Boycotting eBay, I'm Going Shopping

Back in February I closed my eBay store for the boycott. After seeing what was in the works for sellers I shut down completely May 1st 2008. I was a small seller and had started building my website after the Search In Stores fiasco in 06 (Store Inventory Format or SIF for you Brits) so it was no big loss. I am still boycotting, no buy, no sell, this is my vote, with my feet. That doesn't mean I have to stop shopping online.

Yesterday I bought this unique handcrafted stained glass and copper wind chime on Etsy.com, that pretty much blows my frivolity budget for the month! I have my eye on sparkly things too, but topping my wish list this week are these darling vintage pins with blue roses and dots. Imagine a miniature or doll quilt hanging from a wire hanger with these primitive painted pins.

Being a wrinklie doesn't mean I have to stop being girly. I found these beautiful 'beat the hot splashes' cotton bandanas for a bargain price, at 3rd Power Outlet available in nine other colors if pink is not your thing. I know they combine shipping so check out back to school needs for your teen while you are there.


About to have an empty nest? Then it is time to do some redecorating.

Look at this one of a kind, machine wash and dry, red and white quilt made from 100% cotton in the USA. It is a reproduction of a 1930 heirloom. Free shipping from the Blue Sheep and one of the best guarantees online. If you don't like it when you get it, send it back.


Lori at the Dakota City Quilter, who made this quilt also does custom quilting, if you are a quilter with UFOs that you would like to finish before Christmas you need to book now! Ask her about hand binding services too.

Y'all come back!

What Have We Gained From The eBay Boycott?

There are two comments on my post yesterday, both from eBay sellers who think the eBay boycott has been unproductive. I respectfully disagree.

The initial boycott which ran from February 18th through February 25th was not expected to result in an immediate reversal of eBay's plans. Far from it! We are realists and know from past experience that communicating with eBay is generally one way. We speak, they ignore. The first boycott was intended to let eBay know that they were about to step over the line. Did we achieve that? Yes. Did eBay believe we meant it? No.

The First Gain was Publicity
Because there was a lot of media attention eBay was forced to respond. The response was predictable, exactly like the parent who's four year old child announces they are going to run away from home. This condescending dismissal galvanized already angry sellers, gaining more negative publicity for eBay.

Then came Networking
From publicity came momentum. More eBay sellers became aware of what was going to happen, were angered by it and joined. In turn they generated more publicity. Groups formed, off the censored eBay boards and networked. Boycott eBay on Delphi was and is probably the most active. One of the benefits of networking was that many alternative venues were found and discussed. Sellers created support threads to help each other with the ins and out of learning new venues, setting up Google Checkout etc. This encouraged sellers to branch out, which led directly to the rapid growth of OnlineAuction.com and eCrater, which together with iOffer were voted as having the best prospects of becoming a viable alternative venue. Etsy registered their 1,000,000th user today one week short of their third birthday.

International Solidarity
The power of networking brought us in contact with sellers from Australia, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the UK. This is amazing. For example US sellers made submissions to the ACCC in Australia so that the ACCC would know that eBay's claims were not universally accepted and that PayPal was problematic in the USA too.

We Prepared & Learned
We learned that we did not ever want to allow another site to achieve the kind of power that WE gave eBay. Other smaller sites than the four mentioned above, also saw growth because sellers quickly realized that there is no 'one site fits all'. We prepared for what we knew was coming in May and that two month hiatus between the initial one week boycott and the May 1st beginning of an open ended boycott gave us time to make a smooth transition with minimal damage.

I personally know one PowerSeller, a good man who is the epitome of anti-boycott and 'nothing will happen to good sellers' sentiment, he has never had a neutral or negative. He made the mistake of believing that eBay was run like a business; that mistake has effectively put him out of business.



Y'all come back

Etsy? You Betcha!

I am very tired of all the stress & nastiness at eBay and almost as tired of PayPal. Today we are going somewhere NICE.

When I started looking at alternative venues Etsy.com was one of the places I looked at. It doesn't really fit me as a seller, Etsy is limited to handcrafted items and supplies, but it really fits me as a buyer!

Etsy is different. Almost three years old, Etsy treats it's sellers like rational adults. There are rules, sensible rules which are amended from time to time with input from members of the community. An email to Etsy gets answered, by a person. The mission statement says it all:

Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade.

Our mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers.

Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice:

Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade

Here are some of my favorite things: Clicking on the picture will take you directly to that item.

From Sparkklejar ~*~ SpArKkLy ThInGs!~*~
be sure to take a look at her clothes pins too!



From ActiasLunaMasks: Artist, Maskmaker, Multifaceted Designer and Printmaker, I would take this home!




From Citypretties these earbobs caught my eye.




The last item is from Emi Shimosato's shop Momonmo. I own one of her purses, my first Etsy buy, and the workmanship is exquisite as is the Japanese fabric.



I hope you enjoyed this little trip through Etsy as much as I did, good thing we can also Shop Victoriously Elsewhere!

Y'all come back and be sure to click VICTORIOUSLY on any interesting links in the sidebar! Gotta keep me in tea bags.














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