Etsy Musings

I opened my Etsy shop in 2009 after learning about it from a friend. I know it's an understatement to say that it's changed a lot since then — and each change has elicited a robust round of complaints from many Etsy sellers and some shoppers. A lot of other selling platforms have emerged over the years, and many erstwhile Etsy sellers have jumped ship for these alternatives. While I've looked into each of these as I've learned about them, I've so far not been persuaded to seriously consider moving my business elsewhere.

After investigating a recent tip from a friend about yet another marketplace for makers, calling itself a "better online handmade marketplace" in a pointed reference to Etsy's failings in that regard (the handmade part, that is), I found myself remembering my early experiences with Etsy, and in the process reinforcing my decision to stay with this imperfect platform.

When I started out on Etsy, I had no idea how to promote my shop and it took maybe a year before I had my first sale. I gradually learned how to navigate the site and access the resources and guidance available, which still include tips on managing and marketing your shop, how to use keywords to help potential customers find your things, and ways to connect with other sellers. It felt like a real community of makers then, and there were many ways in which Etsy encouraged and facilitated connections between us. 

One of these was the forming of "teams" — interest groups of sellers who joined together to encourage, advise, and promote one another. One of the more creative and fun ways we could promote one another on the site was by making a virtual gallery wall of 16 items, called a "treasury," for which Etsy provided a user-friendly template. (Here's a blog post I wrote in 2011 about Etsy treasuries.)

A remnant of a treasury I made in 2014

Back then, Etsy had a common home page, so anyone who visited the website saw the same things, and one of those things was a featured treasury, which changed throughout the day (hourly, I think). In order for your treasury to have a chance at being featured on the home page, you had to include items from 16 different shops, and none of them could be your own. It was a common courtesy to return the favor if someone included your item in their treasury.

It gave everyone who participated a lot of exposure, and if your item was in a treasury that had been showcased on the home page, you could pretty much guess when it happened because you suddenly had a spike in views and maybe even sales. Even if you had something in a treasury that never made it to the home page, you still got a boost in exposure. My very first sale on Etsy happened after somebody had featured something of mine in their treasury. 

Etsy also used to foster a more direct relationship between its own personnel and the sellers. For example, at the end of the year they had "home for the holidays" events where employees who traveled from Etsy headquarters in Brooklyn, NY, to their home towns to visit family hosted in-person gatherings that were like intimate town halls.

 They even gave away some very lovely and practical schwag at these meetings, such as a spiral-bound planner-calendar for 2013, which I not only used for a couple of years to keep track of my shop's progress, but which inspired me to design my own version when I couldn't find another like it. 

The 2013 Etsy planner (my shop was called Arty Didact then), and my own 2024 one.

Lest you think that everything was light and lovely in those days, or that I was blind to the dark side of Etsy, I assure you that I was well aware of the many issues and conflicts. People gamed the platform from the get-go, disregarding the rules about what was permitted, much to the chagrin of many makers, who often got quite testy about somebody else's "handmade" thing being nothing of the sort. 

But I also knew of at least one person who was accused by another seller of passing off factory-made items as handmade, who then had to produce some kind of proof that he really made what he made, which became such a hassle that he gave up on Etsy altogether, saying it wasn't worth the bother. I learned about this and other complaints through a private Facebook group of Minnesota Etsy sellers. I recalled that person's experience recently when I read about how the "better" handmade marketplace would enforce their rules with the help of their sellers. 

Many people on Etsy could be quite nasty to others in a variety of other ways, too, with all the pettiness that social media and middle school playgrounds seem to bring out in some people. 

But my own experience was quite convivial and fun. Being part of a few teams that joined together to make treasuries that would catch the eye of those who chose what to feature on the homepage was kind of a game, and a thrill when it succeeded. And it definitely helped buyers discover your shop.

I don't recall when Etsy stopped the treasuries, but it went along with changing the user experience so there was no longer a common home page. Now we are all siloed in our own landing pages, with algorithms to show us more of whatever we've already indicated we are likely to buy. It was around that time that they also introduced onsite advertising, so a seller could pay to have their items boosted in search results. 

The treasury teams went extinct, and most of the connections I had made with other sellers faded away, although there are a few with whom I have maintained virtual friendships via Facebook. But for many sellers, Etsy became a much colder place.

Maybe it was bound to happen as the number of sellers grew by leaps and bounds and Etsy gave up all pretense of policing so many shops to ensure that the items they are selling were truly handmade (or vintage, or a craft supply). Ownership of the platform has changed hands, too, and it has grown more sophisticated in its use of algorithms, marketing strategies, and so on.

I call these cards "Little Reminders"

So Why Am I Still There?

Here's the thing, and why I continue to use Etsy despite all those changes and a significant decline in my sales since the halcyon days of treasuries. For me, it's still better than the alternatives, and over the years I have collected a nice cadre of repeat customers whom I genuinely like. It certainly helps that I sell ephemeral things — cards, bookplates, zines, and the Useful Calendar, which keeps people who like the way I make those things coming back for more. 

Many of these repeat customers send me chatty messages when they're about to buy another thing. One buys custom bookplates for each of her grandchildren, for the books that she gives them. I hear from her when she needs to replenish her supply (she must give those kids a lot of books!), and with cheerful announcements about the birth of another grandchild.

It's because of those customers that Etsy never became a cold place to me. But there are also plain practical reasons for staying with Etsy.

First, Etsy has so many sellers because Etsy has so many customers, and they have so many customers because they have so many sellers. When I am investigating another selling platform, one of the first things I will do is search for items like those I sell. I want to know if my items will fit in, and if the site offers enough of those types of things to attract customers.

That new handmade site had no calendars. Not one. Calendars are my biggest selling items at this time of year, followed by cards and bookplates.

Second, Etsy offers a lot of services that make selling on their site convenient: They collect and pay all applicable state sales taxes; I can buy USPS shipping labels through them for a lower cost than buying directly from the Post Office, and it's much more convenient; the listing platform is user friendly and allows for up to 12 photos per item; and my customers are already there.   

Finally, it's just plain easier to stay with what you know than learn to navigate something new. I would rather put my time and effort into my creative endeavors, making my customers happy, and my other interests than getting the hang of a new way of managing my online sales, creating new listings and uploading photos all over again, and doing the necessary marketing to get found in a different spot. 

Changing platforms would also mean either abandoning my most loyal customers or asking them to follow me to a new and unfamiliar site, one they may not have heard of before and don't know whether to trust. I just don't see that as providing a good experience for my customers — or myself. 

Just another zine available in my Etsy shop.