Decisions

Just a week ago, right here on this blog, I waxed poetic about the upcoming Etsy shop name changes and how excited I was that I was going to be able to change my name to be more universal and versatile.  Thank you all for your great suggestions and for giving me something to think about over the past week.  By yesterday I had pretty much decided that I was just going to drop the "paper" part of my name and be "by the book".  Simple, easy, clean, and.......totally taken

Imagine my complete and total disappointment (and, frankly, outrage) when I so joyously went to the shop name change page and typed in my universal and versatile name only to see the red print pop up telling me "that name is already in use".  By who??  Quick research showed that "By the Book" is a user who signed up in 2007 who has no feedback, which means to me that they are inactive.  It was then suggested to me by a few people to contact the person about the name, but here's the rub: because the name has already been used, it can't ever be used again, even if that person was to not use it, because future searches will link the old name to the new name.  Frustration!!

And so now here I am again, a week later, pondering the fate of my shop name.  Suggestions I have received or thought of on my own:
  • By the Book Shop/Market/Boutique
  • By the Book Designs
  • Always By the Book
  • Buy the Book
  • By the Book Creations
  • The Paper Book
Then there is the another thought, lurking in the back of my mind: just keep By the Book Paper and be a paper shop and be done with it.  Would that be so awful?

Sorry for two virtually picture-less posts back to back.  Lots of pictures tomorrow for Pinterest Thursday!

Comments

  1. I went through this same torture when I opened my first etsy shop! I'm not sure the name is super important.

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  2. The same thing happened to me when I opened my second shop! The nerve of these people!

    I like the alliteration of By the Book Boutique.

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  3. How frustrating! I ended up changing my shop name yesterday but my first choice had ONE too many characters so I had to go with my other top choice.
    I like By the Book Boutique and By The Book Designs.
    I guess you have to think (or I would because I analyze like crazy) do you consider yourself a "boutique" type shop with a boutique feel or do you consider yourself someone who designs items for a shop? I know...that kinda was confusing. It totally makes sense in my head! Whatever you choose just make sure you're 100% happy with it...Dropping the paper gives you more options probably. Okay...I'll shut up now!

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  4. Thanks ladies. I couldn't believe my bad luck! I appreciate your thoughts on my name- I just don't know what to do!! At least it gives me something to think about now. :)

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  5. I had the same thing happen yesterday! I wanted to drop the "sb" from my name and make it just MemoriesForLife. TAKEN! Okay, maybe I could be Memories4Life...TAKEN! Now I'm back to the drawing board too!
    And both users are people who signed up in 2009 and haven't been active either!

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  6. what about just Book Boutique to keep it short? Anyways what I was thinking about the name taken deal, if you convo the person and ask the to DELETE their account. because if it's deleted, then you could maybe claim it right after. Then you link everything up to your old name. It wouldnt necessarily link to all their stuff, because they deleted it, and hey it sounds like they did absolutely nothing with it anyways, so what would it really link to???

    -rachel w k
    rwkrafts.blogspot.com

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  7. My two cents is that I like "always by the book" makes it so easy to offer a variety of items

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  8. hhhhmmmmm, well, that's a bummer. i'll have to think on this one before I give you my feedback. i do like by the book designs, but still vascilate about whether you should change at all. i know, big help.

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  9. This is a tough one! I wouldn't change it your name since bythebook is no longer available. You are established and I think it could potentially have a negative impact on your business.

    I think you may be struggling with some of what promoted me to open my second shop. I felt my little gift bags were lost amongst everything else and had a hunch they'd do much better if given the spotlight, and I was right. Maybe what you need to do is have two shops...bythebookpaper and bythebookboutique (or whatever you choose) and divide your paper and fabric items between them...

    Hole that helps and doesn't just make you more uncertain!

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