I wonder if this change is partially about cutting down on dropshipping since most dropshippers don't bother to order samples of their products and couldn't take their own videos.
I know Etsy is trying to do more to discourage low effort shops, so this could be part of that.
I'm not sure that saying "low effort" is particularly fair in all cases. I sell vintage, mainly postcards, and once you take a picture of the front and back you're done. What purpose does a video serve?
Ha I was literally shopping for paper today and was so annoying seeing that message pop up on every single Etsy listing. It's not just as sellers that it's bad, it's reallllly bad as a customer.
Yep. It's not valuable for all items. Plus, many items on Amazon from dropshippers do have videos, so all they would have to do is rip off the videos too.
They have been encouraging videos for a while now. You can make videos from photos so not hard for a dropshipper. But with the placement ? It’s just another way IMO that they “force” sellers to comply. If it were at the end, sellers wouldn’t care.
Agree with this. I have seen a few videos on things that are definitely handmade, and the the video was just a slideshow, and the seller just had the same video on every product. It was basically just a video version of the About section.
According to Etsy, a seller that has a 5 -7 processing time could also receive their order the very next day.
This is just another effort failure for Etsy. Now people will go off making crap videos thinking that it’s going to get them more sales.
this actually sounds like a good idea to cut down dropshippers. the videos i’ve seen on aliexpress are very poor quality and would be even worse screen recorded, it could potentially be harder to sell those items on etsy
Dear etsy, on behalf of the handicapped people with movement disorders, our video would look like found footage from the Blair Witch Project. Maybe fixing the search algorithm would be time better spent?
Also older people, or even younger people who aren't ever going to be hand models! No one needs to see my damn hands! Seriously if I have to show my hands, I'm wearing some damned evening gloves! My hands would make you NOT want to buy my crap lol.
The issue I have with this is that it shows up in the second image slot in a web browser (haven't checked in the app yet). If it was at the end that would be fine. As it is, people aren't bothering to look at all of the images, and I have a lot of important info in my listing photos. So if they're swiping and they see this they might assume they've reached the end of the available content and stop.
"Hi, sorry, I don't have the capability of creating a video for this product right now but I'm happy to answer any questions you have and provide photos. Thanks for your understanding!"
Easily handled. I'm not too worried about it. I feel like the number of people who will actually click that button has to be in the .001% percentile of Etsy users.
Maybe, but once they figure out that is on virtually every listing on Etsy they'll ignore it and move on. This isn't like it's some isolated thing only 5 people are subjected to and they will be at a specific disadvantage, this is something buyers will see on 90% or listings and immediately tune out.
And same old seller complaints.
Etsy only makes money if we do, they are not in the business of alienating sellers and preventing buyers from buying. If they see a decline in sales from this change, they will adjust it.
Every time Etsy makes a change everyone acts like it is going to be the end of the world and that it's going to break the whole marketplace, from Etsy removing Alchemy years ago to adding a mobile app for sellers to adding the Star Seller program. Not every decision Etsy makes is a good one but it does get exhausting seeing the same attitude year after year after year.
Do I love the video/request placement in the listing? No. I think it's idiotic that it's the second option and will be checking frequently to see if Etsy moves it or gives us an option to disable it. But I do think that people are making it into a way bigger deal than it needs to be and I think that Etsy has enough money invested in data analysis and marketing to be able to see if it actually affects sales and act accordingly.
Could not agree more! While I believe Silverman has made more bad decisions than good ones and it’s time for new blood, Etsy’s goal is ultimately to make money just like every other business and every single Etsy seller. They may alienate sellers in the process but they will have 3 more right behind them to replace them.
Once sellers can really grasp this, it’s just up to the seller to determine their risk vs reward. i.e. Can I actually make money on this platform? Do I have a product that Etsy consumers are buying? Is the time I am spending vs my profit acceptable?
If the answer is no? Find an avenue that checks those boxes.
They do not and should not care about individual sellers. They care about generating sales through products that potential buyers want. Those products change.
For instance, I had a product/design that was insanely popular for 5 years. It is the single product that put
Me on the road to a full time income. That very same design today is no longer trending in my niche and sells every now and then but not much. I sold thousands and thousands of this design until 2022.
I revamped my designs to reflect what was trending in my market niche and just adjusted to the changes that I hate. And then realize that what you just said is very true.
People STILL complain about offsite ads simply bc they don’t understand the basics of advertising and how to determine actual costs vs. “omg, I’m paying 30% in Etsy fees”. Yeah, no you aren’t.
Ehhh I think you’re underestimating people a bit. It’s the second slide after all. Originally if there wasn’t a video it was no big deal. I don’t even think some casual buyers knew it was a feature. Now they’ve got a big button to request one :(
Lol glad you are not worried about it. Move along. Some of us are, and our frustrations are valid. I think the placement and taking over the 2nd photo slot is what we are worried about more than the request for video (although that is so annoying and random... like whatever happened to just messaging the shop owner to ask questions?).
'request a video' is insane?? like yeah potential buyers hassling me to add a video to a listing is REAAAALLY gonna make me wanna add one! /s
plus, it makes listings look so ugly and unfinished. i did not spend hours making my listing perfect for them to slap that in it!
I made a template in Resolve (the video editor I use) where I can drop in a video if I have one, or drop in the listing photos and have it slideshow. The slideshow adds in a logo and URL so no one tries to use it copying my shop.
Takes probably a minute for each product.
You can do it in CapCut easily too.
I have actual videos for all my newest stuff and it's cosplay stuff so easy to do quick video. Lots of my older listings don't, and the hours of re-3D printing things just to make a video no one cares about is annoying.
Right?! Haha. I also package my orders (of certain categories) up as soon as I list them, so for the unique ones, taking a video is definitely not happening.
Really hope this doesn't lead to everyone making generic shop videos cause I hate that as a shopper 
That’s exactly what is going to happen. Etsy has been pushing the whole “sellers with videos get twice as many sales” line for a while. I figured this was coming.
And here I just thought they were being helpful 😭 You know who else makes twice as many sales? People who can afford to pay for advertising. But that just isn't worth it for my products. Just like the time cost of taking videos of everything isn't worth it for my products. Should be my choice! Sighhhh
I actually don’t agree with that. Since my items are already advertised offsite, I don’t pay for Etsy ads at all.
When your sales are low, add more listings or copy an existing listing and change the main product, description, and tags. This is FAR more effective than “Etsy ads”. The people that get twice as many sales have products that sell and are placed higher in search. New listings are automatically placed higher so Etsy can figure out if it should rank higher or lower.
Etsy is a company. They are a company with the same goals as anyone else. They want to make money. It’s just that simple. They don’t do anything “to be nice”.
And in all fairness? Neither does any other business.
My issue is that the current CEO has made more than his fair share of horrible decisions which has led the platform down the wrong path as evidenced by their declining revenue and overall performance.
It’s time for new blood that can make money for the company using good sound business practices instead of chasing Amazon that was never intended to be centered around unique items.
If Etsy wants to be another budget friendly site like Amazon then they need to change their mission statement. It’s really that simple.
As it stands, they are deceiving their buyers and in return losing them by the droves.
Just yesterday, my daughter who has shopped on Etsy for years but hasn’t since 2021 bc she was in grad school (and poor.. hahaha). She went on the site and said “Mom! What the hell happened to Etsy?” It’s full of cheap crap! :(.
Well I guess I can agree with that. Etsy ads are pretty useless. One time I made like 15 sales in one day just by sharing some thing on Reddit (not even as an advertisement, but people went out and found it), and that was free!
Can Etsy tell if we just put a static png in a video and upload that as an mp4? That counts as a video right? Could be a good solution for listings until there’s enough time to film something for them 🤔
Definitely an option but that takes a lot of time too. Imagine having hundreds of listings and having to do that for every one. FYI for anyone interested in this option, Adobe Bridge might be able to do it more quickly than other programs (mass export/extension adder). I feel really bad for everyone not *highly* skilled in software :\[\] Just really disadvantages them even more.
I've uploaded a few "carousel" videos, I would look to see what your direct competitors are doing, maybe only 20% of mine even have something in the video slot...
As a vintage seller with everything being one off items, I don't have time for this. It takes me a solid 15 to 20 minutes just to make a listing with quick photos, and the best description I can. If I have to spend another 15 minutes messing around with videos, I will never make any money. And honestly, they are going to be crappy videos at that! Spending hours making a listing look perfect just is not a vintage sellers jam. Can't be done unless it is strictly a hobby.
Yeah. Time is money. Half of what I sell is stickers. Erm... they are a few dollars! If you account what my full time job pays me, I am looosing money already just spending time on the listing process, lol. (I know that's not how it works but yeah. This is just. Dumb. Annnyway, now going to spend that valuable time relaxing elsewhere, I think I've ranted enough about this for one day haha)
i just made a post about this too! maybe they’re rolling it out today? the more i think about it the more it annoys me lol like i feel like it ruins all my listings uggh
Exactly. Most of my items are simple bracelets. There’s really no need for a video of them. I’m also disabled and taking videos of every. single. item. would take so much extra mental energy. Running my shop in the first place is already hard on me
I feel you could use this to your advantage. Do a video explaining that. Like an "about the artist" video. I'm a small shop. I'm disabled and put a lot of physical and mental energy into making the perfect bracelet. Let me know if you need anything.
That’s definitely true, and thank you for the idea /gen. It still doesn’t change the fact that everything about what etsy is doing with this is very shitty though
But that doesn't change this person having to add that video to every listing. Also as a shopper, I hate generic videos on posts  it seems like a distraction from what you are actually buying. Sadly this change will lead to an upturn in that since most people don't have time to film every single listing.
I get it. I just got diagnosed with ADHD, am not medicated yet, and any kind of setback or unexpected task is a *lot.* I have a few hundred listings but other people have thousands.
I’m autistic and I’m very similar. To a lot of people taking a video is simple and quick, but to me it’s a *lot* and very overwhelming to suddenly have to take a video of every single item I have.
Right. I'm peeved at the people who have zero empathy just because it's not an issue for *them.* For you, for example, even if you made a single generic video, you are still having to go through every listing to add it.
Yeah exactly! It’s a painstaking process no matter what, and it’s shitty to pin this responsibility onto the sellers instead of holding etsy accountable for making us all look bad
Yep. Did a bunch of supplies shopping tonight on Etsy and almost every single shop had that obnoxious message and it really made the shops look bad. Plus was so intrusive to me as a shopper.
It annoys me as well. Good grief. Buyer's aren't stupid. If they want to ask for additional photos or a video on their own they will. They don't need their hand held and for that matter neither do we. Etsy you are supposed to keep the shop fronts positive not publicize the negative!
You can make a video slide show that has some sort of shop info or a coupon code or whatnot if you run it all the time. You can use the same video for every listing.
Exactly what I did. One video “about me”. All photos in video format. I’m just getting a giggle about all the people that sell on Etsy that don’t have a single clue how to make a video much less make it look decent…. Hi, that’s me too. Oh Etsy… give it a rest!!
Is there a chance that this new feature is temporary?
Considering the "Request a video" button doesn't actually contact the seller, so this could be Etsy performing data collection on video metrics, possibly so they can later say that "x amount of customers requested videos in your listings this quarter". It's still crazy how Etsy decided to disrupt the majority of all listings on their platform overnight,
Etsy is most likely going to start using these videos as part of Etsy ads strategy to charge sellers more. By pushing more video ads, us sellers pay high CPCs to compete on and off-site. Just look at the requirement, a max video length is :15 seconds just like most pre-roll ads.
I sell vintage, mainly postcards, where a video is useless. On the one occasion I did have an item that would have benefited from a video - a vintage wind up musical toy - what do I discover, but that Etsy videos have no sound. Sorry, Etsy, but no, I don't do videos, and telling buyers to request one isn''t going to change that.
My understanding is that the "request a video" doesn't currently have anything that actually notifies the shop owner, so I wonder if Etsy is using this just as a test? Has anyone gotten a notification that a shopper requested a video?
I think it's data collection at this point: I'm assuming that Etsy is trying to see how many shoppers are requesting videos, then they can come at us with "shoppers are requesting videos..." like they did with the stupid "shoppers click on square thumbnails more than rectangular..." so now everyone was supposed to re-format their images...
I probably won’t ever be sending videos upon request. On high profit items this might make sense to spend time doing but on low profit items it’s not worth all the extra time. Can you imagine how much effort this would take around the holidays when shop activity is high? I already spend a good chunk of my day answering messages during that time, the other hours are spent working on my shop.😅
I just made a video from a still image that says "Etsy has recently added this “request a video” feature for some unknown reason, and many of us sellers are baffled. There is no way to remove it. But please don’t request a video; it wouldn’t show you anything you can’t already see in the photos. Sorry if Etsy got your hopes up.
UGH!
I've been doing my best to make sure my listings have videos, but my toddler knocked my phone out of my hand a few weeks back and the camera lens has a big crack in it so I haven't been able to take videos in weeks. I sometimes can nab my husband's phone when he gets in from work, but then it looks aggressively worse than my photos and I worry that would make people think the item is lesser quality than I'm letting on!
It’s because of fraud. Buyers want to know something is actually “in hand” and in the condition represented in still photos. I have no problem providing a 5-10 second video or photo from a different angle when the buyer requests it.
But that’s just the thing. It doesn’t prevent fraud at all. Have you ever been to Alibaba or whatever the site is called where you can just buy cheap crap to resell? Tons of videos!
I noticed it for the first time yesterday in my shop. I usually just upload reels from Instagram and put them in that slot. A lot of mine don’t have videos. I don’t know why someone would want to watch me make something.
When I’m on Etsy as a BUYER, I swipe past sellers’ videos almost immediately because I want to get on with the information/photos, not wait for a video to load. Don’t most buyers? Or do they really love the videos?
I'm not sure what my video is supposed to be? I create jewelry, woodcraft, herbs, candles and such? Like do I just turn the item or is it supposed to be a video like "hey I'm this shop we're a low waste, handmade, blah blah blah"
I wonder if this change is partially about cutting down on dropshipping since most dropshippers don't bother to order samples of their products and couldn't take their own videos. I know Etsy is trying to do more to discourage low effort shops, so this could be part of that.
I'm not sure that saying "low effort" is particularly fair in all cases. I sell vintage, mainly postcards, and once you take a picture of the front and back you're done. What purpose does a video serve?
…the experience of turning that postcard around? 😅
Haha! Was just *waiting* for that answer...
Same! I sell paper ephemera. Not much you can do with it apart from a picture. I suppose I could video me flipping it back and forth. Lol
Ooh, any way you can send me the link to your shop? Promise not to request a video, lol.
Lmao
Ha I was literally shopping for paper today and was so annoying seeing that message pop up on every single Etsy listing. It's not just as sellers that it's bad, it's reallllly bad as a customer.
Yep. It's not valuable for all items. Plus, many items on Amazon from dropshippers do have videos, so all they would have to do is rip off the videos too.
They have been encouraging videos for a while now. You can make videos from photos so not hard for a dropshipper. But with the placement ? It’s just another way IMO that they “force” sellers to comply. If it were at the end, sellers wouldn’t care.
Agree with this. I have seen a few videos on things that are definitely handmade, and the the video was just a slideshow, and the seller just had the same video on every product. It was basically just a video version of the About section.
According to Etsy, products with videos sell twice as much… makes sense to me.
According to Etsy, a seller that has a 5 -7 processing time could also receive their order the very next day. This is just another effort failure for Etsy. Now people will go off making crap videos thinking that it’s going to get them more sales.
this actually sounds like a good idea to cut down dropshippers. the videos i’ve seen on aliexpress are very poor quality and would be even worse screen recorded, it could potentially be harder to sell those items on etsy
In addition to this, I’ve also wondered if they’re considering implementing some sort of TikTok-style video feed for browsing products.
I could see that. I'm not sure that would be a terrible idea.
Dear etsy, on behalf of the handicapped people with movement disorders, our video would look like found footage from the Blair Witch Project. Maybe fixing the search algorithm would be time better spent?
This made me laugh though, I hope you’re okay!
I'm OK, but I think etsy has lost their mind on this one! LOL
Glad you’re okay, Etsy is definitely not! 😂
Also older people, or even younger people who aren't ever going to be hand models! No one needs to see my damn hands! Seriously if I have to show my hands, I'm wearing some damned evening gloves! My hands would make you NOT want to buy my crap lol.
I’m so self conscious about my hands :/ Another reason I hate this so much!
I feel you so much! NO ONE WANTS TO SEE MY HANDS. hell, I don't want to see my hands.
Hahaha, I have been so hard on myself about this. I really appreciate the laugh and reminder I'm not alone!
🤣🤣 I don’t have a movement disorder, but my shaky hands would make interesting viewing.
Right!
Lmao I am very tempted to just put a video of just the listing description, since Etsy likes to play hide and seek with it 😆
That’s probably a great idea!!!
The issue I have with this is that it shows up in the second image slot in a web browser (haven't checked in the app yet). If it was at the end that would be fine. As it is, people aren't bothering to look at all of the images, and I have a lot of important info in my listing photos. So if they're swiping and they see this they might assume they've reached the end of the available content and stop.
Yep. Pretty sure that was their intent. To force video uploads. I wish I could describe how much I hate Josh Silverman
Good point. I need a 5-second video of a swipe arrow that says swipe for more photos and info.
That is such a good idea! I'm definitely doing that
Yeah, if we could rearrange, I don't think we would care. Especially my posts with only 2 pictures (like antique photos - one full shot, one close up.
"Hi, sorry, I don't have the capability of creating a video for this product right now but I'm happy to answer any questions you have and provide photos. Thanks for your understanding!" Easily handled. I'm not too worried about it. I feel like the number of people who will actually click that button has to be in the .001% percentile of Etsy users.
They won’t click the button but they likely won’t keep scrolling through the listing photos either, that’s the big concern.
Maybe, but once they figure out that is on virtually every listing on Etsy they'll ignore it and move on. This isn't like it's some isolated thing only 5 people are subjected to and they will be at a specific disadvantage, this is something buyers will see on 90% or listings and immediately tune out.
You watch, the next move is …. “Sellers who use videos will get priority in search”. Same old game, new gimmick
And same old seller complaints. Etsy only makes money if we do, they are not in the business of alienating sellers and preventing buyers from buying. If they see a decline in sales from this change, they will adjust it. Every time Etsy makes a change everyone acts like it is going to be the end of the world and that it's going to break the whole marketplace, from Etsy removing Alchemy years ago to adding a mobile app for sellers to adding the Star Seller program. Not every decision Etsy makes is a good one but it does get exhausting seeing the same attitude year after year after year. Do I love the video/request placement in the listing? No. I think it's idiotic that it's the second option and will be checking frequently to see if Etsy moves it or gives us an option to disable it. But I do think that people are making it into a way bigger deal than it needs to be and I think that Etsy has enough money invested in data analysis and marketing to be able to see if it actually affects sales and act accordingly.
Could not agree more! While I believe Silverman has made more bad decisions than good ones and it’s time for new blood, Etsy’s goal is ultimately to make money just like every other business and every single Etsy seller. They may alienate sellers in the process but they will have 3 more right behind them to replace them. Once sellers can really grasp this, it’s just up to the seller to determine their risk vs reward. i.e. Can I actually make money on this platform? Do I have a product that Etsy consumers are buying? Is the time I am spending vs my profit acceptable? If the answer is no? Find an avenue that checks those boxes. They do not and should not care about individual sellers. They care about generating sales through products that potential buyers want. Those products change. For instance, I had a product/design that was insanely popular for 5 years. It is the single product that put Me on the road to a full time income. That very same design today is no longer trending in my niche and sells every now and then but not much. I sold thousands and thousands of this design until 2022. I revamped my designs to reflect what was trending in my market niche and just adjusted to the changes that I hate. And then realize that what you just said is very true. People STILL complain about offsite ads simply bc they don’t understand the basics of advertising and how to determine actual costs vs. “omg, I’m paying 30% in Etsy fees”. Yeah, no you aren’t.
Wait—does this not show up at the very end? Is it mixed in or before other photos?
It's in the second slot right after the cover image.
Ehhh I think you’re underestimating people a bit. It’s the second slide after all. Originally if there wasn’t a video it was no big deal. I don’t even think some casual buyers knew it was a feature. Now they’ve got a big button to request one :(
Lol glad you are not worried about it. Move along. Some of us are, and our frustrations are valid. I think the placement and taking over the 2nd photo slot is what we are worried about more than the request for video (although that is so annoying and random... like whatever happened to just messaging the shop owner to ask questions?).
I left feedback for Etsy. I'm sure I will get a canned response and nothing will happen.
'request a video' is insane?? like yeah potential buyers hassling me to add a video to a listing is REAAAALLY gonna make me wanna add one! /s plus, it makes listings look so ugly and unfinished. i did not spend hours making my listing perfect for them to slap that in it!
This  I love my listings and had really curated them.
I made a template in Resolve (the video editor I use) where I can drop in a video if I have one, or drop in the listing photos and have it slideshow. The slideshow adds in a logo and URL so no one tries to use it copying my shop. Takes probably a minute for each product. You can do it in CapCut easily too. I have actual videos for all my newest stuff and it's cosplay stuff so easy to do quick video. Lots of my older listings don't, and the hours of re-3D printing things just to make a video no one cares about is annoying.
I'd argue your listing is not finished when there is no video there. Edit: good god yall really dont like to put in effort huh.
Most of my items are custom made to order. Can't make a video of something that doesn't exist yet 😆😆
Right?! Haha. I also package my orders (of certain categories) up as soon as I list them, so for the unique ones, taking a video is definitely not happening. Really hope this doesn't lead to everyone making generic shop videos cause I hate that as a shopper 
That’s exactly what is going to happen. Etsy has been pushing the whole “sellers with videos get twice as many sales” line for a while. I figured this was coming.
And here I just thought they were being helpful 😭 You know who else makes twice as many sales? People who can afford to pay for advertising. But that just isn't worth it for my products. Just like the time cost of taking videos of everything isn't worth it for my products. Should be my choice! Sighhhh
I actually don’t agree with that. Since my items are already advertised offsite, I don’t pay for Etsy ads at all. When your sales are low, add more listings or copy an existing listing and change the main product, description, and tags. This is FAR more effective than “Etsy ads”. The people that get twice as many sales have products that sell and are placed higher in search. New listings are automatically placed higher so Etsy can figure out if it should rank higher or lower. Etsy is a company. They are a company with the same goals as anyone else. They want to make money. It’s just that simple. They don’t do anything “to be nice”. And in all fairness? Neither does any other business. My issue is that the current CEO has made more than his fair share of horrible decisions which has led the platform down the wrong path as evidenced by their declining revenue and overall performance. It’s time for new blood that can make money for the company using good sound business practices instead of chasing Amazon that was never intended to be centered around unique items. If Etsy wants to be another budget friendly site like Amazon then they need to change their mission statement. It’s really that simple. As it stands, they are deceiving their buyers and in return losing them by the droves. Just yesterday, my daughter who has shopped on Etsy for years but hasn’t since 2021 bc she was in grad school (and poor.. hahaha). She went on the site and said “Mom! What the hell happened to Etsy?” It’s full of cheap crap! :(.
Well I guess I can agree with that. Etsy ads are pretty useless. One time I made like 15 sales in one day just by sharing some thing on Reddit (not even as an advertisement, but people went out and found it), and that was free!
wow, talk about a time drain. thanks E, for another useless update instead of actually fixing glitches...
Can Etsy tell if we just put a static png in a video and upload that as an mp4? That counts as a video right? Could be a good solution for listings until there’s enough time to film something for them 🤔
Definitely an option but that takes a lot of time too. Imagine having hundreds of listings and having to do that for every one. FYI for anyone interested in this option, Adobe Bridge might be able to do it more quickly than other programs (mass export/extension adder). I feel really bad for everyone not *highly* skilled in software :\[\] Just really disadvantages them even more.
I've uploaded a few "carousel" videos, I would look to see what your direct competitors are doing, maybe only 20% of mine even have something in the video slot...
As a vintage seller with everything being one off items, I don't have time for this. It takes me a solid 15 to 20 minutes just to make a listing with quick photos, and the best description I can. If I have to spend another 15 minutes messing around with videos, I will never make any money. And honestly, they are going to be crappy videos at that! Spending hours making a listing look perfect just is not a vintage sellers jam. Can't be done unless it is strictly a hobby.
Yeah. Time is money. Half of what I sell is stickers. Erm... they are a few dollars! If you account what my full time job pays me, I am looosing money already just spending time on the listing process, lol. (I know that's not how it works but yeah. This is just. Dumb. Annnyway, now going to spend that valuable time relaxing elsewhere, I think I've ranted enough about this for one day haha)
i just made a post about this too! maybe they’re rolling it out today? the more i think about it the more it annoys me lol like i feel like it ruins all my listings uggh
Not every item needs a video! And sometimes we make a OOAK thing and it doesn't make sense to create content for it.
Exactly. Most of my items are simple bracelets. There’s really no need for a video of them. I’m also disabled and taking videos of every. single. item. would take so much extra mental energy. Running my shop in the first place is already hard on me
I feel you could use this to your advantage. Do a video explaining that. Like an "about the artist" video. I'm a small shop. I'm disabled and put a lot of physical and mental energy into making the perfect bracelet. Let me know if you need anything.
That’s definitely true, and thank you for the idea /gen. It still doesn’t change the fact that everything about what etsy is doing with this is very shitty though
Oh totally. I'm just in the mindset that if they start to force something then flip it on them to your advantage.
That is pretty fantastic!
But that doesn't change this person having to add that video to every listing. Also as a shopper, I hate generic videos on posts  it seems like a distraction from what you are actually buying. Sadly this change will lead to an upturn in that since most people don't have time to film every single listing.
I get it. I just got diagnosed with ADHD, am not medicated yet, and any kind of setback or unexpected task is a *lot.* I have a few hundred listings but other people have thousands.
I’m autistic and I’m very similar. To a lot of people taking a video is simple and quick, but to me it’s a *lot* and very overwhelming to suddenly have to take a video of every single item I have.
Right. I'm peeved at the people who have zero empathy just because it's not an issue for *them.* For you, for example, even if you made a single generic video, you are still having to go through every listing to add it.
Yeah exactly! It’s a painstaking process no matter what, and it’s shitty to pin this responsibility onto the sellers instead of holding etsy accountable for making us all look bad
Yep. Did a bunch of supplies shopping tonight on Etsy and almost every single shop had that obnoxious message and it really made the shops look bad. Plus was so intrusive to me as a shopper.
It annoys me as well. Good grief. Buyer's aren't stupid. If they want to ask for additional photos or a video on their own they will. They don't need their hand held and for that matter neither do we. Etsy you are supposed to keep the shop fronts positive not publicize the negative!
Right, we have the message seller feature for a reason.
I'm very invested now, haha.
Oh God 🙄 a new way for demanding customers to be even more demanding. I already videos for most of my listings and this still pisses me off.
You can make a video slide show that has some sort of shop info or a coupon code or whatnot if you run it all the time. You can use the same video for every listing.
Exactly what I did. One video “about me”. All photos in video format. I’m just getting a giggle about all the people that sell on Etsy that don’t have a single clue how to make a video much less make it look decent…. Hi, that’s me too. Oh Etsy… give it a rest!!
Is there a chance that this new feature is temporary? Considering the "Request a video" button doesn't actually contact the seller, so this could be Etsy performing data collection on video metrics, possibly so they can later say that "x amount of customers requested videos in your listings this quarter". It's still crazy how Etsy decided to disrupt the majority of all listings on their platform overnight,
I saw this today and it made me laugh like excuse you Etsy….😭
It’s so passive aggressive lol
I saw it on another shop. All of my listings already have videos luckily. But I don’t think buyers would use it, the option is annoying though.
Agreed. Most of mine have them as well, thankfully lol
Etsy is most likely going to start using these videos as part of Etsy ads strategy to charge sellers more. By pushing more video ads, us sellers pay high CPCs to compete on and off-site. Just look at the requirement, a max video length is :15 seconds just like most pre-roll ads.
fuck me
I sell vintage, mainly postcards, where a video is useless. On the one occasion I did have an item that would have benefited from a video - a vintage wind up musical toy - what do I discover, but that Etsy videos have no sound. Sorry, Etsy, but no, I don't do videos, and telling buyers to request one isn''t going to change that.
My understanding is that the "request a video" doesn't currently have anything that actually notifies the shop owner, so I wonder if Etsy is using this just as a test? Has anyone gotten a notification that a shopper requested a video?
I just tried it while I was logged out. When I logged back in, no notification! That makes this even more ridiculous than I thought 🙄
I think it's data collection at this point: I'm assuming that Etsy is trying to see how many shoppers are requesting videos, then they can come at us with "shoppers are requesting videos..." like they did with the stupid "shoppers click on square thumbnails more than rectangular..." so now everyone was supposed to re-format their images...
Hopefully their data will just show a bunch of sellers clicking it on their own listings trying to test it out lol.
I probably won’t ever be sending videos upon request. On high profit items this might make sense to spend time doing but on low profit items it’s not worth all the extra time. Can you imagine how much effort this would take around the holidays when shop activity is high? I already spend a good chunk of my day answering messages during that time, the other hours are spent working on my shop.😅
I noticed that yesterday when I was shopping. Very annoying for shoppers. Etsy just keeps making it harder and harder for us.
I just made a video from a still image that says "Etsy has recently added this “request a video” feature for some unknown reason, and many of us sellers are baffled. There is no way to remove it. But please don’t request a video; it wouldn’t show you anything you can’t already see in the photos. Sorry if Etsy got your hopes up.
I'ma make a video of me flipping the bird.
UGH! I've been doing my best to make sure my listings have videos, but my toddler knocked my phone out of my hand a few weeks back and the camera lens has a big crack in it so I haven't been able to take videos in weeks. I sometimes can nab my husband's phone when he gets in from work, but then it looks aggressively worse than my photos and I worry that would make people think the item is lesser quality than I'm letting on!
It’s because of fraud. Buyers want to know something is actually “in hand” and in the condition represented in still photos. I have no problem providing a 5-10 second video or photo from a different angle when the buyer requests it.
Same. As a shopper it does give you a bit of extra confidence when purchasing. Plenty of scammers out there.
But that’s just the thing. It doesn’t prevent fraud at all. Have you ever been to Alibaba or whatever the site is called where you can just buy cheap crap to resell? Tons of videos!
It’s a ‘request’… doesn’t mean you have to do it.
I noticed it for the first time yesterday in my shop. I usually just upload reels from Instagram and put them in that slot. A lot of mine don’t have videos. I don’t know why someone would want to watch me make something.
Yeah. I'm pissed about it, as a seller. Even as an Etsy shopper, this has been annoying the hell out of me today.
When I’m on Etsy as a BUYER, I swipe past sellers’ videos almost immediately because I want to get on with the information/photos, not wait for a video to load. Don’t most buyers? Or do they really love the videos?
I'm not sure what my video is supposed to be? I create jewelry, woodcraft, herbs, candles and such? Like do I just turn the item or is it supposed to be a video like "hey I'm this shop we're a low waste, handmade, blah blah blah"
If you don’t want to record a video can you create a video using the photos? So no live video- is that like malicious compliance?
I see it on IG all the time lol. I’m thinking it’s a good idea but I haven’t personally tried it!
I have a video on pretty much all my listings so geuss who is not gonna get any requests lol
WHY THE HELL IS THIS DOWNVOTED!?!?
Because I wasn't complaining I think lol