High Costs Offset an Increase in Revenue at Etsy Inc

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/business/high-costs-offset-an-increase-in-revenue-at-etsy-inc.html?_r=0

by MaxQuentero • 11 years ago

10 4 11 years ago

zer00eyz2• 11 years ago

This should not surprise anyone.

Etsy is a mess. They do pretty interesting engineering work but I have to wonder about some of the business decisions they have made.

I don't think that Etsy has done nearly enough to support their sellers. This isn't a new development either. They need to take a good long hard look at seller tools, and what they have really done to the seller community.

- Removal of buyer feedback (there are bad buyers out there) EDIT: Etsy removed the ability for SELLERS to leave feedback on BUYERS

- Poor customer service, I have a list of folks who "etsy trust and safety has wronged"

- Draconian forum policies. Have a legitimate complaint about etsy, well you can't have a civilized rational conversation on their forum system.

- Start a conversation that is "negative" about etsy in a public forum elsewhere, if they figure out who you are they WILL close your shop.

- Their new shipping calculator? It looks to have some markup in it. Who's getting this money? Who is really paying for it (buyers or sellers)?

- Etsy has a reputation of being "hand made" a lot of that "hand made" is by small children in china now.

Every day etsy looks more and more like a more modern and feminine ebay, but with none of the upside for sellers. Amazon is moving into handmade, and eBay is one redesign away from being a bit more consumer friendly (again). Really how long can they last?

loteck• 11 years ago

I find it amusing that you advocate for increased ability for sellers, who are Etsy's customers, to provide honest feedback to Etsy... in the next breath after you've just advocated for the complete removal of buyer feedback.

zer00eyz2• 11 years ago

Sorry, that came across wrong.

Etsy already removed the ability for Sellers to leave feedback on buyers. It isn't a good thing.

matheweis• 11 years ago

This. The last item was, imho, the nail in their coffin.

My wife was livid, as were many of her fellow etsy-ers, from both the buyer and the seller point. (As a buyer, it was much harder to find "real" handmade items. As a seller, she suddenly had to compete with all of the "hand-made-in-China" items.)

High Costs Offset an Increase in Revenue at Etsy Inc

Related Stories