FAIR PLAY in teams

[Former_Member]

Hi there,
I am sure it happens to almost every one – you’ve met unfair play in the teams…one way or another, not getting 24 hearts, not even one or like or pin…We can’t follow all the time the other teammates are they playing by the rules….I don’t understand these people, we are all here for one and the same thing, so PLEASE If you play unfair – STOP DOING THIS! It’s ugly and will come back around!

[Coramantic]

I play this game in a few teams and it's very frustrating when you get skipped - especially when you look and the person before you has said they have faved you and they've not :(

[heartsabustin]

That sounds like something you need to take up with your team captains. This isn't a promo team, so I don't know how much good it will do to talk about it here.

I'm super picky about what I heart anyway, so I just stay away from those games.

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

Erin, me too. I'd rather have genuine favorites than those gained by playing games on teams.

[Former_Member]

I agree with both of you Erin and Judy, I'm not talking about this team by the way...but why I keep on see articles and tips where says that is good for you to get more fiews by playing these games?!?! I don't like them at all!!!

[maydaylabels]

Those articles are not accurate. It is not good for you. They are not helpful.

[PlumsandHoney]

Hi -- I find this very interesting. I belong to a few teams that I have carefully selected over time. I once had a long list of them, but I found that was pointless. But, usually, when you join a team, you agree to support the team and its members, and that often means participating in challenges. I looked at several of your profiles and those I looked at belong to teams. Are you saying you don't participate in challenges? I was kicked out of one because I didn't stay up with the "games." I really had thought the more you can get exposure through this kind of participation, the larger audience your shop will have. Am I completely wasting my time?

[Former_Member]

Hi Betty,
I'm asking my self now just the same question!?? It appears that the games are waste of time according to what are saying the girls above!

Can please some one clear this - are the games in teams necessary to get mere views???

[MICETTESGARDEN]

Hi, I was just bothered but the same thing.. I spend some valuable time clicking and faving each day, and I noticed that some people just write 'faved'.. then you look at their favs and your items are not there!
As I am a complete mess for treasuries, it takes me too long to do one, I thought this kind of games would help me having more views.. but I'm not sure it works!

[Former_Member]

Challenges, games, treasuries, promotional push and shop of the week are all part of the team process.

It only takes a moment to find one item in a shop to favor, click and support. True not every etsy sellers items are what I may purchase. But it is my responsibility and a team member to encourage and support the others on my team.

MANY etsy sellers manage their shops fine with NO team process. Its perfectly suitable to NOT participate. You can manage your own participation or not too.

Every team has the "discussions" link, scroll all the threads and fine one where you can "post & run".....then that way you aren't commented to helping anyone but your self.

[PrairiePrimitives]

Each team makes their own rules. Some play lots of games (and may *require* participation), other teams don't play any/many and you may not be required to participate in the games or in much of anything with the team. However, if a team has rules and you choose to overlook them, don't be surprised if you're removed from that team!

[PlumsandHoney]

Yes, what everyone is saying is true, but he larger question is, if we participate and spend the time to make treasuries, promote members' shops, fave, etc., will that translate into sales, assuming we have a product people want to buy?

[Former_Member]

Betty has a good point.
I have found that since participating in teams (more) that yes, my views and placement in treasuries are UP.

I am happy with my sells in two of the three shops, but I don't promote the second born etsy shop as often, that's my fault.

etsy IS NOT at all like it was in 2008. Its not enough to list a new item and watch it run in the "Time Machine" next to other listings. Back in the day, with few handmade shops and more push towards handmade, one could list an item and it not only was seen but it sold quickly.

Each item must be promoted beyond the 'list' process. If you don't promote in some fashion your items will not be seen.

You can't sell if your work isn't seen.

[Former_Member]

Absolutely! You can't sell if no one don't see your creation, but.....but if we keep on participate in the team games our works will be seen mostly from the other shop owners....right?

[Former_Member]

Many times I do not remember to check who faved my stuff or I do not know why they faved more than 4 items.........maybe a message needs to be sent to the person you super hearted so they can reciprocate.

[heartsabustin]

Yep - I'm on teams. Most of my teams are chatty teams, and I'm on one Treasury team for each shop. But while we do have blitzes from time to time, participation is not required in those, and we don't have to comment on say, the ten above us to participate.

I'm on maternity leave on my T teams right now anyway - I make a few here and there, but having a four week old and two other kids is all the challenge I've needed these last few weeks. ;P

I would never say teams don't increase exposure - I simply don't join teams that make me heart the previous ten or fifteen items. I don't like having my faves list cluttered up like that.

[RomaMiaTradingCo]

I'm in one promo team for treasuries. I used to be in a lot more promo teams to get the hearts and follows, and guess what: none of them translated into sales. Yeah, I played the games according to the rules, didn't skip anyone, and still nothing.

I found Etsy has built a skewed perspective on the whole view/hearts thing. They built a mentality that you just need to collect all the favorites and views like they were Pokemon. Guess what, even if 1000 people from your teams saw your product, were they really quality views? Shouldn't you want to market your products to people who BUY off of Etsy and not SELL off of etsy?

I suggest taking that time you spend on the promo teams and sign up for an SEO or Marketing team and work on that if you really need the views/hearts. Might get better sales that way.

[spacefem]

team promotion threads are a total waste of time. emy is right... showing your item to other robotic shop owners is not "promotion" and will not get you any more sales. In fact I think it can hurt you, because you can't tell what items are really getting seen by word-of-mouth since your statistics are loaded down with team view noise.

I allow a post-and-run thread in each of my teams so people have someplace they can feel like they're promoting. but they're not really reaching anyone. only touching themselves. we call it "etsybaiting".

[LeedsRadio]

I've given up most of those games. Not only do people not favorite/follow/etc - sometimes they do, in order to stick to the rules and then promptly un-favorite/un-follow.

And now that the activity feed is noting but a spam cesspool. I am very hesitant to favorite anything. I favorited one item and now 9 out of ten things on the activity feed are treasuries that contain that item. It makes it very hard to follow things I am actually interested in.

[SimpleKnitShop]

These are very interesting comments - I was removed from a team because i didn't play the games often enough and didn't participate in the BNR's. The team didn't start off as a game/BNR team but morphed into one over time.

[Former_Member]

Richard is so right - my activity feed is a spam cesspool....and I am to blame
Thank you all! I've learned again a lesson by the hard way :)
In the beginning I was paying those fees "for new sellers" to increase appearance of your products in the search feed...I deeply knew that playing it team games will not bring my sales..

[kidsstore]

I don't belong to any promo teams, and the teams I do participate in are the ones that are strictly business oriented. I'm not against promo teams, as many people enjoy making treasuries and playing games. It's just not for me. I don't even play the internet games that so many people love. I'm too busy taking care of my shop and family.

I honestly can't say what brings customers to my shop. The majority of my views are from Etsy SEOs, but I also get a lot from Google and other sources. In fact, a good percentage of my customers are first time buyers on Etsy. I do not do Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest (even though I occasionally receive views from them). I also don't due ads, only re-list when an item listing has been sold or expired, or any of the other marketing ideas Etsy suggests.

Somethings I do do are read important business oriented threads to see if there are any changes I should make (and then make them) to my listings, policies, titles, tags, etc. This is because things are constantly evolving on Etsy, and you need to keep up with the important ones to continue being successful. I would love to have over 200 items listed in my shop, but try to keep the number of items at least above 100. Periodically create and list new items or new fabrics. Occasionally look at other shops to see what is selling to decide if my items need updating. Answer messages in a timely manner and try to give the best customer service I can. On last thing, I focus on what actually sells in my shop (and not necessarily is viewed or favorited) and keep producing those items in one way or another. I realize this is against a lot of the marketing suggestions that you can find on Etsy and other internet sites, but it works for me.

[WilliamsGiftshop]

What is the use of those fake views anyway?
Why would you bother with it?
It is not as if your target customers hang around in those games.

I do exactly what Janie does (I have a lot less sales though, but that is okay, my sales goal is not set very high and I am happy with the way things are going).
No Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest for me (I strongly dislike the way they handle copyright and privacy laws). No sales games for me either. And I do read up on all important info.
Good SEO and keeping in touch with your target market are the keys to success, in my humble opinion (besides having products that people want to buy).

[MaxplanationPhotos]

I enjoy the SEO teams and to me I don't mind the promotion teams. I think I do get sales that way. I get tons of views through the activity thread, and I directly attribute that to the increased number of favs from the promotion teams


may not be for very one, but while I am already wasting time watching tv lol, I multi task and participate in the promo teams

:)

[SangriaSilverDesigns]

I stopped playing all the favoriting games. They haven't led to a sale that I can track and they do take a lot of time. I make team treasuries that appeal to me and make me happy and I favorite items that I find great beauty in to promote other handmade shops. I really have to work on letting it go when I get people that favorite my shop hoping I take a look or follow them and when I don't they un-favorite me, but that's life I guess and try not to take things personally.