Ideas How about a way to search only sold items..

I dont like that because customers try to buy something that was one of a kind and cannot understand when they pulled it from sold items that it is NO longer available it was sold.. It doesn't matter really there is another seller selling some things like mine but 2 x higher and has a deadline of 8-10 weeks and closed her orders on Oct 25th and is still taking tons of them and there is no time as many as she sold for her to do.She has months and months worth of painting and I wouldn't want that happening on people who want to see sold items I lost tons of money this season because I cannot do what I have now without ever going to sleep LOL. Greed can bite you in the behind and I just had to stop.. You can go to their sites click on items for sale then it goes down to sold items and click on them or the item and it tells you when it sold but not the price.

Posted at 3:52 pm Nov 17, 2012 EST

I can understand the good, and the bad to this issue. Some don't like their items to be seen again with a sale number, it is one-of-a-kind, and etc. But, sometimes seeing sold items is good for research, pricing, identifications, and etc. Vintage pieces yes....that is one of the ways I search is with the SOLD items at ebay to get a feel if it is an item of interest, if it does have possibilities, and to also see if it is worth selling due to the final selling price it sold at too.

Many factors, many ideas, and many many mixed emotions with this:)

Posted at 3:57 pm Nov 17, 2012 EST

You can search on Google with your "item name Etsy Sold" and sold items will come up.

It's not perfect, but I find I can usually find one or two of the items I'm looking for. :)

Posted at 5:07 pm Nov 17, 2012 EST

I just thought it's be an easy way to see what's trending. You can make the hippest doodads ever with the best price and the highest quality materials, but it does you no good if doodads are out and everyone's buying whatchamacallits. Or say people are buying doodads, they're just not buying YOUR doodads, you could get a measure of why- maybe you're doing them a bad color, or bad photos, whatever.
I'm not even talking price- they don't need to show the prices. And I do think if you searched sold items, they should only come up if you deliberately searched sold items and sold items only. I agree with Connie in that it sucks when someone is searching actual items for sale, a sold item comes up and then the searcher is redirected to another shop altogether. sold items shouldn't show up in general searches when people are shopping.

Posted at 7:02 pm Nov 17, 2012 EST

Market research is helpful for all of us. We can choose to see things positively, negatively or neutrally. What we should be doing is enjoying our Art, enjoying our vintage finds, trying to help our customers find supplies and working together as a community to do so. I could really use the information from past sold listings specifically for my photography to get an idea of what sort of prices people pay. I am always striving to help others around me and it makes me feel good when anybody else is succeeding regardless of how well I am doing. If etsy.com were an Art Fair versus an online site, I think people wouldn't view others so much as competition as fellow artisans and lovers or crafts.

Posted at 9:36 pm Dec 25, 2012 EST

I cannot determine whether my vintage items are selling well, or not, based on what sells on Etsy, or for how much it sold here. Etsy is far from being the standard for vintage identification and pricing.

I would hope that as Etsy continues to grow, they will start removing sold listings after some short period of time. 30 days sounds about right.

Posted at 10:05 pm Dec 25, 2012 EST

I like the idea. But I don't think prices should show (even though that would be helpful in some ways).

Posted at 12:12 am Dec 26, 2012 EST

Personally I don't worry if dodads are the hot item right now and I'm selling whatchamacallits. I' not looking to follow any trends but rather make what I love.

There are many people who don't want the same thing as everyone else does. That's why handmade by the artist does so well.

Pricing can change for all sorts of reasons. I don't publish what price items have previously sold for in the B&M shops so why should I do so online?

Posted at 12:17 am Dec 26, 2012 EST

I've run across sold items by doing a Google search (inadvertently), so that may be one way to go.

I do not like the idea of showing prices with sold items. I know Ebay does it, but Ebay is for mostly one-of-a-kind items, so people can't compare what you used to sell an item for as opposed to what the price is currently.

I also don't like the idea of sold items expiring. I've made several sales to people who requested a custom item like one I'd already sold. I like having that sort of "gallery" for them to look at - without having to pay extra for a gallery!

Posted at 12:26 am Dec 26, 2012 EST