The Stunt I pulled today.

The Telengana issue has disrupted the life of the common man in Hyderabad. Just this month of July, I already saw two calls for general strikes (called ‘bandh’). Protestors shut down schools, colleges and disrupt public transport. They force commuters from going to their workplaces, and close down (or break) toll booths. Shops and institutions close down their doors, fearing riots. All this takes a toll on my business as well.

Take for example, my client Greta. A bride to be; needs her Bridal earrings for her wedding in 2 weeks time. Another client of mine: Caroline. Going away on vacation, so needs her parcel to reach her on time. How am I supposed to ship put their parcels, if there is constant agitation on the roads? In addition the Post Office keeps its shutters closed as well.

So today, when the lady behind the counter at the Post Office told me that they are closing up due to yet another ‘strike’, I lost it! Seriously! I pointed out that I took quite a risk in getting to the Post Office. Then I asked her very very politely if nothing could be done? For the sake of someone’s bridal jewelry? She said that the lady who sits on the computer (International Express Shipping) did not turn up (probably agitation on the road). I said that if she has the system up and running for me, I will weight out the parcels and print out the receipts myself.

So I went behind the counter, got the International SpeedPost System running and made sure that all of my 13 parcels went out today!!

Ah, the length at which we have to go to have things running in this country.

I think I will take my Darjeeling tea break now; after the stunt I pulled, I think I deserve it.

Satin Lace Seller

Me: "Hello? Is this ABC Lace Store? Is the owner Mr. XYZ there?"
XYZ: "This is Mr. XYZ."
Me: "Oh, hi there! Did the 3" satin lace I ordered in as yet? You said that it would be in within 2 days....if you remember?"
XYZ: "Oh yes, Madam, I remember. But I have not been coming to my shop for the last 20 days because I have been sick."
Me: (mentally) But I just saw you 4 days earlier and were perfectly hale and hearty!

Its been 4 months now and the lace never came in. I had to import the satin lace, a simple simple item, from USA.

Life in India.
100% true incident.

Etsy Purchase from Shari - luvs2create2

I am so excited to tell you all that my Custom tags from Shari of luvs2create2 on Etsy came in over this weekend. I opened the parcel today early morning as the sun was coming up and it felt like Christmas morning with the gorgeous gift wrapping.

Shari customized all my tags to match the Navy blue velvet boxes that I use for my Bridal orders. Just look at all those tags!! Aren’t they lovely?

Shari also does all kinds of Custom Bridal works, Save the Tags, wedding Favor Tags etc. Please check out her shop Paper and Other Oddities on Etsy.

My Cubic Zirconia and Sterling Silver Shell Pearl Necklace hit the Front Page on Etsy!

My Cubic Zirconia and Sterling Silver Pearl Necklace from my Bridal jewelry shop hit the Front Page of Etsy yesterday.

Big Thanks to Jessica Torres for curating this gorgeous treasury!

My Cubic Zirconia and Sterling Silver Earrings hit the Front Page on Etsy!

My Round Cubic Zirconia Cynthia Earrings from my Bridal jewelry shop hit the Front Page of Etsy on 28th March!
Big Thanks to Kristi McMurry for curating this gorgeous treasury!

My Amethyst Beads hit the Front Page on Etsy!

My Amethyst beads from my Gemstone shop hit the Front Page of Etsy! Yay!
Big Thanks to Melinda Milkshake for curating this gorgeous treasury!

Hunch vs Etsy

During my B-school days, I came across "Customer-mapping" / "taste mapping" again and again. In a sentence it is a tool to analyze the customers, where they come from, what their buying preferences are. The idea is to "predict" the future buying trends and in a way predict the market.

Remember the "what you dos" and "who you ares" on credit card forms or magazine forms? Well, they are used to "chart" or "map" customers. And also draw correlation between seemingly unrelated activities. For example "bar fights are mostly started by men wearing cuff links." Or "Women over 40 buying Red Chanel lipstick mostly carry a Blackberry". (These two are just sentences I conjured up, NOT industry based data....but you get the picture). Although these may seem as unrelated activities, you will be surprised to hear how important data like these is to big companies.

Why I am talking of all this with regards to Etsy? Because Caterina Fake joined Etsy in Aug 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterina_Fake
And she launched "Hunch" "a site that is building the "taste graph" of the internet, mapping every user on the internet to every entity, and their affinity for that entity" in June 2009.
When all the hullabooloo with Etsy becoming a "social" network etc started, I just knew that Etsy will become another "hunch" like site. Don't ask me....how I just had a a"hunch"...heeehaw.

Look at the Hunch homepage : http://hunch.com/
See how similar it is to the new Etsy homepage : http://www.etsy.com/31
(you need to log out if you are already logged in).

Etsy says that "We need a homepage designed specifically for new visitors, with a new design that is clearly aimed at keeping them on the site." The new site will throw items at them that is based on the taste test.

As individual sellers, I am not sure how much it will help us. For example, I want ALL new visitors to be bead buyers and T shirt seller wants T-shirt buyers and a soap seller wants soap buyers. But the new home page may or may not throw out beads or T-shirts or soaps right?? To be honest I am not sure if supplies will be suggested AT ALL!! I have noticed that Etsy NEVER features a Supplies seller, or supplies in the finds or any Storque article. In spite of the fact that supplies are by far the biggest earners for Etsy.

So it is my honest opinion that the new page benefits Etsy as a whole, and is not beneficial to us individual sellers.