by Lesa Werme of Fairytale Incorporated
Hello fellow TAFA Team followers. This is my first crack at blogging here. I need to warn you... I did not give this the 24 hour rule. So, contents of this post might be hot and spicy. But it is fresh and no contamination has set in. Here it goes: Today's Daily Rant Special: My Beef with Heartsy.
I tried the Heartsy opportunity on Etsy. It's kind of like Living Social or Groupon for the artist community. It provides your clients a limited time opportunity to purchase discount vouchers for your goods or services. Visit the site here.
- Yes
- Definitely
- Probably
- Maybe
- I Don't Think So
- Definitely Not.
That being said, I have purchased interesting things on Esty. But Etsy is becoming harder and harder to shift through the junk. And if the curators allow the general viewing public to determine the quality of product it is sure to lower the bar even more. Can "Etsy Not Hand Made But Made in China" be far behind?
One last observation. With the "Yes Defintely" button being pushed 500 times of more on some items...there oughta be a lot of wealthy artists out there... It seems to me no one is putting their money where the button is.Proves my theory. "If you show 'em junk...they'll buy it."
It might take some time. But eventually, just maybe my theory will change to, "If we show 'em quality...they'll taste it."
Heartsy is not affiliated with Etsy, but encourages the cheapening of products on Etsy. This excellent article on Handmadeology shows how participating in these discount efforts can actually put sellers in the red. Yes, perhaps you will draw new customers to your shop, but if they are only looking for freebies, they might not be the kind of customers you would want in the first place.
Well...it's been more than 24 hours. And I noticed that there should be a correction. My theory is that "Heartsy" is an over rated crap show. I might consider modifying the term "crap show" if I was writing this now. But I would still refer Heartsy as a stop not for the faint of heart. Not much lovin' there, if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteLesa
I recently heard of this site, too, and went to see what it was about. I was somewhat horrified at how much it devalues handmade. Sad.
ReplyDeleteJess
I've been pondering Heartsy quite a bit lately. I think it might work out all right for more low cost, consumable items like soaps, candles, lower end jewelry, and eatables. These things have a broad mass appeal and engender repeat sales. If a seller lost money by putting them on Heartsy, they could write it off as advertising and it might be worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I think Heartsy does, as you say, have a seriously cheapening effect for categories like art, quilts, custom clothing, etc.-- the sort of thing that most of you on TAFA do. For one thing, you don't really want "bargain shoppers" for those items, and for another, the percentages Heartsy discounts are waaay too high making them seem a bit scammy (not to mention insulting) in my book.
It might work out for some, but definitely not for everybody. I'm sorry you had a negative experience, but thank you for sharing it and your thoughts. Please realize that there ARE people who will recognize and value your talent. You have a lovely shop! :)
Leah (an aspiring Etsy-ier who is currently building inventory and has yet to create a store)