We have all these shop sources but are we using them?

[Former_Member]

I'm curious, when considering purchasing from a shop do you look over each of these sections?
Shop announcement
Shop profile
Shop owner about page
Shop policies
Shop feedback
Shop sold items

I know I'm guilty if I see something I rarely look at any of these unless I'm purchasing a pattern from a shop I've never been too before. I look at their policies page. I do glance at their feedback percentage but if it's at 100% I dont really look at it.

My point is, as a shop owner we stress over each of these but does the customer?

[Former_Member]

Guilty on all accounts! :)

[Former_Member]

It do helps, I believe some are serious on reading all this :)

[Former_Member]

i usually check out the sections, often the sold items, often the feedback messages, usually the announcement, not to many people i buy from have an about page but i do look once in a while if there is one! :)

[Former_Member]

Yes to all.

[Former_Member]

I will try my best to check out someone's shop announcement and policies page. Apart from learning what type of person you're buying from some people hide coupon codes on those pages! It's nice to get a discount just for opening a couple links!

I will look at feedback if there is something lower than 100%

[MythOfTheWild]

I barely look at any of them unless I'm buying clothes or shelling out a lot of money - the former has only happened once, and the latter...well, probably never will xD

We do stress over it, but to be honest I think we're right to. Every now and then I do look at shop policies, and in total I've done it about four or five times, and literally NONE of them had filled them in. I reconsidered what I was purchasing but decided to go ahead anyway and there were no problems, but it can be a pain. If people take a long time to deliver an item I look at they never seem to have it filled in.

Shop announcements I check for shipping times, alternative sites (personal websites, blogs and such just in case I might miss out on an attractive discount) and maybe custom item info.

About page...I have never looked.

Despite never really looking at any of them, I DO fill them all in. If someone wants it, at least it's there. The problem is remembering to update things if something substantial changes like refund policies or something.

[ThePartyDeeva]

I only look at feedback if it is not 100%
Rarely look at about page
I do look at policies and announcements (incase there is a coupon on the announcement page)
Occassionally I look at the sold items page
I will look at sections especially from supply sellers

[CatherineMarissa]

Yes: announcement, feedback

No: sold items

Sometimes: profile, about page, policies

[Former_Member]

I've been on my Real Time on Google Analytics, and I will tell you that there are people who look - at ALL of those things. And it may just be THIS shop, because I sell soap and lotions, and people are pickier about that. I don't get as much traffic in heartsabustin or 1madwoman, so it's harder to judge those shops.

And having that stuff filled out is actually important for your SEO, if I'm reading stuff right when I skim through threads and articles on it.

[AtHomeWithLolly]

I DO check out policies, because of a personal issue that I had, I wanted to be able to cover myself for the future.

I strongly advise everyone to have a return policy in place, spelled out in detail if there is any question in how, if or why you would accept a return.

I love the ABOUT PAGE and spend time reading them, but usually when a thread has been started about them, and it piques my interest!

I glance at feedbacks and sold items also. I comparatively shop...do that in brick and mortar and I know the buyers do that with us, so why not do it myself, right?

Being a seller changed the way I buy...and I LOVE ETSY for it!

[lippybrand]

Yes I look at everything. And it really bugs me when people dont have anything about themselves on these pages.

[BackyardBrand]

my 2¢s... It depends...

There are products here that range from low to high, in term of the "involvement" required in the purchase decision.

"high involvement"
think car, house, TV, computer, expensive jewelry, furniture, etc.

"low involvement"
think toilet paper, say (fill in the blank in terms of here)

The higher the investment of the purchase decision, the more likely Buyers are to check you out more thoroughly.

[Former_Member]

Jim, I like that explanation. It's very true. Thanks for sharing.

[hydeandstitched]

When I am buying on Etsy, I consider whether or not the shop feels like it has it's stuff together. Typically my first impressions will include the number of sales vs number of feedback and photo quality. If I still have doubts at this point I'll probably delve in to see details on the feedback (do they have a lot from purchases and very few from actual sales, etc). If I am shopping overseas or on a deadline I may go view their policies.

[Former_Member]

Depends on what it is.

Most of the time, I just look at feedback.

[drudruchu]

I always look at Sold items, feedback, Profile, about page, Policies before I buy.

So that only leaves the shop announcement that I do not check. :P

But I think people who are not familiar with Etsy (or with selling on Etsy) will not check all of that.

[BackyardBrand]

Thanks, Natasha (one Hoosier to another!)

[PorcelainJazz]

What has happened to me at times is someone will make a very small purchase as if testing the waters. If they have a positive experience then they go back and check out all of the above as if they wanted to begin to deepen the relationship.

[Former_Member]

I love looking at the "about" page! I don't always remember to look at the shop announcement, but often it's right there staring at me, so I'll give it a quick read.

[Former_Member]

I look at nearly all of those, especially feedback, whether it's good OR bad!

[Former_Member]

I look at feedback, and if they have any negatives I try to find them to see if what the person complained about (slow shipping but 20 other people say fast shipping? wrong color? what went wrong?), most of the times the complaints are fairly silly and you can discard them; it's one think I like about any other selling platform, you can click on the feedback numbers and go directly to the negative (or positive, or neutral) feedback to try and figure out what went wrong. It would be nice if Etsy got with the program and offered that, too.

Anyhow, I look at feedback and then order. If somebody has pages and pages of good feedback I don't worry about it. If somebody has a few nagatives I'll try and snoop in their feedback to see what I can figures out; thus far 100% of the negative comments have been silly; 'color pink wasn't as pictured' 'shipping was slow' 'package arrived bent' All things that can't be controlled for the most part. I only look at the about page if I think I would like to 'know' the person: ie, they seem intersting for some reason. OPnly other thing I look for is the return policy they have.

[Former_Member]

Honestly? As a buyer the only time I check things out is if the feedback rating is less than 100% THEN I will dig a little deeper.

When new features come out and a thread is started I will look at what other sellers have done but again, that's only when they share a link.

So I guess it's good that all these features are part of Etsy even if we don't access them.
I think it just adds to the credibility of the site and the shops on the site.

I'd rather have lots of stuff I don't read (and know it's there if I need it) rather than sparse information that leaves me feeling the seller might be a fly-by-night!