" I know you didn't make that."

[#1]

How many times have you scrolled through Etsy lately found shops full of items that you know they didn't make? For me, it's almost 3 or 4 times a day that I find a shop that sells items I have either seen in the Asian food market, the Dollar store, or items that 10 other shops have the exact same item with the same photos!

One of the draws to Etsy that I had a few years ago was that it was a collection of Indie crafters who were able to use the amazing Etsy platform to sell their art online around the world. It's a great concept! We work together as crafters to promote each other, support the handmade community, and enjoy the tradition of crafting. But increasingly Etsy has filled up with nonsense.

Am I all alone in thinking this? Honestly, I can take the feedback. I love Etsy. I love my shop. But I am just a little frustrated with this.

[Former_Member]

@ Crysta: That's a great idea!

@ Janet: I have no clue, how those shops can sell so much in such a short time. How do they find their customers, while really beautiful shops have to struggle so hard to get recognized when they start?

[orangejuniper]

I feel like I'm seeing this more and more. It's very frustrating. How can little shops compete with people who are just buying mass quantities of junk and reselling as handmade?? It's not fair. I get excited to make one sale a week let alone several in a day. While I may buy my supplies from other shops or websites, I handcraft each piece and oxidize my own settings. That alone takes up so much time!

[AntsyArtist]

Etsy just needs to stick to their policy - handmade means handmade by the shop owner(s). That would eliminate the resellers who are NOT making the products they sell.

We need to push for enforcement of the rules already in place.

I briefly thought about moving my shop to another site. And that makes me upset, because I fell for Etsy -- hook, line and sinker. I was - and am still proud to be a part of the Etsy community.

Just do your thing Etsy -- and I will do mine.

[Former_Member]

Veronique: How? By GIVING YOUR MERCHANDISE AWAY FOR FREE

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=hello%20kitty&view_type=gallery&ship_to=ZZ

You read that right: a section called ".20 surprise"

Full disclosure: I have a 20-cent item. It is a charity donation dress for preemie babies because I know that their parents face enormous financial and emotional challenges. I got the idea from the seller who gives away hand-made chap-stick for cancer patients. Etsy does not allow free sales, but you an list items for the $.20 fee and then give that back to the customer.

Okay, so the seller you mentioned has a section of 56 items at $.20 each, and each item is in stock with hundreds and hundreds of pieces available.

If you look at their history:

*opened shop 2/20
*1st sale 2/21
*2nd and 3rd sale 2/22
*4th sale 2/24
* then TWELVE sales on 3/2, all the "free" item

Obviously this shop is very clever, using what the retail industry calls "loss leaders"....selected items selling below cost, that bring customers into the shop so that hopefully they will also buy some regular-price merchandise.

How can you compete against FREE?

[Former_Member]

I'm wondering, if they make their money through the shipping fee. I don't know, how much they have to pay in the Chinese post office, but probably not 4,50 USD.

[Former_Member]

That's possible Here's another shop with thousands of pieces of TWENTY CENTS bracelets in stock":
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Diymall?ref=seller_info

[Former_Member]

reported!

[Former_Member]

Crysta,

I doubt that any logo would be allowed, but a tag using that group name would be accepted, I am thinking.

If you come up with a great name with initials, you could list membership in your shop announcement and profile pages for example.

If you want to search for cheap mass merchandise, it is not hard. Just search for jewelry, etc, it pops up right away....you can also sort from lowest price to highest price to find them easily....and then there are the Etsy ads that they run too.

[MarpesiaAndCo]

what really gets to me is that all this mass-produced crap floods the first pages because they obviously keep listing stuff all the time! How many people bother to keep looking past pg10?

[seemomster]

I AM a jewelry maker...and I used to be livid. Now I'm just tired...and focusing on MY shop. I treat Etsy as my secure shopping cart. I drive business to my shop. Any business generated by search or browse is just a bonus...

[MarpesiaAndCo]

I do like the idea of the handmade tag...but I'm assuming it would have to be approved by Etsy moderators, which seem like the main source of the problem. In theory, it's Etsy who verify, so would they allow a tag that essentially implies that Etsy weren't thorough enough?

[zivadesigns]

Etsy makes money of those sites. Do they really don't want them? It will be interesting to see if they shut that site down (link above).
I am all for a logo but until we get there, lets start a team and everyone approved would be able to make a comment on their site.

[AntsyArtist]

A great team name would say it all -- and we can prominently list it in the shop announcement.

How do we get word out to other Etsians?

Janet that 20-cent site makes me so angry. Some of their stuff is listed as supplies and other stuff, handmade.

Hello Etsy -- is anybody in the office?

[Former_Member]

There are some CRAZY team names out there. We need to think of one that stands out. Once a team member, it's easy to tag your items with the team tag.

I used to be a member of a certain etsy baby team. They had some pretty strict requirements for being a team member, but once you were they allowed you to use the team tag in your listings. Then when promoting items, they would draw from that pool.

[Former_Member]

Some of the shop owners of mass produced items are members of Etsy teams like craftory and others which promote handmade shops. All teams should review their team members, I would suggest.

[Untwistedsister]

I have to wonder about a shop that shows over 600 sales in less than the first 3 months on Etsy and out of those only has approx. 25 feedback. Do you think the sales are real?

[IvoryCatCreations]

Do I think the sales are real? Yeah, probably to other resalers that add 2 bucks and resell them on etsy as hand made.

[IvoryCatCreations]

On another subject... I love the idea of a team that had only ooak or really handcrafted sellers allowed. We would need a great name and vet anyone that applied for the team.

[Former_Member]

There are already 48 OOAK teams on Etsy.

[Former_Member]

Veronique, sorry gave you the wrong link. Here is the TWENTY CENTS section of that shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/HolidayDIY?section_id=13177855

[Former_Member]

Do I think the sales are real? Yeah, probably to other resalers that add 2 bucks and resell them on etsy as hand made.
..................

Possibly. There are 3 shops selling the infinity bracelet for twenty cents, and another dozen selling the exact same thing for 99 cents or a dollar. The twenty cent shop could be buying an enormous amount from DHGate and Aliexpress, and parceling it out to the other shops as they can afford the stock. Since they're all in Chin, they might not even be shipping...they might be dropping it off.


However, what if they are they are selling to EACH OTHER, to boost Relevancy....think about it. How did they jumpstart so many sales immediately upon opening shop? Maybe the shops know about each other and have a deal going:

HolidayDIY:
opened 2/20, sold 448 items, received 20 feedback, GAVE 313 feedback

Diymail:
opened 2/26, sold 618 items, received 27 feedback, GAVE 475 feedback

Its brilliant, You don't even have to ship anything. You get a friend to open a shop. You carry the same things. You "buy" a bunch of stuff from your friend and give glowing feedback (sometimes hundreds of feedbacks on the same day), your friend "buys" them back from you. You send money back and forth but don' actually send anything. You both get boosted relevancy, get on the first pages, and sell stuff to real people.

Better yet, open two stores and sell back and forth to yourself, and keep giving yourself fabulous feedback.

[Former_Member]

Janet,

I am so glad that you are on the side of doing right!

There are rules on Etsy about doing those things too....seems Etsy knows which rules to list, but......

[Former_Member]

The shop names just seemed a bit too coincidental...

[IvoryCatCreations]

Sad for us, sad for etsy.

[Former_Member]

OMG!!!!!!Just found this on Alibaba Express.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-new-fashion-cheap-empire-simple-flower-girl-dress/76019...
That is my photo of my daughter from my shop. What do I do? Who do I contact?????
https://www.etsy.com/listing/106014216/flower-girl-party-dress-size-8-10-12-14?ref=shop_home_active