This is a somewhat cleaned-up version of a comment I posted on PussDaddy's blog, discussing the recent negative billing scam at ArtFire, and my subsequent departure from that site..
For those of my readers who are still ArtFire buyers or sellers, it is extremely important to keep yourself informed through the Fora there..otherwise you get these nasty little surprises dropped on you, complete with raging AF hags who swear at you and insult you for having an opinion..all anonymous,of course, so their is no payback for them.
Consequently I am now back at Etsy under the name hatwitch...although my banner still says mizdarlin, my shop url is hatwitch.etsy.com. or something.
Information passed on to those who need it...
..I was choked to learn about this little ArtFire scheme in ETSY Forums, that's right, knew nothing until there was a discussion posted in Etsy about it, which I recently rejoined..
Went over to the AF fora, was ignored, so decided not worth $6 a month for NO SALES..as bad as it got on the big E, it was nevah that bad..funny, too, 'cuz that was the first time I went to the Etsy Forums since I rejoined..talk about pertinent info...what angered the most was the fact that it was gonna be a negatively applied charge..that is, if you were a so-called Pro at a fixed rate and didn't want to pay for the add-on cash grab (for that is what it is) there would be a message appearing to buyers telling them that they had to trust you to do the right thing, that you weren't part of the Ass-surance program..what kind of happy horseshit is that?
Did Tony in his infinite wisdom think that the implied threat would motivate his sellers to pay "protection" money in the form of this surcharge..Think Again!
So, now an AF refugee, and have to say, a happy one..I can 'not sell' anything on Etsy for alot less money than on AF...and it definitely has more viewers.
Showing posts with label Celebrate Odd Etsy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celebrate Odd Etsy. Show all posts
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
ComeNGetsy for Christmas? Please Pass the Crow...
I know, yes, yes, after all my whining and complaining, I really am considering going to Etsy again, at least for the next four months...
I have been on ArtFire now for almost a year, paying a very low monthly fee ($5.95) but haven't made a sale since last November...
I realize that the bulk of my items are seasonal (although they seem to sell in the summer as well as in the winter at my weekly Markets).
Still I can always remember, despite my annoyance with much of Etsy's methodology, that I always sold more there than at ArtFire, and with Christmas coming, why not list for four months and see what comes of it?
I have been getting into pointless discussions with other AF sellers in their Forums about the lack of sales...always, two kinds of posters, (me and everyone there who is a cheerleader for AF) but I realize it's a waste of time..
I refuse to Tweet, I can't even figure out how to create a working Facebook kiosk, much less waste my time fruitlessly trying to promote my site, when I need to be making the stuff to sell on my site.
So will probably go back there at least for the Fall and pre-holiday season..may I have some mayo and relish with that crow, please?
I have been on ArtFire now for almost a year, paying a very low monthly fee ($5.95) but haven't made a sale since last November...
I realize that the bulk of my items are seasonal (although they seem to sell in the summer as well as in the winter at my weekly Markets).
Still I can always remember, despite my annoyance with much of Etsy's methodology, that I always sold more there than at ArtFire, and with Christmas coming, why not list for four months and see what comes of it?
I have been getting into pointless discussions with other AF sellers in their Forums about the lack of sales...always, two kinds of posters, (me and everyone there who is a cheerleader for AF) but I realize it's a waste of time..
I refuse to Tweet, I can't even figure out how to create a working Facebook kiosk, much less waste my time fruitlessly trying to promote my site, when I need to be making the stuff to sell on my site.
So will probably go back there at least for the Fall and pre-holiday season..may I have some mayo and relish with that crow, please?
Monday, January 3, 2011
If Anyone was Wondering..
I recently deleted all my items from my three Etsy shops; an act that was overdue, since i had almost no sales in the two years i was there, and since last March, almost no views..
I've gone to ArtFire-made several sales in the three months since joining, get tons of views and have joined an all-Canadian Guild there, rather like but not as limited as the Teams on ComeNGetsy...
No major snark in the Forums, just good solid information, if you need it, and , oh my, the tools! I pay a flat rate of $5.95 per month, no sales fees, no "relisting" fees, no getting two-dimed to death just trying to get noticed..and Admin there is friendly, helpful, and jumps in right away if a discussion on a subject is something that they can clarify...got to say, it's like night and day at AF as oppposed to E...happy I made the change!
I've gone to ArtFire-made several sales in the three months since joining, get tons of views and have joined an all-Canadian Guild there, rather like but not as limited as the Teams on ComeNGetsy...
No major snark in the Forums, just good solid information, if you need it, and , oh my, the tools! I pay a flat rate of $5.95 per month, no sales fees, no "relisting" fees, no getting two-dimed to death just trying to get noticed..and Admin there is friendly, helpful, and jumps in right away if a discussion on a subject is something that they can clarify...got to say, it's like night and day at AF as oppposed to E...happy I made the change!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Vagaries of Online Selling..
I know that many of my readers sell/and/or buy online and I wish they would talk more about it, but they don't..
In shopping sites like ComeandGetsy or Artfire, there is much deliberation in the Forums, by sellers, about specific problems or experiences, but very little that isn't emotionally-based about what I consider the most important question..is there any point in continuing?
Many fellow Makers that I speak to at my Farmer's Market are astounded that I even bother to try and sell online- they all have the same things to say..that they either tried but got nowhere, that there is no reason to bother because there are too many people trying to do the same thing online, the stuff they make won't "sell" online (I know that one well) or they find it too daunting to even make an attempt, as they don't feel computer-savvy enough to give it a try...
I used to argue with them, and tell them how much easier it was than they suspected (not being terribly tech-savvy myself, I was a noob authority) or point out, as so many in the Forums do, that they have to be patient and not expect instant gratification..that semi-terminal affliction that many of us suffer with...
We are all programmed for this..too much TV overstimulation as children, is my theory..since when did the delicious experience of waiting for a good thing to come to pass become so toxic?
I still love anticipation as much as the next dreamer, but find that I am getting impatient for sales online-I admit it..
After trying to be patient for a couple of years, I am realizing that economic recovery isn't the only reason for many of us selling little, if at all, online..
An odd thing happened earlier this month..I finally made an online sale..the first since last March..but the problem was, even with the Paypal receipt verifying payment, couldn't figure out what sold..or where!
When the e-mail from the site arrived, I was doubly astounded to realize that the sale was from a site I'd completely forgotten that I'd set up shop in..and had ignored ever since I did so-many, many months before..so many in fact, I had to go there and try and remember doing any of it.
It was of course, one of those free for a limited number of items, and pay as you go..
I recently re-signed up with Artfire, because of their $6 a month 'deal'..permanent, no fees for sales etc...I had been away from that site seemingly forever, but since nothing at all was happening with Etsy, despite 'buying' spots in sections and relisting to death, the
Artfire deal seemed a whole bunch more rational..
Recently Etsy castigated me by e-mail for calling some other posters "cupcakes"..didn't realize that the Tea Party had taken over, but remembering that Etsy has completely lost track of it's original intent, and seems to be turning into eBay by the day, I am not surprised..just done..
After the holidays, or when my listings expire, whichever comes first (no point in shutting down while my money is already spent and not recovered) I'm leaving ComeandGetsy for good as a seller..and I'm not the Lone
Ranger..
By the way, 2 weeks after I re-upped with ArtFire, I made a sale there..
go figure...
In shopping sites like ComeandGetsy or Artfire, there is much deliberation in the Forums, by sellers, about specific problems or experiences, but very little that isn't emotionally-based about what I consider the most important question..is there any point in continuing?
Many fellow Makers that I speak to at my Farmer's Market are astounded that I even bother to try and sell online- they all have the same things to say..that they either tried but got nowhere, that there is no reason to bother because there are too many people trying to do the same thing online, the stuff they make won't "sell" online (I know that one well) or they find it too daunting to even make an attempt, as they don't feel computer-savvy enough to give it a try...
I used to argue with them, and tell them how much easier it was than they suspected (not being terribly tech-savvy myself, I was a noob authority) or point out, as so many in the Forums do, that they have to be patient and not expect instant gratification..that semi-terminal affliction that many of us suffer with...
We are all programmed for this..too much TV overstimulation as children, is my theory..since when did the delicious experience of waiting for a good thing to come to pass become so toxic?
I still love anticipation as much as the next dreamer, but find that I am getting impatient for sales online-I admit it..
After trying to be patient for a couple of years, I am realizing that economic recovery isn't the only reason for many of us selling little, if at all, online..
An odd thing happened earlier this month..I finally made an online sale..the first since last March..but the problem was, even with the Paypal receipt verifying payment, couldn't figure out what sold..or where!
When the e-mail from the site arrived, I was doubly astounded to realize that the sale was from a site I'd completely forgotten that I'd set up shop in..and had ignored ever since I did so-many, many months before..so many in fact, I had to go there and try and remember doing any of it.
It was of course, one of those free for a limited number of items, and pay as you go..
I recently re-signed up with Artfire, because of their $6 a month 'deal'..permanent, no fees for sales etc...I had been away from that site seemingly forever, but since nothing at all was happening with Etsy, despite 'buying' spots in sections and relisting to death, the
Artfire deal seemed a whole bunch more rational..
Recently Etsy castigated me by e-mail for calling some other posters "cupcakes"..didn't realize that the Tea Party had taken over, but remembering that Etsy has completely lost track of it's original intent, and seems to be turning into eBay by the day, I am not surprised..just done..
After the holidays, or when my listings expire, whichever comes first (no point in shutting down while my money is already spent and not recovered) I'm leaving ComeandGetsy for good as a seller..and I'm not the Lone
Ranger..
By the way, 2 weeks after I re-upped with ArtFire, I made a sale there..
go figure...
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Manuela, from the blog "The Pleasures of Homemaking"..you know the one with the drool-inducing pictures-just asked what we the readers did to motivate ourselves to clean our homes..
Which got me to thinking..is there any motivation sufficiently tempting to induce me to clean? Certainly not simply the presence of, say, dust..although I do have asthma, and it helps if you dust a whole bunch, like daily (tears of laughter- insert here). I hate the fact that I foolishly bought an animal-print-and black bordered rug for my living room, because the black looks bad even after I vacuum it.., and the hardwood floors in my place, as pretty as they looked when I first moved in, are a real challenge..you don't want to spend alot of time on them..hence the plethora of rugs everywhere..and of course, 15 minutes after you run the dustmop around the rugs to capture the dust from the floor, the rugs look like you never vacuumed in the 16 months that you've been here.. I never could understand why so many people hated hardwood floors, until now..they look good-for about 5 minutes..then you just have to keep your view on the pictures you've hung..that is really what they are for..art to keep you from looking down and getting depressed all over again.
Speaking of art, even my living room wall looks messy..I tend to hang a bunch of things closely together-for effect, and to keep wall damage to a minimum (a renter's lament).
In my fantasies, I have won a lottery or made a huge sale on Etsy or Cargoh, whatever comes first, and suddenly I am wealthy enough to contribute to the economy by hiring someone to 'help' me clean...
Well, that and the ability to travel til it's all spent..but then, when you are traveling, someone else does the cleaning-up...
Which got me to thinking..is there any motivation sufficiently tempting to induce me to clean? Certainly not simply the presence of, say, dust..although I do have asthma, and it helps if you dust a whole bunch, like daily (tears of laughter- insert here). I hate the fact that I foolishly bought an animal-print-and black bordered rug for my living room, because the black looks bad even after I vacuum it.., and the hardwood floors in my place, as pretty as they looked when I first moved in, are a real challenge..you don't want to spend alot of time on them..hence the plethora of rugs everywhere..and of course, 15 minutes after you run the dustmop around the rugs to capture the dust from the floor, the rugs look like you never vacuumed in the 16 months that you've been here.. I never could understand why so many people hated hardwood floors, until now..they look good-for about 5 minutes..then you just have to keep your view on the pictures you've hung..that is really what they are for..art to keep you from looking down and getting depressed all over again.
Speaking of art, even my living room wall looks messy..I tend to hang a bunch of things closely together-for effect, and to keep wall damage to a minimum (a renter's lament).
In my fantasies, I have won a lottery or made a huge sale on Etsy or Cargoh, whatever comes first, and suddenly I am wealthy enough to contribute to the economy by hiring someone to 'help' me clean...
Well, that and the ability to travel til it's all spent..but then, when you are traveling, someone else does the cleaning-up...
Sunday, August 15, 2010
It's Too Damn' Hot and Sales are Cold...another Series of Random Rants..Part 4(?) or more...
This just in... after the rather painful culling at the Cargoh site (of sellers that didn't 'fit' into their aesthetic, which they describe as urban edgy-indie... sorta) those of us who survived can breathe a collective sigh of relief..although, have to say, I have never seen so much vitriol in my life as was directed to admin on that site, due to their decision to start the adjudication process immediately, which was a radical departure from the original statement of welcome..and so many of these sellers are too complacent at Etsy..where these days, anything goes...
We are all getting a bit tired of working so hard for little or no return online; but I figured, what the heck, it's free and you only pay a fee when you sell-so other than product, no cost to me..unlike Etsy, where those little 20 cent increments can add up very quickly, and surprisingly, to real money..and, at least for me, no return..
I don't like eBay much, and Etsy seems to be headed that way, so another venue made sense..and i prefer adjudication...at craft markets and online..I don't want to even try to compete with the Third World financially, and people are willing to pay a premium for quality and originality..the problem is hooking up with that finite group.
The weather here has been just unbearable..having recently gone through my second major chunk of skin cancer removal, the last thing i want to do is go out there and get some more..been watering my little balcony garden at night, just to give the plants time to recover, but they aren't doing so well, except the tomatoes, which love the heat..the lettuces are unfortunately Lilliputian...and the parsley looks like a grizzled old man, gray-green and fuzzy in all the wrong places, stooped and grumpy..it recovers, it stoops, it recovers, it stoops..*sigh* container gardening during a heatwave is really a masochistic pursuit.
I think the whole world is going through some kind of pestilential problem-floods, fires, quakes, heatwaves, droughts..I guess these days, that geography really is destiny for many.
Hope all of you are surviving this in style..
We are all getting a bit tired of working so hard for little or no return online; but I figured, what the heck, it's free and you only pay a fee when you sell-so other than product, no cost to me..unlike Etsy, where those little 20 cent increments can add up very quickly, and surprisingly, to real money..and, at least for me, no return..
I don't like eBay much, and Etsy seems to be headed that way, so another venue made sense..and i prefer adjudication...at craft markets and online..I don't want to even try to compete with the Third World financially, and people are willing to pay a premium for quality and originality..the problem is hooking up with that finite group.
The weather here has been just unbearable..having recently gone through my second major chunk of skin cancer removal, the last thing i want to do is go out there and get some more..been watering my little balcony garden at night, just to give the plants time to recover, but they aren't doing so well, except the tomatoes, which love the heat..the lettuces are unfortunately Lilliputian...and the parsley looks like a grizzled old man, gray-green and fuzzy in all the wrong places, stooped and grumpy..it recovers, it stoops, it recovers, it stoops..*sigh* container gardening during a heatwave is really a masochistic pursuit.
I think the whole world is going through some kind of pestilential problem-floods, fires, quakes, heatwaves, droughts..I guess these days, that geography really is destiny for many.
Hope all of you are surviving this in style..
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Shout-Out to Celebrate Odd Etsy!
This is a great blog for the most part..no snark or laughing at people, or sarcastic running commentary from the blogger (hate that!) like Regretsy, just some good weirdness and geekiness..I enjoy it as a break from all the sweetness and light...sometimes ya just need a zombie or two, or a bacon rasher necklace, to cheer you up!
I also love to be someone's first customer..it's thrilling for them and for me! And I picked Creepy Stuff as my seller..
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CREEPYSTUFF
I kind of collect art dolls..but strictly strange ones, and this one is definitely strange..I'll post it when I get it..this may not be to your taste, but check out the blog anyhow..
I also submitted her shop as a possibility to Celebrate Odd Etsy!, the blog that posts on these various "unique" stores..this is a very democratic blog, as much as submitted shops can be..
We are free to comment, check them out, find them offensive (I have done all three) but I like the idea that there is an alternative to Etsy Front Page beige stick-figure model minimalism..
For somethng different, go check out Celebrate Odd Etsy!
I also love to be someone's first customer..it's thrilling for them and for me! And I picked Creepy Stuff as my seller..
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CREEPYSTUFF
I kind of collect art dolls..but strictly strange ones, and this one is definitely strange..I'll post it when I get it..this may not be to your taste, but check out the blog anyhow..
I also submitted her shop as a possibility to Celebrate Odd Etsy!, the blog that posts on these various "unique" stores..this is a very democratic blog, as much as submitted shops can be..
We are free to comment, check them out, find them offensive (I have done all three) but I like the idea that there is an alternative to Etsy Front Page beige stick-figure model minimalism..
For somethng different, go check out Celebrate Odd Etsy!
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