(currently looking for a great camera strap)

as a blogger, i just checked my page rank and was surprised to find i was a 4 because i am a nobody. so anyone using page rank as a guide would be very misguided.

etsy is an online marketplace where all of their sellers are individual businesses; complete with their own product, policies, and opinions. to blanket cover this as “etsy’s” opinion is not a factual nor fair portrayal of etsy itself. these were the opinions of a few of the over 152,000 sellers on etsy.

that said, as a veteran businessperson and a seller on etsy, as well as to many b&m stores, my advice to bloggers is to provide all of the facts in the opening lettre. i get all sorts of requests, some very polite and businesslike, and others that make me feel like the person is trying to take advantage of me. and in all manner of these requests, some i have accepted, some i have politely turned down, some i have ignored (rare) and some i have reported as spam (very rare). i understand that you can get defensive of what you are doing, you are passionate about it, and you work hard at it. but many people do not know that. a poorly worded request may be misconstrued as just a solicitation for free stuff. free stuff that i work really hard making by hand. free stuff that i have to very carefully consider what i am getting in return for giving away. please don’t misunderstand, i am not against bloggers or blogs; i don’t think many people are, but a lot of people are leery of these requests. these misunderstandings can be cleared up with a little information.

1. let me know what you want, and what you are giving in return. is this a feature, a review, link-backs, a give-away etc. will you be using my photos or are you taking your own?

2. provide me with a clickable link to your blog (you would be surprised how many people do not do this), and a little explanation of why your blog is relevant to my product line.

3. provide me a little information about your readership, and some of the results it has gotten for past features. i am not always looking for a huge number of hits, a smaller number of hits that would go to a relevant target market is worthwhile too.

as a seller, i want to know all of these things upfront, so there doesn’t have to be a ton of back and forth. i respond best to people who present everything upfront, are polite, and don’t act like they are doing me a huge favour by taking my free stuff from me. just my 2c.

@ Eva B:
Thank you for your opinion. It was addressed the way it was because it was being addressed TO the forums that particular day during the discussion, as quoted above and then answered. Not all artisans/etsians feel this way the same as not all bloggers are bad or “stealing” products, as noted in those original forum threads.

Yes, unfortunately, as pointed out, the way you addressed it puts all Etsy under the same umbrella. And your follow-up quote here continues that impression (and this is, apparently, the current opinion you still hold of Etsy and Etsy sellers): “Its very unfortunate to me that etsy is so resistant to social media and trends.”

You’re painting all Etsy sellers with the same brush and this is simply inaccurate. Everyone has different ways of advertising, marketing and handling their business. I’ve seen a few different Etsy sellers share their experiences on building their businesses, at least two of them going into very detailed info on how to use various social networking sites for promoting your art and business. I think your continued reiteration that Etsy as a whole is not interested in social media and trends is a very short-sighted perspective on your part.

And, again unfortunately, your opinion stated in such a manner will just continue to promote the same prejudice amongst your readers.

I have worked with several etsy shops and have had great results. I have also had the negative of having a shop owner contact me to do a giveaway, and then not follow through. Many of us bloggers who do reviews have actually STOPPED contacting etsy sellers because most of us have had bad experiences working with them. (Not all- mind you! I have had some great experiences)

I have worked with many big name companies, including Hallmark and Dyson, and they did send me free product.

I think it’s a good idea for all etsy shops to do their homework about a blog before they agree to do a review or giveaway.

Its very unfortunate to me that etsy is so resistant of social media and trends.

MomDot, as well as many active bloggers we know, rarely work with Artisans on a review level anymore, sticking with major businesses, after the negative discussions of bloggers that came out of etsy during this widely watched thread online.

Trisha

Beautifully put. I didn’t know that Etsy had that opinion. That’s too bad.

I can see this post is a few months old but it came up in the Etsy forums again and, after reading through the article I have to express a little concern at the rather broad-based opinion that all of Etsy subscribes to this anti-blogger/review mentality.

Let me start by saying that I do have a couple of shops on Etsy. I personally don’t have an issue with being asked for free samples (not to say that I will always give them out–see below for more info on my stand on this) and have no problems understanding the concept of giving away items for advertising purposes.

However, I find it rather disturbing that your article lumps all of Etsy into one group (“Etsy is going wrong,” “Etsy believes,” “Etsy owners were frustrated,” “Esty sellers are not seeing”), which leaves your readership with opinions like the one I’ve quoted above. Another blogger commented in the Etsy thread you linked above that she wouldn’t be buying her holiday presents from Etsy anymore but needed to find another place to buy handmade. And, even more of a concern, was the comment made by one blogger in that thread that they would be tempted to give a seller a bad review if that person refused to send them samples.

While there were quite a few comments in that thread stating that asking a seller you don’t know for something free sounded like a scam (and let’s face it, anyone who sells is not going to automatically respond to a request for freebies with a resounding “YES!”) there were quite a few comments on the positive side. People sharing their experiences of increased sales and/or traffic from sending free sample to bloggers or participating in giveaways.

More importantly, the stats I’ve seen about the Etsy forums put forums participation for sellers and buyers at less than 1/3rd of the full membership of Etsy. To state that Etsy is going wrong and all of it’s sellers believe that bloggers are trying to get something for nothing is a gross overstatement. Top it off with the fact that you can probably find a number of threads on Etsy where sellers encouraged other sellers to participate in a blog giveaway and/or blog review and you are doing quite an injustice to Etsy and Etsy sellers as a whole.

Your post here has some very informative and useful information for sellers (yes, I’m taking some notes), but everyone has the right to determine what is going to be the best method for advertising their products.

Personally, most of my products in both of my shops are one-of-a-kind items. Sending “samples” of these types of items is borderline irrelevant for me–other than proving the quality of my craftsmanship, each items is unique so getting a review on something like that seems a bit frivolous. On the other hand, given the right blog and the right reviewer, maybe there would be a benefit but it would take a lot of thought and correspondence for me to decide to do something like that.

Etsy has very particular rules on what they consider spam in their convo system. The rules are easily found on the Etsy site under their Terms of Use. It is every member’s right on Etsy to determine when they feel someone has crossed the line in their communications and they can, obviously report a member to admin for abuse (spam, harassment, etc.). Etsy admin will then determine whether the member has actually broken the rules or not. Either way, it seems simpler to assume that the seller finds your attention unwanted and move on. And it is every member’s responsibility to check the Terms of Use and abide by them, whether you agree with them or not.

I’m not trying to make excuses for anyone. I think everyone has a right to their opinions and you certainly have a right to respond to those opinions expressed on the Etsy forums but a very small segment of the Etsy seller population is represented in the forums, and I felt it was important that people understand that.

@ Claudia from Alex the Fey thriller series:
Yes…sure they send her stuff. They want the exposure. But the things they want…they buy! Or they return! Ask anyone who works for a magazine, or has been featured in one (or a famous blog). They will tell you the same thing.

Traditional media and social media are not the same thing in the slightest and are incomparable. Traditional media outlets have regular salaries and follow rules that they are not allowed to keep products over $25 in value. Additionally, many companies traditional media work with actually pay for an editorial to be in the magazine.

Bloggers, however, work for “free” and often exchange products for their writing and their audience rather than cash.

And you are grossy incorrect on the large bloggers. In fact, the larger you are, the harder it will become to even get a mention. Large bloggers generally demand a regular editorial fee for writing up a product review and receive advertising dollars, rather than product.

A good blog campaign can bring a product to a niche market where its right in front of the main purchasers in the US-the women.

Its ok if someone doesn’t want to work with blogs, but they are also missing out on a huge subset of affordable advertising that works. Just ask Frigidaire who gave 40 bloggers last week, including our blog, kitchen appliances like a dishwasher, washer/dryer, refrigerator, and stove in exchange for 2 blogs on the products per month for two months total.

These companies are not blowing $100,000 in product expecting no return. They just know how to harness the power. It can work just as well, if not better, for a well educated momprenuer looking to get her product known.

Rather than doubting it, find an excellent review blogger and test it out. And the better the blogger, the pickier they are with their time.

Trisha