I Don't Think I Fit The Etsy Team Mold hee-hee

Okay...before I start my ramblin' about a couple of my Etsy team experiences ..I just want to say a few things first...
#1- I belong to a couple of teams on Zibbet that I think are actual true teams...Zibbet is a fairly new sight and the team members are there to help benefit and promote the whole entire team. That being said---I also believe that team captains and leaders do deserve extra recognition and thanks because of the extra work they do...I just want their true motives to be for the benefit of the team and not simply themselves and that is what I have found so far on Zibbet:)
#2-I do belong to a wonderful team on Etsy that I absolutely LOVE! The Vintage society VESTIES team---the team captains are there promoting their love of vintage and the whole team simply loves vintage and loves finding new vintage things to share and promote--so that team is definitely right up my alley :)
#3-I don't think I am a mean person---I'm not simply gonna come along and take a dump in your sandbox---but if you provoke me I will put my dukes up and keep fighting until I can't find my dukes:)
#4--I don't think the stuff I make or sale is any better than anyone elses...I do not ride a very high horse I guess is what I am trying to say..as a matter of fact--I know that a lot of the things I create are probably stupid--heh-heh--but I love geeky strange dumb stuff---and that is just me.  I also know that there is indeed a buyer out there for everything even if I don't particularly care for it..
so that being said--here is my rant and ramble about a couple of my TEAM experiences on Etsy..and gee maybe this isn't typical and perhaps I am just attracting the wrong crowd--who knows? LOL!
I won't mention any names here as there is no need to single out anyone...I just want to share my experience----
Okay--- so awhile back someone hearted my store and then messaged me telling me about a new team they were starting and asked me to join.  So I did ..and from the get-go the deal was "We're making treasuries--join in and promote and we will pick our favorites yada-yada." So I myself hadn't done many treasuries but noticed that the people who had placed them so far were all listing things from the team captains and then filling in the blanks with other team member items.  So like a proper TEAMIE I followed suit and went along with the "norm". BUT After awhile I started getting the feeling that it seemed to me like the sole purpose of the team was to simply promote the team captains and their shop items . So---I started to back off from the team and didn't join in as much. Then there was a message about if you didn't join in the discussions and participate in the treasury challenges that you would get the boot so I went back and participated for a bit until this happened-------
One of the captains announced the opening of their new shop. And they were now calling it a "shoppe" which I figured they meant that their new shop had a " spurious old-fashioned charm or quaintness:"...  but actually to me it just had a fragrance of stale crapness and OMG! why would someone pay hard earned money for this so-called "handmade" crap???--I honestly felt like I had landed in a bad chapter of "The Emperors' New Clothes" (You know--the one where everyone kept talking about how marvelous his outfit looked when in fact he was actually naked? )So yes!  I admit it right here and now-- I honestly really got my panties in a big ole huge bunch-a-munch about this situation (Hee-hee.)
Okay---the team captain was taking an empty jar and putting wire on the top of it and calling it a "cozy" or something and acting like because it was in a "shoppe" that it was "quaint" and these jars were like $7 and up and shipping was $7 and up...and I was thinking OMG! Who doesn't have an empty jar at home and some wire that would take you something like less than 2 minutes to wrap and make one of these "jar cozies"??? Who in the heck would actually buy something like this or even think it was "creative"?  But honestly at this point in my tenure on the team I knew that people there were so used to arse kissing this captain that I felt she could have wrapped a ribbon around a turd and they would have told her how wonderful and creative it was LOL! So at this point I knew I was done with this team---I opened up my big mouth--spoke up--and then exited stage left--Yes---I bailed on the "team". Now--some people might say I have "shoppe envy" or "jealousy" issues or something--and honestly---I really did have my knickers in such a big wadded up wad--that I think I walked crooked for over a week just trying to pull the bunches out of my arse LOL!  I was just sooooo mad at myself for being a part of this team and promoting all of this fake phony crap and knowing  that the more we all promoted this crap that the more exposure  and "back-links"this team captain received for her IMHO SUPER crappy items.  Anyways...I was not left with a very positive feeling about being a part of that team...but I do miss chatting with some of the very nice peops that I met on the team :)
So one more iffy team experience happened to me quite recently.  A new seller on Etsy opened up several shops and hearted my shop and several items and then started "circling" a bunch of people. (The last time I looked..each shop of hers had over 10,000 people circled...and that is a heck of a lot of circling in your spare time if you ask me:) ).  So then they messaged that they started a team and invited me to join and they have this thread about promoting each other on Facebook .  And I thought it was a nice way for people just starting out a busines page or those who don't have many people on their page to get some support.  Then I noticed that the captains kept saying "Like 10 above you and then go to the top of the list and start liking everyone in your spare time"  And gee...guess who is at the top of the list? OF COURSE--- Drumrolllllll.....it's the captains themselves.....so  suddenly I felt like I was part of a big pyramid scheme where the ones in the middle and the end get lost in the shuffle.  Then I looked at the different team captains and then noticed that they are all from the same town and I figure that they are either the same person with different id's or that they are the same family,business, or whatever. And I am now out (COUNT ME OUTTIEEEE) of that one too.

Anyways... I'm almost thinking I should start up a team...
Maybe I should call it "The Feel Like I WASTED my Time with Some Etsy Teams I've Been A Part Of" team.....
or something like that LOL!

And thats my ramble for today........
And ohhhhhhh :)...............................
Here is my favorite quote about rambling :)

"The last stroke of midnight dies.

All day in the one chair
From dream to dream and rhyme to rhyme I have ranged
In rambling talk with an image of air:
Vague memories, nothing but memories."


~ William Butler Yeats (June 13, 1865 - January

p.s.----I think it is very funny that less than 30 minutes after this blog post posted I got this message....
Hi spankyluvsvintage,


We're sorry to let you know that your membership to the team, "XXXXXXXX,"

has been closed by XXXXXXXXX) and the team's leadership. Leaving the team

may have been your decision, a mutual decision, or one made by the team

leadership.



Teams are managed by the captain and leaders, not by Etsy staff, so if you have

any questions or if you think this was a mistake, please contact the team's

captain, XXXXXXXXXX), through this page:



http://www.etsy.com/teams/6120/XXXXXXXXX


We know having your membership closed can be a bummer. If you still want to

participate in Etsy Teams, there may be another team you could join. Visit the

main Teams page http://www.etsy.com/teams for more information or to learn how

to start your own team.



Thanks,

Etsy



support@etsy.com



P.S.

This message is being sent to you on behalf of the team. On Etsy, teams are

managed by their captains and leaders, not by Etsy Admin.



YES...I did leave your team  AND it was my decision heh-heh.....thanks for the memo...LOL!