Not Enough Variations

[HMarksStudio]

I know that KISS is good, less is more and form anxiety is very real. However... here's an example where fewer form entry areas make customer selections much more difficult.

Lets say I want to sell a wooden pendant necklace. I have ten stain colors, four lanyard colors and five hardware colors. This scenario is widespread. What do I do?

I can put the 10 color options under variation number one... all good. Now what? Do I create 20 items, 4 lanyard options times 5 hardware options? Really? 20 under one pull down is better than 4 under one and 5 under the other? Or do I do something with personalize where the potential customer has to manually type in an entry? The nature of pull downs is to get precise answers. Long pull downs, yes I dislike the typical 'State' pull down as I live in Virginia, therefore have to scroll, scroll, scroll on some of the newer forms which don't fill in as I type.

To me, customization is the exact same as personalization. Everyone knows personalizing is a huge bonus. But the extreme limit of just 2 variation inputs is limiting the customer. I don't wish for the ability to have unlimited variations, but only 2 seems ignorant of what customers really want.

In this for instance, I could have 10 listings, one for each color and then use the 2 variations for the lanyard and hardware. That certainly makes a bit more money for Etsy for listing fees. I want to run ads and this product. I shouldn't have to run 10 ads. I worry that someone will see I have the yellow color and not like that and perhaps never see the teal one which they would very much like.

Searching on this topic led me to more complaints about this and even a changeme.org listing.

This is a prime example of dumbed down software, where a simple look makes it impossible to input 'simple' entries.

Is is possible that a change to his lack of a feature might be forthcoming?

[CoquetteBath]

I got a headache reading your message! LOL...KISS isn't just a band (for those who aren't aware of the acronym) but it means 'keep it simple silly' (or another 's' word...)

and that's best. Why are you trying to make your customer agonize over stuff? Make it easy for them. Yes, you'll have more listings, but that will help YOU be seen. There are millions of listings here, you need a lot to be seen.

So, choose your top level like dark stains: list the few of those that fall into that category. In a specific design (not a choice)) and then let them choose the lanyard color.

rinse & repeat.

it is like going to a restaurant and have 10 pages to read & decide...not needed. Not helpful, either. Simple is best. JMO.

[AAANativeArts]

You are only allowed two options. If I need more I tell my customers to list their other preferences for the other options you need in the Preferences box. You are only allowed 10 pictures per listing, so if you can't show all the choices in 10 pictures, you should split some into separate products. 

I find if you give customers more than 4 or 5 choices, they can't make up their minds which they like best, so they end up not buying anything.

[Adorabilities]

Use two variations and the personalization box for the third one. 

[TastefulArtisan]

I've made this comment before on this very same topic, I used to run 3 concession stands for the park district, JFL football and the high school. I used to carry every single type of candy made and the kids (and some adults!) would take for flippen ever to make a decision. When I scaled it down to a few choices turnover in the lines was much faster. It took 20+ people to run the stand for friday night home games and my lines would get very long. Less to have to think about equals more sales and less unhappy people who are trying to get back after halftime. And the athletic director didn't have to constantly breathe down my neck after fending off complaints about the wait times.

In some cases, less is more. There are times where 1 more variation line would be nice but mostly, it's a hassle to have too many choices. 

Using the personalize box like Adorabilities is an option though I've found that if I asked for too much info in the personalize box, over half the time the option I asked for wasn't entered and then I'd have to contact, wait, extend ship dates blah blah and it was a major hassle. 

If I had that many options like the OP wrote about, I'd create different listings. You'll have that many more chances to be seen and won't intimidate potential buyers with a massive list of options to chose from.

JMO, you have to do what works best for you
-Maria