I noticed in your shop announcement your clever and most likely more practically applied language in your shop announcement of: " original hand painted paintings and art prints"
Nice!
Question: I've also been on the hunt for:
- "newer upcoming sites with stronger backing which may eventually do better in this market."
Care to share what's on the horizon that you've discovered so far? I've investigated as well, yet they still seem in the very beginning stages with limited engagement with sellers as of yet. Such as long wait lists after application, and slow intake of those into shop entries.
How is it not possible that other entities have not been screaming to competitively enter a market that Etsy has all but abandoned?
@Marpet3425 I've found most sites which are a fit for my business are still in Beta or early stages along with long wait lists for jured acceptance. So my experience has been similar. But it's been worth the wait. And I don't mind being in on the early stages of a site with potential while I'm continuing to grow my own website and creative business.
The e-commerce sites that don't required long wait and approval processes have been Michael's Maker Space, My Community Made, Artisans Cooperative, Goimagine (there is short approval process for this one) and Amazon Handmade. But these (with the exception of Amazon) all are in earlier building stages too. So they will require time. And we don't know if they'll be successful yet.
Since there are so many new contenders in this market along with many quality handmade/vintage personal websites being promoted I believe this area will grow. Etsy changed direction over the years and heavily supported POD in addition to cheaper products. With this came sites like Temu which hurt Etsy because it was an easy market to take over. Handmade and vintage markets aren't so easy to dominate. But they can be much more profitable along with having longevity. So it will take time, planning and correct implementation to get these newer sites going. It's happening. So while I think Etsy will continue to do well in the market, I do not feel Etsy will continue to hold its priority placement permanently. This is because Etsy continues not to focus on the very unique handmade market. Nor are they really supporting higher quality vintage shops. This makes it easier for these new sites to continue to grow.
Yes this is really hitting me. Have noticed quite a shift in visits and conversion rate and it was a search term that bought in a lot of customers for me. Please fix Etsy.
Yep that's how I operate LOLOLOL ok just kidding.... But I became suspicious of this when they bought in the new questions, wanting to know if it was made from scratch or assembled from parts, like it matters? Oh but it does........it will......
I think the reason the "handmade" option is gone, if it has been removed purposely is because there's very little genuine handmade items left on Etsy in comparison to the mass produced far eastern made rubbish that's just had some added personalisation. That's all Etsy is now, it's a gift shop made up of personalised cheaply made trinkets. I remember back a few years ago when such items would be reported and removed from Etsy. Now these items dwarf those made by artisans who produce their products from scratch. It used to be a place where people would shop for unusual, handcrafted often one of kind pieces be it handmade or vintage. Now it's just full of stuff masquerading as handmade or vintage with the same items sold by multiple sellers looking to have a side hustle.
I took all my handmade items off Etsy because they just weren't being found. It wasn't worth the money/effort to keep re-listing. Reading these comments I understand why. What a shame that Etsy has become just another "gift shop of cheaply made trinkets". Completely lost its USP.
The Supplies button has been gone for years, but my supply sales remain strong, so there's my anecdotal experience to say that a "missing" category button doesn't necessarily translate to a drop in sales.
THIS is so important. We really don't know how each of these components impact sales. Since Etsy is having problems with documenting listings correctly right now many of my original pieces are showing up as incorrectly as Designed By....Yet I've still had sales from them by people wanting original paintings. I'd imagine the same is true for the Handmade category.
Yes, further following what @cindylouwho2 wrote earlier:
"expect to see new filters based on the Creativity categories some time in the future".
In the 3Q report was this little nugget that can assist folks to consider testing similarly on their own shop's items:
"We ran full funnel marketing campaigns in the United States and United Kingdom, which featured real Etsy sellers and highlighted our unique positioning. Our buyer research shows that the campaign’s top themes of ‘supporting small,’ ‘originally made,’ and ‘handcrafted’ resonated with buyers."
"We ran full funnel marketing campaigns in the United States and United Kingdom, which featured real Etsy sellers and highlighted our unique positioning. Our buyer research shows that the campaign’s top themes of ‘supporting small,’ ‘originally made,’ and ‘handcrafted’ resonated with buyers."
I'll add to @Marpet3425 's post to report that Silverman also said they ran buyer surveys regarding shipping cost, especially free shipping, and there was quite a bit of response that they liked the idea of free shipping but not if it came out of sellers' pockets.
No idea if it's true but, if so, it appears that some buyers have seen the light.
- "... Silverman also said they ran buyer surveys regarding shipping cost, especially free shipping, and there was quite a bit of response that they liked the idea of free shipping but not if it came out of sellers' pockets. "
I must admit several of us got into a pique of frustration attempting to communicate, including myself, where @cindylouwho2 added some needed factual balance. This addition would be thoughtfully helpful as well.
No, I got the point...just sigh, resigned to the now of Etsy, I have no say in.
2:3 workarounds I've suggested on page 1 are sprinkled with mirth, a chin up denial so as not to sink further into despair and disgust over something I have no control over...
...Ohmmm, Radical acceptance onboard: exit strategy stage "decreased listings to under 20 or less" in motion. It stopped being fun long ago, with the exception of mirthsome or educational exchanges w/forum buddies!
Right above the listing titles on the search pages (and right below the pictures on the left) I'm seeing "Materials available" or "+more" links. If you click either one you still end up on the listing.
The materials available is on items that are not supplies. The item doesn't have variations for different materials either. Materials available for what? Makes no sense to me nor the +more link on other listings.
I searched for Boston Terrier then filtered to vintage.
I didn't have a handmade option either and even though I filtered to vintage, I saw "NEW" handmade items and items that were vintage but were not Boston Terriers.
Materials available is not about supplies for sale. It shows when multiple material variations can be selected on finished items. I see it frequently on jewellery that comes in more than one metal - you can see the metal colours in the search page.
It's been on applicable listings for many months, possibly since last year.
@vintageNCtreasures I see that Etsy is now also putting that on jewellery when the seller has selected materials. It may be a test.
Either way, it is always about the materials the seller selects, not that the listing is a supply. I am not sure why anyone would think that listing the materials should only be about a supply?
