In this thread, admins daniellexo and anda say Etsy is testing the idea of having guests choose items for the Etsy Picks email.
anda says:
We’ve also been testing the idea of having guest Finders in the future so its not always the same people choosing. I am really excited about their potenial.
daniellexo says:
Monday’s picks are already planned out and were picked by EtsyFinds readers! woot!
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:09 pm
thank you UEN since sellers are increasingly paranoid about posting comments on the sites Forums for fear of retaliation and muting, which is happening with much more frequency.
If Etsy is really going to let “guests” choose the picks for the Etsy Emails, then they need to figure out how to ROTATE all their featured choices better. Etsy has falling into a repeat pattern of continually choosing “favorite stores” over others for 2 years now, and have reinforced that habit by then writing feature stories about them in Storque. Kind of like planned success.
It would not be such a problem IF the site was not built on a base of seller-stores with a huge seller-constiuency that finds itself ignored 150% by the company. They continue to bite the hands that feed them.
Ok, it’s retail, and it’s dog eat dog, but Etsy’s bias and flagrant promotion of only about 25 stores for the last 2 years is bad business for them. The longer they ignore their large customer (and reveue producing) base, the more complaints they are getting ———the Forums postings are a good indication that the seller community is not happy with Etsy right now.
Letting SELLERS choose any featured items is GOOD, however, it does not solve this bias and favoritism problem. It smacks of arrogance that the site makes all its money on its selling community, but treats them as if they are at the bottom of the pile of “things to do that we really don’t want to do.”
I think they foget where their paychecks come from, I really do.
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:24 pm
I agree, eneepine, I see Etsy promoting certain sellers with illogical frequency, especially on the front page. By the logic of a showcase costing $15 for say, 100 views, being on the front page 4 times a week, with 400 views each time, is worth about $250 a month. I’m not sure why they do this, but they do.
People complained about the front page Treasuries being picked by admins or the same people too frequently, and it seems they have gotten even more so in that direction! Every day I see Treasuries ‘picked by the Storque’ or an admin, and I really don’t feel like they are looking over each Treasury and picking the best. This is too bad, because it did USED to seem that the front page was picked based on merit, not who created it. Really, with the Gift Guide, Storque related items, Etsy Picks, etc, do we need more groups of items picked by a small group of 27 year olds in New York? It is their decision, sure, but I don’t think it is the best decision for the site.
It’s nice they will be switching it up a bit with this Etsy Picks thing, though as Danielle says “its a “one time thing”". And then she states “again, we’re doing this for you!”. Fabulous, I’m so glad she is doing her job. I’m paying my $65 bill last month FOR YOU, too.
This makes me think of the Featured Buyer columns in the Storque.
I think it’s strange that they choose ‘Featured Buyers’ who either don’t even HAVE an Etsy account, or have 0 though 4 feedback. That is an example of a great buyer? And then… they BAN buyers with OVER A THOUSAND FEEDBACK?
December 3rd, 2007 at 7:14 pm
I couldn’t agree more eneepine
December 3rd, 2007 at 11:02 pm
weird, isn’t it, whom they choose to favor. I would pick the people who are spending money on their site *shrug*
I guess certain people weren’t hip and cool.
December 4th, 2007 at 11:33 am
yup
from the few times i’ve read the strop i’ve been left puzzled by their featured buyer slots - what have they bought? who are they kidding?