Shame On You

Yawn....

It really is old news. I dumped my Etsy shop YEARS ago because this was happening.

Is Etsy considered a competing POD, or more of a craft "store"?

Valerie
I never used Etsy, I was thinking about opening one. Would you mind sharing your experience with Etsy?

Greg It is a craft store and a lot of artists use us to fulfil and dropship the orders

Thanks for the info, Abbie. Wasn't quite sure what function it played.

I registered on Etsy at the suggestion of a fellow artist who apparently does quite well out of it Haven't used it yet.

I won't sell there because of the redistributors and the knock offs. Also Etsy says it's for handmade items, (even though you can find mass produced stuff being resold), and I sell prints, which I don't consider to be handmade.

If I left Etsy, I would be cutting my nose off to spite my face. I'm getting some sales there and it is etsy buyers finding my images through their search, not people I've dragged in...although I am trying to drag some that way and this way too.

Prints, art/photography is considered handmade there. It is not all 'crafters'. It's a mixed bag. According to a recent article about 6% of items listed on Etsy is likely copyright/trademark infringement, which probably does not count or include shops that have swiped individual artist's images and are putting them on products. It's not like it's the only site that happens on...we've seen that here too. Etsy will take down/close shops but it does have to be the person 'infringed' on and they are not as speedy about it as I would like in some cases. However, some shops I've reported did finally go away!

They started out as handcrafted, vintage (20yrs +) and supplies. They (the board - people with the money) changed the definition of handmade to suit them after firing the founder and original creator of Etsy partly because he did not want to change the definition. So...it is not the same, they have issues, I almost left last year but like I said above, that would be cutting my nose off to spite my face, and even though YOU can't see my nose, I do like it on my face, lol!

I have used Etsy for signed and numbered prints. In my offerings I always include an independent written appraisal with each piece. I have found that the combo of S/N prints and appraisals wards off infringements and copycats.

I have watermarks on my images and the file sizes are small.

Thanks guys!
I have no clue about Etsy. I know some people sells handmade potteries there. That is all i know.

I thought I read somewhere that as the artist you pay something like $.25/month to list.

So 18 pieces times $.25 times 12 months is $54. The more images the more it costs. Obviously.

Some very very friendly to me discussed his success on Etsy. He knows the search system well.

I have no clue if that is easy or hard to know. but you pay for search. INDIRECTLY. Or above and beyond the
$30/year here.

I am not really sure I have the facts right. Please inform us if different.

Dave

Dave

I pay no attention to the cost factors on Etsy. I go on there from time to time to display s S/N a piece of art..It is not so much the intent to sell as it is exposure. And as we all know, advertising costs money wherever you go. "There is no free lunch".