It's Impossible to Find What I'm LOOKING for on Etsy anymore

[#1]

I buy a lot of jewelry supplies on Etsy but it seems I'm no longer able to search for things under the 'jewelry supply' category anymore. I am searching for supplies, not actual jewelry but my searches are inundated with 90% ready to wear jewelry. Why is Etsy making it so hard to buy from them?? I find myself going to other sites as I'm just not able to find what I'm looking for on Etsy anymore.  Its super sad and infuriating and I can only imagine my clients are finding the same frustrations.  

[OneEyeCatStudio]

And Etsy isn't doing too well, lately.

I wonder if there could possibly be some relation?

If they can't find it, they can't buy it.

[ChantillyAvenue]

@OneEyeCatStudio 

Precisely!  This is it more than any other thing.  Their search leads people to everything they didn't come here to find.  If you haven't been buying on Etsy since they bought the building, your chances of finding what you need are almost zero.  The more specific you are when searching, the more c-r-a-p will be pushed in your face.  And yes, the majority of it will be manufactured junk from a foreign country I will not name here.  You are better off using fewer keywords and clicking through thousands of pages than you are trying to narrow it down to specifics.

[PrevntProducts]

edit ( ;

[JacksonsWovens]

I couldn't agree with you more!  What use to take 5 minutes to find on Etsy, I feel like can take me hours being inundated with items being shown that are truly not relevant given the amount of paid ads being shown.  I've made a lot of purchases on Etsy, but I've stopped purchasing as much and going elsewhere mainly because Search is just awful to navigate through and it takes me much longer than other sites to find what I'm looking for.

[StreetwoodDesign]

I have never considered etsy as a place to buy supplies for anything. Why is that a thing to begin with? What am I missing? etsy is the place to buy a finished handmade item, or something vintage whatever that is. All the complaints about resellers being on etsy, well, if you buy a supply aren't you buying from a distributor typically? a reseller? why go to etsy for buying supplies? I don't get it. I would never consider buying through etsy for my supplies. And, I agree their search algorithm is crap, their agenda is crap, their direction is crap. Thankfully I have a website.

[Adorabilities]

There are lots of handmade supplies sold here. 

Plenty of people think (or used to think) of Etsy as a good place to buy supplies. The variety of supplies available here is pretty great -- better than any single distributor I've seen. I always thought supplies were included on Etsy because the original vision was to value handmade goods, which may include handmaking those goods yourself.

[BlackSheepDyeworks]

Ditto @Adorabilities comments ... and to add, Etsy had a built-in, internal market of other sellers inclined to buy from their fellow sellers here.

It continues to puzzle me that Etsy has abandoned supply sellers, to a great extent.  Seems like it's low hanging fruit, and used to be a large part of GMS.  Supplies have seen double digit decreases for a number of quarters now, and I don't see that changing, unless Etsy makes it easier to shop here for them [ETA - i.e., how searching for supplies used to be].

[StringerBs]

I occasionally like to deal with a shop  who vets gemstones from India since it is often a gamble as far as quality goes until you find someone you can trust.

[ChantillyAvenue]

Another thing that should be factored in is the diminishing quality of supplies.  Some of my struggles with purchasing supplies on Etsy has a lot to do with the quality not being what it once was.  Several American jewelry finding manufacturers have either gone out of business, or reduced production levels to the extent that items which used to be plentiful are always on back order.  At the same time, cheap, poor quality products are taking their place at an alarming rate.  

[StringerBs]

Could not agree more.  Takes so much time to find any supply unless I am repeating a purchase and it goes there automatically.

Everything is harder to operate now--such a pain.

[FallenAngelBrass]

I'm glad that a few sellers are learning in this thread that Etsy is a great place to buy supplies.  I think it's the best source in the world if you're in the market for things that can't be found in the big box stores. 

[ChantillyAvenue]

@FallenAngelBrass 

Your shop is the perfect example of a supply shop with unique products you can't find just anywhere.  Nor would you want to.  It exemplifies the way jewelry designers used to (and some of us still do) perceive supply shopping on Etsy. I have several Etsy suppliers I see in the same way, but they sell mostly vintage supplies.  

[PrettyVagrant]

I only purchase from previous purchases for this very reason.  Many jewelry supplies are bought by size, in mm.  Searching for a size using mm is pointless.  12mm round beads show 12 beads, 12mm beads, 8 square beads, 1 bead, 2 beads, fishnet stockings, and a tie lol.

Josh, once said that somebody looking for a belt may want to tie to go with that belt. He’s wrong people want to see what they typed into the search bar and maybe one day they’ll wake up to recognize that that is why revenue is down. 

[AumSwaha]

A search that used to take no more than 10 minutes now consumes hours. It seems obvious that no one on the executive board has any experience buying or selling handmade goods, let alone on their own platform.  Since 2017, Etsy has been degrading, and every time I think it couldn't get worse, it does. Oh well, back to the programmed narrative: consume, consume, consume!

[pHBalancedPainting]

Not even Etsy can find things now lol

They introduced a feature to review your pricing on items compared to "similar items".   I sell roleplaying miniatures I paint by hand, no 3d prints just Reaper Miniatures, Games Workshop, Wizkids etc.   They reviewed my prices and the instructions where to drastically reduce my prices because compared to "similar listings" I was overpriced.   Every single other listing in the comparison was for unpainted 3d prints

[CabotsCove1]

This has been going on for several months now.  I buy digital files for laser cutting. When I search for a pattern, like birdhouse svg, and use the "digital downloads" filter, I see pages and pages of finished products and products not related to bird houses in any way.  Some examples:  the Last Supper engraving, Easter bunny cutting board, earring bundle, farm animals, birthday plaque, shelf sitters, Christmas ornaments, Advent calendar, tumbler patterns, leather tote bags and more.  After every two rows of legitimate related content, there is a row of ads for items that have nothing to do with the search.

[StringerBs]

How did ETSY search get so bad so quickly?  I have always liked supporting jewelry suppliers on the site but I only deal with a small handful of trusted regulars at this point.  I've resorted to ebay as well.  Doesn't feel like ETSY gives two _ _ _ _ _ anyway.  Would be nice to find another platform designed like the old ETSY.