Staying positive in a sea of change

Sailboat off the Maine coast

We knew change was coming. It had to. Etsy did not buy an artificial intelligence company for nothing.

Turning the sailboat

To do anything well, we need to be flexible, to be open to change. Selling online is no different. On a vibrant modern selling venue, shifting direction is essential to stay on top of things. What things?

Etsy as a business must stay in tune with the trending desires of shoppers. And Etsy must keep up with the constant shifting and upgrades of e-commerce and computer technology.

We must face it: Etsy caters to buyers, not sellers. Etsy incorporates the latest technology to satisfy the needs of shoppers, not the sellers' need for stability.

So Etsy changes. A lot. They might even (gasp!) test strategies before implementing major changes.

If that is what they feel they need to do, then so be it. They have a vested interest in me as a seller. It comes down to these two points:

1. If there were no shoppers, there would be no need for sellers.
2. Etsy does not make money if we do not make money.

Simple as that.

How long have you been selling on Etsy? How many changes here have you personally seen here?

Here are some adjustments that have occurred on Etsy over the years:

• Rearrange shop (6/2009)
• Renew sold and copy listing (11/2010)
• New Etsy forums (2/2011)
• Feedback for buyer eliminated (3/2011)
• New listing attributes (7/2011)
• Search results based on relevancy, not recency (8/2011)
• Search ads (9/2011)
• Listing stats (2/2012)
• Direct Checkout (2/2012)
• Listing variations (10/2012)
• Circles replaced by activity feed (2/2013)

  

  Recent Etsy changes can seem overwhelming

• Etsy Shipping Labels (3/2013)
• Forums restructure (6/2013)
• Shop Dashboard (8/2013)
• New review system (8/2013)
• Mobile app for sellers (4/2014)
• First class shipping up to 16 oz (6/2014)
• New home page (9/2014)
• Promoted Listings (9/2014)
• Broader item categories (2/2015)
• Listings manager (2/2015)
• Calculated shipping (4/2015)
• Shop icon (8/2015)
• Shop Updates (2/2016)
• Mobile payment methods (3/2016)
• "Save for later" added to Etsy Cart (3/2016)
• Pattern (4/2016)
• Save for later function for shopping cart (4/2016)
• Individualized home page (5/2016)
• Treasuries (2006-10/2016)
• New payment processor Adyen added (10/2016)
• Improvements to spelling correction (11/2016)

And more recently:

• Multi Shop Checkout (1/2017)
• Etsy Studio (2/2017, discontinued in 2018)
• Variations & Attributes (2/2017)
• New Shop Manager (2/2017)
• Relevant reordering of shop home items (optional) (4/2017)
• Etsy Payments replaces Direct Checkout (4/2017)
• Site color changes (4/2017)
• Coming soon: guest checkout

I agree that it can seem overwhelming. As I have worked on this post and after I released it, the changes keep coming!

If Etsy has stopped working for you, then find another venue. Start your own website. There are other options out there.

The rest of us are working hard, trying to stay positive and ride the waves of change!