Well, Etsy just jumped

[Orrex]

According to the official word from the PTB at Etsy, they now officially allow large-volume resellers and 3rd-party manufacturers, meaning that a huge business can roll in and flood Etsy with thousands of items "hand made" in a sweatshop in China, and Etsy will ask only that the seller discloses this fact in their shop's page. Of course, Etsy will make no effort to monitor this policy, so the upshot is that actual makers of actual handmade items will be utterly swept aside and forgotten.

Of course, Etsy is spinning this as if it's the best thing ever to happen in the world of handmade 1st-party sales, and I'm sure that it will boost their bottom line enormously, but once again it's set up to help the big sellers get bigger and to help the small sellers get smaller.

Thanks for nothing, Etsy!

[onehandle]

1. Ugh. nt

[Taverner]

2. Tsk tsk tsk always check the "used" box

[BainsBane]

3. They are just making if official

since that has been going on for quite some time. They care about profits and nothing else.

[Orrex]

4. 100% correct, sadly

The admins over there have been denying it and have insisted that they work to limit bulk resellers and third-handers, but it's been obvious that resellers have done very well on Etsy for a long time. It's refreshing, in a way, that they're now admitting what Etsy members have known all along.