Unfortunately this is what I saw:
This in my humble opinion is the height of unprofessional. ArtFire states that they are a venue to help you sell. They state they are in the business of helping YOUR business. So, what business do they have adding an EtsyB**** Blog as a preset feed. Yes, its pretty well known there are former (and sometimes current) Etsy sellers/buyers with a vengence on ArtFire but that should not preclude common sense.
If ArtFire is a venue, they should not be utilizing ArtFire's Preset Feeds to spread the message that people hate Etsy. If you go and look for trouble there will always be something. (One day, I'm sure there will be an ArtFireB**** blog potentially run by the same people) To add to the insult, I have no option to delete this feed because it is "preset." I don't have to view it but I also can't remove it. That my friend sucks donkey balls. (Sorry, I'm just matching the scale of professionalism I am writing about.)
I know that everyone is not in love with Etsy. I know that many people have ill feelings towards Etsy because of months and years of aggravation and disappointment. I know that Etsy IS NOT PERFECT! I guess I just can't believe that a site that is taking so much pride in working toward being "better" than Etsy would stoop to the level of promoting material that can be potentially defamatory towards its competitor. (I'm not debating what EtsyB**** says or if its right or wrong.) At this rate, ArtFire is only going to be as good the next guy because they can't seem to stop dissing Etsy long enough to focus on the real issues at hand. (Yes rapid cart is nice but what about fixing and finalizing categories, site design and search in an effort to keep the buyers, that ArtFire is willing to pay an arm and a leg in advertising to get, on the site. None of those things are worthwhile if the buyers don't also have something to benefit from.)
Now, don't get me wrong, I still believe that ArtFire has a lot of potential. I wholeheartedly believe this and that there is time to re-energize their focus away from the competition. ArtFire, if you truly want to learn from Etsy's mistakes... you don't have to drag them through the mud to do it. I'm just embarrassed. I deactivated the remaining listings in my store and I am canceling my verified subscription. I just can't be associated with that kind of behavior. If this is how they are starting out running a company, then I'm afraid to see where they end up. To me, it speaks volumes.
5 comments:
Wow.
I had not tried to customize that part yet, but if I had, I think I would have come to the same conclusion you have. I think when we cancel we should try to let Artfire know exactly why. There are other sites out there who are more professional and we can just as easily give them our business.
Exactly.
This type of attitude reminds me of high school. It's like they are trying to take subtle digs at Etsy's weaknesses. I expect more from a business even in its start up phases.
I haven't made up my mind about ArtFire yet (and have not set up an account), but I've read more about the frustrations people have with their accounts than glowing reviews. And, I've tried to support other vendors there as a buyer, and the search issues forced me to choose between buying and keeping my sanity within just a few minutes. I wrote a note to ArtFire, which they responded to, but I haven't seen the problem fixed yet....weeks later. Kudos to you for keeping this post so professional and eloquent. Thanks for helping sway my decisions regarding AF. (And hi from Twitter!)
Oh wow, that's really tacky on Art Fire's part.
It shouldn't be part of their business plan to spread snarkiness toward their competitor.
What I liked about Art Fire initially is that it seemed to be built to address some of the problems that people have with Etsy. That's a good, positive way to compete. But promoting Etsy Bitch in any way is just tacky, tacky, tacky.
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