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Friday, July 22, 2011

I am just being too critical?

For some odd reason I keep losing one of my earrings. I will buy a new pair, wear them a few times…and then one is gone. Lost in the black hole somewhere. I don’t know why or how this happens. I just know it does happen. A lot. I have about 20 single earrings that have no mate.

I decided to buy some new black earrings because I have 2 individual earrings that don’t match. Of course their twins are in some alternate universe. I went on Etsy and did a search for “black earrings.” There were 73,135 items matching my description. I wanted something very plain and semi-cheap since I knew I’d eventually lose one of them. I scrolled and scrolled and finally found a shop that had what I wanted.

The seller had just opened her shop this month. She had no previous sales and wasn’t in any circles so I was a bit leery. In the end, I thought it would be cool to give her a chance & be her first sale. Last Friday I ordered and paid for 3 pairs of earrings and waited for a response.

Nothing.

Every other seller I’ve dealt with on Etsy has been amazing. They have emailed me to thank me for my order, or told me when it was going to be shipped. They’ve wrapped their products really cutely and enclosed a handwritten thank you with my order. This girl did none of that. I kept logging on to see if my items had been shipped but nope, they hadn’t. I was about to cancel my order yesterday when I received the package from her. No nicely wrapped earrings, no thank you note, no nothing.

I think about the day when I open my shop. I know I would give the best customer service possible. I would want people to feel happy that they chose to purchase from my shop. There are many others they could have bought from but they bought from me. In this case, there were over 73,000 results for the product I wanted and I chose her shop. I have to admit, I am a little annoyed. Was I just spoiled by the rest of the sellers?

I have to fill out my feed back form. I’m honestly not sure how to respond. I was her first THREE purchases so I expected a bit more. I don’t want to write a negative response. What if that makes other people hesitate to buy from her? I did receive everything I ordered within a week so I guess that’s something. So should I put a neutral response? I want to be nice but I also want her to know that she really has to step up her game if she wants to keep selling. Ugg. What to do, what to do?

Any suggestions would be super appreciated!

Thanks! Happy Friday!!

3 comments:

  1. Well, I suppose shop owners like me have spoiled you, LOL I'd say you have to give her a little bit of a break...maybe she's just getting into the swing of Etsy and doesn't realize how special the handmade community is yet and how everything works. She probably doesn't know that Etsy now has a button to click to let the customer know their item was shipped. Personally, I would probably just click positive feedback and not write anything. But then... I would send her an email expressing your concerns. Tell her that it would be a good idea to let her customers know that she rec'd the order and when she will ship it. Or just let her know of your previous experiences on Etsy. She'll probably feel really bad, if not, she won't be around long. That's my two cents. Hope it helps.

    Much Love—Jodi

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  2. I think what Jodi said - send an email - probably in the tone of being helpful since she's new. I think I'd do that before I left feedback, just in case she's crabby about it. Then maybe I'd leave neutral. Cripes, I'm sure our first sale I probably went overboard. :) I do acknowledge every sale - telling them when it will be shipped, and always mark it as shipped also. And wrap everything nicely, send thank you note...I think that's what makes Etsy special.

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  3. Haven't had a sale yet, so I could be off base, but I agree with Jodi above - I'd let her know via email so she can improve.

    Following from Welcome Wednesday :)

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