My birthday was on the 7th & today I'm supposed to be taking the day to celebrate with my husband... and tomorrow. Funny how my birthday is turning into a birthweek celebration but that's a whole other thing.
Anyway, there's a very distressing issue taking place on Etsy and I've just got to blog about it. There have been changes to the Search function. Granted, this was desperately needed and while it's certainly helping me to find exactly what I'm looking for more readily (and I'm sure others) it's also putting a great many sellers at a distinct disadvantage.
Vintage & Supply sellers have reported virtually halting business which is being attributed to the Search function now defaulting to Handmade items instead of All items. It strikes me as unfair that they've been cut out of the default because they've paid the same amount of money as those of us who sell handmade. And the reason given that Etsy wishes to focus on handmade doesn't make that pill any easier to swallow. The focus is fine but that doesn't justify the unfair default search. I'm not sure why this point is unclear to TPTB but I do hope they explain soon (the server issue thing does not suffice, btw).
In the meantime, please be sure to tell customers that there is indeed a drop down menu & an option to choose to search ALL items when they wish to browse & shop.
We're all a part of Etsy and shouldn't sit idly by while any of us seemingly falls by the wayside. Fair is fair & we've all paid the same amount of money to list so search access by default should be equal.
Fair Is Fair!
Sunday morning, this was the view from my balcony. The skies looked like they were on fire and it was absolutely beautiful. But the winds were gusting pretty heavily also, so I didn't tarry long. I like Sunday mornings. Quiet, slow, contemplative with a pot of coffee and a day long conversation with my husband on various topics including things we catch on CBS Sunday Morning & Meet The Press. There's always newspaper reading and our slumbering kitty on some errant section one of us wants. It's perfect. *sigh*
And yesterday was just that. Sublime. I had to refund a customer for a mistake I made in measurement but it was all good. I've never futzed anything on Etsy before, but apparently I'm only She-Ra in my mind but am actually afflicted with human error and sketchy mathematics skills. :D It's very hard to accept these things and go on but it must be done.
Actually, it all turned out fine and my customer was actually happy in the end. The only thing I couldn't handle was that she was so happy I'd been so accommodating and easy to work it out. I've no idea how other people handle such things, but it kind of skeeves me that a customer could be sitting on tenter hooks waiting to see if they're in for the fight of their lives or not. How sad. Mistakes happen and into every sellers life a refund will fall. I was glad to have an understanding customer because it was my error. Anywho, it goes to show that even when you have the unexpected presented it doesn't always have to end badly or even in a null. I had the chance to use my infrequently called upon soft skills for resolving an issue for an unsatisfied customer and the opportunity to make her happy in the end.
I think it was the rainbow that did it. That's right, this rainbow appeared on the horizon not
long after the "sky fire" moment. We were on the side of an incoming storm and got to see the rainbow before our storm. Kinda' cool, huh? And it's supposed to be lucky to see a rainbow so I was thinking the whole Day of Excellence thing was going to go all day. And it did. Sort of. The storm rolled through and went on its way but it left behind gale force winds. Those took the power lines down. On a Sunday afternoon. So, like millions of women before me throughout history, I broke out candles and crocheted into the night. I have a new respect for those who created before the lightbulb. It's not so simple when the sun sets and you're grateful you're working in lighter shaded yarns.
I raise my latte to Mary & Laura Ingalls, Betsy Ross & all the other women who did everyday what I did one night out of sheer determination & necessity.
So today, the power is back on. I'm ready to start a new project. I need to take pictures of my preppy silk travelghan/wrap and also get on to my morning reading.
