We are a CLOSED Team - yet a non-member is posting

[CozyWarmCreations]

I wrote to HELP DESK - but have heart NOTHNG back. The SHOP in questions is NOT a member of our CLOSED TEAM yet they ARE posting in our threads - but they are NOT faving any of our items (In other words - A cheater).  I requested that Etsy FIX this problem by somehow blocking the SHOP.  I've written to the SHOP asking them to STOP posting in our threads as they are NOT a member and with their cheating ways will NEVER BE A MEMBER.

[nineteen27]

i just posted something in your invitation only thread.

it must be open to the public.

[PrairiePrimitives]

@nineteen27 - I am Captain of a local Etsy team. I have never heard that Etsy teams must be open to the public. That is, of course, an option, but I've never heard it's a requirement. Please share a link to your source. Thanks! 

[nineteen27]

@PrairiePrimitives 

nono.

i meant it must be open to the public.

i should have said it appears to be open to the public.

not it MUST be open to the public.

[NoFrogsAllowed]

@CozyWarmCreations 

If nineteen27 can post in that thread then that thread is obviously open to the public.  No one is saying it has to be open to the public, it's just a fact that it is.

[BootifulLabels]

It appears your board is open to all.  As for the poster cheating because they do not fave other participants' items, that is a furphy.  Faves from other sellers do nothing for your shop, nor do faving "games" supposedly devised to encourage traffic.  

[nineteen27]

furphy!

i have never heard that word before.

i shall name my next cat furphy.

[BootifulLabels]

It would be a great name for a cat.  As wonderful a pet as they are, you can never really trust them.  LOL

[GlassyFields]

I just looked up furphy - what a great word. thank you.

rumor or fictitious story, Australian slang

[MyOverstuffedAttic]

Not to mention teams actually are trying to manipulate search with their time-wasting games. I would call THAT cheating!

[TickleYourWitch]

High school flashbacks. Lol

[CatsWhiskersCurios]

Miiiiiss! They're not playing fair!!

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

Faving each other's items actually damages your shop!  

[ZYOZA]

What did I just read with my own two eyes? 

[swatchoclock]

Is this a 'thing'!? shops liking each other items to get higher up in search (or something)? Mind is blown.

[MinnieMaudsAttic]

@swatchoclock   It used to be.  Some teams used to spend their whole time favouriting each others’ shops/items.  Etsy long ago said it was pointless and, in fact, could be detrimental to a shop to be involved in these games.  Some people just carried on and ignored the advice.

[howtobooksandmore]

@MinnieMaudsAttic   To be fair, there are a lot of Etsy advice that I ignore.  Like lowering my prices, my shipping charges, using Etsy ads, AI tagging my items with IP infringing words, etc, etc, etc.  But I never participated in favorite games.

[MinnieMaudsAttic]

@howtobooksandmore Much of the advice is best ignored.  This bit was probably one of the more useful ones.

[PrairiePrimitives]

Favoriting each other's shops & listings used to be a BIG thing. It was definitely a way to get eyeballs on your shop and listings, but I don't know if it ever really helped a shop?

Etsy was several years old before they said this didn't work ... and then the "favoriting teams" found a way around it by telling members what to search for because, at least at the time, only hearts for items found via search counted for anything. I'm not sure if anything other than sales counts these days? 

[CoquetteBath]

As others have said, OP, this type of 'faving' isn't helping anyone at all.

It inflates your shop views, of course, but since no one is buying anything, the Etsy AI bot goes 'hmmm, people visit and don't buy, guess we'll show this shop/item LESS often'. Etsy's #1 rule is to make money for Etsy. They really do not care what shop it comes from.

I've noticed it in my shop. I sell a bottle of Lemon Sugar Body Wash...and I will get at least one more sale for that VERY product within a very short time. Maybe multiples. I sell a sachet, I then will sell sachets to the next 5-10 customer. Some will exclusively BUY sachets. Now, I think my products rock, of course, but...I have a lot of products. What are the odds that people are just doing the same thing? Yeah, could happen. More likely the BOT is going, 'hmmm, folks see this product and BUY it, let's show it more often!"

so unless you are buying from each other's shop...you're actually tanking each other in search. You do you. I'd suggest a rethink.

[PrairiePrimitives]

It's something in the algorithm. I learned about this when I was selling on Amazon Handmade. Although I mostly sold OOAK items there too (as I do here), I did have a few repeatable items. When one of the repeatables sold, it usually sold again very soon thereafter ... and then again and again!

One year I sold a small inexpensive handmade Easter basket for $10. Those sold like hotcakes! I got sooo tired of making them that the next year I decided to price them at $12. I only sold a few at that price.

[PieceByNumberQuilts]

Thanks for mentioning that!  I have some patterns in my shop that don't sell as well as the others, but I will notice that as soon as one person buys or favorites one of those patterns, another one does the same right after!  It happens often enough that I sensed a pattern, but figure with a small shop like mine, it's hard to extrapolate patterns in any statistical sense.   So it's helpful to read someone else experiences this.

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

Favoriting games are still a thing? 

[MinnieMaudsAttic]

@PiecesOfMePaperCraft   Apparently they are for some sellers.

[SugarPressStudios]

Apparently no.