I haven't been on Etsy in a while but it's one of my favorite places to buy gifts and I have multiple friends who supplement their income with their Etsy stores. This makes me sad.
I'm a conscious consumer. I shop second-hand, I limit my consumption of "stuff," and I try to keep my purchases local. I believe in voting with my dollars, and I've gone so far as to dedicate my career to figuring out what that means.
On occasion, though, when I'm hankering for a new piece of jewelry or a unique gift I can't find in my local thrift shop, I'll look to Etsy. If I'm going to dish out the cash on a new item, I know that my purchase has more impact if it goes to the local makers who are working on their craft.
As someone who is directly involved in the maker movement, I'm somewhat embarrassed to say I didn't pay much attention when Etsy changed its policies last fall. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, CEO Chad Dickerson announced that Etsy sellers could use outside manufacturers to produce their designs. In other words, items sold on Etsy no longer had to be handmade.
It wasn't until a few months ago, when looking on Etsy for a new watch that I realized the implications of this change.
I had a specific brown, repurposed leather, wrap-watch in mind. I knew the one I wanted was handmade by a seller in Ohio, but I didn't know his name. Typing in a simple search for "wrap watch" into Etsy, I proceeded to spend nearly an hour sifting through 50+ pages of three-dollar "wrap watches" from China.
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My eyes scanned over page after page of items I would have expected to find in the kiosks of Daytona Beach, not on a website for handmade goods. I sat at my computer with my jaw on the keyboard, wondering what had just happened. When I eventually found what I was looking for I purchased the handmade watch, for significantly more than three dollars, and moved on. I didn't think much more about the experience after that.
A few months later, I met an Etsy seller through Factory45, the accelerator program I run for designers and makers. Among other reasons, she applied to my program looking for business guidance on restoring her Etsy shop sales.
She recently told me, "Last year my Etsy sales tripled in the spring and then again in the fall, so I figured things were still looking good. But in May, my views dropped off to about one-third of what they were in the previous months and as compared to last year. I thought they just dipped because of the holiday weekend and the nice weather, but in June they did not pick back up."
She went on to explain that several message boards had popped up about similar drops in traffic for other Etsy sellers. When I went on the site to see for myself I found threads with titles like, "Are most of you feeling the low traffic, views and sales?" "Can Etsy stop letting Chinese factories sell here?" and "Your Stuff: Made in China?" with diplomatic responses from Etsy administrators encouraging the sellers "to take advantage of the downtime." (Interesting advice when downtime could mean the difference between paying and not paying your rent.)
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Aside from the issue that independent designers are now competing with full-scale production operations, there is the issue of sheer volume -- Etsy now has over 1 million shops. When a seller is competing in a sea of 999,999 other shops, the odds aren't good.
Now that Etsy shoppers have the option of buying from middlemen selling three dollar watches, finding that handmade wrap watch you're looking for will undoubtedly be more difficult. From the seller's perspective, no matter how many times they change their "tags," SEO or refresh their storefront, the traffic just isn't going to come like it used to.
So what actually happened?
In the fall of 2013, Etsy shifted their loyalty from the maker to the shareholder as it made plans to further scale its business model. How did this change things?
Because Etsy's policy changes happened at the maker's expense, many of the people who were once making a living off of their shops are now seeing a fraction of the sales. The difference between Etsy, and let's say, Wal-Mart just got a whole lot smaller. At the core, Etsy changed its mission. No longer is it a website for makers of one-of-a-kind, original goods. Instead, it has become yet another website for the mass-produced and cheaply made goods that satisfy our insatiable culture of mindless consumption.
So what's a seller to do?
If you're an independent designer or maker with an Etsy shop, there are a few ways to try and get your traffic back up.
Create a small network of fellow sellers. Etsy offers the "team" feature but going beyond that, find five other sellers who have a similar target market and non-competing products. Work together to promote each other's shops using your individual social media outlets and outside networks.
Narrow down your niche and create very specific tags. "Screen printed t-shirt" just isn't going to cut it anymore. The competition is too high. Use tags and keywords you know would appeal to your target market and get specific.
Guest post on the Etsy blog. The blog run by Etsy is "consumer facing," meaning the content is written for shoppers. It's an entire platform where your potential customers could be hanging out. Come up with a few article ideas that would appeal to Etsy shoppers and pitch the editorial team.
Move marketing efforts away from Etsy to Pinterest, Instagram and a personal blog. Etsy ads are not going to be as effective as they used to be, so save your money. Focus your marketing efforts on creating compelling content through your social media outlets. Host contests on Pinterest, run giveaways on Instagram and write about the "behind-the-scenes" of your business on your blog.
As someone who supports the manufacturing movement in the USA, I believe that Etsy sellers should be able to scale production when their sales numbers get too high to manage on their own. My issue with Etsy lies in the lack of a discerning gatekeeper.
It comes down to this: the world doesn't need another eBay. It needs the old Etsy.
Get more business strategy for your Etsy store or small business from Factory45 here.
Everything is mass produced made in China crapola now. This was a huge mission shift for etsy which means they left the door open for a competitor to come in and be a true handmade marketplace.
Post by Velar Fricative on Sept 30, 2014 10:33:35 GMT -5
I've bought from Etsy a few times and been satisfied but it is very clear the business model change has had drastic repercussions on the shopping experience there. They're no longer the marketplace for (comparably) unique items.
She went on to explain that several message boards had popped up about similar drops in traffic for other Etsy sellers. When I went on the site to see for myself I found threads with titles like, "Are most of you feeling the low traffic, views and sales?" "Can Etsy stop letting Chinese factories sell here?" and "Your Stuff: Made in China?" with diplomatic responses from Etsy administrators encouraging the sellers "to take advantage of the downtime." (Interesting advice when downtime could mean the difference between paying and not paying your rent.)
She went on to explain that several message boards had popped up about similar drops in traffic for other Etsy sellers. When I went on the site to see for myself I found threads with titles like, "Are most of you feeling the low traffic, views and sales?" "Can Etsy stop letting Chinese factories sell here?" and "Your Stuff: Made in China?" with diplomatic responses from Etsy administrators encouraging the sellers "to take advantage of the downtime." (Interesting advice when downtime could mean the difference between paying and not paying your rent.)
What the actual fuck kind of response is that?! (
That's like saying "Take advantage of the time you have because you were laid off and unemployment isn't covering all the bills." Ew.
Post by stephm0188 on Sept 30, 2014 10:40:26 GMT -5
Yep. That's why I no longer buy or sell on Etsy.
It's unfortunate for handmade. Etsy did a great job at becoming a household name for handmade, but then they took it too far. There's not really an alternative that is nearly as well known. And customers still believe that when they shop on Etsy, they're supporting handmade artists and small business owners. That's no not the case anymore.
Post by Velar Fricative on Sept 30, 2014 10:49:16 GMT -5
Isn't what happened to Etsy inevitable though? I feel like anytime something becomes ridiculously popular, there will be drastic business model changes that occur (see also: Facebook).
As much as sellers and buyers alike may prefer what Etsy used to be, on the other hand if people are making a living off of selling their homemade items it would be in their best interests for the platform to become very popular and get more shoppers. I just don't know how the interests of buyers and sellers and the interests of the platform owners can be balanced so everyone is happy.
Post by pixy0stix on Sept 30, 2014 10:51:59 GMT -5
I know that even before etsy changed it's policies there were wholesalers on there masquerading as small businesses. So I agree that etsy was a victim of it's own success. Much like ebay and how most of the merchandise on there is from China.
I always start out by setting the search filter to "Location: United States."
Not foolproof, but it helps weed out a lot of crap.
I used to be a vendor in our local farmer's market, where something like 80% of your items had to be handmade, homegrown, etc. They let in someone who ordered things from China - not just some of it, most of it. And in the same season, punished a local orchard because the doughnuts they were selling were coated in sugar not produced in the state.
I like spending money on stuff that I know is unique and not mass produced, but when things like that happen (and it's not the only one I've seen/heard of), I get really irritated.
Etsy switching to factory made is not comparable to Facebook privacy policy shifts. It would only be comparable if Facebook decided to suddenly shift from social networking to online dating as its emphasis.
Etsy switching to factory made is not comparable to Facebook privacy policy shifts. It would only be comparable if Facebook decided to suddenly shift from social networking to online dating as it's emphasis.
They are not the same but when you think about the history of Facebook, it is merely another good example of what happens when something gets insanely popular.
Isn't what happened to Etsy inevitable though? I feel like anytime something becomes ridiculously popular, there will be drastic business model changes that occur (see also: Facebook).
As much as sellers and buyers alike may prefer what Etsy used to be, on the other hand if people are making a living off of selling their homemade items it would be in their best interests for the platform to become very popular and get more shoppers. I just don't know how the interests of buyers and sellers and the interests of the platform owners can be balanced so everyone is happy.
In theory, it would seem like a larger platform would be better. In practice, not really.
When Etsy started, the emphasis was on handmade. Customers understood what they were getting- a unique item that was one of a kind. They were willing to pay a little more and wait for a real live person to make their order.
But as Etsy grew, the customer demographic shifted. They stared catering more to a consumer who was used to ordering something online and having it show up at their door within two days. It's tough for a handmade artist to do that, and even tough to compete with made in China crap that ships next day for half the price.
Craftcount lists the top sellers in each category. Three of the top 10 "handmade" sellers are mass produced items from China labeled as handmade. Two are independent tshirt designers who have factories print their tees. It's difficult to compete. Etsy makes more money from resellers, so they're cool with screwing over the handmade artists who helped build their brand.
Etsy switching to factory made is not comparable to Facebook privacy policy shifts. It would only be comparable if Facebook decided to suddenly shift from social networking to online dating as it's emphasis.
They are not the same but when you think about the history of Facebook, it is merely another good example of what happens when something gets insanely popular.
I really don't know how to express why I think this isn't the same. But it's just not. What etsy is now was not inevitable. It just wasn't.
Etsy could still be making money, lots of damned money of its previous policies. I guess what it would be similar to is if your local farmer's market started allowing Birds Eye and Green Giant to set up a hundred stands in your local park and still told the twenty farm stands that they can totally make money here.
Personally, I only use etsy to buy sewing supplies and it's not been much of a problem on that side. We have a ton of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese supply sellers but as they are often selling fabrics, laces, and pattern books you can't get otherwise, it's less of an issue.
But on the handmade side, etsy can go fuck itself. I'll buy from the supply side but I am loathe to sell handmade over there.
Isn't what happened to Etsy inevitable though? I feel like anytime something becomes ridiculously popular, there will be drastic business model changes that occur (see also: Facebook).
As much as sellers and buyers alike may prefer what Etsy used to be, on the other hand if people are making a living off of selling their homemade items it would be in their best interests for the platform to become very popular and get more shoppers. I just don't know how the interests of buyers and sellers and the interests of the platform owners can be balanced so everyone is happy.
In theory, it would seem like a larger platform would be better. In practice, not really.
When Etsy started, the emphasis was on handmade. Customers understood what they were getting- a unique item that was one of a kind. They were willing to pay a little more and wait for a real live person to make their order.
But as Etsy grew, the customer demographic shifted. They stared catering more to a consumer who was used to ordering something online and having it show up at their door within two days. It's tough for a handmade artist to do that, and even tough to compete with made in China crap that ships next day for half the price.
Craftcount lists the top sellers in each category. Three of the top 10 "handmade" sellers are mass produced items from China labeled as handmade. Two are independent tshirt designers who have factories print their tees. It's difficult to compete. Etsy makes more money from resellers, so they're cool with screwing over the handmade artists who helped build their brand.
All of this is interesting, thanks. But do you think Etsy aimed to cater to the consumers who want instant shipping or did the growing popularity of Etsy simply mean that enough consumers who don't have a damn clue that handmade shit takes time to make started visiting and then demanded faster service, with the Etsy folks saying "Sure!!!" instead of saying "Well, that's kinda not how things work around here."
Though when I write it out like that, it does seem like Etsy company folk could have simply kept the restrictions on what could be sold there so ultimately, they're the ones responsible for this. But I still wonder about the inevitability of this.
All of this is interesting, thanks. But do you think Etsy aimed to cater to the consumers who want instant shipping or did the growing popularity of Etsy simply mean that enough consumers who don't have a damn clue that handmade shit takes time to make started visiting and then demanded faster service, with the Etsy folks saying "Sure!!!" instead of saying "Well, that's kinda not how things work around here."
Though when I write it out like that, it does seem like Etsy company folk could have simply kept the restrictions on what could be sold there so ultimately, they're the ones responsible for this.
I don't think anyone on etsy really expected instant shipping, not in the handmade section. If they do, they look for ready to ship listings of which many etsy sellers had before the change.
So really, I don't think etsy was catering to either sellers or customers but to their bottom line.
Etsy sellers have always been rather up front on their lead time and etsy customers know what they are getting when they go there. I find out of all customers, ones who frequent etsy understand the value of handmade things and the time that goes into them.
Honestly, etsy is fucking with their customers too. I believe most people who come to etsy are looking for handmade goods, not cheap Chinese imports. Having to wade through all that shit makes people less likely to visit.
Post by stephm0188 on Sept 30, 2014 11:39:43 GMT -5
This wasn't a gradual process, no. It probably started 4 years ago.
I really don't even know how to put into words what the shift was, but I think it was when they changed the listing process. It used to be that when you listed or renewed an item, it appeared at the top of the search. Everyone knew how it worked, everyone had a fair shot at getting the same exposure. Then they changed their listing process and no one really knew how it was supposed to work. It seemed to benefit resellers, and that was around the same time that Etsy stopped really caring about resellers. They weren't trying to remove them, but they weren't saying it was okay either. You could see the shift happening though and it wasn't really surprising at all when they were all "Oh yeah, resellers are totally cool."
I'm surprised that this is just now getting as much attention as it is though. It's been an issue for years.
There was no inevitability. It was just "what is the fastest way we can we make more money? Oh, let's do the complete opposite of what we were doing." They didn't have to do this.
It's like going to your local craft fair to buy iphone 6.
All of this is interesting, thanks. But do you think Etsy aimed to cater to the consumers who want instant shipping or did the growing popularity of Etsy simply mean that enough consumers who don't have a damn clue that handmade shit takes time to make started visiting and then demanded faster service, with the Etsy folks saying "Sure!!!" instead of saying "Well, that's kinda not how things work around here."
Though when I write it out like that, it does seem like Etsy company folk could have simply kept the restrictions on what could be sold there so ultimately, they're the ones responsible for this.
I don't think anyone on etsy really expected instant shipping, not in the handmade section. If they do, they look for ready to ship listings of which many etsy sellers had before the change.
So really, I don't think etsy was catering to either sellers or customers but to their bottom line.
Etsy sellers have always been rather up front on their lead time and etsy customers know what they are getting when they go there. I find out of all customers, ones who frequent etsy understand the value of handmade things and the time that goes into them.
Honestly, etsy is fucking with their customers too. I believe most people who come to etsy are looking for handmade goods, not cheap Chinese imports. Having to wade through all that shit makes people less likely to visit.
No, they didn't expect it per say, but there was a shift in customer expectation. It's hard to put into words, but many people across several handmade groups I belong to have noticed it, too. There are still people who do value it and understand, but there are a whole lot more who want something custom quickly and cheaply.
Editing to add: Thought of an example. A friend of mine hand appliques customer baby clothes. She gets a lot more people wanting to order on Tuesday and saying they need it for a Saturday baby shower. She's not Amazon. That's not possible. It didn't ever used to be an issue for her, but she's finding herself turning more and more people away because of the unrealistic expections some people seem to have when it never used to be an issue before Etsy changed. Does that make sense?
There was no inevitability. It was just "what is the fastest way we can we make more money? Oh, let's do the complete opposite of what we were doing." They didn't have to do this.
It's like going to your local craft fair to buy iphone 6.
Exactly. If the craft fair organizers are getting a cut of the sales, then yeah, they're making money by having an iPhone booth. But that doesn't mean anyone comes to a fucking craft fair to buy one or gets pissed off when they come there and there are no cheap ass plastic chinese made iphone covers.
Having chinese sellers makes it difficult for people who sell handmade to garner sales.
I have to wonder if it isn't etsy's goal to push out handmade stores altogether.
No, they didn't expect it per say, but there was a shift in customer expectation. It's hard to put into words, but many people across several handmade groups I belong to have noticed it, too. There are still people who do value it and understand, but there are a whole lot more who want something custom quickly and cheaply.
I would argue it's because etsy allowed it by not policing the manufactured shit that's crept in over the years. If etsy remained a cottage industry as it should have been, you would have nearly as much of that imo. Of course people custom quickly and cheaply. There are shops on etsy that say they can make custom quickly and cheaply. Were those shops not there, people wouldn't develop the expectation that they could get such a thing from etsy, kwim?
There was no inevitability. It was just "what is the fastest way we can we make more money? Oh, let's do the complete opposite of what we were doing." They didn't have to do this.
It's like going to your local craft fair to buy iphone 6.
I have to wonder if it isn't etsy's goal to push out handmade stores altogether.
Yes. They dropped their "handmade marketplace" tagline. Handmade no longer appears in their mission statement at all.
"Etsy is a marketplace where people around the world connect to buy and sell unique goods. Our mission is to re-imagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world."
And when this happened the Etsy CEO said something like "oh we are doing this because our sellers are so successful on here they can't meet demand and sometimes they need extra help [that only Chinese factory workers can provide] in making your item. What's wrong with that? Hugs for everyone!"