Thursday, June 25, 2009

Oh ETSY you disappoint me!

Like anything else ETSY has its drawbacks. I told you all once before that I will continue to do these blog giveaways as long as I have co sponsor. ETSY is made up of thousands and thousands of shops, so I don't see a shortage anytime soon.

However, today I received an e-mail from someone on ETSY that has made me rethink the whole idea. When I look for giveaways I have my followers in mind. I read your blogs and know what your interests are. I like to find new and interesting things and pass them along. With giveaways I can also give you the chance to win something new and different that I find. Not only do you get a chance to win, but these shop owners get an increase in traffic. Even if you don't buy today, you still know that the shop is there.

Honestly, this is the first rude shop owner that I have come across on ETSY. Lets hope it is the last.

Because this e-mail was so rude, I have decided to share it with all of you:

Hi,Your nowhere NEAR me as a local blogger. I'm in Palm Springs California, land of the rich and famous and not out in the middle of nowhere small town America. You only have a handful of followers and wouldn't be worth a moment of my time to do a giveaway on your blog.Your sending out total spam convo's here, and it's being reported to etsy immediately.

StickerDoodles
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6927140


Sticker Doodles has it all wrong. My followers are important to me. You are the reason I do these giveaways. I am not sure how any of you see it, but I don't think this is the best way to increase sales. Sticker Doodles thinks they are so great, but I won't ever be spending a dime in their shop.

Now what do I do about this situation? Ignore it and forget it? Report them to ETSY? Send a nasty note back? You tell me....................................

8 comments:

Lift Like A Mom said...

How rude is that!! I think it's a great idea. You sent me that email this morning and I think it's wonderful! She just needs to get over herself!

Unknown said...

That's horrible! I wouldn't waste any more time with her. Thanks for the heads up, will make sure not to do any business there either.

handmadebymee said...

There's one in every crowd! For the record I think you've got a good thing going here and I would love to continue working with you on a regular basis. I sent an email to my website members about your site in hopes to increase your traffic!

Kristin said...

Wow! That is just amazing to me that as a small business owner (who hasn't had many sales yet) that she wouldn't take every opportunity to get her name out there! Amazing! I just recently started following your blog and I love seeing what you feature! I LOVE all the cute things you find and although I haven't bought anything from your featured people yet, you can bet they will be in the back of my mind next time I need something!

The whole reason people like to shop with small business owners is because of the customer service and the one-on-one customization and the friendliness. Doesn't sound like this owner will be offering that service. I would never shop somewhere that treats their potential customers that way.....did she ever stop to think of you as a potential customer who could also market her products in the process?

I wouldn't worry about getting back to her either. Her attitude is not worth your time and she's even lucky that she got the free publicity that she did just by you mentioning her name.

AmyT said...

That is rude....my thing is if she really is a "SOMEbody" why did she even bother responding...if you don't mean anything to her? People are so nasty sometimes.

Unknown said...

That response was completely uncalled for. How rude! I wouldn't waste your time worrying about it. That is one shop that I will be avoiding.

BTW I love the shops you profile on your blog. I plan on buying a couple of dresses from Pick Your Pocket and I wouldn't have heard of them if it wasn't for you.

SueK said...

Maybe she was having a bad day. I personally have to say that I love her shop. I know fellow etsians are receiving a ton of these request lately and it becomes an issue giving away so many free things.
You have a nice blog though and I hope your following continues to grow.

Unknown said...

Hi there!

I just stumbled upon your blog and I'd like to give you another perspective on this to think about. As a wife to an Etsy shop owner, and a lover of all things handmade you should really see how often the shop owners are begged for free stuff. It would completely shock and amaze you.

I think this particular shop owner simply snapped at the fact that once again someone wanted something for nothing and you may have caught her at a bad time. Sure, the email response wasn't exactly the most polite but I really want to stress to your readers how it really is for the shop owners.

My husband has a candle shop and a few times a day he gets emails from blogs wanting gift certificates, free samples, and donations. It's very much out of hand. Also, right in Etsy's TOS it states that shops are protected from such emails but nothing actually happens to those doing the mass emails.

Yes, every single little bit of extra press counts but many of the shops are barely staying afloat in this economy and can't do giveaways weekly.

Basically, I just had to take a second to not only let you know that I understand where you're coming from but also tell you that I understand where the shop owner is coming from. I bet if you would have sent your email to her on a different day the response would have been much different. I'd like to think that she doesn't react to her customers like that and I'm sure she has an explanation and is probably very sorry for coming across the way she did.

I wish you lots of luck in your giveaway and blogging journey. I have a blast doing it myself.