item right up to the top page once more. It's called "renewing" and it is apparently a basic part of many Etsians' marketing strategy. Some people renew every item in their shop every single day. It only costs twenty cents to renew, so on a higher priced item it isn't really a big deal.

So there is a lot of talk about renewing and/or simply listing new items. Most of the bigger sellers seem to imply that it really depends on your category; higher volume categories move too quickly for renewing to be of much effect. And renewing everything in your store can get excessive, and expensive. It seems to be a better strategy to simply renew the best items in your store (if you're in a good category for renewal), and even better, just to list a few new items every day. Some people list nine or ten new items a day. A lot of people mentioned having at least a hundred items in your store.

There was mention of frequenting the forums and posting a lot which is supposed to have an effect on your sales. Most people are split about this, and I myself can see where you might get a few sales from fellow craftspeople, but in the long run I'm not certain. I already have a craft blog, I don't want to deal with even more social networking on top of it.

All very interesting and good food for thought. I definitely have to take some more pics and work on some new listings today.

The most hilarious part of the Etsy forums are clueless people, of course. There was one thread where a very, very sweet lady was explaining the renewal process and breaking it down into simple math (100 renewals per month x twenty cents per month = $20), and everyone kept responding with, "My renewal costs are $8 per month, and that's 7% of my sales" and stuff, and there was much talk of renewing and relisting and comparing fees and stats. Then a clueless person posted, "If I renew all 48 listings in my shop every day for the next month, how much will that cost?" I am basically evil so I laughed and laughed.

I mean, the sweet lady did not start the thread so she could solve story problems, y'know? Plus, all Clueless had to do was tack in the obvious numbers: 48 x .20 x 30 = answer. And then Clueless pouted when no one answered her.

Comments

[earthenwood.livejournal.com]

etsy forums = scary place! you are a brave soul for treading the waters there.

I do love etsy though, and hope to use it more soon

[valis2.livejournal.com]

hee! Well, I love forums--though you won't catch me posting on them 99% of the time.

EBay forums are the very scariest--I have heard absolutely frightening stories about what goes on there. A lot of regular posters end up making up brand new IDs just so they can post without being harassed. Scary!

I hope that Etsy can sustain itself--I'm hearing ominous rumblings of people getting angry about buy/sell people coming in and also I've heard that the site has become waaay too saturated. I'd have to agree, especially in certain categories.

[earthenwood.livejournal.com]

oh yes Ebay is terribly frightening, I have never sold there

Well, honestly, the buy/sell thing has always been an issue but I guess with the popularity it is probably more and more problematic. And the saturation too. I guess I just use it as a tool that is an accent to my own site, so I can drive my own traffic to my etsy shop and not try to rely on the etsy system to generate business. That, to me, is where the blog/website/social networking can work to one's advantage...

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Apparently the buy/sell thing can't seem to get resolved; Etsy relies on a passive system, encouraging Etsians to flag obviously buy/sell content. Some people are talking about a jurying system, while other people are talking about a screening system, where the new shop is monitored for a month to make certain they're not buy/sell. I'm really floored--some of the buy/sell people show up, sell stuff until they're taken down, and then immediately start a new Etsy shop. I thought that sort of thing was eBay-centric, lol.

The Etsy system was definitely hard for me to understand--it seemed a bit...er...incestuous at first, with crafters buying from other crafters, but I'm starting to see that there are lots of buyers on there who don't have shops. Still, it is waaay less known than eBay. Every customer I tell about Etsy is totally shocked about its existence.

[cactus-wren.livejournal.com]

What is the 'buy/sell thing'? Sorry to nose in on your convo, but I don't know what it is.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Oh, no worries, nose away!

Buy/sell is when a vendor simply buys something and resells it instead of making it. I was at a craft show recently where a guy sold Crocs. Clearly he did not make them himself, but because the show did not specify handcrafted, he was okay to sell there.

Etsy is supposed to be entirely handcrafted items, except for one category of "supplies." There are people who pop on and sell stuff they've bought, which is against the rules, and then once caught they close and start over under a new name. *shakes head*

[artystone.livejournal.com]

Hey now how do you know this guy doesn't have a cottage industry of pirate crocs going on in his basement!

[cactus-wren.livejournal.com]

Ah. I hate that at craft shows. I go expecting to see handmade items and end up seeing half handmade, half a bunch of other junk. There is a big show here in Cleveland, the IX Center Christmas Connection, and it just gets worse and worse every year. This show is humongous and it used to be that there were maybe three rows of buy/sell vendors (big rows, mind you, but it was les than a third of the show), now the buy/sell guys are probably fully a half of the show. Very discouraging for people that are there for handmade crafts (like me!)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm with you. If I'm going to an event to see handcrafted work, then that's what I want to see. I mean, I know where to buy buy/sell--Target. LOL.

Many shows try to weed them out, but it can be tricky. I've heard about one show promoter's nightmares--she told me stories of a vendor being banned from her show, but then sending in an application the next year under someone else's name!

[alchemia.livejournal.com]

i was selling on ebay since the mid 90's, and did well for while but a bit into the 2000's it just wasn't worth it, too many cranky buyers and after fees, no profit. i guess i have come to etsy now late; i don't know how long it will be worth while for me. relisting i do not find worth while- but staggering out when you list things i think is. also, i've found the etsychat rooms to be much more friendly than the message boards. do you read etsybitch?

[valis2.livejournal.com]

EBay is only worth it if you have something fairly unique and inexpensive. I've been selling a lot of clothing there, and most of it sells for the initial listing price. People always assume that as long as you have a seller you're golden, but eBay people know that you need two sellers interested enough to slug it out over the item.

I don't think renewing will be right for me, either. I am in a glutted category. I will definitely keep listing new things every day, though. I think that will be helpful.

I haven't read etsybitch! Do you have a link?

[alchemia.livejournal.com]

http://etsybitch.blogspot.com/

may i ask what your etsy name or blog is? i'm AGangi.etsy.com

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the link! Have sent my link.

[alchemia.livejournal.com]

no problem :-)

[julian-black.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but I used to have terrible sinus problems, including recurring infections. Once I stopped eating certain foods (especially wheat and corn), they stopped. STOPPED. TOTALLY. OMG.

Which sounds completely bizarre, I know, but for the first 37 years of my life I woke up with a stuffed-up nose every. single. morning. and had all kinds of sinus issues. Most of the time, I had difficulty simply breathing through my nose. But in the last four years? I've only had problems under certain conditions, and it's never gone into a full-blown sinus infection.

The Etsy stuff is fascinating. I still haven't got around to making anything to list there (and I need to get PayPal bullshit straightened out first), but maybe I'll get my act together in time for Christmas season. Lately, I've been dealing with house stuff (in fact, today I get to sand and re-seal the deck, oh joy!), but once the weather turns and rain drives me back inside--we'll see. Good to hear it's working out for you, though!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but I used to have terrible sinus problems, including recurring infections. Once I stopped eating certain foods (especially wheat and corn), they stopped. STOPPED. TOTALLY. OMG.

I've read a really fascinating article which suggested that 65% of sinus infections are triggered by a certain kind of mold, and that some people respond better to a...I'm totally serious...fungicide than to traditional antibiotics. It was in a medical journal that a friend subscribes to.

Still, I have far fewer infections than I used to. At one point I had four acute sinus infections in one year--the kind that knock you out entirely, where you're just sitting on the couch and you can't even understand Starsky & Hutch.

My last batch of sinus infections have been ultra creepy--they did not involve nasal unhappiness at all. Very little sneezing, and very little blowing of the nose or being unable to breathe through my nose. Instead, they are draining down my throat, and causing stomach problems and sore throat issues. Weird.

The Etsy stuff is fascinating. I still haven't got around to making anything to list there (and I need to get PayPal bullshit straightened out first), but maybe I'll get my act together in time for Christmas season.

Give me a call or hit me on chat if you want to hear moar.

Hey--have you heard that eBay is finally going to let merchants accept their own credit cards THROUGH THE SITE?! What a tremendous blow to Paypal.

They're also outlawing paper transactions (check/money order). Wowza!

Lately, I've been dealing with house stuff (in fact, today I get to sand and re-seal the deck, oh joy!), but once the weather turns and rain drives me back inside--we'll see. Good to hear it's working out for you, though!

I hope to have more success, now that I'm working through my issues of picture-taking and listing. I'm going to put up some more crafty mccrafterson things today and hope for the best. ;)

[artystone.livejournal.com]

What a tremendous blow to Paypal


Well Paypal sucks so hard they deserve it!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

EBay owns Paypal, so I absolutely can't believe that this is happening! Then again, eBay screws everyone else, so why not screw themselves, too? heh.

[cactus-wren.livejournal.com]

Ooh, bactrim + cactus_wren = giant hives everywhere!, lol, glad you're soon to be better.
I've got nothing on the whole Etsy thing, but I hope it works out for you, I've heard too many bad things about Ebay lately.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

eee! Hives = bad. Poor thing!

Yeah, Etsy is a rather strange bird. I'm very much liking the vibe, but at the same time, I've heard so many things--people talk about the Cult of Etsy, for example, and there are naughty people everywhere, even Etsy. So it's been interesting.

[catsintheattic.livejournal.com]

*sends well-wishes and chicken soup for your health-improvement*

Yes, of course, there are macadamia nuts added to the parcel as well. :-)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

MMMMM macadamia nuts! *dips them in milk chocolate*

Thank you so much, sweetie!

[artystone.livejournal.com]

I've had that same headache for so long I can't remember. I'm pretty sure I have a sinus infection too--the recurring dizziness kinda makes me think there's something going on. I was going to call the doc for an apt today, but calling the Tues after a long weekend is even worse than calling on Monday. I'll try tomorrow.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I was totally surprised--the walk-in clinic I go to was deserted. I was in and out within a half hour, which is unprecedented.

The headache sucks, doesn't it? It's worse when I bend over to put my shoes on. I'm so glad that I have antibiotics now, and the generic version cost only FOUR DOLLARS. Well, the doctor's visit cost seventy, but still. w00t!

[dark-cygnet.livejournal.com]

I. Hate. Math. ::stabs::

[dark-cygnet.livejournal.com]

OH! And i hope you feel better soon. *smooches you*

[valis2.livejournal.com]

So no story problems for you? hee!

Aw, thanks. So far the headache is still here, but I'm hoping that it'll fade away over the next day. *lionsmooches*

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

You make ebay/etsy so interesting. :)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Really? How awesome! I just assumed that most people skipped over these entries. "Oh GREAT, another eBay diatribe from valis..." ;)