Monday, December 27, 2010

Sunset

Some times you MUST stop and take time to smell the flowers.  I learned this the hard way. 

This is my favorite tree, if I ever wake up and it's gone, it will be a very sad day for me.  It's about the only direction I can take a photo and not have power lines in it! 

After the craziness of Christmas, I'm ready to veg.  Just look at this photo I got tonight.  Isn't it beautiful?  Well worth dropping everything I was doing!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Etsy strikes again



I'm looking anywhere and everywhere in an effort to leave Etsy. I have so much time and money invested with my three shops, I hate to leave, but Etsy has gotten so bad and they continue to do so without regards to shop owners.

They've changed the way the searches are done and ever since, my businesses have all but fallen off the face of the Earth. My vintage shop was doing so well and I was enjoying it so much, then came the changes and I'm lucky if I get a few sales a week instead of a few sales a day. Etsy has admitted to directing traffic away from our shops. What is the purpose of this? They just want shoppers to get to Etsy. Period. No longer want customers to come to our shops, but to Etsy front page and from there, who knows where they go.

Anyway, they strike again. It's amazing to me. They have become money hungry grubs, just like eBay did and I left there, too. I signed up for Zibbet and like it a lot but still no sales there either. But one thing I liked was the ability to list things and import/export them between Zibbet and Etsy. Today, I received my newsletter from Zibbet and Etsy strikes again. Etsy has threatened Zibbet with a cease and desist letter, I'll let you read it yourself.

"I am Sarah Feingold, Counsel of Etsy Inc. You are no doubt familiar with Etsy's website and the level of success it has achieved as a venue to buy and sell all things handmade, vintage and supplies. By using Etsy's site in any manner, you agree to be bound by Etsy's Terms of Use. One clause states you agree that you will not use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access Etsy for any purpose whatsoever, except to the extent expressly permitted by and in compliance with Etsy's API Terms of Use or otherwise without Etsy's prior express written permission. Etsy recently discovered that you are using Etsy's site to make unauthorized uses of Etsy's content though an importer tool through use of the domain Zibbet.com (the "Domain") on the World Wide Web. This is in direct violation of Etsy's Terms of Use. Etsy prefers an amicable resolution. Etsy members own their data, so they may download a spreadsheet of their active listings by visiting Your Etsy > Shop Settings > Options > Download Data. The spreadsheet is in CSV format and contains the following info:* Title* Description* Price* Currency code* Quantity* Tags* Materials* Full-size image URLs. Etsy members may download the spreadsheet from Etsy and upload it to your site. You may not use a script or other automated means to download the spreadsheet on a member's behalf. You may also access the Etsy image servers ONCE in order to download and store the images. You may NOT use the Etsy image URLs to permanently display the images on your site. We understand that it may take time to update the Domain's importer tool to utilize the spreadsheet. Therefore, we will give you until *December 6, 2010* to update this feature and cease and desist from the Terms of Use violations. If you have any questions, I can be reached at legal@etsy.com. Also, please contact me once you have complied with this correspondence.The demands made herein shall not waive or prejudice any rights or remedies that Etsy may have in respect of the matters set forth herein, all of which rights and remedies are expressly reserved. This communication should not be construed as a waiver of any rights by Etsy, including, without limitation, Etsy's right to seek monetary damages, equitable relief, and attorneys fees, all of which are expressly reserved.


Sincerely,


Sarah Feingold,


Esq.Counsel, Etsy, Inc."



And this is part of the letter from Zibbet explaining a few things: "We have been forced to make some changes to our Etsy Importer - and unfortunately, not for the better. We were recently served with a 'cease and desist' letter from Etsy (copied below) who believed us to be scraping sellers data from their site. The fact is we weren't scraping the data, but using a work-around for their developers API - which Etsy has recently blocked (a number of other sites Etsy Importers have stopped working for this reason too). "

Bravo Etsy. You've done it again. You seem determined to drive sellers away from you and it's working. Talk about blatant misuse of power. How about taking care of people who have no regards whatsoever to the rules and list items that should be marked mature but are totally out in the open for all to see when the rules state the first photo needs to be censored? What about this seller?
http://www.etsy.com/people/Deborahj/feedback?ref=pr_feedback Been repeatedly reported but oh well, let her continue to waste people's time. Flagging? It's a joke, not one thing is ever done about these people.

I remember writing them and reporting a person that had purchased items from me and then was reselling them. NOT a problem, I don't mind that at all, however, this person copied my entire listing, photos, description and all to resell the items. What was their answer? Contact the person or hire a lawyer. OMG, are you joking? Way to not get involved.

I'm seeing red, yep, seeing red.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Friday's Finds

I really, really, really, really, really, really, really needed to get out of the house yesterday.  Really.
 
So, I did what I do best and went shopping.  I didn't come home with a ton, but a few fun things.
 
I found this super cute ribbon with pigs on it!  Two rolls yet!  I'm not sure how old it is but I wasn't going to leave it there.  I decided I could always sell it as supplies.


Next, I've been looking for cute but cheap glasses to use with two pins I want to sell that hold eyeglasses, so look for these in two of my pin listings!  I can finally list these pins.
No way could I resist this!  Two rolls of wallpaper border, unopened and only .47 cents each!  One is a pearlized and I can't wait to work with it!  It's a beautiful design, too.

 
Now, when I first saw this, I thought, oh my, how rude is it to take one single cupcake to the party and not share with others?  Then, I saw Tupperware Toys on it, whew, made me feel better.  Now, I'm thinking, how flippin' cute would this be with that Easy Bake oven?

 
Get out those poodle skirts and saddle shoes!  This little wall hanging just screams retro!

I get home and there's a message on the machine.  I listen and it's a man from an antique mall I was in months ago!  He has PBN's in his booth.  I got right back in my car.  He had the two hunting pictures and the kit in his booth.  Oh darn, the kit is not old enough to list in my shop.  Drat.  Guess I'll have to keep it.



 
In another booth, I found a set of two Ballerina pictures and the two bird pictures.  I have the two bird ones but they are unframed, so I can sell those and keep the ones in frames now!  There's two more in that series and I really want to find those.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Lori Anderson Blog Giveaway!

Isn't this such a beautiful necklace?  It is up for a blog giveaway at Lori Anderson's blog!!  Stop by and enter for a chance to win!  http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/2010/12/necklace-giveaway.html

Good luck!


Friday, December 3, 2010

Let it be, Just let it be

Sad

I think it's sad that people feel the need to spam other people's blogs.  I have Frank and Jason leaving comments for their own good in my blog.  I will be deleting their posts as soon as I see them.  No one wants to see their "stuff".  Both of you should be ashamed of yourselves, but I just bet that will never happen.

There are places where your advertisements are appropriate, this is NOT one of them.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Cool Blog!

Had to share!  Check out this cool blog, I love everything about it!


Click on banner to enter blog.
 
She is posting every day of the year!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

A Lesson Learned, The Hard Way

A while back, I was a victim of credit card fraud.  It was very frustrating and nuts.  Apparently, these people get their hands on a card number and see how far they can get.  First thing they do is sign up for one of these sites that charges $1.00 to get some music or a game etc.  If that goes through, they move onto other things.
 
It was seriously a mess.  It got close to identity thief, which is really scary.  I won't even go there.  These people had several of my card numbers.  Things were showing up at my door like colon cleanser, vitamins and such.  Very weird things.  The credit card companies said this is how they see what they can get away with.  Think about it, they had my credit card numbers, expiration dates and my address.  Not a good feeling at all.
 
Every time something showed up, I tried to return it, so it became a constant thing between merchandise companies and credit card companies.  The best came one day in the form of a volleyball net.  I went to the company's web site and it was worth $150.00, wow.  But, the thief messed up, he put HIS phone number in, so I had him.  He was local, so my thoughts are that he went through my trash.  Believe me, I've since gotten myself a shredder that I use like a fanatic now.  Make sure you shred those checks they send you to consolidate your cards, they have your account numbers on them.  AND, when I called the company, I got this customer service dude that every time I told him something, he had to check with his supervisor.  Um, how about just putting the supervisor on the phone?  Anyway, she claimed my credit card company was not handling this properly and I should hold onto the net.  I told her I was trying to do right by them because I will NOT pay for this, so they will be out the money and the volleyball net unless she lets me return it.  Her answer was, I'll have to get back to you.  She never did, so if anyone wants a volleyball net, please contact me.  It's just sitting in the basement collecting dust.
 
Anyway, the only way a credit card company would investigate is if you sign a form and agree to appear in court, if it gets to that.  I asked if I would know how this happened.  If it's a web site I went to, I want to know not to go back there.  Oh sure, you'll know, so I signed the papers and mailed them back never to hear for sure what happened except that they did investigate.
 
I found out the person went to Walmart.com and was able to charge $450 worth of stuff and had it sent to them, so now they are getting bolder.  Dell.com, however, refused the card, good for them!  Here is the absolute best, they opened an account on LifeLock!  If you don't know what that is, it's a company that guarantees you against ID thief.  Um, excuse me, but you just screwed up big time! 
 
It gets better.  There was a class action lawsuit against LifeLock.  LifeLock lost the suit.  Guess what I got in the mail today?  LOLOLOL, a check for the amount of $10.80 for my part of the settlement.  For the first time ever, I can honestly say I'll be laughing all the way to the bank!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving! (I think)

Thanksgiving Day and we are having a snowstorm!

I'm thankful for snowblowers.  :o)

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

One thing about having my own blog is, I can complain if I want to.

I made the mistake of going into the forums on Etsy. I click to open a thread to see what the discussion is about and it's a seller complaining that she had FOUR sales last night and not one customer used the coupon code she had in her shop announcement to receive a discount. She continued on to say she went and convo'd each buyer to let them know she was running a sale and refunded the discount to their PayPal account anyway.

I have several problems with this that have me fuming.

1. I can't believe she's complaining about her customers. I wish I had four sales last night. My sales are just next to nothing, so I am not happy about hearing her complain when she does get a sale.
2. Why would you put a coupon code in your announcement?
3. Using coupon codes, to me anyway, is asking your customer to do your work for you. It's no different than having to use a shopper's card in every single store you go into these days. For crying out loud, put the items on sale. You do the work, not the customer. I hate those shopping cards, they weigh down my purse and I just don't understand why we need them. Again, PUT the stuff on sale and stop wasting my time!
4. If you are running a storewide sale, then just say that and refund the discount to the customer.

I think I have the only grocery store that doesn't require me to have a shopper's card in order to get a discount. They have my business. Every drugstore, grocery store and just about anywhere else I can think of make you carry those cards in order to take advantage of a sale. Then, they can send you all kinds of crap in the mail and now at your email address. So, I go ahead and fill out their forms to make them happy but never give them the correct email address or my home address, I get enough junk mail from Capital One alone, don't need it from anyone else. Thank you very much.

Just do a sale and stop expecting your customers to do your work.

Friday, November 19, 2010

New Edition

I just needed to get out of the house today and stopped at a nearby thrift shop.  Only walked out with one item.

No, not the sofa, chairs or table!  The paint by number!  It's 16 x 20 and is in a very heavy gold gilted frame.  The name of this one is Christ.
Haven't decided yet if I'll keep it or sell it.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Paper Beads

These are the last two I made!  I'm glad I'm finally finished with my holiday section in my shop!
Red Christmas Plaid


Retro Snowflake

The Retro Snowflakes are my favorite ones!  I love that paper and the beads come out great.

That's it for now!  You can find these in my shop:  www.RunsWithScissors4.etsy.com

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

What have I been up to?

I've been busy trying to stock up my paper shop!  These are the latest designs.
Candy Cane
Christmas Dots
Christmas Plaid
Dots Galore
Retro Dots
I'm almost finished!  Two more designs on the drying rack as we speak!

You can find these in my shop at:  www.RunsWithScissors4.etsy.com 

Friday, November 12, 2010

Busy!

Seems like a very long time since I've blogged!  I've been busy, doing 200 custom envelopes!  Want to see what 200 envelopes look like?  I'm going to show you anyway.


Once I got those done, I had to scramble to catch up around the house!  Do things like laundry, cleaning, etc.  Then, I started on my holiday items for RunsWithScissors.
New notepads in four designs (showing only 2):
Whimsy Trees
Happy Snowmen
And hang tags to match the notepads:
Happy Snowman hang tags.
Today I finished more notepads, here's a sneak peek, they will be listed in my shop on Sat.

Candy Cane
Penguins and the Tree Farm
and my favorite ones:
Fronts
Back, embellished with stockings!
Now, I must get to work on my Christmas paper beads!  So, that's what I'll be doing this coming week!


Visit my paper shop at www.RunsWithScissors4.etsy.com