the new pricing insights tool needs a lot of work!!

[gogreenworkshop]

I finally decided to try out the new etsy pricing insights tool since the announcement has been pestering me for a while. 

What a waste of my time. 

Why is it comparing my handmade wooden buttons to factory made in china wooden buttons.  No I am not going to lower my price to china factory prices. 

Why is it comparing my ROSEWOOD bookmarks to someone else's maple wood bookmarks?  Obviously once again im not going to lower my price since the materials are completely different. 

I get it that its just an algorithm and heck for all i know the Chinese factory people deliberately marked there mass produced stuff as handmade even though its not necessary if sold as a supply.

If your going to provide us this tool its going to need a lot more work, unless your goal is to desperately try to force us all to the bottom and lower our prices. 

[AnniebelloPaper]

The only thing you can do is x out of it, ignore and price as you see fit. You are the best person to set pricing suitable for your type and quality of your products. Just because Etsy thinks it's useful, doesn't make it useful.

[BagmakerSupply]

@gogreenworkshop: We were offered a beta version of the tool and the major problem we saw with it as a supply seller (besides not knowing the quality / material content of the other listings) was that we could not even ascertain the pack size(s) the tool was comparing the listing with.

[RiverfallJewellery]

I tried it too.  My main issue with it is that I am UK based and also offer free shipping (so in effect my prices include the postage amount). They also reflect the cost of materials etc over here. The items they compared my things to were sold in the USA with postage separate and using materials that I know are more affordable over there.  If I took my postage costs off, my prices were the same or very similar to the ones they recommend I charge. 

I do like the idea of a tool to let us check against the market, as it were, but it needs to be a fair comparison and at the moment it's not. 

[LastCentury]

"I do like the idea of a tool to let us check against the market..."

yeah, me too, it used to be Search... you could do a quick search to see a quick comparison and get an idea of where your item should be priced taking in most variations into consideration. But Search is really broken now with the way categories are now.

[kickglassenamels]

I found it to be useless. Like your experience, the items weren't comparable in quality. I think it's set up for people selling common production items.

[TheHomespunLoft]

Just ignore it.. simple..don't even click on it.. You know your prices best.. better than some AI computer. I do think this will help the newer seller who might be just happy to make a sale and not be concerned about profit or even loss.

[LastCentury]

yep... but great for all the POD T & mug sellers... same fees, same production partner costs, a lot of the same looking art, pretty much a level playing field. And as the site has become overrun by these shops with new ones opening every day, etsy may think, development money well spent.

same for all the Doritos sellers.

[ifutzwithfire]

Yeah. If etsy is going to push algorithm-based tools on us, they need to at least be trainable. By that I mean when the tool compares my finished ornate necklace to a strand of beads in the supply category that’s the same material but drastically different quality, there needs to be a button for “this item is not a relevant comparison”. Items used for comparison also should be in the same top-level category of handmade, vintage, or supply.

For those saying just ignore it, here’s why it’s important and necessary for sellers- Etsy’s clients- to speak up when stuff like this happens. We are entitled to be upset when Etsy chooses to put their resources toward useless shiny toys like this that promise much and deliver nothing. Those resources are sorely needed elsewhere, like finishing the app they published about two years ago that still can’t create a listing start to finish, or toward offering truly responsive customer service instead of governing by bot and ghosting sellers who need more help. I guess people have forgotten- or never understood to begin with- the uproar when Etsy almost simultaneously took more profits for themselves and then raised fees claiming it was the only way they could offer basic services.

[LastCentury]

the previous release of this tool did have a “this item is not a relevant comparison” (or similar) button. I didn't see it on this new version.

If they just fixed search, we could go back to using the etsy search to do a quick comparison for ourselves to price our items accordingly.

[GlassyFields]

I don't have high hopes for a pricing tool.

It was wildly all over the place in my several checks.

But even if it gets better, it will have a difficult time comparing true quality and aesthetics. I'm not holding my breath.

[BoudoirPrive]

I also tried it out and the items they were comparing mine to were cheap mass produced items, not handmade, hence I will not be lowering my prices to match their suggestions.

[pHBalancedPainting]

I sell hand painted miniatures, they can take 6-10 hours a piece to paint.  The pricing suggestions where that I was too high because the unpainted 3d prints that dominate the category where being sold for cheaper lol

I'm not going to sell something that took me 8 hours to work on for $12 guys

[StitchyFrood]

It compared my amigurumi to POD shirts and told me I was underpriced. Laughable and useless. 

[RosesWorkshop]

I would love to use this if it worked properly, but as others have said it does not compare like items. This isn't just comparing apples with pears, it is more like apples with tractors!

Many of my items are made from Harris Tweed - you know, that unique handwoven British wool fabric from the Scottish islands. Yes my tea cosies ARE twice the price of those made from mass-produced printed cotton; you would be amazed if they weren't. If the AI could check the very few genuinely similar items, as I have done manually, it would show that my pricing is just fine and on a par with other makers.

Sometimes these tools have a feedback button, but I can't see any way to suggest improvements.

[BaerreisCollection]

absolutely! The tool compares my handmade, originals with things made in Asia.  I have a long history with this - since 2006 on Etsy.. The tool is worthless.  I know how to price my work, and I have been doing it for 53 years as a designer/craftswoman.

The pricing insight tool compares apples and tires..  not even apples and oranges.. and my prices are inexpensive.. I remember in 2008 or so when my dh had cancer and we were dependent upon my hair forks to survive.. i was busy enough and grateful for my customers' support.  but i sold enough to get the attention of big producers, and woke one morning to see rough copies of my work on this venue for 99cents and free shipping.  Not the same, it hurt me.  but I moved forward.  i make my designs one at a time with my hands.  i don't farm it out . 

you cannot compare artist to artist work by price alone.  pricing insights are a joke

[skeletos]

One would think a big company like Etsy would try out their program to check how good it is, before they launch it. They would have thrown it back at the programmer, so obviously useless it is.

In my case, it compared a solid 14K gold piece with some crappy plastic junk which was two hundred times cheaper. Oh wonder! If AI won't get better, we are doomed.

[artzfolk]

A few years back, Etsy increased their sales fees, taking a larger cut of profits from sellers. This move resulted in decreased profits for handmade items, leading sellers to explore other platforms, hike up prices, and turn to selling overseas-made products to stay afloat. Fast forward to today, with rising supply costs, energy expenses, and wages, Etsy finds itself in a tough spot. To combat this, they are introducing new features to make sellers second-guess their listings. If Etsy aims to boost sales and enhance their offerings, they must consider reducing their profit margins to ensure that small businesses can also thrive.

[DivineCrossings]

Never mind…self-deleted. What I/we think doesn’t matter to Etsy anyway.

[lampshadelady]

What a waste of money!!! A smart seller will do that leg work easily and should. I watched my category for a year before joining etsy. I looked at the quality of my group, pricing, style, quality, etc. I quickly decided on a no return policy as this was a concern and encouraged customers to work with me.

Dump this Etsy.