Final answer. . .

I have been annoyed with etsy before plenty of times but the forced change to my shop policies hit different.  I have accepted increases in fees, being deprioritized in search because I won't put "Free" shipping on everything. I have done my best with the "star" seller ridiculousness, as a matter of fact over the years the number of changes and bad ideas they have implemented (and some retracted) that I have tolerated is pretty big, many of those instances I didn't even really complain because I acknowledge it's their site to run how they want.  However, changing my actual shop policies is a step too far, my business as a whole now has an inconsistency between my shops that I am not comfortable with. 

So, I am letting a lot of my etsy listings expire and shrinking my presence there. I have thought a lot about this and I am not reacting from an emotional place. This is a strategic move and a business decision, I am separating the art from the chainmaille. I will still be keeping my original shop on etsy but it will go back to being just chainmaille the way it was when I started it 7 years ago. Starting in 2023 all of my paintings and wire tree sculptures will be exclusive to goimagine.com

Ironically and completely unintentionally I have come to this decision on the anniversary of my first sale on etsy. I didn't realize that, as I was writing this post I got a fb notification and just happened to check my "memories".  Life can be so weird sometimes. 😇

There will be ornaments. . .

I am determined to have chainmaille ornaments available for this holiday season.

 There may not be a lot of them, they will definitely be limited addition and I think currently only a couple of the designs will be available. 😏 I am only one woman with 2 hands afterall. 

 So, Helm's wreaths and small snowflakes it is. I'll make some different colored versions and get them listed soon. 😉

etsy lies, like a lot. . .

 

Notice how it says the new format is "flexible" and you are "in control of the details" well that's BS as everything I've clicked basically is checkbox and drop down, there is no Text box anywhere and the pre-written stuff is not editable.

So, I would argue that it is not at all "flexible" and sellers have virtually no control, plus when I tried to apply the new forced format I got a warning that it would "replace" my existing shop-wide handwritten pre-existing policies. 

Even when trying to set it on a single individual listing I get the warning about it replacing my "shop's current policy".

So, my personal opinion is this stinks, etsy lies if not intentionally then just by their poor wording which was why I was concerned with their "template" stuff to begin with. I will not be making any changes until I have to, because as I suspected this is etsy manipulating and forcing the "grandfathered" shops into the stupid boilerplate that I refused to change to years ago. your old return policy will be removed on Oct. 31

Thanks for the warning, jerks.

Thanks etsy. . .

 Once again I have a dashboard notification of etsy being "so helpful" and yes that is sarcasm.  😏  Etsy is always changing things, I really don't like that they cannot seem to leave well-enough alone, but it's their site so, I cringe and move on. 

Just in case you can't read that it says I have to set a new return policy because they will be removing the old format Oct. 31 😠  I personally do not appreciate their interference with my business.  I understand that they want ALL shops to have a return policy, a few years back they forced a bunch of people and all "new" shops into some boilerplate garbage format, but those of us with existing shops were grandfathered in and not forced to change our existing policies which was nice. However, it seems that is changing and next month everyone will be forced into some template garbage so that no one can retain custom policies. 😒

I personally wrote my policies, and they are perfectly clear 

• Returns are accepted within 14 days of delivery, money will be refunded after the product is returned. Return shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer.
• If an item is broken or damaged in shipping I will repair or replace it at no charge, simply message me to make arrangements.
• Cancellations accepted before orders ship, but be warned I ship quickly often same day.
• Cancellations requested after the 24 hour period will be decided on a case by case basis and may not be eligible for full refund if the order has already shipped.

I have never liked etsy boilerplate stuff, it's always awkwardly worded and with limited options and mostly yes/no settings I cannot make them say what I want. The result will be a change in my business's operational policies because etsy is taking away something that I have had set up for over 7 years, moreover this will cause my etsy shop and goimagine shop to have different policies, which causes a consistency problem for RainbowMaille. 😕

I'm not sure how I will handle this, I need to dig into the etsy stuff and see how close I can get to my own original policies, but this may well be the straw that breaks this camel's back.  I have 37 days to investigate, compare and make a decision, if I can get the etsy close enough to what I want it may be ok, but if their templates do not allow me to set the policies the way I want I cannot run 2 shops with vastly different policies. 

Congratulations etsy on another brilliant fix of something that was not broken. 😞

The Stars are back. . .

For many years my etsy shop had a continual 5 star rating, even in slow times or shut-downs when the reviews "aged" the stars were still visible, that is until this year.  Etsy changes things all the time, sometimes without much notice or fanfare, so I was a little shocked and a bit annoyed when my stars literally Vanished after all these years. 😕 I mean they have changed colors before but for 7 years they were always there, I earned those stars and then Bam! gone. 

I asked around and did some research and apparently etsy changed this like a year ago. I never saw an announcement of this change but buried in a handbook article it lays out the review system and there is a date on the article, so I guess this is how it works now. 😏 If ever all your reviews are at or over the 1 year old mark your shop's stars will disappear all together, they used to just be grey not gone. I really did not like the look of there being no stars it makes it look as if the shop is brand new or really bad, either way not a good look. Lucky for me the Labor Day sale was productive and with the fresh orders came fresh reviews and magically my stars came back. 😇 I know it seems like a silly thing to think about, but a review history is often an important factor for buyer's confidence so having those 5 stars at the top of the shop can be key for conversions.  

 

So welcome back my pointy little friends it's nice to see you again up there where you belong. 😎 

Sometimes 1 is all it takes. . .

I know we all want to be seen, we want to know we are being seen, many of us obsess over "views" in our shops be they etsy or goimagine or elsewhere. Afterall, you can't make sales if your products are never "seen" right? 

While it is at its core true that people cannot buy what they cannot find it is also true that it only takes 1 view to make a sale sometimes. 

RainbowMaille is not my first trip on the business merry-go-round, and I've been working on it for 7+ years so one would think I already know the above truth, but it's easy to forget. It's also easy to be sad, bothered, disappointed when we feel like we're not being seen, but that is why sometimes life has to remind you. 😅

Behind on my books. . .

Yeah, I'm going to admit that in the move process and temporary shutdown I have not kept up with my bookkeeping.  😏  

I just pulled out my notebook to catch up and record monthly website fees and found my last entry was back in March. 😅 

Good thing RainbowMaille's books are simple and most of those months of being closed it's just a couple of fees, so this shouldn't take me too long to "fix" and catch-up.  😉

Although, a recent etsy order did highlight their most recent fee increase that I had mostly forgotten was going to happen. I mean, of course, I got the notification, but I was closed and moving so it kinda skipped to the back of my brain.  However, seeing it in print and practice was like "oh snap" 😦 I'm probably going to have to raise prices.  Order total paid $56 and change, but after etsy's fees and payment processing fees and buying the postage and removing the taxes collected I only get $43 and change.  So yeah, I need to adjust my shipping charges too between postal rate increases and etsy's increased % coming off the top it no longer covers packaging materials like bubble mailers, tape, ink, paper, etc.,   

I know a lot of crafters, artists, and small business owners have a hard time pricing our items and many of us do not raise prices as much or as often as we probably should.  So, consider this a PSA of sorts in this time of "inflation" and increasing supply costs and increasing postage and increasing fees, check your books and make sure you are still making the $ you wanted/intended.  😇😎