Saturday 24 May 2014

WHAT IS ETSY UP TO???

I don't often talk about my Etsy shop on here, because I don't want to turn this blog into a selling blog, but I know that many of you also have Etsy shops or buy on Etsy and may not be aware of what is going on at the moment.

I just posted this on my Vintageland blog -

A few days ago I was preparing a custom listing, went to check the details and to my absolute horror, the shipping prices had disappeared from the shipping tag in the listing. I thought I had done something terribly wrong, redid everything, with the same result, no shipping charges were showing. The customer bought the items, and it was only then when I looked at the invoice that I was sure that the correct shipping had been applied. WTF was going on? Eventually I went to the forums and only then found out that Etsy was testing. Without informing anybody beforehand. A random selection of buyers/sellers were now unable to see the shipping costs upfront under the shipping label, and nobody was told that you now had to put your items into your shopping cart in order to find out the shipping charges. ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!!! Shipping costs are an important part of any purchase, especially for international transactionS, so what the heck  are they doing making it so difficult for customers to find out shipping costs? I am in the same test myself, I can't see shipping charges on my listings, I can't see them on anybody else's listings either. Incredibly frustrating when you are looking for supplies for example. Many sellers on Etsy carry very similar supplies, ie beads, and to compare their shipping costs, you would have to place each and every item from each and every seller in your shopping cart, compare, delete, add more, compare, delete etc etc. WHAT A RIDICULOUS WASTE OF TIME!!! There are thousands of comments, 99% negative regarding this issue on Etsy.

I have no idea which potential customers can see my shipping charges under the shipping tag and which customers will be totally perplexed by seeing a heading 'SHIPPING' without any shipping details at all. Apart from charges you also cannot see which countries I ship to, where I ship from etc etc.

So, if you are looking at my shop, and can't see shipping charges under SHIPPING, I am not being devious and hiding them because I want to make a killing on overcharging you, it is because Etsy thinks it is a good idea. 

I am so frustrated. As a seller, I feel awful for customers getting confused and leaving, as a buyer I am so mad that it took me ages to compare prices for some special ribbons I wanted to buy, only to give up in the end and say sod it, I really can't be bothered with all that shopping cart crap to compare shipping costs. 

I don't rant often in public, but this has really upset me. Nobody knows how long this testing will last, it has been going on for days already. 

Sigh, so there you go, you may be able to see shipping costs etc, you may not. I can only apologise for any confusion and frustration this may cause you.

Toodlepip xxx

------------------------------------

I wonder if any of you have been selected for this testing as well, or perhaps for the other test they are running at the moment, which has also upset so many sellers, where they are taking away your banner, your info, completeley mess up the shop front, basically all that makes your shop YOUR shop. I escaped that one, for now, phew.


7 comments:

Rita C at Panoply said...

Liz, how frustrating this must be as a seller! As a buyer, I just checked, and I am not affected. Shipping can tip the decision to buy/not buy for me as a customer, in general. I would put some sort of notice banner on my header if I were you, letting customers know your policy of refunding overcharges if > certain amt in excess. This could ease buyers' dilemma until Etsy gets it together.

Heirloom treasures said...

How frustrating,I'll go and check mine out now. Thanks for telling us.

Dorthe said...

Hi Liz, how stupid !!
Yes I have to go and add to cart to see the shipping ! I hope for you, they will soon end this awful test or what they calls it!!
Hope you are fine , and happy apart from this !!
Hugs Dorthe, xx

Rhonda said...

I totally agree with you, Etsy has caused nothing but confusion with their so called "testing". Do they not have anything better to do? It is my understanding they end up changing what they want anyway but at least tell us FIRST. Like you, I woke up one morning and NO BANNER. Remember that mess they created?

BTW - I deleted my Ebay account because they were hacked and didn't even tell us. Buh Bye. How dare these websites put our personal information at risk.

Createology said...

Thank you for sharing this! I do not have the time nor the patience to put things into my cart just to see what the shipping costs will be. Part of my shopping on etsy is the TOTAL cost of items for me to know if it fits my budget or not. Sad etsy is doing this and hope they STOP very soon. I for one have put my etsy shop on permanent hold due to function frustrations. Bless you dear for letting us know what is happening...

Unknown said...

Well, just another company putting a clog in a wheel, gosh....
They will find out when so many lose business along with themselves, how silly!
Hope this all turns around and everyone can get back to normal.
Have a great week.
Hugs
Michele

Romeo said...

Oh not good at all! I have my shop on vacation because I was away at a show (selling). And have just been too stinking tired to open it back up. I am REALLY glad now that I didn't. That is just plain crazy!!! What the heck are they thinking?!?! Thanks for the heads up!

"her" and Romeo (who is hissing over this)