I am an avid crochet-er. There are tons of patterns that I used to like to look through, for me it is like looking at TikTok, I just scroll through. I am also a seller. I have a very small business, just me, and have had almost 1500 sells. I am not on the first 20 pages. I do not like this new change as either a seller, or a buyer. People like to shop. Not everyone who gets on here is looking for something ultra specific. When I search, I search "crochet patterns", not crochet bear pattern. I want to shop and see what is available. I am not educated in seo and I believe most people are not. I think this change is pulling Etsy further away from dealing with small sellers, and casual buyers. Think about it, if you are looking for a women's top, that is most likely what you are going to type into the search bar, not women's top, low cut, size 5, yellow, etc. You most likely want to browse the tops to find one that you like. Now I know this isn't always the case, but I do think it is the case most of the time. This change of having to be ultra specific to search is cutting out sellers like me, who do not have a degree in advertising, or the money to throw at advertising. The last time I did an ad campaign through Etsy, I was spending more than I was making. I turned the ads off, and started selling a lot more and actually making money. The ads from Etsy simply did not work for me. I do not think I am alone in this. Etsy is supposed to be a place for people with small businesses, and handmade items, to be sold. Not professional sellers with marketing degrees. I work out of my craft room in my home. My shop consists of me, not me and a few workers that I pay to make the items I sell, just me. this is what Etsy started out doing, and what they say they want to get back to. Restricting the searches so that you cannot be seen without a ton of advertising is not the way to go about supporting small, or in my case, one person businesses.
