Etsy Policy Change

[ShayShay]

Hi,
For those of you who sell on Etsy, I am curious to know 1) if you knew about the policy changes about what is considered Handmade and 2) what you think about it.

In a nutshell - Etsy is now basically saying that you can outsource the production of your design and it can still be considered handmade.

http://shine.yahoo.com/work-money/i...y-change-over-what-is-handmade-220156294.html (this is just one of many articles on the topic).

and here is a link to the new guidelines:

http://www.etsy.com/new-guidelines

I don't sell yet, but I had planned to in the next 6 months or so and assumed I would start with Etsy. I was also a huge fan of Etsy from the beginning as I love the idea of buying original handmade items from the little guy instead of the same thing everyone else buys. And I have purchased many, many items on Etsy. It is actually how my love of homemade soap began. As a potential seller and longtime purchaser, I am very disappointed in this as it seems many others are as well.

So I am just curious about what others think about this.

Also, one of the comments talked about a site called Zibbet (it seems like what Etsy was originally). Is anyone familiar with that?

 

[Jencat]

I find it disappointing that people can now sell outsourced goods (legally) on Etsy. I loved that I could go on there and find great handmade items and I was planning on opening up an Etsy shop of my own someday. I don't want to be competing against things made cheaply in a factory somewhere.

I hope they really do follow their guidelines on approving shops that work with manufacturers - http://www.etsy.com/manufacture?ref=guidelines, but since people have mentioned seeing cheap imitations from China I somehow doubt it.

I would like to know how shops get away with being resellers of manufactured goods. for example, there is a china pattern I collect and I've seen pieces for sale on Etsy. Isn't that against the rules no matter what?

 

[hellogorgeous]

China patterns could fall under vintage. I believe they're also allowed if they're a discontinued pattern.

Either way it looks like etsy is gearing up to be publicly traded (something they said they'd never do). Etsy hasn't been good to its sellers for a LONG time. Seriously many ppl are pissed and already jumped ship. Try zibbet instead. The day etsy announced this, zibbet crashed because so many ppl were leaving etsy. Zibbet also made a site called I pledge handmade and they've promised to never go the route of etsy. I tend to believe them since its run by 5 ppl total. Seriously. I emailed about a problem and a REAL person answered, not an etsy robot.


Sent from my iPhone using Soap Making

 

[pamielynn]

Sadly, I believe the advent of sites like Etsy, Artfire and Zibbet have led many to believe they can throw some ingredients in a pot, call it good and make a ton of money. Browsing Zibbet for less than 5 minutes and saw a bath salt with clay that will "remove toxins and settle to the bottom of the tub - just wash it away and say goodbye to toxins" and a soap that claims shea butter is good "for all with allergies" - not if you have a latex allergy, it's not. And a face mask made of honey and hydrolized oats. No preservative, no emulsifier. Can't wait to see that in two months. Plus several lotions that either don't disclose their preservative system or just don't have one.

We all get a bad name from products and descriptions like these.