Smoke and Mirrors - Etsy Motto

How Etsy redefined handmade.  If you can not be what your company your polices state, change the legal definition of a word to suit what you have become.  Most of the quoted pieces are shown with a bold heading. 

Etsy Credit card reader October 2014.
launched for sellers to record in person sales and inflate etsy sales figures.  How to provided by Etsy with details in the how to us section how to enter cash and check sales into it to track all the sales in one place.  

HOW ETSY REDEFINED HANDMADE- to allow the factories to continue selling there wares on etsy for less than the materials cost here in the USA. 

https://www.etsy.com/help/article/483
quote "HANDMADE items are designed and created by the shops that sell them. Because transparency matters on Etsy, we ask sellers to list shop members and share information about manufacturers involved in creating their items."

April 2012 https://blog.etsy.com/news/2012/the-who-of-handmade/

October 2013

https://blog.etsy.com/news/2013/notes-from-chad-11/

Quote from Etsy blog April 2012
"Our mission has always included a desire to bring the human element back to commerce. Since Etsy began in 2005, “handmade” has more specifically meant “handmade by the seller.” In Etsy’s earliest days, “the seller” often meant one person — an artisan — who did everything herself, from sourcing materials, to design, to production, to shop management and customer service, to order
fulfillment.... "  so now it falls within the guidelines to have a manufacture produce your design, and even ship it to the buyer for you.  not hand made as most of us understand it.

 I now sell on my stand alone website.  I have many friends online and am part of a fantastic group.  Many of us have left Etsy as a place to sell our work.
Sellergroup
We are a group of vintage, handmade and supply buyers and sellers.  

This is a sterling silver pendant showing the beauty of beach glass from Lake Ontario here in
Rochester, NY.   

 This is a sterling silver ring showing the beauty of beach glass from Lake Ontario here in
Rochester, NY.   

I sell this as a made to order One of a kind item.  you pick the color and size and i make this just for you.  Beach Ring

My shops:  Panda Wear Website
                   Cabochons and Supplies


Facebook:  PW Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Pinterest: Pinterest 
Instagram: Instagram


I have included some of the original information with links to Etsy's own blog so you can read in depth yourself.  My conclusions:

•  they do not care about anything but their profits 
• the goal of the site promoting commercial goods
• ignore vintage items
• hide and arrange your numbers to sell as much stock to as many as possible
• when all else fails mute the seller and remove them from the site.   This has been done to many sellers there.  Muting means you can not post in the Etsy forums to share ideas or have problems worked on.  they can remove your shop if you do.  This has happend to several sellers I know. 

Etsy, Why Handmade Left

My originally idea was  to blog about all the changes on Etsy over the past three years and the  impact to those sellers I have met.  I decided the post would be extremely long and might not be red through by most visitors. The topic will be broken up into several posts over the next few months.

They redefined handmade or change the legal definition of a word to suit themselves.   I believe they wanted to make more money so they decide to change their site TOU(Terms of Use) to reflect the new influx of sellers with commercial items that drop ship form foreign countries.



https://www.etsy.com/help/article/483
quote from Etsy's blog "HANDMADE items are designed and created by the shops that sell them. Because transparency matters on Etsy, we ask sellers to list shop members and share information about manufacturers involved in creating their items."


 I certainly can not speak for all of the sellers on Etsy.  I can speak for myself and the friends I have made there.  Yes I still know a handful of handmade shops on Etsy. Most I know have left the sinking ship.



As I used the site search by topic, key work and tag , I noticed hundreds of pages of items that were not handmade.  I started to discuss this on several of the teams I belonged to.  My discovery of the commercial items was not unique.  We being good site members reported the shops to the site as not in compliance with their TOU.  We waited a few days then weeks and the odd thing was the shops were still there.  In one case, the shop was on the front page of the  handmade section.  Many sellers had gone to other sites as a back up plan because they were afraid the buyers would leave Etsy.



I have a great group of friends and small business people I have became close with in the past few years.  We are online promoting each other through social media.  The group is Sellergroup.  We are a group of handmade, vintage and supplies buyers and sellers.  Please follow these links to learn about us.
Sellergroup  Pinterest




There are many sites the Hand made sellers have moved to.  I have tried several sites myself and now use my stand alone website as my main place I sell my work.   Here are a few of the options my friends have chosen:  Zibbet, Artfire, Indymade, Shopify, Bonanza, SupaDupa, Ebay, and Facebook groups. 

 To expand the audience of my sales and increase my customer base, I even tried selling jewelry supplies.  I listed my extra beads as destash supplies on Etsy.  The majority of my sales were during buying blitzes with the teams I was part of.  The impact has not been positive for myself, my sales or the majority of the seller of handmade I know.  This all began in 2012 when the site redefined handmade.

Hopefully you understand why many of us handmade artist have left Etsy.  Feel free to do an Internet search on Etsy, their stock and re-sellers (commercial items) to learn more.

My shops:  Panda Wear Website
                   Cabochons and Supplies

Facebook:  PW Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  

Almost Summer Vacation Time

Well for the first time in many years we took the holiday weekend off.  This past weekend is the unofficial start to summer here in Rochester, NY.  We went to Letchworth State park and enjoyed the fabulous balloon festival. It was wonderful to see so many families enjoying the warm weather and the event. Spent the day enjoying the beauty of the park by hiking and watching the balloons.

 I wanted to try and show the beauty of the balloons.  Here they are being inflated with air to prepare them for standing upright.  the next step is filling with hot air and then launching them.  yes those are real people in the pic to show scale.

This is the first one being launched.  

The amazing part to all this is it is really a quiet process. 

Here is is high above us ...higher than the tree tops.... on its way to the gorge and it's wonderful flight.   The orange in pic to the right shows the propane flame which heats the air in the balloon.

End of the day pic at Middle falls in Letchworth State park. What a fantastic day off spent with my guy, Herb.

My stores: Jewelry shop

                 Cabochons and Supplies

Facebook:  PW Facebook

Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  

As for what is coming up on this blog.....future topic include more of my team members, garden updates, & why Etsy is losing hand made and vintage sellers.