The number of companies treating the creatives that made them what they are today with blatant disrespect is insane - good luck on your new shop, wish all the best for it's success!

etsy used to be my go-to spot for handmade christmas and birthday gifts. its so sad that the shopping mall is better for handmade gifts than a website made for it!

Ironically I keep getting the recent Etsy ads about "buy from regular people not billionaires" or "shop other Jeffs." They feel so disingenuous and like a slap in the face to actual artists. Considering the fact that there are countless drop-shipping "shops" or resellers/scalpers on Etsy. I have seen MORE AI slop on Etsy than I have real small business, Etsy is turning into Temu.

I have sold on Etsy since 2013. I’m a screenprinter who designed and hand printed shirts. When POD flooded the platform with hundreds of thousands of listings, my sales and traffic tanked. Now it’s nothing but ai generated or Canva (which is filled with ai) designed shirts. I’m working on creating my own shop.

Everyone forgets about the time Etsy to random amounts of money (from $20 to thousands) out of their debit cards”accidentally” and then went away for a long weekend while people had money missing from their accounts.

Etsy has apparently dropped the 'handmade' label now so that they can indulge in their greed motive.  Its all about the money for them.  They don't care about true artists, only con artists it seems.

Etsy: "We're a place for solo artists producing customised hand-made artwork!"
Also Etsy: "Don't have a registered company number? We don't want you. 'Sides, we're getting plenty of income off drop-shippers and people selling AI "art". Not to mention milking our existing sellers dry by charging them extra for off-site ads."

As a shopper, I quit using Etsy back around 2021 because it started becoming all AI slop and it became a very unpleasant shopping experience. Especially in the beginning of the "change" because you had to spend so much extra time trying not to get scammed but then it's mostly scam now so

I have an Etsy shop that I've had for 4 years and I've never sold one thing

It's honestly tragic how bad Etsy has gotten

They blacklist like I sneeze

We need a hub or a search for us to find eachoters handmade stores and indie projects. We cant reply on comapnies to do it

Etsy closed my shop over a year ago. No warning or notice, had no violations. Everything was my own original designs and not against TOS. I just logged in one day and it was closed. I submitted an appeal and they denied it and told me I could not open a new one or ever shop with them again. The heck?? I tried asking why, and they said "due to security reasons, we cannot inform you of why we have closed your shop". After researching, the only thing I can think of is the fact I moved to a new city and they think I sold my account to someone else? But can't I share my ID or something to prove I'm still me? Guess not..

I left two years ago, I tried, but no one saw my store.

As a consumer I've noticed Etsy has really gone downhill. Such a shame

I used to love Etsy when it came out and would go on there to get interesting gifts or the occasional item for myself. I gave that up long ago when it was clear the platform was flooded with cheap mass produced junk. I hope you find a better way to sell your art. 🥰

You touched on a really good point. Most introverts are not into following trends and dancing and doing six second videos. Our gift is not necessarily in promotion. It's in creation.

I agree with you. I had an Etsy shop and I sold hand made Christmas baubles. Over time it started to become slightly like Temu. People would sell things in bulk and not hand made. Thank you for making this video. I’m in the U.K x

I’ve found it’s really difficult to search for my favorite shops now. Maybe I’m doing something wrong, but I used to be able to type in the shops name and it would take me to the shop. AI generated items are slop. For patterns, there’s too high of a chance that things won’t line up. I have noticed a lot of stores on “vacation break”, so this probably explains a lot. People like me are happy to pay for shipping and import fees for quality items. There’s no need to stay with an abusive company.

I'm really happy for you - I think you'll do better in the long run! I had to close my shop for some of the same reasons. Etsy has been on the decline for years now. It's such a shame.