It's easy to start an online business -- find a site that proposes relatively low cost to host selling items online and you're in business. However, it isn't like generations past. Now, we buy based on the idea that what is represented (what you see is what you get [WYSIWYG]). We no longer have the opportunity to try on, feel, hold, criticize, or otherwise assess a tangible product we are potentially buying. This isn't necessarily a new phenomenon given the longstanding opportunity to buy via mail order catalogue in several decades past, but the new consequence is the idea of online "feedback." People can leave each other a relatively permanent message of one's opinion of a product or service, but is it 100% accurate? Is an individual's opinion completely sound? We no longer provide a more objective standard, but instead we provide the opinions of those who can access the world wide web as the standard for business practices. Is that healthy?
I suppose the reason I ask is because I provided a product on my Etsy shop that was fairly represented -- folklore in quality, not store-bought quality, but I received negative feedback because it did not live up to the strong expectation of the buyer, even though the price & description clearly reflected the amount of work. Am I to be punished for fairly representing a product? Did the buyer even read the description? More than anything, this led me to understand the divide between in real life (IRL) businesses versus online businesses -- there are clearly different business practices simply based on the nature of the practice. Opinions? Comments? I'd love to hear them. More specifically, seek out my Facebook page for the prolonged discussion.
Support an artist! Visit my Etsy Shop. You can also follow my Twitter and Facebook pages, just click on the links on the right-hand side of this page. [I'll be adding more pictures of products and work soon]
