Etsy Test Links to Competitors on Sellers' Listing Images

by: Nova Rae

THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!!! Sellers pay for their virtual real estate and, therefore, that space should be THEIRS ALONE. Etsy is simply using its sellers to fill their own pockets by advertising their competitors on their pages. This practice would be considered illegal if it were a B&M, so why are we online sellers treated any differently?

When is the government going to put a stop to this mess?

by: Nova Rae

And here I was thinking about re-opening there. I've been thinking about it for a while, but I'm constantly seeing things on this site that change my mind.

by: Silver Ice King

@Nova Rae

As long as Josh Silverman is the CEO for Etsy I will neither buy nor sell on that site.  I will never buy the excuse from Etsy that the massive overbilling which happened to their sellers over the President Days weekend a couple of years ago was nothing more than a planned interest free loan.  He was already prepared for it and naturally spoke with a magazine which would put a favorable spin on what happened and then just pass it off as everything was fixed when in fact it wasn't even close to being fixed.  I don't know if it is due to the very rapid expansions they seem to be doing or just poor cash management on his part, but it seems that Etsy is constantly coming up with immediate fixes to cash flow with various ideas he seems to cook up.  He reminds me of Devin Wenig more and more with each change that is made there.  The one major difference I will admit is that Silverman seems to have his own ideas while Wenig just copied everybody elses work and then made it sound like it was an original thought.

Good luck to all of the Sellers over there because he is just as crooked at Wenig and actually seems to have a brain to go with it.  Another ecommerce company who keeps digging deeper and deeper into the sellers pockets while really doing nothing at their expense.

by: Flying Childers

Yet more documentation of Etsy ripping off the sellers.   I don't know how they keep getting away with this or why some investor doesn't start another platform for REAL handmade and vintage.   Just like what's happening on social media with Parler, Gab, Telegram, et al.

There are literally millions of dollars to be made - where are the smart investors?

by: Rexford

Reminds me of when someone lets their dog leave a package on my well manicured lawn.  : (

Bad Etsy, Bad Etsy

by: Disgusted

All they care about is the stock price.

by: Chicago48

some investor doesn't start another platform for REAL handmade and vintage.
^^
There is / was a site "Artfire" but it doesn't seem to have the muscle to play in Etsy's playpen.

by: Chicago48

I went to the seller store on etsy and didn't see what she sees.  But I use a desktop and not a mobile phone/app to shop and see things.

by: Marty2020

Disgusted
Thu Feb 11 00:09:14 2021
All they care about is the stock price.

Buy their stock. I have been buying their stock, just a few at a time, but the price of the stock went from around $50 a year ago to the current $225. It's a bubble, but I made more money buying their stock than selling goods.

by: Marty2020

by: Nova Rae
And here I was thinking about re-opening there. I've been thinking about it for a while, but I'm constantly seeing things on this site that change my mind.

Your decision, of course, although I mostly sell on ebay the sales on Etsy really took off in the past 3 months. I have been there since 2018, most of the time it was just a few sales here and there.

One shouldn't make decisions based on some report about redirecting buyers to other sites. Other sites may be redirecting buyers to your site.  

by: Evenger

aarrrgggghhh.  This sucks.  I left eBay and was happy selling here.  Now they  are slowly turning into eBay!  First I noticed the cheap China made products and Chinese sellers advertising new items as vintage appearing more frequently in searches.  Then on a page of an item I sold, I saw the "Similar Items" feature.  I sold a vintage slip, and was disgusted to see an ad for a USED thong.  Full on, close-up derriere in a thong view and the link tells you it is a WORN pair of underwear.  And there is a drop down to indicate how many days you would like them worn!!!!  There were quite a few more sellers of same.  I reported it, but am not optimistic that they will actually take it down.  They are becoming eBay and it is time to start transitioning somewhere else.

by: fusgeyer
Web Site

I was concerned when I read this, so I checked it out. My test consisted of checking both of my Etsy shops and by checking Etsy through a different browser and not signing in. Etsy was accessed using a laptop. Results from the "Sell on Etsy App" or the "Etsy App" on mobile devices may differ.

Results from my shops: I can see the black magnifying glass when I roll over an image. It is in the upper right hand corner, same place as where you would click on a heart to fav an item. When I click on the magnifying glass, I am taken to a page on Pinterest where I see what Pinterest thinks are similar items. Some are from Etsy, others are from Walmart, Macys, Target and Zazzle.

When I search on Etsy without logging in, I get the same results. In every image there is black box in the upper right hand corner of a rolled over image with a white magnifying glass. Same results, it takes you to Pinterest.

This is not the same as the red icon with a "P" in it located on the upper left of every image. That icon allows your to share or save the image to a Pinterest board.

Why some see this and some do not. Not everyone has a Pinterest account. Not everyone has Pinterest set up as a browser extension.

Conclusions:
This is not an Etsy thing, it is a Pinterest thing. Why would Etsy send a customer to Walmart or Target? There is no gain for them with that model.

by: Nova Rae

@Marty, I'll just say that I have a very bad history with Etsy. So, there's a LOT more going into my decision than recent events.

by: Nova Rae

@fusgeyer, Pinterest wouldn't be doing what they're doing if Etsy wasn't giving them the permission to do so.

by: Flying Childers

Chicago- I am hoping that a group of investors who are all multi millionaires would get together and start a new platform for quality vintage and handmade.  There is a real market for those goods and money to be made.

So many people utterly disgusted with Etsy's BS.

by: fusgeyer
Web Site

@Nova Rae, access to Pinterest is through an API. Yes, Pinterest has permission to access Etsy through the API. It is the same as when you save an Etsy listing to Pinterest. Etsy is not making money on the Pinterest items, unless they are from other Etsy sellers. Only people with Pinterest accounts see this.

This is a good way to see if others on Etsy are stealing your original artwork. It is also a good way to judge if the handmade item you are viewing is truly handmade or if it is a reseller. Original artwork and handmade items will not show up in Walmart.