I would like to see:
 
a very professional look to the site.  Full screen not wasting all the space on the sides by having the column down the middle like it is now.  it looks like a blog now.  
 
new cards featured on the homepage by several main categories ( ie. birthday -  sympathy - wedding - get well, etc)  either by a slide show of each or rotating panel of a group of cards.
 
no popular card slide show, it is stale, boring and unfair to the many artists who have not been here as long or have small portfolios
 
rotating display and promotion of upcoming holiday cards also on the homepage in a timely fashion
 
a way to categorize our stores by subject, and more cards showing on a page ( full screen pages would be useful for this feature)
 
better customer interface for searches and ordering
 
i am sure i will think of something else... but i have to go for now..
 
who's next??
 

helloooooo.. this post has been read 58 times and no body else has anything they want to add?  
 
it's early in the day i guess.  

I would rather it be go through the list of every artist with their top 5 - 10 cards from their store on a forever loop system and that could take a few days at a pop or more so everyone would get a chance to show some of their cards and everyone would feel better of not being left out. That's just me. Hey, it's my idea and I'll stick with it as it might never happen. Still, one can always dream .

Here, here! I Agree with ya Marie .

I agree with all what has been said above.
Homepage should "pop" more, as we watercolor painters say. There is nothing there to grab the interest of a new potential buyer. It does not have the "wow" effect,  the "what a great card/cards" "gotta have that card!" effect.  
(When visiting other sites, I always go to their homepage. Even if I google and end up in the middle; the homepage is the first and lasting impression a buyer has of a store).
 
The "most popular" slide show on the homepage and the "most popular" when you are on the page listing card categories (the one next to "newest, gcu picks") has been the same for months. It always shows the same cards so that a customer cannot help wondering if there is nothing new on this site.
Amongst others, it features 3 birthday cards all featuring a cake with candles and confetti in a square (nice cards, no offense, ladies, but very similar). I have often looked at those 3 cards and thought: paint a cake with candles and confetti and put it into a square and maybe you'll have the 4th most popular birthday card featurung cake,candle,confetti in a square ......
 
There is too much irrelevant info posted. Info could maybe be at the bottom of the page or maybe have more "windows" style pop up buttons, you click on a button, new window opens and you get more information.
There are other sites which have a real neat homepage - etsy.com for example offers on their homepage a  "several ways to shop" option ,for example :shop by colors option, a pick of the day option - the overall look is fresher, more sophisticated, more modern, less cluttered.  
Zazzle also has some good points on their homepage.
I also think that there should be more rotation. Its always the same most popular. All artists should have a chance. The "artist featured" widget is sort of lost (too small). I prefer zazzles way of hot picks. You can have several "hot picks" for "birthday" (for example)  featuring different artists - an elegant birthdaycard, a more bright card, a modern graphic card, a traditional card etc etc - so that customers see all the different styles and GCU can  cater to all the different tastes out there. Those hot picks should be larger, more prominent, card size should  maybe be 3x bigger than it is  now.
 
Card size another thing   : Cards shown on the homepage (and not only on the homepage)should be bigger, the size is too small, it looks sort of stingy and does not grab the attention!! This concerns all pages.  Lots of fine details get lost because of the smallness of the size. Each card looks like a postage stamp. A customer does not want to click on every card in order to see what on earth is featured on the card. They want to see the details immediately. The cards you see on zazzle are twice the size as on GCU. So not only do the cards stand out more, but the cards look much better, the overall effect of the page is fresher, the customer stays longer on the site as it is more enjoyable to browse around.
 
It has been said before, but I find it important and really necessary: the possibility of every artist to create own categories in the "search my store "bar.
What also irritates me: if somebody googles, sees a card of mine, clicks on it, enters GCU and is then presented with lots of other cards by other artists. I would prefer the customer to enter my shop and see my cards. You can always have a button stating: see similar cards. Or the fact that by clicking on a card, you do not automatically enter the shop of that artist. When I'm on another site and the look of a painting by a certain artist interests me, I want to see more of his/her work and expect to enter that artists site by clicking on the painting. Same applies here.
Like I said, you can always add a button stating : see similar cards by other artists. On GCU you can only enter the store by clicking on the name underneath the card, something a lot of shoppers don't know.
 
What I really do appreciate   is that GCU does want feedback, is open to feedback and is also interested in revamping the site. Help and support is very friendly and good! There are lots of gifted artists here with good ideas, who are savvy about marketing (Tom!!) webdesign etc etc  and who have beautiful cards. I think it is important to keep on brainstorming about new ideas on how the site should look like. It's in the interest of all concernced (all artists and GCU) if the site looks better, gets more customers and sales, and all artists get a chance.
That's it for today, back to creating a few cards.
 

yawn, everyone oops . What can I say, it's early in the morning Eastern time zone at 5:36 A.M. The type keys and I never get along, LOL!

Okay here is my take on what I think, again because I ran into the same glitch yesterday when I attempted to reply   rule one copy text then hit send  
 
Ok as I look at the homepage I can clearly see it is geared to attract artists and it does a very good job at that but what it lacks is a warmness. It doesn't say "Come on in, grab a hot chocolate and read a good book by the fire" The site needs warming up, blue, while a calming color is not very cozy at least not used in this way. I really think that greeting card universe should perhaps "split" the artist's side and the buyer's side, well maybe, they seem to be to interwoven. Move the card count to the artist's side, customers really don't need that information. More graphics are needed, maybe change the homepage with the seasons, not drastically something like a few autumn leaves and then maybe a wintry look for the end of the year, keep it fresh and new. I do agree on the "use all of the space and not just the middle" suggestion. I can tell it is a cookie cutter script to make it easy to change things sitewise. Cards are visual and emotional things the site should reflect that. Hell that is what made Disney so successful, they pull on the heartstrings and remind you of your childhood
 
My thoughts on the Best Sellers:
well they are the best sellers because those cards are the only ones people ever seem to see. I am sure if the rotation changes we would see other cards become popular. I am not saying get rid of it I am saying perhaps add to it. Halloween is coming up why not add a "NEW for Halloween slideshow" or a what's new section for weddings, baby, whatever the current thing is. This way new cards are not buried and never seen and newer artists get a shot at some exposure. Everyone gets a fair shot at being featured
 
I am going to add some things also that I like about Zazzle and CafePress because I think GCU can learn from them
 
CafePress has a store spotlight section that is rotated (I believe only shopkeepers can see it but I am not sure) Shopkeepers fill out a questionnaire and send a photo so people can learn about there store, it is mostly for other shopkeepers to learn from the success of the said spotlighted storekeeper. Why not spotlight a store and instead of what we do to become successful we write about WHY we design and love what we do. The shopkeeper spotlight can change weekly and rotate around, it makes us more personable and attaches a story to the card the customer buys. (see Disney quote above)
 
I also like the ability to customize the storefront on CafePress. I kinda hate the three across, keep clicking til you forget what you are looking for setup in our stores. I would like to change my categories and instead of Occasions and clicking on that, weeding through all occasions I might like to put Halloween and have all my Halloween cards, Samhain and all my Samhain cards etc...
 
I would like to see something a bit more personalized but that I think should be last on the list. Homepage and shopper ease should be first.
 
Now for what I like about Zazzle:
 
I do like that they pick a handful of designs everyday to feature in different categories. If your design is picked a small award with the date is shown with the item. I also like when you do go to one of my items in zazzle there is a section below that has more items by me AND other items you may like that are similar but by other people. if someone clicks on another artists product from that page and purchases it I get a 7% commission (I am not saying we should get a commission but the idea of having both my work and someone else's is not so bad) I personally like when I see other artists I might like being suggested, think of iTunes you might never have heard of that great new band if they didn't suggest you take a listen.
 
I wish I had better suggestions on the search part but I really am at a loss as to what to do and will leave that for others to suggest. I do know it is easier finding something through Google than it is directly inside GCU and that is not good. I know if I get too overwhelmed at something I shut it down.
 
What I do like about GCU is that they listen which has been said many time before, they listen because we ALL want to be successful and we will be - so keep the ideas coming
 
  I think that is all and will now hand over the stage to someone else...
 
 
 
*note woohoo look at me lucky 13