Monday 20 July 2015

What I wish Etsy-sellers understood

I’ve been looking for some cool new hairsticks and I keep wishing those Etsy-sellers would understand their market better.
For instance: It’s plain shocking just how many hairsticks have decorations on the middle of the stick-part. Or how many sticks are equally pointy in both ends, which make my fingers hurt just looking at them. Talk about not having even the most basic understanding of the product you’re trying to sell!

Do: Tell me your sticks are hair-friendly
Seriously. Explain how you have sanded the stick down and lacquered it to smoothness. Please. This is perhaps the biggest selling-point for all longhairs. I need to know that your stick, no matter how pretty, isn’t going to shred my hair!

Do: Write the useable length of the stick
Sure I can usually figure it out if you have the full length and the topper length written down, but writing what the useable length is, shows you understand the product you have made and the market it is for. It instantly makes me think higher of the quality of your sticks.

Do: Show me the full length of the sticks
I want to see that the stick has a nice balance and the topper isn’t overpowering it.

Do: Show me the tip of the sticks
I want to see that the tip isn’t too sharp so it could hurt my scalp, or too blunt so it will break my hair trying to push it into a bun.

Do: Explain exactly how you can personalise the sticks
Can you make it different lengths? Tell me exactly which ones you can do.
Can you make it another kind of wood? Tell me exactly which ones you have available.
Can you make it another colour? Tell me exactly which ones.
Don’t just write “Contact me if you want a personalised hair stick!”. It will probably waste time for both of us.

Don’t: Show me too many artsy pictures
A series of pictures with the cool fairy-filter of that hipster-glasses girl with the mason jars in the forest? I get it: You’re crunchy and your products are unique. Congrats. Not a selling point.
The most polite thing I can say, is that there’s a 99,99% chance that she doesn’t have the same colours or hair as mine, so I can’t compare how it looks in her hair, to how it will look in mine. Waste of effort and time for both of us.

2 comments:

  1. Have you tried buying from http://www.longhairedjewels.com/ ? She has an amazing range, makes hairsticks to order and is the British supplier for Ketylo. Plus she is lovely to deal with, I've bought a lot of sticks from her.

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  2. Agreed 100% about the hair-friendly and length do's, those are so necessary! Also yes, it bugs me when they don't show me the full stick in pics, or when the end is too blunt (mechanical damage) or too pointy (danger to scalp and other people). Curiously enough, though, I'm very happy with all the Etsy hairsticks I've bought (from Nightblooming, AKCWoodworking, Eaduard, Aliarose and Hairjems) the ones I've found more issues with are from a local medieval fair...

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