My problem here is that most of these questions make it seem like my job is a hobby: I don’t sell on here to cover the costs of my supplies, I’m not here for my mental health, or to create an income from my hobby, it’s not a part time bit of pin money to supplement my other (presumably main) job, I’m not here to be ‘more’ financially independent (from whom do I need to be independent?).
Honestly, this has made me cross out of all proportion, but I am cross. I’m not here just to share my work, I’m here to sell my work. PhotoFairytales is my full time business, it’s the source of my income. I could tick ‘to share my work’ but I don’t want to share it, I want to sell it. I could tick it’s my ‘main source of income’ but if I was looking to Folksy to provide that I’d be very hungry.
I need a box to say I sell on Folksy because A) It’s another outlet for making sales, B) For support and information, and C) It’s a UK site that’s choosy about who sells on here (ie, no mass-produced masquerading as handmade type nonsense).
I guess I tick ‘to share my work’ but it’s not really stating accurately why I’m here - and I wonder if these reasons that are listed are genuinely what Folksy think we’re all here for. Yes, some of us are here because we have a hobby or just want a little extra money - but not all of us. Some of us have a business, a professional business, and aren’t just here to cover our expenses.
Yes, there’s a little box at the end where I’ve added that not all sellers are hobbyists - I just really don’t want Folksy thinking we’re all just in it to pass the time of day or purely for enjoyment! (not that I don’t enjoy my job, but you know…)
In the context of the question (main reason for using Folksy), ‘to share my work’ seems a very strange option to me, is it badly worded? Do they mean to ‘reach a wider customer base’? and isn’t it standard practice to have a box saying ‘other - please specify’ on surveys?
You’re absolutely right - and there is a box right at the end, but not really where you want it to be, especially with that screen 2 question! But the rest of the survey was a bit weird - lots of ‘do you want this or that?’ (ie, choose between these 2 things you would like to have on the site). It makes you tick one, even if you’re not that bothered about either option. And options you didn’t tick come back up on subsequent questions, so you end up ticking for things you’re not bothered by. It feels like they’ll be getting a very skewed set of results.
Hi Sarah. We do absolutely recognise that. The choices for that particular question were informed by a previous survey but we take on board your feedback and we’ll take that into future surveys.
For the pair questions, the aim is to be able to ‘stack rank’ different options more effectively than if they were presented as a list. Research shows this way of presenting options leads to better results but we agree it can seem weird.
Thanks Camilla - I guessed that was the reason for the double questions, it just seemed strange after being asked to put a list of 10 things in order of preference. I feel so supportive (and I guess a bit protective) of Folksy - it’s a unique site for us as sellers, but also for buyers - and I guess I was just worried that you were viewing us as hobbyists. So pleased to hear you confirm that’s not the case!
I ticked its my main source of income and to share my work, i can’t remeber whether i also ticked to be financially independent as although I don’t need to be, my husband would give me money no problem I actually like being independent, I like to earn my own money so I didn’t see there were any issues with it. It is my only job so is also my main source of income and I also like to share my work.
I’ve just noticed my header name has come up with ‘regular’ not seen that before
@LooneySpoons If it’s any consolation I haven’t had one either, so I presume it’s either a random selection, or a carefully chosen cross section of makers.
@LooneySpoons and @JudyAdams I don’t know if it is being sent to everyone or not but my email provider hid the survey email in my promotions folder so perhaps it’s worth double checking to see if it’s ended up in your promotions or junk folders (if you have them).
I have Exactly the same problem and felt as annoyed as you when I read it.
. I cannot complete the survey as to do so i would have to give a completely incorrect answer.
Also length of time have had a shop.
Broken into several time boxes and everything after 3 years dumped into one.
How about a more than 5 years, more than 10 years … or even. Goodness i’ve been here 15 years
@SashaGarrett@LooneySpoons Yes, there it is Sasha, sitting in my Promotions Folder together with an awful lot of other things I am subscribed to and want to receive. I’ve only just started using gmail for my emails and I’m not used to how it does things, so thank you so much! I’ll extract it (and many other things I want) from there.
It is possible to customise what folders gmail has (I have 2 accounts, one of them has promotions the other doesn’t) but for the life of me I can’t remember how to do it. Might be worth a google to find instructions if you’d rather have it all going into one main section.
Thanks Sasha, I managed to find how to do it in ‘Settings’ related to ‘Inbox’. I have switched off the whole category section - I found out that the default setting allows Gmail to decide which emails it feels are promotions and put them in a separate inbox.
