FP Discussion 2.0 (Btw- remember to be respectful and to stay on topic)

mushroom is gorgeous!

Posted at 9:41am Oct 29, 2010 EDT

I was just thinking the same thing ;-)

I like that Velvet Underground glamour!

Posted at 9:47am Oct 29, 2010 EDT

knotworkshop says:
So admin- any thought about the repeats?
----------

I think I'm going to be a hipster for Halloween...

"repeats are inevitable" is the only thing that the etsy staff has to say, besides nothing.

But hey, that's incompetence!

Has what's-her-face shown up yet to make an "I don't understand what you guys are talking about, oh, I'm so confused" post yet. Polaris is so obtuse, you know... maybe it's blinded by the light... cut loose like a deuce... Some brimstone baritone anti-cyclone rolling stone preacher from the East... He says, "Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in its funny bone, that's where they expect it least"

Shit, I gotta go buy me some wire and get a fire mountain gems catalog...

Or I need to make something gray...

decisions, decisions.

Front page repeats are so boring and uninspiring.

Oh, but Mama, that's where the fun is
I was blinded
I was blinded
I was blinded

Posted at 10:00am Oct 29, 2010 EDT

Actually, I'm pretty sure admin one time said, 'there are very few sellers who get repeated.'

And I responded with, well, yes, the number of actually sellers is very small compared to how many sellers there are. It's the number of times that is the issue.

And that was of course never responded to.

And then that thread probably got shut down. :)

Posted at 10:01am Oct 29, 2010 EDT

Yay!- the thread still survived and it appears that everyone is in agreement that 7 is an acceptable tolerance. Before I get in to my plan, for those new to the FP situation – Here’s a bit of background, as I started this thread minutes after another lengthy one was closed.

WHY is repetition of same sellers and curators an issue (hence 200+ threads have been started on this topic)?

Because…
Front page exposure normally dramatically increases a shop’s views and hearts and quite often even leads to sales, particularly if the seller has multiple front page appearances. This is certainly something everyone appreciates and wants, HOWEVER not equally eligible for.

Situation Analysis:
- There are currently 400,000 active sellers, 6,000,000+ products

- The site is visited by approximately 1,000,000 people a day – many entering via the front page

- The vast majority of sellers have been on the front page <5 ever.

- There are 2016 non alt. opportunities per week (12 slots x24 hours x7) theoretically eligible to be pulled from 1000s of member-curated treasuries

- Some sellers have been on the FP as frequently as 5x per day.

- Same treasury team (curators) have been hand- selected by Etsy admin as often as 5x per day, giving these team members a staggering statistical advantage of appearing as a featured seller.

- Membership to the 2 primary established teams is closed.

- Etsy is not officially recognizing any new teams at this time

- 100s of forum contributors have reported that the same look and feel and trends (primarily targeting the “hipster” demographic) are repeated daily/hourly and may product types are perceived to be missing from any kind of regular rotation.

- To date, admin has not recognized the repeat front page situation as an issue. When asked about increasing one’s chances of being chosen- there is a 3fold answer: work on photography, participate in teams/ make treasuries, and follow the published Merchandising Report.

Objection handling –
The only argument I feel somewhat has merit – is the one along the lines of – what if the “usual” treasury yields more traffic? To this I’d say

– highly unlikely that there is more traffic due to what is in the treasury (#of new visitors as they’d already be at Etys.com or other interior page). A more useful metric would be # of click-thrus and first time member registration.

-As for click-thrus to buy stuff. Yes, that may very well be true – but what good does that do everyone else who makes work outside the norm? Take me for example; I’m a traditional (non-hipster) fine artist. Quite frankly, I’m pleased anytime I see good representational or abstract paintings on the front page – because it reminds the viewer – that this kind of product is available in general on Etsy and therefore the viewer may be more likely to search for it in the future.

SO… what else can we do as forum contributors to affect change and neutralize the power team/treasury gaming impact and/or increase the diversity of shops regularly included?

I still have my open invitation from Chad (head IT guy) to email him with any questions or concerns after the privacy debacle. Because I really wasn’t that affect, I didn’t say anything a month ago – but do want to see if he can direct his IT crew to deploy the proposed repeat seller/curator filter system. I’ll compile repeat data for one week and possibly attach illustrative charts to support my claim in this email. I’ll link to this forum as backup discussion (so do try to stay respectful so it doesn’t get shut down).

Thanks again for your participation on this topic, folks!

Posted at 10:17am Oct 29, 2010 EDT

Excellent summary Joy..

Now with the pageination issues it will be more difficult to be seen. sigh..

Posted at 10:36am Oct 29, 2010 EDT

pagination? clearly Ive missed something....

off to check

Posted at 10:42am Oct 29, 2010 EDT

found it

Posted at 10:43am Oct 29, 2010 EDT

Joy, I vote for you as Communications Director. If they hire you, can I please have a weekly column? Thanks.

Posted at 12:02pm Oct 29, 2010 EDT

Bless you guys for doing this. I have been beating my head against the wall lately, trying VERY HARD not to notice a certain seller who is on the FP at least once a day, sometimes 2-3 times a day. It makes my head explode. Yes, the photos are gorgeous, no, it's not their fault and I hold no ill will toward them, but am I jealous? Heck yeah. Although I would feel awful if it were me.

Posted at 12:09pm Oct 29, 2010 EDT