Sunday, April 20, 2008

Supplies & Vintage on Etsy

I decided to check to see how many pages of items each category on Etsy contained. This was done on April 19th. These are the top 10.

1. Jewelry-21,531
2. Art-9132
3. Supplies-8028
4. Accessories-4626
5. Children-4215
6. Paper Goods-3728
7. Bags & Purses-2942
8. Vintage-2675
9. Clothing-2432
10. Housewares-1902

As you can see Supplies is 3rd and Vintage is 8th. A lot of people wonder why supplies and vintage are even on Etsy and some are beginning to think because they are allowed they are taking over Etsy. From what I can see jewelry is doing a good job of that!

On another note, since supplies seem to be doing so good, shops that sell handmade are opening supply shops because that is what is selling. So what happens when that many more shops figure this out and do the same? I had made a comment to support that since our handmade items weren't selling maybe we should get on the bandwagon and start a supply shop!

Admin say they have something in the works in order to define how supplies and vintage will be managed on the site but it won't be implemented until the end of the year sometime.

I read the forums a lot and see all the different viewpoints on the subject. I am not sure of the exact number of members but I do know that most do not frequent the forums and that most do not state their opinion on them if they do. So who truly knows how the rest of the members feel on this subject.

So the question is, is Etsy the right place for supplies/vintage or should they just be handmade period? Should Etsy continue allowing supplies so that people that live in small towns or people looking for unique supplies/vintage items can do all their shopping in one place? Should Etsy leave them be, due to the fact they are making money off of them?

My feelings on this are if you are going to keep them on Etsy, limit what is a supply. Now some might say to a crafter/artist everything is a supply! That might be true, yet I have saw items that are marked supply/commercial that can't actually be used in the making of an item, so I
believe they should not be allowed.

I mainly focused on supplies as I believe that they are the items that are discussed the most.

Please leave a comment on your feelings about this subject. I moderate my comments but will publish all viewpoints!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Tank the Tortoise



My brother finally sent me a photo of his tortoise "Tank". As they are on the endangered list, one has to have a license to have one, he does. He has his own area in my brother's yard. They take him indoors during his hibernation time.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Changing to 3 columns

Please excuse the mess on my blog as I am trying to change it to 3 columns. Have a bit of re-organizing to do, will hopefully have it done soon!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

It's all about the cats!



Our household consists of 9 cats. You can imagine the joy and fun we have with them. Each with his/her own personality, no two alike. We would be totally lost without these guys. We have 6 males and 2 females. All have been fixed.

As for vacations, we usually take them seperately. This year we would like to take it together but haven't figured out what to do just yet. We are very protective of these guys and don't just want anybody taking care of them.

The reason I made this post was to tell you about some of their antics. We have an outside dog and he gets fed canned dog food, one of the cats likes to lick the gravy. He can be dead asleep and as soon as he hears you getting the can opener out, he's right there. If we don't let him, he sulks!

Another one loves to play in the kitchen sink faucet. We leave it dripping for him, not a lot though as we are on a well and it costs to leave it running. The same one knows when you open a string cheese, no trying to hide the fact that you are getting ready to eat one!

There was something wrong with one of them at birth and he's in his own little world, but we love him to pieces. He loves just to bat around a small stuffed animal. He had a favorite but we had to throw it away, torn to pieces and I haven't been able to replace it yet. It was a TY beanie baby, Rafiki from the Lion King. I bought him a bear and he's okay with it but still looks for Rafiki.

Another one will just come up to you and bust his head into your face. He's made me bite my lip a few times.

Besides the 8 cats in the house we also take care of 9 feral cats outside. They are all wild but one though so we don't get to love on them.

I could go on and on about these guys but will stop here. Would love to hear about your cats. Leave a comment about them and post a photo of them on my guestbook.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Doctor

Well, I gave in and went to see a doctor, something I really hate doing! He informed me I had a sinus infection. 3 weeks later and I still have it. He prescribed me an antibiotic, to which I had an allergic reaction to and so have been sicker than when I went in. Hubby stayed home with me because I was so weak and was unable to do much of anything except run to the bathroom. That lasted 4 days and like I said I still have the infection. The doctor prescribed me a new antibiotic to which I am afraid to take. My daughter-in-law told me to wait a few more days before trying it, she's a nurse. So hopefully I can get rid of this so I can get back to feeling like myself again. I don't get sick often but I guess when I do it has to make up for it!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Items allowed on Etsy

I was totally shocked today when I came upon an item listed on Etsy. I flagged it and when late in the afternoon it was still there, I e-mailed support about it. I really wish I could say what it is but I won't. It really upset me to think a seller could list something like that. Hopefully admin will remove it soon and I can quit checking to see if it has been removed.

I have been sick for 11 days and finally against my better judgement I am giving in and going to the doctor. I hate going so it ought to be fun. NOT! Hopefully he can give me something to knock this crud out of my system.