My story with thefancy.com: my images being altered, my item being sold unauthorized and more...

[Former_Member]

Hello all.

I have a very bad experience with thefancy.com. Heres what happened recently:

An etsy user called "F M" send convo telling me she wants to buy a few of my iphone case. I reply to her thats not a problem and asking her how many she want. She told me she needs 5 and i make a custom listing for her in the next day. After that she told me she need more, about 10, as "a nice present for her officemates" and asking me to update the listing and i do that accordingly.

At the same time im aware that this iphone case design was fancy'd thru thefancy.com website, about a few thousands times: www.thefancy.com/things/107420413654470413/Mint-Wood-Pattern-iPhone...

im really happy to see this coz it drives a lot of traffic to my etsy shop. And at that time i found that theres a feature on thefancy.com that the creator / seller could claim the fancy'd item and sell them directly on the website. I tried that but after a few clicks i notice that this is only for seller in the US at the moment and they need a US address for verification so i didn't register for that. But im still happy about it was very welcomed on thefancy.com

I check this link often and see how the number of fancy grows and the next day i found something different. It was available to BUY on the website already! I found it weird coz i believe that only the creator, that's me, could claim it and has the authorization to sell it. I dunno who has claimed it and the links no longer link to my etsy shop and people could directly on thefancy. I immediately leave my etsy shop link on the page's comment.

I also tried to buy it. I'm selling my item on my own etsy store at USD 16.99 with a flat shipping rate USD 6.5 shipping internationally. I found that on thefancy.com they are selling at USD 17.00 with shipping USD 4.95.
And the seller called: Fancymerchant. Isnt it strange that if someone buys it from my store and resell it on thefancy and they would even get any profit!

After a few hours i got an order at etsy.om from the user "F M" i mentioned above. Shes not taking that 10 items listing but instead only bought 1 and ship to a Miami address. I read her paypal email address and it shows: Thing Daemon Inc: xxx@thefancy.com

That clears the big question mark on my mind. This "F M" user is the FancyMerchant at thefancy.com. She is the one whos selling my item on thefancy.

I dont really understand why they do that coz they will get a loss and wont make any profit on every sale of my item. The money she paid cant cover the people who buy at thefancy.

I send "F M" a message saying i know shes from thefancy and asking why she do that coz thats not making any profit for them. No response and on the next day she ask me for my email address. At the same time she place 2 more orders and this is where the interesting part: the shipping addresses are all different! That means if i take her orders im sending my iphone cases to their customers directly!

I check my item page at thefancy.com and found that my last comment (showing where to buy my iphone case) is deleted.

Afterwards someone called Andrew tuch contact me directly saying yes, they are from fancy and would like to invite me to sell at their website.
I have a few questions in my mind about what happened and ask him to clarify:

1. why they delete my comment on thefancy.com
2. why their staff lie to me that she want to buy 10 for her workmates, in fact, they just want to stock up my item and get ready to sell on thefancy.com
3. why they are selling my item without my approval / notice / authorization, coz as i google their business model is not like this.

He just ignore my question and ask me to "move forward". And i google all these "fancymerchant" "thefancy business model", and i found this article:

www.forbes.com/sites/hannahelliott/2012/06/06/fancy-turns-impulse-s...

They are on Forbes recently and i have email this article to the editor.

They are still selling my item on their page. And, if i cancel all the orders from "F M", there will be 3 unhappy customers from thefancy who cant make successful purchase while theres an article on Forbes.com: Fancy Turns Impulse Shopping Into An Art.

I'm really upset on what happened. I mean im just a designer / maker who makes my handmade products and sell on my etsy shop. Im happy to see my things fancy'd on thefancy, and i believe they are doing a great website.

I felt angry when i saw my items was being sold on some other website, because i want to keep my item exclusively being sold on my own place. There are a lot of people from all over the world asking me for wholesale / resell my item and i refuse them all. My item are all unique, i make every iPhone case with my both hands and i felt really bad if someone tries to sell them for some other purpose. Sending "rouge" etsy user buying my items and resell it on thefancy? No!

A few hours ago i found another strange thing: The logo on my images are removed on their listing! heres the screenshot:

thefancy page:
ny-image2.etsy.com/000/0/6859852/il_fullxfull.344100050.jpg

my listing page:
ny-image1.etsy.com/000/0/6859852/il_fullxfull.343977349.jpg

This really piss me off.
They want to hide the original source, buy from me secretly, and sell them on their website "without" making any profit. I wonder what that means?

I have leave two very serious comments on their listing page. And i wonder it will be deleted or the whole listing will be deleted.

Any suggestion / advice / comment?

Thank you for your time for reading such a long story.

Grover
decouartshop.etsy.com

[wildwomanbeads]

I'm so sorry this has happened to you. I suggest you go directly to Etsy Help and ask for their advice on what to do. I also imagine you will need to trademark or copyright your items so you have a fighting chance to stop these folks from stealing your items and selling them as their own.

I know there are people here in the forums who can help, but it sounds like you need an immediate response so I'd recommend you convo directly to Etsy.

Very good luck in solving this problem. I wish I had answers for you.

[Former_Member]

What the heck? This is absolutely ridiculous. I've never heard of this website, but you can bet that I won't be using it!

[Former_Member]

Wow, Grover. I'm hearing more and more "horror" stories about Etsy shop owners being used by others. Buying their app which turn out not so good and then your story.
I have had only a few sales on Etsy in my handmade jewelry shop. I would love more, and perhaps there's a way to make the situation with "fancy" work in your favor. Perhaps you should let them do the selling for you with their little markup but big on-line exposure. What they are doing seems unethical to us artists but to business people, it's all in a day's work and a dollar is a dollar. Just some thoughts; I'd be pissed too that my work is being stolen. On the other hand, I'd be pleased to be making sales. Give this some thought.
What do the rest of you think about this practice?

[AngsanaSeedsPhoto]

I'm so sorry this happen to you. I would definitely seek advice from Etsy help!.

Although I would love to have more sales, but I cannot tolerate and allow others use my design without my permission. By using our stuff without permission is infringing on our copyright and tantamount to stealing.

[Former_Member]

Yes i agree Angsana. I have already sent this thread to etsy support.

[Former_Member]

Wow Grover, that's sooo strange!

You have to cancel those orders and by telling this to Etsy support they will remove any negative feedback that F M may leave. That's my guess...

Best of lucks, your items and images are really great =)

[Former_Member]

Sorry, it's not your fault but I don't even understand what's happening here. I did read the Forbes article and don't get the idea behind the website either. I must be old!

I hope it all works out for you.

[Former_Member]

Thank you. I will cancel the order asap.
And yes my two comments was deleted now, got banned, can't login, and all my listing that i fancy'd before was gone.

Just do a search on "decouart" or "decouartshop", no results.

[Former_Member]

Yes, I agree with everyone else about Etsy Support, and good luck!!! This is awful that it happened, and I can't believe they removed the watermark! That definitely would make me mad too. I guess you'll have to start putting the watermark in a spot that would be harder to remove. :(

[Former_Member]

What a crazy story! The most rotten is the removing of your logo!
Hope you will get help from etsy.

[Former_Member]

Two ways to looks at it. . . underhanded, yes.

Free marketing for your products? Yes. (I don't say shop because they took down the links to your shop.)

Who profits from this? You. You are making sales. They don't seem to be making money. . .

(Shrug.)

[Former_Member]

What a weird story! I wonder, since you are shipping directly to the customer, if it would make sense to put things in the packages redirecting them back to your Etsy shop? Please keep us posted about how Etsy responds. It makes me wish there were Internet police!

[Former_Member]

Maybe you should put your logo ON the case. Like, somehow, MARK your cases where they can't be erased. Engrave them, if you can.

This is terrible. They erase your logo, and then they have the NERVE to BAN you?! That's absolutely stupid.

I wish there were Internet Police as well. There must be some way you can contact authorities and get this to stop. This is ridiculous, and I'm so so sorry. :(

I agree with Sara Schroeder, put a note in there about how you suspect all this is happening (OK, KNOW) and that if they bought off this listing on The Fancy, they should know that the other people are making a profit off your items. Post a blog post online, ratting out The Fancy.

I've never heard of The Fancy, but I FOR SURE won't be using them. Ever.

[WirequeenJewelry]

Thank you for posting I was looking for something else ad saw this thread. The fancy has asked me to send info so I can be featured as a seller. Now I'm nervous about doing this. An article in Forbes doesn't verify their credibility, it only means they have a good publicist.

[Former_Member]

Strange, haven't heard of the site before.. sorry that you're dealing with it though!

[Netamente]

Agree with Jean. See the bright side you're making sales.
I've also seen some products from other Etsy shops publish in The Fancy.

[SabiKat]

Hello,

As I mentioned in your other post, per Forums policy we can't discuss private transactions/matters in the forums. Please make all attempts to resolve transaction related issues with the buyer. You can also notify trust@etsy.com if you are receiving convos that are not within TOU.

Forum policy can be reviewed here www.etsy.com/help/article/483#community_forums.

Appreciated!