Old Listing Form Is Better

[SoSylvie]

The New Form is regressive. It's a chore. There is no logical flow. Selecting your Shop Section is at the bottom, nested beneath Shipping. Why should the Shop Section be an afterthought? Sometimes I forget that it's even there. Not good. You have to open additional windows unnecessarily. The "Core Details" are repeated again further down the page, after you've already closed that window at the beginning. It's confusing. The shipping amount is not visible in the overview. In order to review it before publishing I have to re-open the shipping window to review the amount. The structure makes no sense. There is no natural flow from beginning to end of the form. Color choices are no longer alphabetized (someone thought it was cleaver to alphabetize the usual suspects and then re-alphabetize another group of colors "Beige, Gold, Silver" below those colors WHA??) . There are no longer attributes like pattern (striped, floral, etc.), sleeve length, neckline, hem length...There are limited holidays to choose from. 

BUT WORST OF ALL I spent an hour on a listing today only to receive an error message telling me to try again later. You know what I did? I used the OLD FORM and it was easier AND it successfully listed the item. No error message preventing it from going through. I implore Etsy to leave the Old Form as a choice. Especially if it means that the New Form will prevent me from doing business.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

Never mind your experience.

Etsy says it is better.

And Etsy knows best!

[SoSylvie]

It seems that way. I've been here since 2010 and I've always taken the surveys when they come up with some half-baked new idea, imploring them to leave well enough alone. It makes no difference, unless there are too few of us completing the surveys to amount to anything. Or, the surveys are a false front, giving them the appearance of listening, when in reality it's placating. Sigh. It's so tiresome.

[rarefinds4u]

I have been here since 2009.  Etsy has made many changes that sellers don't like over the years BUT we need to adjust.  I agree that I like the old listing form much better and easier to complete.   I had just gotten down adding the ALT text to all my listings after Etsy suggested we do so.....the new format does not allow for this addition!  Ugh......

[AAANativeArts]

@rarefinds4u  The alt text is under images now. It doesn't appear until you upload your images.

[CatsBeadKitsandMore]

I agree, this new form is clunky, too many clicks and not at all streamlined. I've gone through a few listing format changes in my time with etsy but this is the worse one so far. I've been here since 2010.

[AAANativeArts]

Amen, sister.

When you use Calculated Shipping, it charges 3 or 4 times what it costs. So now I have to use Flat Rate and just guess what it might cost, since when I am listing, I don't know where it is going yet. And when it messes up, I can't just change to Flat Rate or it doesn't stick. I have to copy the product, then delete the old one (and lose my .20 listing fee and pay again) to get it to stick.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

It doesn't matter what we think. 

[DonatellasTreasures]

The old form was much better, easier to fill out, and more logical in its layout.  New is not necessarily better..... but unless A LOT of us say something, we'll have to live with the new stupid form (I really don't know where they got the idea of calling it more "streamlined," that's about the LAST thing the new form is....)  

By the way, careful not to automatically accept offers on your item if you don't intend to add that feature, with this new form, it's there by default and it's very easy to not notice and leave that option open.  

[FeltWithAHeart]

@DonatellasTreasures I think a lot of us HAVE been saying something from the start. It doesn't always get you anywhere, as in this case. And as you can see, this forum post is nearly two months old, so a lot has been said in all that time already.

[stuartroadvintage]

Ugh, I hate that default accept offers button the most!!

[SpottedOctopusShop]

I don't like changes because they take a little adjusting to but I like the photo cropping of the new listing form much better. And the ease of adding alt text. I've read that the new listing form will allow Etsy to add new things and abilities. I'm hoping that includes the kind of ability Vela has with it's listing editor. Vela has increased the price to $20 a month. If Etsy were to add that capability as an optional service for sellers to purchase, it probably would cost less than $20 a month and it could generate revenue without forcing another fee hike. That's my Saturday afternoon dreaming.