FROM THE HORSE’S BLOWHOLE
If you read this site with any regularity, and really, why wouldn’t you, then you already know how I feel about Chad Dickerson, CEO of Etsy.
I was first dazzled by Chad’s footwork in this post, when he started to talk about fixing Etsy’s problems, then distracted us with pictures of dolphins. And who didn’t love his reseller treasury?
This weekend, however, I stumbled across the most satisfying Chadisode yet; a Wall Street Journal video interview called, “BOSS TALK.”
1. Multiple owls
2. Smelly hipster afghan
3. Paint-by-numbers wall mural
I’m going to be honest. This is my favorite part of the video.
Not pictured: upright piano and bear-shaped beanbag
Now, I worked in advertising for many years, and I was very good at it. I sold a lot of products and made my clients a lot of money. And I tell you this so that you’ll understand that I know bullshit when I hear it. In fact, I’m fluent in it. And Chad Dickerson is speaking my language.
Let’s take a look at this question posed by WSJ.
Now correct me if I’m wrong (not really), but are they saying that handmade is the problem?
It all makes sense now! It’s not the resellers that are hurting Etsy. It’s not the armies of people cranking out the same shit that are diluting the brand.
The problem is that you pesky handcrafters are hampering Etsy’s growth. And let me tell you, giant bear-shaped beanbags don’t grow on Meyer Lemon trees.
So how did Chad handle this question?
“The interesting thing about Etsy and handmade is handmade has always been an anchor for Etsy?”
In other words:
“But it’s not the only thing that’s ever been sold on Etsy, so, um, you know… the day Etsy launched, you could buy vintage items, which, you know, essentially are curated by, um… a single person or persons, so… um… I think…”
“You know, Hello Etsy, which was our, uh… conference in Berlin was about small businesses.”
“And we had all sorts of attendees there, but it wasn’t really focused on handmade. We even had a… uh… a butcher from southern Germany come to learn how to market and uh… you know… sort of run his butcher shop, so I think… the reality is Etsy has always been about the… the nature of the transaction?”
“So I think in the future, um, you’ll see, uh… as Etsy started out with vintage, you’ll see Etsy, you know… doing a lot more than handmade items, you know, made by an individual person.”
“But it’s always going to be important that the buyer knows exactly… you know… who is making what they’re buying and where it came from.”
“So it’s really a personal transaction that’s really important.”
Finally, Etsy’s vison of the future, laid out so everyone can understand.
At Etsy 2.0, handmade doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that you buy it from a person, who is selling something at a profit that was made in a factory. How is this personal? How is this different from Hot Topic or Target, or even a swap meet?
It’s not. That’s really the crux of the whole thing. Etsy is no longer a handmade marketplace. They are Ebay.
And I’ll tell you how we got here.
From the moment Etsy put their first owl mug in their kitchen, they began brainwashing crafters into believing that handmade was important to everyone. And you know what? It’s just not. Most customers don’t want to pay 300% more for something because someone made it, especially when we’re talking about something that isn’t particularly special. And by encouraging marginally talented people to crank out unremarkable work, Etsy is now flooded with shit. Some of it is expensive shit, and some of it is cheap shit. Most people want cheap shit, and Etsy wants their money.
It’s not that you’re overpricing what you make (though that is also a problem when people have no concept of their abilities). It’s that you can’t make things as cheaply as factories do. And by allowing resellers into the marketplace, Etsy has set you up to compete with people who have a work force, and who are getting much cheaper prices for materials.
Why does that matter?
Well, let’s say you make handmade bags. Let’s say it takes you two weeks to make one and you price it at about $400. That’s a bit high for some people, but it’s not much for two weeks’ work. So you pay your listing fees and hope you get on the front page or in Etsy finds, or even a treasury, so that someone will see your bag and want it.
Now let’s say I want a bag like the bags you make. I come to Etsy, and I start searching. And right away, I see bags that are similar to yours, but are being sold for a fraction of the price. Which one do you think I’m going to buy? Even if handmade is important me, why would I think I’m not getting a handmade bag on a site that purports to be a handmade marketplace?
So the question really is, why doesn’t Etsy keep its promise? Why don’t they keep resellers off the site, instead of forcing you to compete with them?
Here’s the sad truth. Your two or three bracelets a week (if you’re lucky) won’t help Etsy grow like this single person or persons, who currently has 1,200 pieces listed in her shop and has made 20,000 sales in less than two years. But you lend enough cachet to the brand that they keep you around, and promise you anything to get you to stay. You are the bait, and $2 Taiwanese pocket watches are the switch.
Look at it this way. You are the paint-by-numbers waiting room with the owl lamp and the smelly afghan. And right through that door is an army of 12-year olds, making 10,000 wedding dresses a week.
Happy crafting!
- Click here to see the whole ratfuck
May 29, 2012 at 3:47 pm
It’s too bad that he can’t simply be honest and direct about not giving a shit about re-sellers.
How about some honesty Chad? Now THAT would be revolutionary.
“Buy Handmade.” *snorts* Yeah, right.
May 29, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Its still ‘hand made’ by tiny little underpaid and poorly treated hands in factory.
May 29, 2012 at 5:10 pm
You mean a “collective”.
May 29, 2012 at 3:52 pm
If they would just come out and say, look, we’re changing our business model, that would be the end of it. They might lose a chunk of their sellers, but I think most people would find a way to deal with it and keep going. It’s the lying that’s hurting them.
May 29, 2012 at 3:55 pm
I agree HKpril. It IS the lying. Lay it out there and let every decide.
Yes, they would lose people. But they would be small volume producers who aren’t making Etsy much money anyways. From a business stand point, it’s not a big deal.
But Etsy insists on trying to blow glitter up everyone’s rectum at the same time and be dishonest.
May 29, 2012 at 4:03 pm
But if they were honest about what they are, then they would lose what little advantage they have in the marketplace. It’s not like fashion magazines are going to do a spread on “Fabulous One-of-a-Kind Wedding Dresses from Walmart.com!”
The main reason (as far as I know) that people come to etsy is that they think they are going to find unique, handmade items; let them know it’s the same mass-produced crap as everywhere else and they won’t bother setting up an account.
May 29, 2012 at 4:11 pm
As long as they can keep SOME actual handcrafters, they can keep that branding of being a handmade marketplace.
And let’s be real, a lot of people wouldn’t leave. They have invested time into promoting their brand on Etsy, they think it’s the only game in town, they have established a customer base on Etsy. Some people just won’t walk away.
And being frank, they can spin this to make it a good thing. The cupcakes will believe it, things carry on as normal.
June 5, 2012 at 2:54 pm
It’s becoming more and more difficult to sift through the junk on Etsy. That will eventually drive more people away.
May 29, 2012 at 6:41 pm
@BadMiya:
i dont think they can spin this to make it a good thing. no matter the inanity of the cupcakey ooey gooey gluey comradeship, they still dont wanna align themselves w/ chinese sweatshops. whether they would or not is a different question. they certainly dont wanna be seen to do it, otoh.
o-a-couple-of-other-h-entirely:
1/ it’s easy to tell by looking at this guy, casual plaid or no casual plaid, that he wasnt hired for his hippie hipsterdom but instead cos he was a real, dirt regular, business class ceo, &
2/ before the reseller invasion, etsy was still making money, yes? but not enough for them, apparently. would it not be better, then, for a different bunch of clever people to create another, different etsy-type place–for my money, screened & that not only to get rid of resellers but also to eliminate, if you will, crap–one that actually paid more attention, & delivered more than lip service to its stated ideals?
May 29, 2012 at 6:55 pm
I agree, Badmiya.
It is the same situation on eBay. With the hoops and shit they put their sellers through, several eBay “alternative” auction sites have popped up but are stuck in the mud. eBay built up a reputation as the best and only game in town for those who haven’t been bent over a trash can and given a hard, lubeless fucking.
May 29, 2012 at 7:16 pm
As someone who has no crafting ability (and therefore no shop), I am in the category of people who are wandering away from Etsy due to resellers and handmade knockoffs. I went to Etsy for things that every third person won’t instantly recognize (Oh, did you get those from ___?). Now if I want earrings I have to wade through pages and pages and PAGES of the same cheap imports, broken up by shit I could have done myself (which is a pretty serious insult). I might as well go to Modcloth — or, hell, Claire’s. Dammit.
June 5, 2012 at 2:56 pm
I just wrote something to this effect a few posts above, halcat.
May 29, 2012 at 4:01 pm
I wish they would, but I know they won’t. In the worldview they’ve presented and as you laid out, they have to maintain the illusion of “Handmadeness”.
If they admit that it’s all false and abandon the illusion, the bait is gone. Outside of Regretsy, it’s contained to a few angry forum posts that they can delete for “violating the forum rules”. A public admission would mean a lot of publicity outside of their control.
As long as the illusion is there and actual handcrafters still post things, their business model is succeeding.
It’s dishonest, slimy and disgusting. But in corporate tradition, all that can be ignored if they make a fat profit margin from it.
May 29, 2012 at 4:43 pm
Truth will out.
May 29, 2012 at 4:03 pm
The sellers they would lose represent a very small proportion of Etsy’s revenue.
Maybe they’re worried that losing the smokescreen of genuine handcrafters would cost them costumers. I don’t think it would. People like cheap.
May 29, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Heh. Probably, costumers don’t tend to be resellers.
May 29, 2012 at 4:07 pm
MTV stopped showing music videos because they weren’t making enough money doing that. Now Snooki pays better than “Thriller.” I guess the “M” stands for “Pandering”
Anyway, Etsy backing away from its motto is not exactly hurting Etsy, as you’ve already said. Pissing off some of the sellers doesn’t hurt the bottom line much. If the crafters want to make Etsy change back, they’re going to have to find a way to make a real impact to the bottom line.
The only plausible future scenario I can think of, between programs on Nick Jr (my son is almost 2, and I swear his first words will be “Swiper No Swiping!”), is that some freshly-minted ambulance-chaser decides to make a name for himself class-acting against Etsy for knowingly condoning the sale of sweatshop $100 wedding gowns as “one of a kind handmade in Vermont by hippies.”
May 29, 2012 at 4:46 pm
what will work is starting something new and indie that becomes successful enough for corporate interests to buy out the founders and then proceed to corrupt the whole thing all over again.
May 29, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Etsy is successful because they have a niche, and a brand model that caters to it. If they drop the handmade/vintage/supplies niche, they are in direct competition with ebay and amazon. Let’s face it, they can’t compete with those giants. It’s simply not a smart move on their part.
May 29, 2012 at 8:31 pm
I disagree. Ebay screwed the pooch when they decided they were no longer going to be “the world’s yard sale” and then started fucking over their sellers with their ridiculous policy changes. Ebay wrongly blamed the huge drop in business on the economy not their policy changes. The sellers left Ebay and with them, the buyers. The same thing will eventually happen to Etsy.
May 29, 2012 at 4:12 pm
I am willing to bet that the reason they don’t/won’t officially change their business model is because they don’t want the small business crafters to start adding mass produced items to their shops that they got at Walmart on clearance. They probably want to reserve the right to tell any shmo who wants to sell a tube of toothpaste in their shop that he/she cannot, because it’s a “handmade only” website, officially.
I’m not saying it’s right; I’m completely pissed about the whole thing, but that’s my guess at what’s behind their reasoning. Also, the handmade image is probably working out well for them, like you said.
May 29, 2012 at 4:15 pm
I honestly don’t think they give a shit what you sell on their website.
What they care about is the fees they collect.
May 29, 2012 at 4:26 pm
If that were true then no shops would ever get shut down for being “not hand made”. But as we all know this isn’t true – and it’s usually people who are genuinely hand made but word their descriptions incorrectly that get shut down.
May 29, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Exactly what newloafofbread said, otherwise that wouldn’t have been my theory. I have a friend who got her shop shut down due to something not being handmade by her in her shop, but the reality was just that she ran a shop that her whole family contributed to, all handmade by one family member or another.
May 31, 2012 at 6:12 pm
My vintage sticker shop was shut down because I had one sticker sheet listed that was 19 years old rather than 20. It’s amazing what they will waste their time with and what they choose to completely ignore.
May 29, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Same thing is happening in my field right now…not pretty.
May 29, 2012 at 5:30 pm
I agree. I wish we would have been able to move our business off of Etsy when the whole AA move to Wepay happened, but it would have hurt us far to much to loose the customer base that we had. As a handmade business, I hate the resellers on Etsy… but I’d rather they just came out and said “we are allowing them now” it would be less of a creamy cupcake explosion then something we would just have to adjust for. I can honestly say that at I look forward to the day that our website is finished and our customer base is solid enough to take our store off the Etsy venue (or any other venue) and work it from out own website. Then I wouldn’t have to give myself an enema once a week to get all the glitter and smoke residue out of my colon.
May 29, 2012 at 8:14 pm
What annoys the shit out of me is Etsy brandishing their TOU when it suits them. Today I got an email from them saying that I was violating one of their terms because I had a link in my Etsy profile. Well I wrote back that I was sorry for any violations, a notice that I closed my account and wouldn’t be doing business on Etsy anymore, and that I was hopeful that they would spend as much time worrying about their resellers as the linkers. They just need to come out denial and it really wouldn’t be a big deal.
May 30, 2012 at 9:30 am
If they’re so keen on changing their “business model” to accommodate resellers, then they should include “resellers” in their drop down search menu. It automatically defaults to “handmade,” which we know isn’t true anyway.
May 30, 2012 at 11:10 pm
and why should I even sell at etsy. why would I want them to profit from the idea that my hands made something- when they’re going to siphon off any traffic I bring to them to resellers?
I hate it. It upsets me. And yet people buy my work more on etsy than direct from me on my own site.
So, yeah. Until buyers realize it’s a shithole that is NOT what it claims, and start buying from us elsewhere instead, …people like me will have to continue to maintain a presence there.
May 29, 2012 at 5:24 pm
“Buy Handmade.” *snorts* Yeah, right.
I’m pretty sure he meant, “Buy handjobs”? I’m sure you can see how an honest mistake was handmade.
May 29, 2012 at 5:30 pm
I think you mean “Bye, Handmade”
May 29, 2012 at 5:33 pm
Or maybe, “Buy Handmaid”? I hear those are cheap too in some Asian countries.
May 29, 2012 at 8:54 pm
“The Handmaid’s Tale” tells all.
May 30, 2012 at 9:55 am
OT: That book terrified me. Thank you for reminding me to reread it in post-Dubya America. It’s truly a well-written and thought provoking novel. I highly recommend it.
May 29, 2012 at 7:34 pm
When they quit with Alchemy I walked away. But I got some great things via Alchemy.
May 29, 2012 at 3:48 pm
oh lord
May 29, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Think all of us handmade sellers need to just go drown in our own tears and fallen dreams right about now.
May 29, 2012 at 10:04 pm
Been there, done that, lol. Trying to establish another shop on another venue; only open on Etsy until my other shop picks up speed. The thing that just kills me is how so many people who will continue to shop on Etsy won’t have the first friggin clue that the cheap “cute” doodad from China isn’t handmade.
May 29, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Yeah, WSJ doesn’t give shit about handmade – in fact, that’s a hindrance because it means you have a low-volume home business or at most a self-run small business. What you need is a cheap place to make “handmade” garbage to reach a huge sales volume. Cost efficiency! BUY HANDMADE*!
*tiny Chinese hands
May 29, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Moreover, the best name the WSJ could come up with was “Boss Talk”? It sounds like a Bruce Springsteen album of B-sides.
May 29, 2012 at 11:50 pm
The show name immediately reminded me of the set for a dick-embiggener pill’s infomercial, made to look like a talk show and eloquently named “Sex Talk”. It was so lazy and “look at how edgy we are to put SEX right out there!” stupid that I wanted to punch the actors. As a consequence, I now want to punch the WSJ.
(I’d defend that I don’t watch dick pill commercials for fun, but yes, I do. I spend an hour every Saturday night with friends online, making fun of infomercials. Then another three making fun of movies and cartoons.)
May 29, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Ummm… Etsy is about, well… it’s always been about, that “cut” – definitely handcut, by a genuine crafter – that we take from, what we like to call, um, “sales”. Maid by hand. By people clicking, well, buttons. And we like to craft with buttons. So it’s craft. Handmade craft. Yes.
May 29, 2012 at 3:51 pm
Made. Not maid. Jesus fuck, what is the matter with my brane?
May 29, 2012 at 3:53 pm
Not enough vodka, obviously.
May 29, 2012 at 6:29 pm
You were trying to think in Etsy logic and it made your brain shut down. It happens to all rational humans.
Although I don’t disagree with AutobotDen, more vodka would probably help.
May 29, 2012 at 3:51 pm
Not that long ago, I was talking to a friend who mentioned she wanted to get some plain silver hoop earrings. I suggested Amazon or something, and she came back with, “Yeah, I think I’ll just get them from Etsy, they’re cheaper.”
She was shocked, shocked when I pointed out that, if that was the case, they almost certainly were not going to be handmade. And probably not exactly silver either.
May 29, 2012 at 4:00 pm
People apply their own interpretation to words. Thus the success of “organic” goods when there is no clear definition of organic for trade, little regulation, and lax enforcement. The success of “chemical free” when it’s not even possible. Water is a chemical. Same for “handmade” on Etsy.
I know several crafters. They cannot buy a year’s supply of silver wire at prices as low as some Etsy sellers sell finished “silver” product.
May 29, 2012 at 4:48 pm
you forgot “natural.”
May 29, 2012 at 7:03 pm
Matter/energy can be neither created nor destroyed, just converted to other forms. So, yep, label all your things as “all natural” and you are good to go. If it happens to have carbon in it, you can also label as “organic”. (College taught me that, thank you o.chem!)
May 29, 2012 at 5:05 pm
another favorite of mine is the “no spray” signs at Farmer’s Market. Because aerosolized chemicals are evil, and non-aerosolized ones… well, we’ll just ignore that loophole.
May 29, 2012 at 5:05 pm
markets*
May 30, 2012 at 8:29 am
I’m a horticulturalist – no spray means no spray, not no aerosol. There is a difference. It’s not like Etsy where handmade means reseller.
May 29, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Wholesaler vs handcrafter has been going on for a very long time. Etsy has just made it obvious. I stopped doing craft shows when booths full of Bali silver started cropping up selling necklaces for $1. I couldn’t compete and for semi-precious gemstone jewelry, I tended towards minimal profit in my pricing. It got to the point where I became very jaded and quit before correctional orange became my everyday wear.
May 29, 2012 at 3:51 pm
You got a fine set of balls, Helen.
Epic call-out.
May 29, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Hear, hear!
May 29, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Angry Etsy forum point responding in 5…4…3…
May 29, 2012 at 4:37 pm
Too bad Etsy can’t Alibaba – I mean, handcraft, yeah – up a pair for themselves.
May 29, 2012 at 3:51 pm
The bullshit is strong with this one.
May 29, 2012 at 3:51 pm
How is the middle aged creeper the CEO of Etsy? Wouldn’t you expect some patchouli-stinking earth mother or young craftard? I can fully believe they’re a goddamn fraud with that weirdo in charge.
May 29, 2012 at 4:10 pm
CEOs sit around thinking of ways to make money. Someone, no doubt, said, “How can we make The Next EBay?” and came up with, “Add the smell of handmade patchouli earth mother goddess.”
Either that, or some clever people thought of the idea, hired Chad as the “Business Guy,” and he promptly fired them and ran with it.
May 29, 2012 at 4:12 pm
I’ll bet the patchouli-stinking earth mother would smell better.
May 29, 2012 at 4:16 pm
I don’t know what the CEO version of Axe Body Spray is, but I bet that’s what Chad smells like.
It probably costs $500 an ounce, and probably says so right on the bottle.
Now, if I wanted to be mean, I could further guess that whatever Chad wears, it involves torturing endangered species babies to scrape their anal glands, but maybe he’s at least willing to pay a research chemist to synthesize that funk.
May 29, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Recession by Calvin Klein
(insert duck-faced model here)
May 30, 2012 at 12:01 am
Clearly, such a discerning man wears nothing but Eau De Fuck You. It smells like bullshit and piss takes with afternotes of jargin vomit to the common rabble, but to those who can afford it, it smells like freshly minted money and the newspaper when your stock goes up.
May 30, 2012 at 6:50 am
Ha! I read that in Pinies voice.
May 30, 2012 at 12:23 am
You know what’s weird and irrelevant? About 20 years ago I was at a fourth-of-July parade in my small Georgia town. We were waving our flags and the kids were risking their lives running up to moving cars to catch the candy the politicians were throwing. Just after the horses (and they are usually last for obvious reasons) there came a shiny white convertible with a sign that read, “CHAD DICKERSON! WORLDS HANDSOMEST TODDLER!”. There was a chubby kid sitting up high in the back seat and he wasn’t all that handsome but we all looked in awe because we figured he must be all that since he was in the parade. I will never forget that name and neither will all the other parents who had to look sadly down at their toddlers and wish that they were as handsome as Chad Dickerson.
May 29, 2012 at 3:51 pm
“handmade” must be interpreted by the etsylords to mean any hands, even if they’re thousands of small, abused, and underpaid hands of third world countries.
a small technicality to them, but literally a world of difference to others. very sad, indeed.
May 29, 2012 at 5:52 pm
Machines also count, as long as human hands somewhere push a button to turn them on. We have to have standards.
May 29, 2012 at 8:59 pm
If I program a 3D printer to make a thing and market it as such, that is way more authentic than an Etsy reseller.
May 29, 2012 at 3:51 pm
He looks like the kind of guy who always hits on my 23-year-old coworker, like he has no concept of his intrinsic oily ickiness.
May 29, 2012 at 3:54 pm
I kind of like the image of a 23-tear co-worker harassed by an oily boss. It’s a very precise measure of pain.
May 29, 2012 at 3:52 pm
I really hope he wasn’t given a preview of the questions. He’s rather incoherent. It’s not an impressive performance given he is supposed to know the fine detail of what’s happening at Etsy and should be aware of the whispers on the street. If he was forewarned about the questions, it’s an abysmal performance.
Etsy cheerleaders, this is your leader. Now cheer.
May 29, 2012 at 10:10 pm
He was totes ready for this interview until they told him he couldn’t use a chalkboard.
May 29, 2012 at 3:52 pm
He looks like he’s sweating out a 3 day bender.
May 29, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Hey now! Do you have any idea how taxing it is to snort all that coke off the backs of Asian hookers and get to work the next day? Let’s cut the guy some crocheted slack!
May 29, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Cognac and gluten-free pizza poisoning.
May 29, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Is it possible to OD on Earl Grey?
May 29, 2012 at 5:23 pm
He’s drinking a special brew called “Earl Grey Area”.
May 29, 2012 at 6:59 pm
You are amazing.
May 29, 2012 at 7:18 pm
May 29, 2012 at 9:07 pm
Nicely done and you deserve it.! But there is no grey – there is support-for-local-craft or support-for-local-craft-not.
- Nowcycled Yoda
May 30, 2012 at 12:28 am
Uhgg! The guy that came to fix our TV the other day had that smell that people get when they have been drinking so much that it is sweating out their pores. I came in while he was working and said, “Good GOD! What is that smell?! It smells like rotten beer!! My husband just pointed to the guy and I said, “ahh”.
May 29, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Well, that about tears it. I think Ima go burn down my etsy shop any day now.
May 29, 2012 at 6:36 pm
If only it were a physical location…I’d ask you to take photos so we could blingee a crying eagle next to the burning. “Never Forgetsy” indeed!
June 5, 2012 at 3:04 pm
LOL I’ll be right behind you.
May 29, 2012 at 3:54 pm
It’s like Helen sees into my soul or my laptop. I report all handbag resellers I see. It does no good and they take away from my business, but I do it anyway. PREACH!
May 29, 2012 at 7:18 pm
I find it supremely frustrating just how much research you have to do to buy on etsy – and the amount increases the more you want to spend. I desperately want to buy a handmade leather handbag that will last me years and carry all my junk. I’ve found plenty of beautiful ones on etsy and am happy to spend hundreds on it.. but how can I tell which ones are really handmade by the seller? How can I tell which are handmade WELL? I am struggling to not just buy a commercially made bag so I know exactly what I’m getting.
May 30, 2012 at 1:11 am
I start in the Regretsy forums these days. You can look for threads mentioning lists of sellers or you can just post a thread asking for what you want. People there will point you in the right direction if they don’t offer what you’re looking for.
Really cuts down on the research. And you get awesome stuff from actual handmade artists.
May 29, 2012 at 3:55 pm
I’m actually an Etsy seller AND Regretsy lover. In all seriousness, what handmade sites are legit and held in high-esteem and are worthwhile for independent artists/designers?
I can’t pose this question on Etsy cuz Big Etsy Brother won’t like it…
May 29, 2012 at 3:58 pm
There are a lot of people trying, and when someone hits on the right formula, Etsy will see a mass exodus of actual crafters. Of course, by then they’ll be promoting GAP as the featured seller.
May 29, 2012 at 4:01 pm
And I hope you will keep us updated with any new developments on the etsy-alternative front.
May 29, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Helen’s right on the money here. I’ve got my own plan, and I think it’s a damn great idea, but there are probably twenty or thirty serious projects in various stages of completion to steal away Etsy’s actual crafters.
May 29, 2012 at 4:53 pm
I don’t think there is any perfect formula, you’re going to find resellers whereever they can find a market. Ebay sellers bitch about Ebay not supporting small sellers but many stick around any – it’s the same on Etsy. People complain but stay. A few leave and got to Artfire or some place else but no matter what there are still resellers.
They’re like cockroaches
May 29, 2012 at 5:30 pm
They make interesting sounds and a hell of a mess if you step on them?
May 29, 2012 at 5:37 pm
There’s nothing inherently wrong with resellers . . . remember, that includes everyone who sells vintage and everyone who sells supplies that they didn’t make themselves. Most of the items we all own are as the result of “resellers” (i.e., retailers). Without them and the supplies and equipment they produce, very few of us would be able to make our own products.
Heck, I’m a reseller. I do have some handmade jewelry, but a lot of what I sell is vintage jewelry or supplies (glass beads), and even a few imported Italian pendants that I simply put on a chain (these are listed on eBay, not Etsy, and I state clearly that they are imported).
The problem isn’t with “resellers.” The problem is with resellers who MISREPRESENT their items as being handmade or high quality when they aren’t. And with sites that tolerate and even reward that dishonesty.
May 29, 2012 at 6:23 pm
Exactly!
The amount of money I have to spend doesn’t vary by how cool the thing I’m looking at is. If I have $10 and you have a cool-looking thing for $10, and you say it’s imported, I’m fine with buying it anyway.
But if you claim it’s handmade and you can somehow magically still charge in my price range, that’s going to piss me off.
May 29, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Exactly. Someone who’s not accustomed to handmade will see that robot necklace and think it was hand-created, down to melting the metal. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t witnessed such reactions myself.
May 29, 2012 at 5:45 pm
I left ebay with a ton of people when we saw the screws coming for our butts several years ago, but we’ve never found a place that has the traffic. Many have gone back, but found that they are now even lower on the food chain then before. Now small sellers = actual hand-makers on etsy and the same screws are chasing their butts…
May 29, 2012 at 6:06 pm
I figure if/when I ever decide to sell my work, I’ll hire a good photographer, a good designer, set up a web site, and unapologetically charge what would amount to $20 or $25 an hour — for the shawl I just finished, that would be 420 hours of knitting, plus 5 hours of finishing/blocking, for a total of $8,500.
I don’t have to sell my work — well, except it’s getting to the point that I have so many shawls I can’t wear them all. But I think we do ourselves no favors when we undervalue our own work.
There are people out there that can afford to pay for it. I mean, they were paying $4,000 or $5,000 for those gawdawful Rodarte huge-gauged sweaters with dropped stitches and ugly yarn.
I just have to get one person of influence to buy one and wear it to some big high muckity muck gathering.
May 29, 2012 at 3:56 pm
I have never left a comment before, and probably never will. But this post is it…this is why I stopped selling on Etsy. Exactly why. So to all the future people who constantly ask why I don’t sell on Etsy, I will refer them to this post. Thank you Helen!!
May 29, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Edit to say, never left a comment before, and never will AGAIN. Duh.
May 29, 2012 at 4:48 pm
This is not a comment, look away people.
May 29, 2012 at 4:48 pm
And that, also, was not a second comment, look away again people.
May 29, 2012 at 4:49 pm
Regretsy is like a black hole, you will never escape Zaphod, never!
May 29, 2012 at 4:56 pm
Zaphod, I could have sworn you’ve posted here before. Maybe it was your other head.
May 29, 2012 at 3:59 pm
I have also never left a comment on regretsy an probably never will.
May 29, 2012 at 4:15 pm
I never wrote this, never will, and nobody can prove I did.
- “Mittens” R.
September 21, 2012 at 4:47 pm
You sir, win the thread as far as I’m concerned.
May 29, 2012 at 10:53 pm
I’m not even here. Never have been.
May 29, 2012 at 4:06 pm
I have never left a condom on Regretsy before, and I’m probably never going to leave one on Etsy. Or something like that. Vicodin, anyone?
May 29, 2012 at 8:12 pm
please.
[vicodin, that is. although i guess it's virtual vicodin which is just not the same.]
May 29, 2012 at 4:08 pm
I am not a comment!
May 29, 2012 at 5:29 pm
I am.
May 29, 2012 at 3:58 pm
They are not Chinese resellers, they are collectives. Have a cupcake sunshine day.
May 29, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Why does Chad always remind me of the perpetually unemployed neighbor who hasn’t bathed in three days and is slacking on laundry? His image just does not project the creamy adorkable whimsy that Etsy is trying to promote.
May 29, 2012 at 4:16 pm
You think he’d at least have pasted on a dye-cut handlebar mustache for the occasion.
May 29, 2012 at 4:22 pm
May 29, 2012 at 4:40 pm
The octopus is a nice touch.
May 31, 2012 at 4:35 am
The only thing this picture is missing is The Chad holding up a sign saying “Free Candy.”
September 21, 2012 at 4:49 pm
I thought we established in the last fauxtopus thread that this was really a hexapus? Seeing as it only has six legs.
May 29, 2012 at 4:40 pm
I hate to say it, but the ‘stache kind of works on him. It gives him a sort of hipster snidely whiplash look.
May 29, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Unless you’re Teddy Roosevelt, you don’t get to wear a mustache.
May 30, 2012 at 4:51 am
Oh, I think Vincent Price wore a mustache most nicely.
May 29, 2012 at 4:51 pm
I like how the mustache is slightly askew making it look as if it were sliding off his face from the oil seeping from his pores.
May 29, 2012 at 4:57 pm
I like how the owls look like they’re being scornful.
May 29, 2012 at 5:34 pm
i don’t see that. the one on the lower right looks deeply shocked, though.
May 29, 2012 at 7:49 pm
Scornful Owls – name for my next band?
May 30, 2012 at 5:29 am
What. I love how the one on the right looks directly at the octopus.
May 29, 2012 at 9:15 pm
I would’ve taken the interview so much more seriously if he’d have actually looked like that.
May 29, 2012 at 9:15 pm
Aren’t these the “Rango” owls saying he’s gonna die? *hoping they are*
May 29, 2012 at 4:02 pm
It’s not that you’re overpricing what you make (though that is also a problem when people have no concept of their abilities).
it’s kind of moot to the actual discussion at hand here but to an actual craftsman who does their shit for a bonafide living, overpricing isn’t nearly as bad as underpricing from the hobbyist who doesn’t value their time. overpricing hurts the seller, underpricing hurts the market. which i guess is a point you are raising overall! but it’s not just chinese crapfactories that do that damage to the marketplace and i wanted to lay that out there.
May 29, 2012 at 4:09 pm
I hate underpricing because I can’t make a living off my craft. But if I price what it’s worth, I don’t make any sales at all, which is even worse for me. So I find myself stuck with underpricing so I can at least recoup my costs.
May 29, 2012 at 4:19 pm
yeah, it’s totally a race to the bottom. i mean there’s underpricing and there’s underpricing, i’m more talking about the [cost of materials + one beer] school of clueless hobbyist underpricing, which on jewellery (my area) is utterly ludicrous cause it doesn’t even factor in shit like utilities consumption or tool wear and aaaaaugh
May 29, 2012 at 4:44 pm
I thought about maybe selling finished cross stitches on Etsy for extra money- until I realized that even charging minimum wage for the hours I put into making one, plus supplies, would be insane. For example: One cross stitch takes 20 hours, 15 thread colors and is cut from a $5 Aida cloth, rendering it into small pieces that can only hold very small cross stitches. (20 x 6.50) + (15 x .30) + 5 = $139.50 base price. Would I pay $139.50 for a cross stitch? No. So when I see one I like, I copy it, and just do it for fun. I have also heard that if you make your hobby your business, it becomes less fun, and I rarely like feeling like I HAVE to stitch, so there’s that as well. $50 angst fee, please.
May 29, 2012 at 7:20 pm
I’ve seen a few people selling finished (or almost finished so the buyer gets some sense of satisfaction) cross stitches, and they seemed to sell a couple. Patterns are clearly where it’s at though, but so many just run any crappy image through a pattern program and sell it without testing to see how it looks finished first. SO annoying.
May 30, 2012 at 10:12 am
Steotch sells her finished cross stitch pieces for that much (and more). I gladly paid $200 for one of her pieces last year because it was worth it. Though the downside is I just couldn’t afford more than one and there’s several of her pieces I’m lusting over.
And yeah, I am resisting making my craft my business because I don’t want to ruin the enjoyment I get out of it. I know from experience that as soon as I “have” to make pieces rather than I want to make them, I start dreading it as work. Doesn’t matter that I enjoy doing it, it’s the association with “work” that gives me the problem.
May 30, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Over/underpricing! I posted an offer in the forums re: cross stitchery a few months ago, and this very issue (plus a few others, like weird shit happening IRL and the fact that I’m a bad person sometimes and stuff) is part of why I panicked and never read any of my replies.
I realized that, for what I wanted to offer (cross-stitches of Star Trek characters engaged in *various activities*), I would have to charge exorbitant amounts of money and I couldn’t stand the thought of torturing myself (by putting all that work into something awesome that would never sell) or anyone else (by making something they might really really want but couldn’t possibly afford) that way.
Glad to know I’m not alone, except as much as that means other people are in the same situation. Hell, you’re artists/craftspeople too. You know what I mean.
May 30, 2012 at 5:09 pm
PS: it should go without saying, but by “the forums” I mean “Regretsy forums.” (ARE there any other forums these days?)
I wouldn’t waste such fuckery on Etsy, they only hate and never appreciate.
May 29, 2012 at 5:13 pm
I make [costume] jewelry that I sell on etsy as well. I usually price at 4x materials cost, since pricing my time at anywhere close to minimum wage is too high for the market for my work. That being said, I haven’t sold anything in a couple of months, and now I may know why…
May 29, 2012 at 7:01 pm
As a beadweaver, I feel your pain. No way in hell is someone gonna pay $300 for one of my headbands. It’s just not gonna happen, so I price where I’m comfortable, what the market will bear, and will give me more than the cost of my materials plus a little bit so I can legitimately be claiming to run a “business.”
I also keep my “target audience” in mind, as if I really knew much about who they are. lol
May 29, 2012 at 4:32 pm
Underpricing by hobbyists who aren’t interested in making a living at whatever (it happens in many fields) but just want to get their work/name/whatever out there is a serious problem. The only way I know to handle it is to stick to my guns and say my product is worth what I charge.
While hobbyists undercharge compared to the market, many simultaneously overcharge for the value of their product. And any customer who demands you take a loss on a sale of a good or service is not a customer you want.
May 29, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Yeah, I figured the “overpricing” that was mentioned refers to some of the amazing crafts here that are made of pom-poms and bubblegum for $10,000.
A good handmade doll for $100 – yes.
A blurry disposable camera photo from your last vacation for $10,000 – no. NO.
May 29, 2012 at 8:15 pm
as a vintage dealer for entirely too many years, what i do in that situation–& i do it a lot–is buy the underpriced & resell it. i have real sad guilt issues dealing w/ this, which i’ve learned to live w/ by understanding that anybody w/ access to the internet can do the research i do to understand the market, still it makes me feel bad–
anyway, that wouldnt be a possibility for craftspersons? howsabout contacting the underpricers & telling them what cooks? i’ve done that too, when i’ve felt bad a person who’s way selling him- or herself short. it isnt good for them either. would that work?
May 29, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Helen’s analysis is outstanding. I do have enough corporate experience and business education to spot what those boners call a “paradigm shift”. They want the little money gears spinning as fast as they can. They want their vagina necklaces flying off the production line.
This is what happens when a business gets too big. Intercourse them.
May 29, 2012 at 4:05 pm
OldPhatMC, in this the “paradigm myasshift” is visible to everyone.
May 29, 2012 at 4:06 pm
in this c a s e
May 29, 2012 at 4:03 pm
It is sad. And true. And sad. And I can’t get the hampered growth the hell out of my mind.
May 29, 2012 at 4:04 pm
May 29, 2012 at 4:08 pm
lemon bombs has said it all! Bravo!
May 29, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Oh, I could say a great deal more, but I am trying to keep my cool. Etsy isn’t worth the aneurysm.
May 29, 2012 at 4:55 pm
Ten thousand
internetsto whoever puts this on a sampler.May 29, 2012 at 4:08 pm
OMG you broke it down Barney Style and summed it up totally to a T – sadly it’s something all of us little personal crafters face – originality is dead in the global marketplace
May 29, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Now that my listings have expired, I’m probably going to slide on over to WePay. Does it really matter, though?
May 29, 2012 at 4:35 pm
I wish you didn’t need a U.S. bank account and a U.S. business address to set up WePay. Same with Google Checkout (though they have a UK option). I guess once they go international, they’ll have the same problems as PayPal.
May 29, 2012 at 4:43 pm
At this point, as vast as the internet is, I’m pretty sure online sales won’t get me nearly as far as local craft shows and art fairs. So, I really don’t think it’ll matter where I go, but might as well join the rest of you losers over at WePay, right? Right?
It’s too bad I’m fat and lazy and can’t be assed to paint regularly.
May 29, 2012 at 9:57 pm
So far, I have had zero sales on WePay. They have no internal traffic. You need a platform to drive business to them [blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, etc]. I have spoken to their customer service team about creating subject categories and internal search tools. They’re a very new start up and may add these in the future. Etsy and eBay have the advantage of having internal traffic of people familiar with the site looking around at items – at least for now.
May 29, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Chad is so shiny.
I’ve seen less sweat in BBW porn.
May 29, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Even if he weren’t a lying pig, I’d still find his bad taste offensive. What a load of crap in the room with him, and that’s the image of the company he chooses to convey to WSJ readers.
May 29, 2012 at 6:58 pm
With that said, I have two – count ‘em, two – identical owl lamps in a different colorway than his. I scarfed them up from goodwill because they were too incredible to leave to hipsters (they really are lovely in their own homely way and I, apparently, suffer from bad taste like Führer von Dickenson). Yet I have nowhere to use them. Is there a regretsian forum to flog such fuckery?
May 29, 2012 at 7:20 pm
They would make some awesome Special Awards.
May 30, 2012 at 9:14 am
I would have fought you for them at Goodwill. They do seem very appealing in their own way…it’s just the proximity to the Chadster that casts a long shadow over their charm.
May 30, 2012 at 10:04 am
I have a wall mirror in a frame that matches the owl lamp – two owls at the bottom stare at you while you stare into it. It is fantastically, engagingly hideous. I bought it at a garage sale for $2. And I would save it in a fire.
May 29, 2012 at 4:22 pm
So what exactly is the business strategy here?
Abandon their niche by allowing the opposite of handmade goods to be sold under their label, then rebrand themselves as offering a ‘personal’ buying experience?
You don’t go to the Internet for that. You go to local stores, or craft fairs, or swap meets, or wherever. You go to the Internet for choice, convenience, and availability of things your local shops don’t carry.
So essentially they are going from offering a relatively unique service (making handcrafts easily obtainable) to being pointless, unremarkable EBay Lite?
Brilliant.
May 29, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Yeah, I heard him explain that they are more about the “transaction” than what is being sold and my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets from rolling so much.
May 29, 2012 at 9:13 pm
And that “transaction” would be the money going into his pocket.
May 29, 2012 at 4:54 pm
well, they can always sell it to somebody who needs a tax writeoff.
May 29, 2012 at 4:27 pm
I’d put it out there that eBay is actually superior to Etsy in that it took them far more years to get to the “fuck the seller” phase then it took Etsy.
May 29, 2012 at 5:11 pm
And at least eBay makes no bones about that fact. I much prefer people be up front with me about their bullshit than try to hide it behind two faces.
May 29, 2012 at 4:37 pm
Well holyfuckamolie!
I’ve only gone through the post so far, but was confused by “The interesting thing about Etsy and handmade is handmade has always been an anchor for Etsy?” An anchor? …is WSJ asking as in 1 of several, but not THE anchor? …is WSJ handing Chad a way around the issue so he can bring up the “nature of the transaction” bit? …and WTF is personal about shopping on internet Etsy as opposed to any of the bajillion other shopping websites? This has GOT to be one of those times that his ass is totes jelly of the shit that’s coming out of his mouth!
May 30, 2012 at 1:28 am
This is one of a few pieces that will be done about Etsy as they move closer to going public a la Facebook. That entails feature-type articles and other pieces like this that shows Etsy in as pleasant a light as possible. The questions are all easy underhand-thrown softballs that any decent CEO should hit out the park with ease.
It’s amazing that Etsy chose this idiot to be their at-bat CEO for this. He’s the least trustworthy-appearing person I’ve seen since the third incident with that one woman who approached me in a parking lot asking for gas money ’cause her car ran out of gas and she needed to get home to her baby.
What I mean to say is that she approached me three times in the same place with the same story within a month’s time. Okay, it didn’t come off as glibly as I’d hoped. But you get my meaning, right?
May 30, 2012 at 6:10 am
Yep. And isn’t it funny how the car always seems to break down at the gas station in front of the extended stay meth motel?
If I saw this dude in real life, he’d get the same don’t-even-ask glare that the tweakers get when they take me for an easy mark.
May 29, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Helen, How about opening an Etsy shop to sell those Bullshit translators?
May 29, 2012 at 4:41 pm
I’d buy one for all of my friends!
May 29, 2012 at 4:40 pm
Am guessing the bear chair bean bag is from Chic Sin Design of Hong Kong, long time Etsy fave, and seasonal front page feature?
May 29, 2012 at 4:41 pm
So Etsy is eBay without the auction?
May 29, 2012 at 4:58 pm
I’ve not heard of Etsy demanding that someone smash a violin to bits as part of the dispute resolution process. That’s an ebay/paypal special.
May 29, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Give it time.
May 29, 2012 at 6:15 pm
Is now! But much more hipster. They probably don’t have owls at ebay corporate!
May 29, 2012 at 4:44 pm
One difference with Hot Topic, I rarely find the employees at HT nearly as sanctimonious as the etsy admins, pretty sure if I walked in the local HT and screamed “HT sucks goat balls” the clerks would give me a rousing Amen!
May 29, 2012 at 5:02 pm
And then request that you govern yourself accordingly
May 29, 2012 at 4:46 pm
Fuck it. I’m out. I am done with Etsy. Enough bullshit.
May 29, 2012 at 4:46 pm
Etsy actually used to be one of the reasons we could have nice things.
Now it’s THE reason we’ll never have them again. Hoo-ray.
May 29, 2012 at 4:56 pm
Hell with that. We *are* nice things.
May 29, 2012 at 4:47 pm
They who would give up essential quality to gain a little more profit deserve neither quality nor profit.
- Nowcycled Ben Franklin
May 30, 2012 at 1:30 am
SAMPLER PLEASE!
September 21, 2012 at 5:05 pm
…I concur.
And I am completely serious about that.
Somebody needs to make a pattern for this. For reals.
May 29, 2012 at 4:54 pm
PROFITS > Ethics
May 29, 2012 at 4:56 pm
gah. I sell vintage on Etsy only because I have no idea where else to do it. That interview is pretty messed up. I like how Chad dances around what he is actually saying. I’d like to find some nice vintage clogs painted with dala horses for him to wear to work every day. What a fucking douchebag.
That being said as a vintage seller I am pretty offended that he would use the Etsy vintage marketplace as the example or rather excuse to deviate from handmade. “Hey we love vintage!!! Lets bring in the resellers!”
Vintage and Etsy used to go together. Craft and Etsy used to go together. Where does this leave us all? It makes me quite sad. I wish someone out there could keep their integrity for longer than 5 years. Etsy is the biggest sellout of them all.
May 29, 2012 at 5:02 pm
Someone pointed out on Facebook that you could not sell vintage on Etsy when it started, so nice job doing your homework there, Chad.
May 29, 2012 at 5:04 pm
thats what I thought too…
May 29, 2012 at 6:17 pm
My take on what he was saying is that it started handmade and then they added vintage – so now they can add more stuff… and become Walmart without the fun of people watching…
May 29, 2012 at 9:24 pm
And this is why my eyes read his name as “Chad”, but my brain pronounces it as “Choad”.
May 30, 2012 at 2:19 pm
thats funny cause I read “Cad”!
May 29, 2012 at 8:24 pm
i keep thinking this:
regretsy has more than 100,000 followers. thats surely a big enough customer base. as a starter customer base! it’s gigantic! humungous! stupendous! all that kind of stuff!
so the thing to do would be to start up another venue. i tried doing this years ago–what i was gonna do was a vintage exchange. [at times of no webmistress work, i've dealt vintage off & on for about two decades. my idea, then, was that people sold best w/in their specialties & would make more money by bartering amongst themselves what did not work for each individual seller. anyway--it's too complicated, i think, in hindsight].
but there are so many people here–surely some of us could come up w/ a new site?
i’m just throwing it out there. i do think it’s a good idea…..
May 30, 2012 at 1:37 am
Agreed. There’s a way this could work. It was tried with evenbadgers.com, but it didn’t seem to take hold for some reason. There’s got to be a way to leverage all this hatred for Etsy and resellers into a benefit for those who make, purchase, and love handmade and true vintage.
The thing is, it’s not big and it’s not profitable. And it never would be to be what it should be.
May 29, 2012 at 4:57 pm
I don’t know if anyone wants to admit they bough jewelry from Ms. 20,000 sales, but I just wish I knew- it is completely shitty? If there is some justice in the world, it will be. http://www.etsy.com/shop/toofashion2010
Some of it looks cute, but the shipping makes it a much worse deal- it’s more for the shipping than for most of the items.
May 29, 2012 at 5:06 pm
I would assume it’s about the quality of the jewelry at Claire’s or any other store like that. (Are those still around?) At one point I thought about throwing some money away just to see what the quality was like, but in the end decided to buy myself a latte instead.
May 30, 2012 at 5:18 am
There’s a good reason this kind of jewelry is such crap quality, and it’s the same reason it sells so well–it isn’t meant to be anything BUT crap quality because it’s going to be off trend by next year anyway. Nobody wants to spend money on jewelry that’s going to end up in a charity shop in a few months. There is a very limited market for anything heirloom quality (i.e. meant to withstand the tests of time and trend), and even fewer willing to pay what it’s really worth (consider the price of sterling alone).
Most people just have no inkling how much money/labor goes into doing any kind of quality work. There is a phrase that I think all artists have heard: “I can get the same thing at [insert crapshop name here] for a buck!” This attitude is the result of what I used to refer to as “The Walmartization of the world,” but I think “Etsification” is a better fit.
(apologies if this posts twice, FF is having a shitfit lately)
May 29, 2012 at 5:55 pm
If you read care instructions on some of the AliExpress store pages of the merchants who sell the same pieces wholesale, the pieces have to be kept dry or the plating comes off. That’s some high quality jewelry!
There are Etsy shops listing the same pieces as toofashion and her fellow resellers as vintage — which may be part of Chad’s confusion. Or Etsy may be allowing this to blur the lines a bit between vintage and reselling. Sorry, Etsy, won’t work except with cupcakes who think vintage is a style from the 21st Century.
May 30, 2012 at 5:04 am
He’s not confused. He just doesn’t give a shit.
May 29, 2012 at 7:29 pm
I love the claim that all of the items are nickle and lead free. Haha the necklaces probably turn your whole neck green, and smell awful.
May 30, 2012 at 2:50 am
I can’t believe they actually write “best price” on some. It should be the only price, because it’s the only necklace… absolutely shameless!
It looks like the cheap jewellery I used to buy as a 13 year old and carefully coat with clear nail polish to make sure it didn’t stain me.
May 29, 2012 at 4:58 pm
I uh and um like well you’ll see and uh you know um?
Someone who uses THAT many filler words per sentence shouldn’t be the CEO of anything. Half the time I don’t think he knew wtf he was talking about. Maybe he’s a robot that the cupcakes built to be their new leader that they could feed lines into? What if they built in laser beam eyes? Wait, that’s not fluffy enough… Cupcake hands?
May 29, 2012 at 5:03 pm
Nah, you actually have to know what the fuck you’re doing to build a robot.
May 29, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Not necessarily, as Chad-bot shows.
IOW, any idiot can build one. Takes a spark to make one that works.
May 29, 2012 at 6:45 pm
He knew EXACTLY what he was (avoiding) talking about. With the right cosmetic surgery he’d be an unidentifiable swap-out for any junior politician favored by Fox News. He’s a standard representation of business American style, America, where too many people talk hokey-folkey traditional American value patriotois and do their shopping at Dollar & WalMart. Your product and mine and the real local goods at Farmers Market & craft fairs cost too much for at least half the people in this marketplace, and those people are looking at handmade and homegrown in the hopes it will cost less that mass marketers. Not quality, cheap.
May 29, 2012 at 9:53 pm
People say that weasel words are awesome!
May 29, 2012 at 4:59 pm
I very rarely purchase things from Etsy anymore. It’s not that I have an inherent hatred of mass produced items–I don’t. But when I went to Etsy, it was because I knew I was getting something made with love. By hand. The cupcake brigade doesn’t give a flying bedazzled fuck about that anymore. So I only buy from artists I know personally, and I often do that outside of Etsy.
May 29, 2012 at 5:14 pm
i go to craft shows. We have some pretty great ones in Ottawa. I see the person face to face. They tell me stories about where they got this fabric and those feathers and what inspired them to paint that colour in the background. I can tell they love their work. Money in their pocket equals happiness in my shopping bag. I havent bought from Etsy in over a year besides these little baby crib shoes that I love. And they are certainly a credible shop. But thats it.
May 29, 2012 at 5:40 pm
thst is quite possibly what etsy was good for. need an etsy 2.0. maybe a collective with some kind of dead man’s switch so nobody can sell out.
May 29, 2012 at 5:01 pm
My great grandmother had a pillow exactly like that one. When she died in December, there was the “claiming of the shit” party where we cleaned out the house. No one wanted that pillow, and it ended up in the trash, where Chad apparently found it.
May 30, 2012 at 12:10 pm
LOL At my late grandmother’s “c.o.t.s.” party, nobody wanted the pus-ducks which ended up in the trash. I wish I had them now, just to give as a joke gift or to re-sell on Etsy. They were ceramic ducks lovingly hand-glazed by grandma and they came out of the kiln looking like beige ducks covered in festering open sores. They would have looked great in Chad’s interview room.
May 29, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Anchor, as in “dragging us down” great metaphor, Chad.
Apri, thanks for taking one for the team. I think I tried to watch that when it came out before and it made me nauseous. I can’t bear to watch it again.
May 29, 2012 at 5:05 pm
the only good thing to come out of Etsy is Regretsy.
May 29, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Oh dear GOD, Amen.
May 29, 2012 at 5:21 pm
Now THAT needs to be a sampler. Guess I know how I’ll be spending my money tomorrow… Embroidery thread, fabric, and a hoop.
May 30, 2012 at 9:19 am
Can you embroider Etsy as a giant goatse and Regretsy bursting out of it? That’s how I see it in my fevered imagination.
May 29, 2012 at 6:19 pm
Calling all thumbs up for that!
May 29, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Regretsy Comment of the Day — as voted by Regretsy readers
Love you, PBCGE!
May 29, 2012 at 9:56 pm
True dat. AND MY THUMBS!
May 30, 2012 at 9:21 am
I regret that I have only one thumb to give you, but inside, I’m giving you lots of thumbs.
Wait, that didn’t come out right, did it?
*walks away, confused*
May 29, 2012 at 5:15 pm
This post was pretty depressing, but my favorite thing about it was when I scrolled down to the comments, the first “Other Regretsy posts you might like” was:
Who Wants To Lick the Poon?
That seems kind of representative of Chad’s attitude toward Etsy…
May 29, 2012 at 5:23 pm
Apparently, he bought his razor on Etsy.
May 29, 2012 at 5:25 pm
I have purchased a lot of great stuff on Etsy: real wool stuffing (direct from the sheep farmer), pottery (Ray Morales rocks!), original drawings, journals, t-shirts, candles, soaps, jewelry, bags, t-shirts, wooden blocks…etc. All of these I found at modest & professional shops with great customer service, gorgeous merchandise, and the kind of uniqueness that drew me to Etsy in the first place. I still purchase these types of items regularly and love being able to give these artists my business in exchange for something I wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else.
Etsy is ALREADY allowing re-sellers. But to do so formally, sellers would need to differentiate listings between hand-made and factory-made products. Would re-sellers tag their items honestly as mass-produced? Wouldn’t this change from Etsy encourage the hand-made artists to pick up their wares and go home? Look at what the smell of money does to fair-trade-coffee-drinkin’-bicycle-peddlin’-cupcake-munchers. Sad.
May 29, 2012 at 5:32 pm
those fair-trade-coffee-drinkin’-bicycle-peddlin’-cupcake-munchers are really just yuppy capitalists in disguise.
May 29, 2012 at 5:30 pm
So am I the only one wondering if the bear-shaped bean bag chair is actually a Pedo-bear-shaped bean bag chair?
May 29, 2012 at 5:32 pm
no
May 29, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Nope.
May 29, 2012 at 6:05 pm
You’ve seen that chair on the Etsy front page! It’s really just a bear.
http://www.etsy.com/people/chicsindesigndotcom
May 29, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Holy crap that was one of the first things I ever reported on Etsy! Makes sense that Chad has one.
I see they’ve removed the direct link to their “We are a Hong Kong company” website from their Etsy profile at least…
May 29, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Not now, no.
May 29, 2012 at 5:31 pm
I watched the WSJ interview.
Am I REALLY old, or is Chad just too old to be talking in that annoying question sentence cadence?
He talks like that 23-year old he’d be hitting on?
May 29, 2012 at 7:03 pm
He talks like my preteen niece and her friends. Which is like ummm, so like annoying? Right?
May 30, 2012 at 8:21 am
OMG, totally
May 30, 2012 at 9:25 am
I worked with an otherwise VERY intelligent and cultured woman, in her late 30s, who would always talk in upspeak. I began to wonder if she felt insecure in some what. Oh, did I mention she was beautiful with hair to die for? She could have modeled for Talbot’s. Always struck me as odd. Me, I’m a FJL who’s a lot older, but perhaps because I’m of another generation, upspeak was never done.
When I hear adults doing that upspeak it really rankles my ankles and I have to resist kicking them.
In other news, Australians and New Zealanders seem to naturally end their statements on an up note, to sound like a question. It’s not upspeak, though. It’s been like that for a very long time.
May 29, 2012 at 10:08 pm
Its the whole “I really can’t be bothered to form a coherent sentence or straight answer” attitude that shows him for the douchenozzle that he really is.
Its a freak’n Wall Street Journal interview. He could at least give it shot as the CEO of Etsy to appear reasonably intelligent, instead of trying to sound like a hipster doofus.
There are thousands of people who rely on Etsy as a source of income. You’d think he’d have the presence of mind to not insult their intelligence.
May 29, 2012 at 5:36 pm
C’mon, Etsy in German! Do it for Helen Avagyan! What’s the German word for chewed-gum-doily?
Buy mouthmade!
May 29, 2012 at 6:09 pm
German seems an odd choice for a second language because most Germans read English. I would have thought Spanish would make more sense. Or better yet, Mandarin seems perfect; it would make it easier for the re-sellers running sweatshops–err, collectives.
May 29, 2012 at 6:08 pm
This is the reason guilds were created in the middle ages. One couldn’t represent oneself in a craft until a jury had assessed the work of an apprentice or journeyman to determine if that person’s skilz were mature enough to join the guild and represent with authenticity as a master craftsperson.
Until you joined the guild, you couldn’t make or sell. It may have seemed oppressive then, but the work spoke for itself.
Now that the bait-and-switch business model has been revealed, it’s time to ask whether a competitor, say, regretsy, could create its own craft store. Except that you would allow members to vote on each others’ stuff. And Helen would have final say, to keep competitors from throwing each other under the bus.
And if a regretregretsy blog was setup, I expect that Helen would have a ball fomenting discord, because that’s really why we come here – besides cavorting with all the other fat jealous losers, that is.
May 30, 2012 at 5:33 am
Regretregretsy.
If this domain is registered already, then I’ll start shooting the porn video.
May 29, 2012 at 6:16 pm
I can’t even articulate how upset I am the the man in charge of etsy cares so little about the integrity of handmade. So I will let my six year old do it for me. As I was reading Chad’s comments to my husband my daughter looked up from the table where she was painting and said ” if that man dosen’t care about handmade stuff then he can go pound sand!”
Well said my love, well said.
May 29, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Helen, you put out there exactly what I thought when I first saw that wonderous performance of bullshit. I could hear the sound of handmade being flushed down the toilet, too…
May 29, 2012 at 6:30 pm
I got a convo from someone asking me how I can justify my prices since she makes the exact same thing as me. I replied “because i live in Brooklyn and make a living off of this?”
The whole vibe of Etsy has completely changed and it seems less about the product and more about the price. I’m just letting everything expire and then closing up shop on there.
May 31, 2012 at 12:58 am
What’s your store? Might as well get some more views before you close shop!
May 31, 2012 at 8:33 am
ha, feel free to view the hell out of it! http://etsy.com/shop/metropolissoap
May 29, 2012 at 6:41 pm
What’s a “sceptict”? Can’t believe the WSJ can’t spell.
May 29, 2012 at 7:06 pm
No one in journalism can spell these days. Or report a story without relying heavily on a press release.
May 29, 2012 at 8:55 pm
I can’t believe they don’t have spell check.
May 30, 2012 at 5:35 am
I’m sure they have, dear. It’s called freudian slip and it reveals tons.
May 30, 2012 at 12:34 am
It took me nearly a minute to figure out what that word is supposed to be, since I didn’t watch the video. I’m still only about 70% sure they meant “skeptic”.
May 29, 2012 at 6:43 pm
It’s quite clear that the lovely Chaaaad not only allows, but encourages, resellers. Would it not solve all his problems if he just came out and admitted it, then split Etsy into two parts – the genuine handmade stuff and the cheap Chinese tat? And then let it self-police. Any re-sellers muscling in on the real core of crafters would be promptly reported and just as promptly removed.
Or perhaps something like this would cost them money, therefore can’t be considered. Not that I’m a cynic or anything.
May 29, 2012 at 6:53 pm
How can a man that can’t even decide whether to shave or grow a beard decide if Etsy should be handmade or factory made?
May 29, 2012 at 6:56 pm
Grotty to the max. I had a shop on etsy once upon a time but I found the “community” wasn’t what I was looking for. It was always too sweet for words, there is probably a yiddish word for that. AND I never sold a damn thing anyhow. Most likely because my items were not niched properly or summat. Since when is working someplace for almost three whole years a long time? Extra special love to the creator of regretsy for tearing the mask off this phantasmagorical poopsteak.
May 29, 2012 at 7:11 pm
So true! I too once had an Etsy store that was a fail. I find craft bazaars and art shows are not flooded with Chinese re-sellers, so I sell my paintings and jewelry there successfully instead. At least Walmart does not try to pretend like its cheap crap isn’t made in Taiwan.
May 30, 2012 at 12:43 am
walmart’s more subtle about it, selling everything covered in American flags and Jesus in the hopes that the buyers will consider “American-themed” as good as “American made” out of sheer patriotism. “Why aren’t you buying this Honduran-made American flag shirt? DO YOU HATE AMERICA?!?”
May 30, 2012 at 10:29 am
One of my favorite walfart items ever is a fleecy lap blanket with a huge design of the Virgin Mary on the front. There’s a stone wall around her in a sickly pink color that looks sort of like entrails. All I could imagine were the workers in China looking at these things and thinking, “WTF? Stupid Americans.” I display it proudly on my couch, along with the fleecy lap blanket resplendent with a bald eagle in flight. Warmest blankets ever.
May 29, 2012 at 9:25 pm
קלויינג
that, anyway, is the translation via howtosay for how to say cloying in yiddish.
apologies–for both not being able to read hebrew [i tried, years ago] & for not being able to remember the word off the top of my head. i should be able to, too. i must be even more beat than i thought.
May 29, 2012 at 10:20 pm
My god, phantasmagorical poopsteak is a brilliant phrase. I must find a way to use it irl.
May 29, 2012 at 10:36 pm
Twatty, I have to tell you that I am a a fan. Such exquisite detailing!!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanyazivkovic/1781959138
May 30, 2012 at 12:17 am
Thank you everso, Lurks. I have the patience of a saint (St.Brigid is the patron of chicken farmers)and the mind of a nattering squirrel. Combine the two and you get some funky eggs I guess. Perhaps I should do a few with mustaches and octopi on them. I do have a fondness for owls that I have been exploring recently. Oh Hootie, your eyes say yes but your beak says noo-noo.
May 30, 2012 at 5:14 am
Holy crap, Twats. That is amazing work. Bravo and well done.
(You must also have the eyesight of a hawk.)
May 30, 2012 at 11:56 am
I was actually planning to open an Etsy shop but now I see that it would be like trying to operate an artisan booth in front of a WalMart.
May 29, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Is he sweating because he is nervous…..??
Is he even aware of the words he strings together, and didn’t I buy a used car from this twit in my foggy bottom past.
Naw –
The some people questioning the “growth potential” are the same ones with the VC money in the slot, pulling the handle and everything comes up handmade dollar store…get three cheap import symbols in a row and cash in on the IPO..
As a real “wood rescuing” hand made (by little old me) furniture dude……I left the e a while ago.
Did 21 years in corporate mosh pit for nothing…..’cause of brainless MBA types like Mr. oily here. He thinks he knows it all after 3 – there is a reason his eyes are brown.
May 29, 2012 at 7:47 pm
I listened to that interview about 6 months ago & at the time thought (wanted to think) that the other items Chad was referring to were vintage & supplies.
I report resellers everyday for all the good it does.
2.8 million items in the jewelry category.
$4 pocket watches & 50 available, why of course they’re handmade!
Search “Hunger Games” & see how many hundreds of those damn bird pins that are all over ebay & Amazon are also all over Etsy.
May 29, 2012 at 7:50 pm
“Anchors away, handmade!
Anchors away!
True art is window fluff,
Resellers make our day.
Unless there’s four carpenters working for you,
We just don’t give a crap
It’s time to wrap this up too bad for you!”
May 29, 2012 at 7:51 pm
Is there an anchor treasury yet? Because I feel like there should be.
May 29, 2012 at 9:53 pm
There are several, but I made this one just for this occasion:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTEyMzM5MzN8MjcyMjg4MjkwNA/anchors-away
May 29, 2012 at 10:02 pm
Exquisitely well done, Mum.
May 29, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Why, thank you!
May 29, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Can we get the state attorney generals involved to go after Etsy for fraudulent advertising?
After all, allowing the resellers to continue on the site is something that undermines the integrity & affects our livelihood.
If they can go after Sketchers for false claims made in the marketing of their “FitFlops,” certainly the would have a case against Etsy.
May 30, 2012 at 6:20 am
You know who might be a great lawyer to serve the peoples?…
(Hint: his name rhymes with Schmenneth Schmite….)
May 29, 2012 at 8:26 pm
So many things about Etsy piss me right the fuck off. If I fail to slow down, breathe, and collect myself with a Wusaw or two, well, bitches goan die. WUUUUUUUSAW.
May 29, 2012 at 8:31 pm
^ 197% sober, I swear.
May 29, 2012 at 9:35 pm
I like to make amigurumis as a hobby and sell them on Etsy for fun. Just a little something on the side, you know? And this pisses me off. I can’t imagine how frustrating it is for people who craft for a living (and actually make GOOD things) to read shit like this. But I guess maybe etsy thinks I’m butthurt? I should be happy! Happy that even though I make a tiny amount, Etsy takes part of that tiny amount and uses it to prop up a poor, struggling factory in China! It must be SO HARD for them, now that their many under-18 year old workers are only allowed to work for 14 hours a day! I hope to figure out a way to sell my stuff independently. I’m tired of competing with idiot morons (I get enough of that at art school) who glue two sticks together to make a sale (maybe I need more distressed barn wood?), but I’m more annoyed by losing the money of people looking for handmade goods giving it to walmartsy.com!
May 29, 2012 at 9:37 pm
I’m a model maker for an industrial design firm. In our shop we use wood- and metal-shop equipment and a CNC machining center. We’d like to bill $100 per hour for our work to have a good profit. That includes labor, materials and ALL overhead and CNC time. We’re lucky to get $65 per hour and shops in Asia can charge $40 or less per hour, according to my comparisons. I offer this as data about relative costs. Asian people gotta eat, too. But…
May 29, 2012 at 9:48 pm
I am the bait and the Taiwanese pocket watches are labeled “Steampunk”. 6_6
May 29, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Christ on a cactus…Is anyone really surprised that Etsy has gone to shit?? Remember when Ebay was cool and Doc Martens were made in England, not China and Converse were made in America, again, not China??
May 29, 2012 at 9:59 pm
“Butcher from southern Germany”, crafting? Couldn’t help but think of the series “Crafting with meat” that the satire magazine Titanic used to run, see their postcards.
May 30, 2012 at 1:18 am
Man, that makes me wish I could read German.
May 29, 2012 at 10:28 pm
I love all of you fat jealous losers
“Rat fuck”. epic.
Just posted a Treasury over at Etsy
May 29, 2012 at 10:33 pm
See? I’m such a loser, I didn’t even post the link
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjEzMTI0MjZ8MjcyMDMxNzcyOQ/not-a-single-owl-was-given-that-day?ref=pr_treasury
May 29, 2012 at 10:40 pm
HOLD. ON. What the hell kind of major daily newspaper journalist poses the question “Some scepticts think that Etsy is overvalued…”
This is bullshit in and bullshit out. Maybe they outsourced the interview to China, too.
May 29, 2012 at 10:51 pm
Oh Etsy how we will miss thee…
We owe a lot to Etsy. To imagine five years ago they put our shop on the front page and didn’t take it down when we introduced Brief Jerky for $999 and said it was reserved for Ted Nugent. Or when they quietly whispered in our ears that it was not OK to try and sell our Corn Dog Gauntlet as clothing. We have come to grips with the fact that everyone’s favorite band is now the background music in a BP commercial.
Our next quest is to discover the next “Etsy” and dry hump it into a crafty submission before anyone else finds out!
HK – we love you in the face!
Your humble man-servants.
-the Mixed Species guys-
May 29, 2012 at 11:05 pm
Totally irrelevant link: http://www.ihateyou.net/
We’re gonna go ahead and wrap this one up.
May 29, 2012 at 11:22 pm
http://dumbofeather.com/blog/post/dumbo-feather-conversations-presents-an-evening-with-etsy-ceo-chad-dickerson/
People in Melbourne now can PAY to hear him wax lyrical!
May 30, 2012 at 1:21 am
“…um…er…ah…hmm..er…well…eh…erm…”
*reception hall of finger-snapping*
May 30, 2012 at 2:53 am
One day after, and the initial feeling is still there: Although etsy’s attitude has been awful in many ways, it still was a place to browse through cute staff, buy feel-good goodies and come across interesting people; now something has gone and will never return.
May 30, 2012 at 6:23 am
He does help me with my theory that the name “Chad” is a dickhole indicator. Seriously. Do you know a cool Chad?
June 6, 2012 at 7:38 pm
I do! I used to work with one. He was a great guy. Substitute teacher, funny, nice. They exist!
May 30, 2012 at 8:44 am
I don’t know if I am a hypocrite for hating resellers when I buy chains overseas on Etsy. Is that wrong? I mean chains at the local craft store are way too expensive and are probably from China anyway…At least I can say that I cut out all my clay to make my pendants and every piece of art is handpainted or inked and not just a paper cut print out covered with resin. Reading all that post yesterday did not give me much hope that my shop is going to really take off, even remotely..
May 30, 2012 at 10:22 am
I’ve started playing an Etsy Forums game, and here’s how it works: I look for a thread that’s getting volatile. I prepare The Most Awesome Response In The World, but then I see how long I can possibly wait before posting it in an attempt to slide it in just before an admin locks the thread. It’s like playing chicken with the unknown.
I totally lost out on this thread, I told myself I would refresh just ONE MORE TIME and THEN post, and damnitall, it got forcibly wrapped up before I could. It’s a good read, anyway.
http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/10381557/page/1
I think there should be an official Regretsy league, points awarded for General Awesomeness of Reply and Proximity to Admin Wrapitup Post on a sliding scale.
May 30, 2012 at 12:23 pm
I like your game. But it should also involve shotgunning Yankee Jim.
May 30, 2012 at 10:26 am
Chad Dickface, you slimy fuck.
May 30, 2012 at 11:29 am
I registered just to be able to comment.
Aaaagh! I get more disillusioned every day. The negative comments about ebay and paypal and the violin incident caused me to do a bit of research. I am appalled at the way the online marketplace has gone downhill.
I sold two items and bought a half-dozen on ebay via paypal with no problems 5-8 years ago, but will probably never sell again. I had no idea that buyers were no longer rated or that scamming had gotten so out-of-control.
May 30, 2012 at 11:45 am
I want to post this on Facebook, but none of the photos of egregious fuckery show up in my link, only one of the boring text boxes shows up. I think this is important to share & spread the news, but people just don’t look if there isn’t a decent image to draw their attention to the link.
May 30, 2012 at 11:54 am
Try it now.
May 30, 2012 at 12:19 pm
You know what I would love to see somewhere on the internet? An anarchist market. It could be set up similar to Etsy, only you can choose to barter your goods or trade with other artists/crafters/artisans. There would definitely be an alchemy section where people could offer their services or ask for an artisans to make bids on the work they want done.
That is the kind of online marketplace for artists/crafters/artisans and buyers that i would like to see.
May 30, 2012 at 6:39 pm
I don’t understand his “look”. I expected latte’-sucking hipster, and instead I get alkie-dad-out-of-work-so-long-he-finally-stopped-shaving-and-showering? I mean, is that the trend now, just not caring how the fuck you look when being interviewed as a CEO? Seriously?
The voice works, but not with that face. I’m guessing this is dubbed and they got an actual hipster to intone words in time with Choad’s — er, Chad’s, sorry, not sure why I keep doing that — jowly rumblings.
But anyway, this is just more obvious shit we already know. Etsy’s a company. They do what makes them money like everyone in Ayn Rand’s wet dreams. Chinese children with bleeding fingers equals profit. It’s not complicated or hard to figure out. The veneer is so thin here it’s almost dry the moment he spits it onto that upcycled* owl** sculpture***.
* new
** owl
*** Chinese replica
May 30, 2012 at 8:27 pm
opened a thread on etsy forum
http://www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/10391852/
May 30, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Yeah, I love how you post “is etsy planing to allow shop that are ‘handmade’ in a sweatshop with underpaid workers to start sell here?”
May 30, 2012 at 9:17 pm
I see the Etsy cheerleaders are all over it. Regretsy bad, Etsy good, Mongo want food.
May 30, 2012 at 9:02 pm
I disagree Etsy is like Ebay. Ebay has a real CS dept, a 1-800# and they totally allow calling out in the forums.
June 5, 2012 at 2:50 pm
This thing about not addressing real problems AND not allowing calling out in the forums is reminiscent of a dictatorship. It’s an egregious abrogation of responsibility while Etsy continues to rake in the $$$$$
May 31, 2012 at 4:56 am
sorry I’m late to the party. Still wanted to share my valuable insight.
June 1, 2012 at 4:25 pm
If I had $8, I’d buy SWETSYSHOP.COM.
June 5, 2012 at 2:47 pm
More and more Etsy is becoming the equivalent of Alibaba, ie. a load of cheap Chinese goods.