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Thu Sept 12 2013 07:51:09

Fallout from Etsy Feedback Changes Continues

By: Reader

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Dear Ina,
Over Labor Day weekend, several hundred Etsy sellers spent most of their time on an Etsy forum asking Etsy admin to come into the thread and answer questions about several new "rules" they had put into play. They closely monitor forums - closely enough to immediately erase any post that hits too close to home. They refused to come in and talk to their customers (that being us, the sellers).

Etsy preaches customer service, customer relations, but refuses to talk to its own seller except for to mute them, permamute them, or close their shop in the middle of the night which isn't really talking as you never hear from them again.

After four days of sellers discussing WHY the new star rating would hurt sellers, WHY the inability for sellers to now leave feedback for their buyers, and HOW this would hurt customer relations for the sellers, one admin popped in with two paragraphs of doublespeak. It said NOTHING. We are reviewing, however this is going to stand, but we will look into blah blah blah. She ended by saying "we will be closing this thread shortly". And sure enough - by the end of that page (page number 1305) Rob came in and said "this page is now closed".

Etsy management behaves like spoiled brats. They got very lucky with Etsy. It cannot be because of intelligence. They've proven that. AND they "get even". This week NO one in Etsy has had sales. They of course swear they have nothing to do with this. We as sellers know better. The slow (or no) sales always hit after a major uproar. They refuse to listen to the people who made Etsy grow, who kept Etsy growing, and who DO the customer service. They are like spoiled children, refusing to talk, refusing to "come out of their rooms" when things go badly.

Not a word, but all of us who crossed the invisible line and got a comment erased, received emails with our offensive remark quoted and then a link to one of their one million rules where is specifically states you cannot do this or that. Their rule book has pages, tables, and sections.

So the exodus to Zibbet has begun. In fact, Zibbet is being over-run. New shops are popping up every 15 minutes. We have been met by two wonderful men who not only don't hide in the "ivory tower" - they don't HAVE an ivory tower. They pop into conversations whenever they have time. If a question is asked of another "Zebbit", sometimes it's answered by one of the owners who happened to see it. They aren't monitoring - they are just THERE. Their rules are on one page. Everyone is working together to get Zibbet grown and noticed.

This time was too much. Etsy has spent it's lifetime tossing sellers away, allowing cheap goods in from China while making real artisians document their steps through a project with photographs and in writing. Again it is called being power hungry and money hungry.

AND this time there is no going back to Etsy. I suppose Chad will now use is $10 million in venture capital to expand "hand made goods" but they won't be Made in American and they WON'T be HAND made unless they are done in sweat shops.

Please withhold my name and email. I need to be able to access the remaining inventory I have IN Etsy in order to finish my move to Zibbet.
A.