Etsy's Handmade Blog
TechUpdates: Gift Guides
Story by TechUpdates, Vanessa
Published on November 20, 2007 in Etsy News 		Photo by

Anda

We are happy to announce a new site feature on Etsy, just in time for holiday shopping: Etsy Gift Guides. These guides are organized by:

  • Who are you buying a gift for?
  • What's the occasion?
  • How much do you want to spend?
  • and Other themes

Shoppers have been asking us for more curated content and we hope you'll enjoy.  Newly added items will appear at the top of the lists. You can email Gift Guides to your friends and family and you can also make Etsy Minis from the Gift Guides (what's an Etsy Mini? Click here).


[And there are more, more, more...This is just a screen grab of the top!]

Here's how it works, sellers. If a seller has multiples of her item, it will remain until on the Gift Guides until it sells out or until we choose to remove it. So if sellers see that you're included, make sure to stock up (we don't yet have a notification system to let you know if your item is in a Gift Guides). The Etsy Admin curate the lists by looking for items with excellent "catalog quality" photographs, making sure the item would make a great gift, and that the item is within a giftable price point. Sellers cannot buy a space or solicit to be included because we want to give everyone an equal chance to be selected for a Gift Guide. Some groups of items — like the Treasuries — will make it to the homepage of Etsy and to Storque articles. If you want to improve your chances of being included, there are some pointers in this How-to Make a Great Treasury which might come in handy. Upon reading this, forum-goers may realize that we've been asking them for input as we developed the Etsy Gift Guides.  We thank you! We will continue to "crowdsource" the Gift Guides in the future, asking informally for suggestions and maybe even whipping up fun challenges.

There will be a Showcase on the Gift Guides landing page, though at launch you won't see one. It will run in a vertical column down the right hand side of the Gift Guides landing page, much like the Fresh items you see on the Buy page. Sellers can purchase $7 spots through the Showcase Gateway. The first slots will go live on the site on Friday, November 23rd, the day after Thanksgiving (otherwise known as Black Friday, though we prefer Buy Handmade Friday!). These are not restricted to any particular category of items, though sellers should keep in mind that shoppers come to the Gift Guides looking for...gifts.

The engineers and the rest of the admin really pushed themselves to get the Etsy Gift Guides feature out before the holidays. We're hoping it will be a useful feature for Etsy shoppers-on-a-mission!

Lastly, you probably noticed that Gift Guides replace the Alchemy button on the top navigation. Never fear, Alchemy has not been abandoned! We're just re-tooling a little for the busy holiday shopping season, making it easier for buyers to find the items they're looking for. If successful, the Gift Guides will become a permanent feature here on Etsy.  Please let us know if you have ideas for other themes or categories.

We look forward to your comments below.

Tags Etsy News, Gift Guides, gifts, holidays, presents, shopping, site features, Tech Updates
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89 comments     Login to add your own!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 3:28 p.m. BlackRose1

Fantastic!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 3:32 p.m. fernfiddlehead

Really nice! I now know what we were doing with all of those "contests" which I thoroughly enjoyed participating in.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 3:35 p.m. girlsavage

Awesome!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 3:36 p.m. JennyBunny

It's very cool.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 3:38 p.m. beetlegirldesign

This is fabulous. Thank you!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 3:40 p.m. SweetgumHandbags

Great idea!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 3:42 p.m. yaelfran

LOVE THEM ALL!!!!
And what happen if one item from guide is sold?

Nov. 20, 2007 at 3:44 p.m. LoriDelisle

Sounds great! And I like some of the categories like "Eco Friends" and "Bag Lady." I'd love to see a faith based category like "Faith-Full Friends."

Nov. 20, 2007 at 3:50 p.m. strumpfkunst

I love the idea... I love the pages I saw... But it seems to be a trend that whenever a cool feature is introduced and actually USED, Etsy's servers behave all surprised and close down.

Maybe some of those cool new features should be lower on the priority list than actually having a server park that works?

Nov. 20, 2007 at 3:53 p.m. blondechicken

Very exciting! I was planning to do a Buy Handmade Gift Guide on my blog, starting on Buy Handmade Friday, in this very same manner (co-worker, in-laws, etc) as it seems very hard to buy a handmade gift for someone who don't know that well.
Thanks Etsy!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 4 p.m. lupin

Cool but slooooow, presumably from all of us lot checking to see if we're in any of the lists? A treasury-like yellow star next to the list titles would be awesomely useful to save us having to check every single page to see if our item is in there!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 4:01 p.m. glitterstar

Awesome idea! I'm having a lot of fun playing around with it.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 4:06 p.m. JustAnotherDay

very cool idea. off to check it out now!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 4:10 p.m. girlsavage

I would love to see a guide for $15-$30. This is usually about the limit I have seen commonly used...You know around $25...

Nov. 20, 2007 at 4:19 p.m. valutree

What an amazing idea. I love it!!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 4:26 p.m. blondechicken

Oh yay! I'm featured!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 4:27 p.m. TeenAngster

$15-$30 has been posted!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 4:34 p.m. MindysEmbroidery

Great idea!!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 4:48 p.m. Timeless

I had spotted the Gift Guide on one of the computers in one of the Etsy videos, great to see it up and running now! ;)

Nov. 20, 2007 at 4:55 p.m. patriciasartgallery

Wow,cool idea! Now I'll go look through it :)

Nov. 20, 2007 at 5:22 p.m. BlackStar

Nice! I'm a little confused. Do the guides get changed daily or just when an item sells in the category?
~~off to check out the rest of the lists

Nov. 20, 2007 at 5:23 p.m. TwinDreamCreations

Awesome idea!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 5:41 p.m. sixsisters

It is fabulous! Thanks so much.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 5:43 p.m. scarletbeautiful

when new items are added will they be in the front?

Nov. 20, 2007 at 5:56 p.m. Vanessa

yes, newly added items will appear at the top.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 6:02 p.m. aplanetnamedjanet

I'd love to look at the gift guide, but it is taking forever to open up. sigh

Nov. 20, 2007 at 6:11 p.m. shoofly

I love it, what a nice surprise to find in the tool bar, thank you Etsy! :)

Nov. 20, 2007 at 6:26 p.m. lake

It looks great - I love that you guys are coming up with so many different ways for sellers to get exposure.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 6:29 p.m. darjeelingpaper

This is such a wonderful idea! And thank you to Etsy Admin for featuring some of my cards! What fun!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 6:31 p.m. DomesticGoddess1211

I would like to know why there are nude women items in the teenage girls section??

That's completley inappropriate!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 6:32 p.m. elanknits

Great idea, can't wait to get a better look when they slow down, there are so many people on atm, they're bogged down.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 6:34 p.m. eclipse

I'd love to see more suitable wedding GIFTS in the wedding gift guide. Most of the items shown there are bridal jewelry, wedding invitations, things a bride would choose for herself before the wedding, not items you would give as a wedding gift to the couple. I have weddings to attend and I'd love to see more gift ideas for a wedding *guest* to give. Some of the beautiful housewares, pottery, glass, home textiles, etc. that Etsy has in abundance.

Also, an anniversary gift guide would be a great idea with items chosen by the traditional and modern materials for anniversary gifts, i.e.
First Paper
Second Cotton
Third Leather
etc.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 6:41 p.m. Vanessa

Great ideas Eclipse, wedding registery type gifts.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 6:49 p.m. shoofly

I should add, I love this feature because there is *so* much incredibly awesome stuff on Etsy but I never know where to start looking when shopping for friends and family.

This is perfect, and the timing couldn't be better, hooray!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 6:50 p.m. BlackStar

thanks Vanessa!

Nov. 20, 2007 at 7:15 p.m. SupernovaDesigns

Is there someone we should contact when there are items we feel are miscategorized?

Nov. 20, 2007 at 7:52 p.m. monsterpromos

So this has out-of-the-blue taken precedence over the oh-so-requested Alchemy?? ...which was supposed to be finished for the "holiday shopping season".. which is nearly over.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 8:17 p.m. eclipse

well I felt inspired by the Anniversary gift guide idea, so here's a treasury!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_wes...
now if you can just build a feature to make men remember it...;-)

Nov. 20, 2007 at 9:07 p.m. MistyRidgeBeads

I feel the same way too DomesticGoddess1211:

"I would like to know why there are nude women items in the teenage girls section??

That's completley inappropriate!"

Nov. 20, 2007 at 9:35 p.m. twolefthands

I have friends that have looked on Etsy and left because they find it too confusing, I think this new feature will be very helpful to new shoppers.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 9:40 p.m. rubyjo

It is an awesome idea. I have already had a browse. With all the negativity on the forum today regarding the gift guide I just wan't to say for the record that some of us etsyians DO think it is a great idea even if we are not featured.

I honestly think that some people are upset because they are not in it.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 9:47 p.m. Rosewebs

keep up the upkeep! Nice to have other options.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 10:03 p.m. gemmafactrix

So...we can be featured because we 'deserve' it or we can pay to get in? No thanks. This feature is incredibly disappointing.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 10:09 p.m. kittycrossbones

Ok - So I bought a showcase spot and then realized, ..what if it's down the day of my showcase? Would you refund sellers if the Gift Guide is still down by the time the showcases' go live?

Nov. 20, 2007 at 10:27 p.m. artladymanor

Sounds like a cool idea, but it's not working for me.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 10:29 p.m. whitefluffydogs

Totally crashed.

Nov. 20, 2007 at 11:02 p.m. Vanessa

Ack! This is anguishing. As of 11pm, still not up. Here's the forum thread to keep up to date with the engineering team.

Nov. 21, 2007 at 3:42 a.m. Rivkasmom

Why can't we just have a search function? That way everybody gets an EQUAL chance at being seen?

Nov. 21, 2007 at 4:51 a.m. bunny

"I now know what we were doing with all of those "contests" which I thoroughly enjoyed participating in."

But not everyone saw those contests or participated :o/
I checked the gift guide last night while it was working, and i was in one, so i'm NOT jealous or upset.
I think it could be a great idea IF it were more fair.
While i was looking around it i noticed that the same sellers, and even the same items from those sellers were popping up in multiple catagories.
That's hardly fair.

Nov. 21, 2007 at 5:26 a.m. lupin

After looking in more detail & reading some of the threads I agree the guides need a little tweaking. I don't think they need to be "fair" but the items should be well-thought-out (baby safe items in baby categories for example) and sellers should be clearer on how long their items will stay in the guide (whether it's worth upping the quantity as suggested in the article). BUT I think they are a great way for new buyers who aren't looking for specific things to browse a snapshot of Etsy - sooo many people I've sent to Etsy have felt lost at the sheer volume of things on here! I did seem to be in some of the guides though so perhaps I am biased :P

Nov. 21, 2007 at 7:44 a.m. Bellebeads

I think this is a fantastic idea!

Nov. 21, 2007 at 8:07 a.m. syko

Teenagers! Need gifts too.

I think this is a good idea if you choose a variety of items and sellers and if they change often :-) And I think that it could help new shoppers to etsy.

Nov. 21, 2007 at 8:46 a.m. stephaniegibson

I was not able to get in before it crashed, So, all my opinions are sight unseen, but it seems to me this is a good effort to get exposure to our shops, without relying on Showcases that we have to pay to get into. In my opinion, this is much more "fair" than a Showcase that in many ways is really only affordable for sellers who are already doing well.

I am not really sure what all the fuss about "fairness" is. Ultimately, this is a commerce site with thousands of sellers. There is no way to make any of it "fair." Other than to say we all have the same opportunities to produce quality work and great photos.

Nov. 21, 2007 at 9:14 a.m. gemmafactrix

There is no way to make any of it "fair." Other than to say we all have the same opportunities to produce quality work and great photos.

11/21/07 at 1:46p.m.

----

It would've been fair if we were EACH given a chance to create a gift guide in our own shop, and Jared created a pretty flash program, perhaps like the time machine 2 in which recently made or updated guides scrolled through. The gift guides could have tags, they could be searchable. They could be available for everyone to make, if they chose.

Nov. 21, 2007 at 6:14 p.m. chocolateandsteel

I love it! I was really inspired looking through the guides. It helped me figure out some ideas for the guys in my life.

As my mom always said, "Life isn't fair". You have to work hard and get your name out there. Maybe it's naive of me, but if you run your shop well, you will be seen.

Nov. 21, 2007 at 7:54 p.m. dmollison

Really like the new gift guide.

Nov. 21, 2007 at 8:05 p.m. dmriceart

Love it, and know that in the long run the customers will find it to be a very useful tool! Now I need to work my back side off to get my shop in tip top shape! LOL! If I were three people, I could keep up with life! Meanwhile... You have done a Super job creating this new feature!
Yes, it has a few flaws...
but hey... show me a site that hasn't!

Idea... Please think about putting a link back to the categories page... on each section, so when customers see the gift guide, they can also click quickly to the rest of Etsy... This will help everyone! ?
Thanks much !
Sincerely, Debi dmriceart

Nov. 22, 2007 at 4:02 a.m. beadworx

too cool - like the gift guides. Hope one or two of my items will pop there too one day;)

Nov. 22, 2007 at 7:59 a.m. paperiaarre

Well, hardly anything is perfect, but I really like the gift guides. It's probably impossible to feature everyone there, and quite frankly, I don't even wish to see everyones work there. Most items in the gift guides are at least well made.

It would be nice, if one item would be featured only once. I have no problem with many items from one seller, but seeing the same items over and over again is pretty boring.

Anyway, thank you Etsy for the gift guides. I like them, although it seems I'm in the minority :)

Nov. 22, 2007 at 10:27 a.m. DesignsByBari

I love the gift guides and already made 2 purchases!
I think that it was very hard to find things for boys and now you have made it very easy!
Thanks! I am a fan!

Nov. 22, 2007 at 1:49 p.m. kittycrossbones

There should be a RockStar catagory!

Nov. 23, 2007 at 10:48 a.m. Gingeroni1

Thank you Etsy for always Improving the site to attract buyer's. I appreciate all of your hard work.
You Go !!!

Nov. 23, 2007 at 11:22 a.m. castocreations

chocolate...my mom said the same thing!!!

I like the guides but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not include commercial items! I was disgusted while browsing to find a totally obviously commercial item last night (they even said it was a commercial item in the listing). I reported it but it was a dumb thing to see in the gift guide.

Nov. 24, 2007 at 8:23 p.m. MoonFairy

I'm dissappointed in the fact that it's always the same sellers here getting Featured, in Treasuries (although those are user-generated and thus I can't blame admin), having Storque articles, and getting in the gift guides.

There are plenty of OTHER people out there working hard on their shops that deserve those spots.

And I think other issues, like the horrible search, need to be adressed before pretty shiny new features are created.

Nov. 26, 2007 at 1:29 p.m. margotbianca

i think the gift guides are a great idea to help people find more specific items. i also enjoy the fact that they are curated.

i think that one improvement could be adding more 'types' of friends, since the types of people i buy gifts for is fairly diverse. some ideas:

gifts for:

students
cooks
animal lovers
sportsmen (or outdoorsy guys)
artists
seamstresses

these are just a few specific ideas that are on the top of my head. i'm sure that other people could add more.

another cool thing might be subcategories under the more broad categories, such as 'female best friend'

subcategories could include favorite colors, for example.

great work, though, i think!

Nov. 29, 2007 at 2:36 p.m. niftythrifty

can you search the guides?

Nov. 29, 2007 at 2:40 p.m. moderncard

I love the gift guide! It's given me great suggestions for Christmas gifts!

Nov. 30, 2007 at 12:17 p.m. Abacus

What happens if you're in a guide and you put your shop in edit mode for a craft show? Does your listing disappear? If so, will it re-appear when you hit "finish" to return the item to your shop?

Dec. 3, 2007 at 3:04 p.m. atozcreations

I love the gift guides.

I only wish there was a "$5 and under" category. There's so many people I have to get a fun "little something" ya know? Plus there's a bajillion fun little things under 5 bucks here on etsy!

Dec. 4, 2007 at 7:05 p.m. reqbat

"Alchemy has not been abandoned"

good to know! b/c its been a VERY long while...

Dec. 4, 2007 at 9:26 p.m. msotherdenartglass

I disagree with the gift guides for several reasons, but this reason tops the rest, so I'll mention it here:

Sellers who make one of a kind, unique, individual items get punished for making one of a kind items because their gift guide promotion ends when their one of a kind item (inventory of 1) sells.

On the other hand, sellers who make a garage full of one item (like a factory) get to stay in the gift guide until they sell out or until Admin decides they've had their moment in the sun.

Not cool at all.

Dec. 4, 2007 at 10 p.m. Sarahkat

The gift guide is a great idea, but has been very badly executed.

Dec. 6, 2007 at 10:05 p.m. pmcookie

I like the concept ok. I have seen many items up for days. I have also seen items duplicated in other categories. I think the items and shops should change frequently so that all shops (or as many as possible) could have a space. Just my imput.

Dec. 7, 2007 at 12:38 a.m. hawaiibeads

"Please let us know if you have ideas for other themes or categories."

How about a category for everyone else that has not been in it yet! Every single current seller on Etsy should have a shot at being in the Gift Guide, otherwise, it is very unfair.

Blah blah, better photos, better product, but that is not the point. We all pay the same amount and should be given a fair shake. Just because ADM does not choose your product because it does not suit them, maybe it will suit someone else!

Dec. 9, 2007 at 2:29 a.m. tabidesigns

interesting fact: while i was in the gift guide my sales went up a lot, then as soon as I was out, they died :(
which means that those not in the guide are getting little exposure, which is unfair, its a good idea, but in practicality it isn't perfect

Dec. 9, 2007 at 3:33 a.m. mulberrymuse

I have to agree with tabidesigns and I would like to know why some sellers can monopolise a space by adding more than 100 items in stock on their featured item in GG! Surely this is unfair...

Dec. 9, 2007 at 12:20 p.m. JewelsofLuxury

I agree with everyone above...to be fair and let everyone have a chance to potentially be in the gift guides....

After 1 of the items is sold that is listed, the buyer should be replaced by another from a long list database(i'm sure people would sign up for this) of people (admin scanned of course) that can take their place.

It is similar to a treasury being featured on the front page. This seems like the fairest plan. Who's with me?

Dec. 27, 2007 at 11:08 a.m. resinated

"If successful, the Gift Guides will become a permanent feature here on Etsy."

will etsy let us know how successful they are/were? like percentages sold over x amount of time?

June 10, 2008 at 6:46 a.m. AutumnLeavesJewelry

Great marketing tool! Thank you for the Gift Guides!!!

June 26, 2008 at 11:12 p.m. beyondtherockz

yes, thank you very much!

Sept. 4, 2008 at 11 p.m. CarriersCozyCottage

Very informative ! Thanks for creating another great Feature on ETSY !

Nov. 4, 2008 at 10:30 p.m. thepaintedpalmetto

I've learned a lot. Keep up the good work. Other than time machine 2 , the guides are my fav feature.

Nov. 11, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. sparklingtwi

An awesome assortment of wonderful gift to choose from =)

March 30, 2009 at 6:49 a.m. CoraDesigns

Wonderful assortment of gifts....I have been inspired to get creative!

April 30, 2009 at 2:28 a.m. debraroelle

So excited to be featured, and found out by surprise too! Thanks Etsy

May 13, 2009 at 8:36 a.m. japonicas

I have made it to the Gift Guides twice. Now I understand why. Thanks so much, whoever the Etsy admin who decides to add my item in the catalogue :) This definitely encourages me to continue creating items that will excite and impression many, including myself :)

June 23, 2009 at 12:23 p.m. annekibbe12

Hi, I am happy to have made it to the gift guide. I think my items would be great as wedding, house warming, hostess gifts. Or a gift to myself. The more I make these variations on floor cloths, the more I want to use them to pile shoes on in my bedroom, or inside the door from outside, or as full size table top mats at home or in a cool restaurant...

Nov. 10, 2009 at 7:10 p.m. EnchantedGypsy

I was in a gift guide "Luxury" then noticed I suddenly was no longer there ? What happened ?

Dec. 1, 2009 at 8:48 p.m. TrjnLaw

*** Is there a way to view all of the items in all the guides in one sortable list? (ie - by newest listed, by category, by price) ***

Right now I have to check each of the guides (many of them containing overlapping interest area items) daily/weekly and try to remember which items I haven't seen before. Love the guides though - nice selection!

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