I Used to Sell on Etsy

Another friend got a warning from Etsy. She used licensed materials in her product, which is perfectly legal, but she got her first warning. I used to sell on Etsy too.

Etsy has so many sellers and so much money that they really don't care about you. They might pretend that they do, but they don't. When I was having problems with Etsy, I was advised to contact a certain person for help. My friends assured me that this person was wonderful and that he would certainly help me. But almost immediately after I wrote to him explaining my problem, instead of having the one troubled shop reopened, all of my 4 shops were shut down.

I personally didn't violate any policies, as a matter of fact, although my daughter was called out, she didn't either. She was legally reconstructing licensed t-shirts and vintage sheets. Etsy didn't even want to discuss it. They shut down her shop and my shop that had a link to her shop. Yes, if you have a link to a friend or family member, you can be shut down permanently too.

I reopened a shop in my name only, and that worked well, but my daughter couldn't, and she struggled for a long time. We were already struggling financially, so my Etsy bills were at the bottom of my list of priorities. Food for the kids, and shelter came first. I got seriously behind and Etsy shut down my shops and demanded payment in full to reopen my shops. I was already struggling, so there was no way I could pay it off, and there was no negotiating. They would not accept partial payment and a payment plan to reopen. They just wanted to get rid of me.

Fortunately I had another shop open with some of my product, and fortunately I had downloaded my CSV.
Although the information was a bit outdated, I was able to open a new shop at a new venue pretty quickly. As for traffic, that has taken a few years to develop again.

Now I have my own website. I have a shop page, that can be linked to any venue I want to sell at. Today it is Artfire.com, tomorrow it may be storenvy.com or the new Handmadeology.com marketplace.

I also know if you possibly can, download a CSV. You never know what can happen. People have had their shops shut down, just because Etsy suspects they are having items made outsourced. While some shops blatantly violate and still remain, others get shut down for nothing. Oh and by the way, discussing anything negative about Etsy publicly is a violation of their policy and a reason for getting your shop shut down too.

I used to sell on Etsy, and it is so liberating not to have those "evil eyes" watching my every move.

Biz Buzz - Beware of What you Share

I just became aware of a HUGE controversy in the Arts community and I'm probably going to get hate email for this myself, just like Regretsy did. But I have to speak my mind too. If you haven't already heard, it's all about the "HOBO Wedding". Etsy featured it and you can see their post here Handmade Weddings: Depression-Era Hobo


This post was rife for ridicule. I read it and got quite a kick out of it myself. The hobo invitations and little Bandanna sack decorations, Beat up straw hats and overalls. Not the ideal wedding most of us have planned, but I know some Ren Faire workers that love their costuming and genre so much they Feast on Faux Boar and Mead for their nuptials. To each their own right?


So some found it more than just odd like April (Helen Killer) of Regretsy, who posted a snarky commentary of the wedding It’s called “poverty.” You’ve probably never heard of it.


I for one, am particularly fond of snark, so I thoroughly enjoyed her commentary, as that was just about what I was thinking. But apparently the Bride, Groom and the family didn't find it funny at all. So Regretsy, with second thoughts, made another post. Faux-Bos and Faux-Pas


April starts out saying she didn't realize how much her post would hurt and offend. I related to her Chastity/Chastity critisism, as I have been know to say to a gay, Where is the Straight Pride Parade? or to a person of color, What is this BTV nonsense? Not because I am prejudiced, but because I think the divisions are so unnecessary, because I personally think people are people and should all be embraced as part of the global community. I guess that it's the closed minded ones who are offended and hurt by what we say. 


I totally understand oppression, but at least you are part of a group.  What about people like April and me, who are oddball freaks that few understand? What group do we belong in?


The beginning of the "apology?" post read like Perez Hilton, when he finally realized that his snark was hurtful. Really Perez? How long did that take? Smack yourself on the head you dumb ass.


But it ended with the obvious. If you expose your ridiculous fantasies to the world, you expose yourself to ridicule. PLEASE Hobo Wedding Participants! If you seriously thought this would not get both negative as well as positive comments you are either naive or just plain stupid.


Lesson Learned: If you are putting yourself on the Internet, you are exposing yourself to a global community who may, or may not like what you are doing or saying and just deal with it. After all www does stand for World Wide Web if you didn't know.


I for one, think that marriage is a mistake no matter how you dress it up, but that is my OPINION. Now all you happily married people can send me hate mail and negative comments :)