Leaving Etsy: My Journey to Squarespace

I’ve been with Etsy as a marketplace to sell my jewelry for 14 years.

But it’s time to transition off of that venue and build out my product line on Squarespace.

Etsy has been a wonderful place to sell my work for a long time, but since they went public, the quality of the marketplace has gone down considerably.

In the beginning, it allowed for direct sales between the artists and the buyers, and the vibe was pretty pure and direct. If it’s not handmade, you can’t sell it.

It was wonderful! But mission creep set in, and Etsy opened it up to vendors and now it sucks for both artists and buyers of artist’s work.

Vendors, who don’t care that much about what they sell as long as it sells, are having a field day.

Seth Godin wrote about this distinction all the way back in 2011, and it rings so true now.

Etsy is no longer a marketplace about handcrafted merchandise, and their branding is suffering because of it.

They’ve made countless dumb decisions and I’m ready to move on.

So.

I made the decision to use Squarespace as the host for my shop, and while on vacation, I’ll be slowly adding my listings there.

I just designed my website a couple of months ago on Squarespace, and will now go to Phase 2 of my plan by moving my shop on over.

My approach to the switch won’t be cold turkey, but a nice, slow roll.

I don’t know how long I’ll be selling with both platforms, but my intent is to be completely self-sufficient in a year.

I learned a long time ago not to shoot myself in the foot as I’m running away from something. Emotional decisions need to take their time to fully emerge. Etsy has pissed me off enough now that I’m going to move, but on my own timeline.

There’s plenty I need to learn about SEO and how to leverage social media to get my sales up to speed.

One thing I like about Etsy is that they do a pretty decent job of getting your listings seen if you play by their rules.

But they aren’t playing by their own rules anymore, so the trust is gone.

And that’s the precursor to a sinking ship so I’m getting off before she goes under completely.

Here’s to life in the fast lane…or my lane at any rate!

Random fact about me: My husband likes a tidy house and I like a clean house. I’m not anal about being tidy and he’s not known for cleaning. Oh, the irony!