Etsy's "My Favorites"

On Etsy, where I sell my goods, there is a featured called "my favorites." While you are browsing, you can mark specific items or specific shops as favorites to return to later. This may seem similar to other e-commerce sites, but it is quite a bit more complicated and political than that!

Commonly known as "hearts" by seasoned Etsy-goers and addicts, these are used in several ways on the site. It is such a wide-spread phenomenon on Etsy that it is even commonly used as a verb - to heart someone.

At first glance it may seem that giving someone a heart simply means that you like their work. However, people heart for several different reasons. Some sellers heart others on their team, or Etsians with whom they have become internet friends, and use it as a major social networking tool. Still others use it as an advertising ploy. Look for shops that might be run by your target buyer, heart them, and then wait for them to check you out. I have not done this myself, and I was surprised to learn about it in the forums! For new sellers, anyway, this might work, though! Some people heart shops that they plan to copy from (bad heart). Some items receive hearts simply because they fit into the image of a treasury that a person is creating. And sometimes, people do what they call "heart you back" - if you heart them, then they simply heart you back (it has nothing to do with anything, just seen as a courtesy by some sellers).

I remember when I first joined Etsy and I was thrilled every time I received a heart. I would click click click away, investigating every person who hearted me. If they were trying to get me to look at their shop, they were successful. This week marked my 600th heart. Needless to say, I no longer check out who hearts me.

I personally mark favorites for several different reasons. I don't plan to go back and purchase every single item that I heart, nor do I plan to make a purchase from every shop that I heart. Sometimes I mark favorites to keep in mind for gifts for others, or to show to my mom later, or to put in a treasury, or I like a material that I want to keep in mind. Usually, when I heart an entire shop, I like more than one item, or I like the way the shop is run, or the descriptions are written, or I want to tell my mom about it.

Periodically, I think it is important to go through your hearts and do a bit of house cleaning. It is just ridiculous to have hundreds of shops marked - there is no way you would ever go back to them. I actually love this infrequent ritual of going through it all and clearing out. I get to see what is new, I am reminded of shops that I had forgotten about, and I almost certainly get new ideas to spark my own imagination.

To stay on top of my favorite items, I'm going to try and put a few on my blog every once in awhile. I don't want my favorites to get... stale.

Here are a few things I marked because I simply love them:

Those Greathouse Women