FROM THE MAILBAG
From: Laura
Subject: Press release from Etsy
Date: May 9, 2012 1:40:29 PM EDT
I get tons of press releases in my work as a journalist and thought you might want to see this one. Etsy has been given some lame certification that equates it with Patagonia and Seventh Generation for its rigorous standards of transparency, accountability and performance, and most notably, a certain contribution they make to the people of Brooklyn:
Laura,
Etsy has to donate their compost. They’re completely full of shit.
- HK
From: Sarah
Date: Sun, May 6, 2012 at 4:39 PM
Subject: Etsy Front Page
The attached picture is from today’s front page:
See that dress in the upper left hand corner? The one that SOLD today after being featured on Etsy’s front page?
Here it is again.
And also here.
Sarah,
To be fair, there are currently 900 billion listings on Etsy right now, most of them for Hunger Games merchandise. It’s nearly impossible for a small team of people to comb through every listing for infractions, particularly when they’re riding their loaner bikes around the office and swapping vegan risotto recipes.
- HK
May 10, 2012 at 1:32 pm
deer me
May 10, 2012 at 1:34 pm
But no actual deer were harmed in the making of this dress so it’s okay and oh so cute SQUEEEE!! *gag*
May 10, 2012 at 2:00 pm
No, no deer, just small children who made this dress. But I’m sure this issue is ‘noted’ at Etsy HQ.
May 10, 2012 at 3:52 pm
I thought those dresses were made by Bali carpenters named “Juan”…oh wait….
May 10, 2012 at 1:34 pm
Oh deer!
Well, you can’t expect them to buck the trend of stupid front-page picks.
Things like this are why Etsy’s culture is so stagnant.
May 10, 2012 at 1:34 pm
i’m a long time lurker, but i signed up just to add:
every damn time i see one of the admins say “we’re going to wrap this up now!” it my need to punch that person in the face multiplies about 20 fold.
May 10, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Who’s up for a venison burger?
May 10, 2012 at 1:42 pm
Venison burger, feh. TIME FOR BAMBI FAJITAS, Y’ALL! (What? It’ll fit right in with all the tequila I couldn’t swill on Cinco de Mayo…)
May 10, 2012 at 9:04 pm
I recently found out that they actually sell accessories made from Bambi (fawn fur). So I have an idea of what to wear to your BBQ (BamBi-Que)!
May 11, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Now there’s a way to ruin my perfectly good Friday afternoon wine-buzz. Baby-bambi fur! Feh!
May 10, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Let me get in the freezer and get some out. Shall we just do burgers or would you like some meatloaf or something else?
May 10, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Its nice to know the owl poop is being turned into compost
May 10, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Etsy: Always reminding you to buy handmade (by factory workers in China).
May 10, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Hey now, you have to give somebody’s hand credit for pushing that machine’s button!
May 10, 2012 at 1:36 pm
I’m just saying….
May 10, 2012 at 1:38 pm
Thank you for that link
May 10, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Email rant sent! Thanks WATchick!!
May 10, 2012 at 2:26 pm
I just sent them an email reminding them to do some research lest they end up with egg on their face like that wedding magazine last year. Also to let them know that Etsy doesn’t care about Handmade, they don’t care about people, they care about money. Nothing else.
May 10, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Email sent, and thank you very much.
May 10, 2012 at 1:38 pm
Judging by the expressions on their faces, those dress models are buying this bullshit either.
May 10, 2012 at 1:39 pm
You should change the blog’s name from Regretsy to “Are you fucking shitting me?” because that’s what I say out loud EVERY single time I come here.
May 10, 2012 at 2:39 pm
or better yet hypocr-etsy
May 10, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Or hematochetsya. Because etsy is a big lier-lier-pants-on-fire, it gets blood on its com-poo-st too.
May 10, 2012 at 4:17 pm
I think of it as “I regret to inform you that your credibility has suffered an untimely demise,” with a kind of black-bordered telegram logo.
May 10, 2012 at 1:41 pm
TOS? What is that again? Stands for Totally (full) of shit right?
May 10, 2012 at 2:18 pm
bulls eye
May 10, 2012 at 1:41 pm
“hiring local small food businesses”
Ok, I’m with you so far …
“that incorporate in-season ingredients.”
And you just lost me. But, I guess it’s not pretentious enough without the second half of that sentence.
May 10, 2012 at 4:18 pm
It means that while you can go to Whole Foods and buy strawberries 365 days a year, these folks base their consumption schedule on when they would grow in Brooklyn, if conditions were more suitable.*
*Like, if it weren’t Brooklyn.
May 10, 2012 at 1:41 pm
I live in Brooklyn. MANY businesses donate compost to many community/rooftop farms and gardens…and don’t get a medal for it, or seek any special notoriety. They just do it.
For that matter, a good portion of the borough’s residents do so as well. This is nothing new. Brooklynites are not new to environmental responsibility — we demand it here. For all we know, someone got on their ass about not being green, and this is back-pedaling. We’ll never know.
Honestly, it seems to me that the only recycling that is going on is that of photos by resellers. Too bad they put their transparency in with their compost and it completely decomposed.
May 10, 2012 at 1:46 pm
I want to say something funny, but I can’t get past how much Etsy has changed since I joined years ago. It’s comforting to know that they are recycling, though. That helps my one-woman business alot, thanks Etsy.
May 10, 2012 at 2:13 pm
To be fair, I imagine that the shit from Etsy is so rich and plentiful that it makes things grow almost overnight. Garden members may be fighting to get some of that precious, vegan, organic, handcrafted, glitter infused, OOK compost. Luckily there is a steady and abundant supply
May 10, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Don’t forget etsy compost is well enriched with recycled cupcakes, biscoti and unicorn jizz too.
Well said Lemonbombs.. I dont see any form of transparency since people are always being told to shut up when it comes to any issue that will make etsy look bad.
May 10, 2012 at 9:12 pm
Don’t they know that type of compost is unsuitable for veggie gardens?
May 10, 2012 at 6:39 pm
I don’t see what other option there is besides “donating” to a farm/garden (where it belongs) it in the first place, though. Unless you’re starting your own dirt farm in your office space, you’ve gotta get rid of that crap before it starts to spawn maggots and the owner has kittens.
May 10, 2012 at 1:43 pm
Well, SOMEBODY made the dress. Just not necessarily the seller. A complete technicality. Big loophole, there Etsy, and I know you’d fix it but would get distracted and make the loophole into some kind of painted rope necklace.
May 10, 2012 at 1:54 pm
May 10, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Lemon, you are going to be a the thing tomorrow in New York. TELL ME YOU WILL BE THERE! I MUST MEET YOU!
May 10, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Sort of.
http://forums.regretsy.com/topic.php?id=26026
May 11, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Well, if you can’t attend–at least send that puppy.
May 10, 2012 at 2:12 pm
I second this. LemonBombs MUST party with us! Is that 1 ticket still up for grabs?
May 10, 2012 at 4:11 pm
I’m holding on to a ticket just for Lemon if she’s standing at the door ready to go in.
May 10, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Alas, I see now that she can’t attend. But the ticket will still be in my hand when I’m standing at the door. There’s a small catch. I get to go through the Swag Bag before you do but I promise you’ll get to take home most if not all of the fuckery.
May 10, 2012 at 2:29 pm
YAY!! lemonbombs is back!!! and wiff a cute widdle puppy. a cute widdle puppy that made that dress. all 900 of them.
May 10, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Love it. Someone sure as anything needs to feel shame for coming up with that deer dung.
May 10, 2012 at 1:43 pm
Well, if nothing else, the shop that sold the deer dress is “temporarily down” as of right now.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/michelleashlee
http://www.etsy.com/people/michelleashlee
May 11, 2012 at 9:02 am
Which simply means that Etsy is coaching them to be more ToS compliant, naturally.
May 10, 2012 at 1:44 pm
I’m sure the sweatshop children are pleased to have made it to the front page of Etsy!
This isn’t the right place to post this but I’m new around here and don’t know my way around yet. Did anyone else catch that crazy tanning lady say that people were just picking on her because we’re “fat, jealous, and ugly?” I almost thought she was talking about Regretsy!
May 10, 2012 at 1:49 pm
Those sweatshop kids are tweeting like crazy over this. They might celebrate with TWO bathroom breaks today – yippee!
May 10, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Yes, noted that. I think that April should call her “layer” and issue a cease and desist.
May 10, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Jeez, it’s like they’re not even trying any more.
May 10, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Etsy never had a policy of vetting features, like the front page treasury or emails, for compliance with the rules for selling. The staff pick what they think is cute and trendy, and that’s as far as it goes.
May 10, 2012 at 6:40 pm
I think that by “global platform” they mean that have children from all over the world, not just China, manufacturing the misrepresented good
May 10, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Did the person testing their transparency wear a blindfold or something?
May 10, 2012 at 1:50 pm
That person has fucking cataracts.
May 10, 2012 at 1:50 pm
So, basically what ETSY is telling us is…
May 10, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Keep Calm, It Was Made In Saigon.
May 10, 2012 at 2:03 pm
Keep Calm
And
It’s a Collective
May 10, 2012 at 2:08 pm
May 10, 2012 at 2:16 pm
Now I’m picturing Princess Leia with cupcakes instead of her “danishes.”
May 10, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Don’t forget the gallon of ice cream!
May 10, 2012 at 3:25 pm
And the ‘handmade’ paper cupcake wrappers get composted in Brooklyn!
May 10, 2012 at 10:18 pm
Lemon Bomb- you are so delightfully eloquent! This made me ridiculously happy, on many levels, thank you!
May 10, 2012 at 2:01 pm
We decided that the “B” stands for BULLSHIT
May 10, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Completely off topic, but did anyone else see this kale article on slate.com shortly after the flashback of the “Eat Kale” shirt? I had to check the byline like 5 times to see if it was HK.
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/low_concept/2012/05/the_all_kale_diet_how_i_stopped_eating_anything_else_.html
It’s beautiful.
May 10, 2012 at 2:11 pm
“Scott Jacobson is a writer for Bob’s Burgers on Fox”
May 10, 2012 at 2:25 pm
That is a funny article. I never knew kale was so popular with the health-foodies. I happen to like kale, but I limit my obsession to (somewhat) traditional Portuguese Kale soup. I hardly ever make it, as it is too damn expensive most times (especially ORGANIC kale), and now I’m starting to understand why. Supply and demand, the demand coming from the crazy health food nuts who think they can eat just one thing and not die.
I did manage to finds some reasonably priced kale the other day, so I’m going to go make my soup RIGHT NOW.
Jealous?
May 10, 2012 at 2:33 pm
maybe? I got some growing now.
Got a plot of dirt? planter? It’s obscenely easy to grow. likes sun, doesn’t mind cold.
May 10, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Tolerates a fair degree of frost and varying soils, for that matter. Trick is to cook it a long time. It’s like the Anti-Spinach that way.
May 10, 2012 at 9:15 pm
What about semi-neglect? I love to plant veggies but I hate to care for them. Tomatoes thrive but the cucumbers don’t really appreciate it.
May 10, 2012 at 9:55 pm
Alas, you got me at dirt. I’m out. Gotta buy it at the store.
May 10, 2012 at 2:11 pm
What I don’t understand is why Etsy keeps pretending to be an all handmade marketplace. All they would have to do is to create a new listing category for re-sale items and this would cease to be an issue. Instead they continue to cling to the “everything is handmade” lie.
If they’re not willing to weed out the resellers, then they should at least identify them so that those of us who want to buy handmade items find them!
May 10, 2012 at 2:19 pm
STOP CALLING OUT! IT IS ALL HANDMADE! (or something like that).
May 10, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Etsy doesn’t limit the deception to handmade. A lot of the so-called vintage, isn’t. Or won’t be for another 15-20 years.
May 10, 2012 at 7:45 pm
Doesn’t vintage mean “it was a good week” now?
May 10, 2012 at 10:53 pm
It was something that’s been up you family’s arses for the last sventy years when we last checked.
May 10, 2012 at 2:13 pm
I sure love Etsy politics… Now that I have my own shop on Etsy I’m really starting to get into this stuff…
May 10, 2012 at 2:16 pm
https://www.facebook.com/pages/B-Corporation/23516382545
FJL’s, you know what to do!!!
May 11, 2012 at 5:44 pm
Their response: B Corporation We hear your concerns and appreciate that you’ve raised them with us. We take the integrity of the B Corp Certification seriously and if you have specific issues with Etsy we’d appreciate it if you would bring them to our attention by emailing thelab@bcorporation.net so we can follow through with our process for researching alleged fraud or conduct inconsistent with the values of the B Corp Community.
Perhaps some of us should take them up on that offer. Politely, of course; we want them on our side.
May 10, 2012 at 2:25 pm
“current conscientious (man that was a hard word to get through) practices”…
I think my appendix, spleen, and removed tonsils all exploded at once because I’ve never experienced such an immediate laughter burst.
May 10, 2012 at 2:26 pm
I’m shocked that you commenters somehow think 200,000 dresses a day is mass-produced. Shame on you for calling out hard-working crafters and their 20,000 assistants.
May 10, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Maybe if I crap in a bucket for a week and then mail the contents to a brooklyn “farmer” I can get my ass certified as a green business.
May 10, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Where is my loaner bike? How will I ever get from one place to another if Etsy doesn’t lend me a bicycle?
May 10, 2012 at 2:32 pm
Did anyone post this in the etsy forums? Because I personally would love to place bets on how long it would take to “wrap this up”. That or we could make it a drinking game. I’m good with either.
May 10, 2012 at 2:37 pm
I’ll drink to that, game or not.
May 10, 2012 at 2:37 pm
I like this idea…
May 10, 2012 at 3:52 pm
The winner gets a manicure and four carpenters from Belize.
May 10, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Shit, it was Bali wasn’t it?
May 11, 2012 at 2:56 am
Bali is so yesterday. Belize is the thing now.
May 10, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Jesus. I’ve been on the front page twice in the past 2 days, and I can’t even sell a damn $12 illustration. When it comes to competing with these resellers, I’d be better off donating my prints to the compost pile.
May 10, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Etsy is congratulating themselves…
http://www.etsy.com/blog/news/2012/notes-from-chad-funding-etsys-future/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Internal&utm_campaign=EtsyNews
I just posted this on Etsy’s Facebook in response:
This is such a lie. Nature, community, people? The only appreciation of process I’ve seen Etsy stand behind lately is the process of factory made goods sold by wholesalers.
I’m excited for fallout.
Can they ban a shop that’s in Vacation Mode with a shop statement that is calling out all of Etsy? Probably. Hahaha
May 10, 2012 at 2:40 pm
I would like to thank my collective for all their help in creating this beautiful, handmade, wearable artwork: Thank you Indonesia, China, Taiwan, all the fine folks at Alibaba and Club Coture, and especially Etsy, without whom I would not have the platform and support I need to run my little sewing business from my home. And be sure and stop by my shop again – I just finished 14,974 new dresses for my summer line! XOXOXOXOXOXO!
May 10, 2012 at 2:42 pm
I’m a stay-at-home mom…. to 300 hard working little helpers.
May 10, 2012 at 2:49 pm
ugh. i actually made a bunch of craft/shit/bookmarks to open an etsy shop and i havent been able to get myself to do it yet. they are all sitting here next to me because my distaste for etsys bullshit grows by the hour. kind of wishing we had a regretsy shop. sorry for my lack of wit today having a shitty day i guess.
thank you for your daily dose of fun it is the highlight of my day.
)
May 10, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Craft Star opens Sunday. Just sayin’.
May 10, 2012 at 5:35 pm
http://www.storenvy.com/ so far is decent I just joined because etsy is crap
May 11, 2012 at 4:00 am
http://www.storenvy.com/products/252237-bicycle-necklace
Nothing against you Amanda, but this looks alot like reseller and/or charm on a chain, which is hardly handmade.
May 10, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Every time I see From the Mailbag, I hear this amongst many other things I hear in my head..
Lllllllets get ready to rumbllllllle!!!
And I love it.
May 10, 2012 at 3:30 pm
The B stands for Bajingo
May 10, 2012 at 3:44 pm
I don’t get it…How exactly is Etsy using their business power to solve social problems? Aren’t they perpetuating more social problems, like stereotyping and labor-wait, I meant collectives, and disease from all the crap they include? It’s transparently clear that this press release is just one of those fluffer pieces that anyone can submit about themselves.
May 10, 2012 at 4:08 pm
I have to say, that deer printed dress looks great on the last model, the blonde just doesn’t do it justice.
May 10, 2012 at 7:57 pm
But the blonde can close her eyes while standing against a tan wooden lattice fence and disappear from view.
May 10, 2012 at 4:24 pm
I’m strongly considering starting up a change.org petition urging the B-Corporation group to do a through investigation on Etsy and its practices,and maybe even to remove Etsy from their group. If I were to go through with this how many of you FLJs would be willing to lend your names to such a petition?
May 10, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Oops, meant to type that as FJL not FLJ.
May 10, 2012 at 5:51 pm
Isn’t “Brooklyn Compost” a euphemism for the remnants of a Mob hit?
May 10, 2012 at 6:02 pm
April: love the rubber sandal. But I think the antique black butt plugs would offer a really sharp contrast to the pink headband. And, yeah. Glitter.
You could tie them on with thin strips of used sheer nylon stocking, several back and forth to make a kind of nifty pattern, and market the headbands as incorporating genuine vintage spider silk, aged right there on the premises, and guarantee that no spiders were harmed in the process.
If you think nobody would buy that on Etsy, you are, with the most due and deserved respect, incorrect.
May 10, 2012 at 6:30 pm
I sure HOPE they’re “donating” their compost. If they were hoarding it in the damned office the entire borough would become a goddamned vermin kingdom. And make for the most elaborate episode of Hoarders ever.
By that logic, I’ve been “donating” my trash to the city dump all these years. I just “donated” a hank of lint out of the dryer downstairs two minutes ago. Where’s my award?
May 11, 2012 at 9:34 am
I just donated 2 week old leftovers (and well, some I don’t even remember what it was) to my garbage can and subsequently, the dump- can’t compost it, there’s meat pructs in it- so where’s MY damn B corp certificate???
May 10, 2012 at 6:56 pm
You know, it’s not so much that these things pop up because it has to be hard to moderate that many things, it’s that when it is POINTED OUT TO THEM they completely ignore it. Not only do they ignore it, they silence anyone who points out the obvious.
They are transparent alright.
May 10, 2012 at 6:56 pm
I found a forum on Etsy that says Alibaba steals pictures from etsy shops.
https://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/10263425/
Is there any truth to this? I am unfamiliar with how Alibaba works.
May 10, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Yes it can happen. However that’s not a stolen photo. It’s a totally different model in a totally different pose. With the same fabric, in the same design dress.
May 11, 2012 at 9:35 am
While yes, it does happen, it doesn’t happen to the extent that some people claim it does.
And when you can find the exact same thing on a site that’s NOT alibaba, well, then it’s obvious Alibaba didn’t steal it.
May 10, 2012 at 7:31 pm
Maybe they should start using a new system to decide what goes on the front page besides some staff member with colour co-ord fetish. Maybe the most popular treasuries?
May 10, 2012 at 8:09 pm
If they followed that rule then this would have been the front page a few weeks ago. http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/treasury?before=1335233949
May 10, 2012 at 8:49 pm
…”I love CUTE dresses!”
Not me. I only wear ugly frocks that make my ass look like I’m smuggling 2-10lb sacks of cottage cheese.
I hate when people say stupid shit like that.
May 10, 2012 at 10:14 pm
And my letter to B-corp (part I):
I just read in a press release that Etsy was recently awarded a B certification… and I’m shocked and disappointed that a company in such blatant violation of federal law was granted certification.
Below I’ve attached only one of the sections of FTC guidelines on deception in marketing (related to jewelry) in which Etsy is in clear violation. By knowingly allowing items in violation to remain labeled as ‘handmade’ or ‘vintage’, Etsy is acting as a complicit party in the perpetuation of fraud against their users.
Now, I have nothing against Etsy per se… I love the concept, and I do purchase items there myself when I have the time to do the research to ensure that I really am directly supporting an artisan’s quest for self-expression and creativity, rather than a knockoff of someone else’s creativity from a third-world sweatshop.
May 10, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Letter (part ii)
But as Etsy continues to grow in preparation for an IPO, it looks like their original mission (and corporate ethics) are being jettisoned out the window.
I’ve been kicking around the idea of seeking B certification for my own business: We focus on providing technological solutions to social and environmental problems, and we’ve donated services in excess of 25% of annual revenue to non-profits over the past two years… but to be blunt, you’re judged by the company you keep – and I wouldn’t want my business to be found in the company of an enterprise that continues to knowingly deceive consumers in blatant violation of federal law.
Please know that by accepting businesses of dubious integrity into the fold, you’re diluting the potential for a B Corporation certification to be a meaningful tool in consumer choice… and that is perhaps what is the most disappointing and disheartening thing here.
May 10, 2012 at 10:17 pm
and the linked text from the FTC:
ยง 23.3 Misuse of the terms “hand-made,” “hand-polished,” etc.
(a) It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is hand-made or hand-wrought unless the entire shaping and forming of such product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design, and finish of each part of each individual product.
Note to paragraph (a): As used herein, “raw materials” include bulk sheet, strip, wire, and similar items that have not been cut, shaped, or formed into jewelry parts, semi-finished parts, or blanks.
May 10, 2012 at 10:17 pm
(b) It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is hand-forged, hand-engraved, hand-finished, or hand-polished, or has been otherwise hand-processed, unless the operation described was accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the type, amount, and effect of such operation on each part of each individual product.
May 14, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Wow thanks for posting this! I am going to send a letter to bcorp as well. I also sent a letter to blogger Andrew Sullivan, who just today posted about Regretsty on his website. I encourage people to send emails to any prominent bloggers they know, especially ones that like to report on consumer related stuff.
May 10, 2012 at 10:15 pm
Oh Etsy, I suppose it’s true- “ignorance IS bliss” – everyone in Cupcakeland seems pretty damn happy with themselves.
Also, I am very sad to not be in NYC for Petja-palooza, wine guzzling will have to be a distant second prize!
May 11, 2012 at 9:38 am
That B Corp cetificate was the best joke I’ve read all day.
May 15, 2012 at 10:21 am
Instead of “mass crafters”, you should call them “massholes”.
May 15, 2012 at 11:54 am
Etsy may say they are cracking down on factory made items being sold on Etsy is bullshit. As long as they are making money, they don’t care. But it sure looks good in their terms of use, which says something about it not being “in th spirit of Etsy” or something like that. This is just one of many reasons I left Etsy.