Would you consider an Etsy/handmade/selling section?

[IncompleteSenten]

I have an Etsy shop and website and so on. I handmake things. Not going to say what obviously.
Would you consider a section where we can share our shops? Under name changes but you could set it so you must be a regular contributor and / or have been a member for more than however long, and people can report shops that are drop shippers.

I'd certainly pay for that. Maybe you have to be a premium member to have access to that facility? Anyone can view or comment but only premium members can share their shops?

You could be allowed only, say, one post a week to stop spamming the board with thread after thread?

[LilyMumsnet]

Hi OP

We're just giving this a bump for you and we'll keep an eye on the interest level!

[leafglow]

that sounds good OP. As a small business any new customers or publicity are super welcome provided it would not be flooded with spam, fake products and rubbish.

[PearlHeart3]

I would welcome this idea. I also have my own Etsy shop and love to help other small businesses by finding new things I didn't know I needed but now MUST BUY.

[IncompleteSenten]

Thanks @LilyMumsnet

I hope it's something that you might be interested in.

It would need to have some rules like I said to stop it turning into a right mess but I think with clear guidelines that it could be useful.

We get advertising that's affordable, we get to share our crafts, get feedback, you're supporting mums/Mumsnet users in actual small businesses not the mlm shite you see all over FB.

Having the section obviously wouldn't be Mumsnet endorsing or guaranteeing products but that would be one of the things you'd make clear.

We could also self moderate in part, spotting drop shippers trying to sneak in for example.
Alerting people to common scams.

Supporting each other. Even things like for example sometimes I get customers wondering if I make such and such. If I don't then I tend to suggest other Etsy shops I know do. I'd rather recommend fellow mners shops (providing I thought their stuff was good enough obviously).

People who weren't interested in the topic would just hide it.

You could maybe do an opt in monthly round up or random shop of the month email newsletter (introducing, not as a winner or recommendation)

Maybe people could sign up for discount codes.

I'd be happy to give you discount codes for you to include in any newsletter or email round up you sent to mners who'd signed up to receive it. I bet a few of us would.

[Jellykat]

Fab idea!
I'd be interested, but of course would have to name change as the things i make means i am identifiable! not only by previous customers, but anyone who came into the shops and gallery i sell in.

We would definitely need some way of making sure people didnt just join MN to promote their businesses, so agree there should be some form of minimum time scale that sellers should have been MNers for (tricky)

[IncompleteSenten]

Me too. I'd have my shop name as a username and post in that section under that and participate on the rest of the boards with my usual name.

If MN did decide to think about it we could even suggest rules ourselves based on our experiences and maybe agreeing a sort of code of conduct for want of a better phrase 😂

I'm just chucking it out as it comes to me. I really think that done properly it could be helpful.

Maybe MN would give a few of us very limited mod powers in this section only to temporarily hide strongly suspected spam or scam or bad faith posts while they review them so between us we could keep the board true to its intended purpose - small creative businesses run largely by women.

[hilariousnamehere]

I'd love this and like the idea of posting under your shop name too. Etsy & co are becoming unusably flooded with drop shipping junk!

[IncompleteSenten]

Oh fucking drop shippers piss me off. If I wanted temu shite I'd buy from temu. I wish they'd fuck off.

We could ask each other for critiques of our shops or products, swap tips and ideas, warn each other of the latest scammers. I'm really pissed off with all the fake Etsy support messages. I even made a YouTube video showing sellers how to tell the difference and I'd like to be able to share that and other videos I've made. I video myself making my things so people can see it's actually properly hand made.

[PearlHeart3]

Those support scam messages are really grinding my gears at the moment. I responded to one initially as it looked legit through the app notification on my phone, but quickly realised it wasn't really Etsy and now just block and report all messages. Luckily I didn't give any personal information away but still really annoying to have so many come through.

[Whatevershallidowithmylife]

I would definitely be interested (buyer) but then I would need to change username to buy?

[LadyPoison]

I would definitely be interested

[IncompleteSenten]

@Whatevershallidowithmylife

I would definitely be interested (buyer) but then I would need to change username to buy?

No, your username on MN wouldn't be linked to any purchase you chose to make in Etsy or mademe or wherever.
Itd just be people sharing their shops and things and anyone who wanted to buy could go there and look.

If say you clicked on a link here to my shop, I'd never know that's how you'd found my shop and I wouldn't have any way to connect your username here to a customer in my Etsy shop.
Not that I would abuse that info even if I had it. Apart from it being illegal it would be creepy as fuck!!!

[IncompleteSenten]

And the other good thing about seller platforms like Etsy is customers have buyer protection so even if you bought something let's say mine cos I'm about to be insulting 😂 and you got it and thought well that's a pile of shit and not at all as described - you can open a case and Etsy refunds you if it agrees it's not as described or faulty etc

So it's not like the old selling boards on here years ago where it was buyer beware and people did sometimes get ripped off.

[PangoPurrl]

Love this idea and would definitely be up for taking part, although I've somehow still not managed to reopen my Etsy shop after my 'Christmas break' 😂 This would maybe be just the kick up the arse that I need!!

[GalaxyAddict]

Really good idea, please set this up Mumsnet

[Redshoeblueshoe]

Excellent idea, especially as Etsy ban things that would be loved by the people on FWR

[IncompleteSenten]

We could do a weekly share your stuff megathread that would be pinned to the top of the board like some subreddits do so people could browse through that week's submissions in a single thread as well as looking through individual threads.

[IncompleteSenten]

@Redshoeblueshoe

Excellent idea, especially as Etsy ban things that would be loved by the people on FWR

There could be a special custom order code even.

[HoHoHoliday]

I like this idea! I am not a seller but would use it as a shopper. For example I like the idea that I might post asking something like "looking for a gift for my elderly mum, she likes x, y, z". And then sellers could comment with a link to their pages as suggestions for my gift.

[Garlickit]

Just adding my support. I'm not a seller but I have an empty 'shop' and a hundred unfinishedstarted projects 🙄 Would also like to be able to select MNers when buying, assuming checks & balances were in place. Fed up with reverse-searching everything I look at to see if it's really handmade!

[EmmaEmerald]

@HoHoHoliday

I like this idea! I am not a seller but would use it as a shopper. For example I like the idea that I might post asking something like "looking for a gift for my elderly mum, she likes x, y, z". And then sellers could comment with a link to their pages as suggestions for my gift.

Yes, I'd love this!

[Someaddedsugar]

I'd also love that @HoHoHoliday

[SoupDragon]

I think it's a great idea.

When I saw the thread title I thought "hell no! It will be full of spammers selling their shit" but as a link to shops for "proper" MNers, I think it's great.

I buy stuff from Etsy but it's really hard weeding though the tripe.

[Dragonfly97]

This is a great idea! I have an Etsy shop and I buy on Etsy too. I find that customers buy my stuff when they see it- Etsy keeps changing the algorithm as I'll get a cluster of sales then nothing for days. Also I love to buy from other Etsy sellers, it would be great to see what others are selling.

[SecretSoul]

I’d love this too! People being able to post requests and people giving their etsy link would be perfect.