3 ms·

Is there an alternative to Etsy for actual hand-crafted goods? For a version 2.0, I'm thinking each seller would be required to post a 5-minute video on their

Is there an alternative to Etsy for actual hand-crafted goods? For a version 2.0, I'm thinking each seller would be required to post a 5-minute video on their production, showing where they do the work, and showing actual people working in a non-factory, non-assembly line environment. I'd also require on-site visits by an agent to ensure veracity of that. Yes, this would be enormously invasive / intrusive and a high burden for sellers. And it doesn't scale well. Maybe the sellers could police each other? Have the person in Wilmington who makes HO-scale vintage sports cars also check in on the Wilmington resident who quilts superhero-themed stuff. I don't know.

mc32 7y ago
I was thinking of social verification ala PGP web of trust, but this can be gamed a bit by rivals. No, so-and-so isn’t legit. But maybe have nominally compensated inspectors, upstanding members of the community that others in that community trust. So kinda like what you were saying but vetted themselves for trust and getting compensated. I think the video proof is a good step. It probably can be gamed and would need follow up verification to ensure it wasn’t just a prop.
lancesells 7y ago
I would rather a 2.0 be curated sellers and not open to everyone. It wouldn't be able to scale to some giant size but it would be nice to shop a selection of quality items. Handmade or factory-made doesn't really factor in for me. I just feel browsing Etsy right now is like looking at a Teespring for crafts.
ineedasername 7y ago
> "Is there an alternative to Etsy for actual hand-crafted goods?" There are a few, none nearly so larger with such a large audience though. I think people that sell on them are often using them as a second option, Etsy as the first. One is aftcra.com. There's also a few services geared toward making it very easy for hand-crafted sellers to make their own shop-- Big Cartel and IndieMade come to mind.
- ansible 7y ago
  Overall the aftcra.com site seems nice, though the selection is very limited. Then I ran across this for Adobe Acrobat XI Pro: http://www.aftcra.com/fullstop/listing/308980/adobe-acrobat-xi-pro-download http://www.aftcra.com/fullstop/listing/308980/adobe-acrobat-... WTF?
  - NikkiA 7y ago
    Pirates infiltrate any service where they can list an item for sale. Report and move on.

mc32 7y ago

I was thinking of social verification ala PGP web of trust, but this can be gamed a bit by rivals. No, so-and-so isn’t legit. But maybe have nominally compensated inspectors, upstanding members of the community that others in that community trust. So kinda like what you were saying but vetted themselves for trust and getting compensated. I think the video proof is a good step. It probably can be gamed and would need follow up verification to ensure it wasn’t just a prop.

lancesells 7y ago

I would rather a 2.0 be curated sellers and not open to everyone. It wouldn't be able to scale to some giant size but it would be nice to shop a selection of quality items. Handmade or factory-made doesn't really factor in for me. I just feel browsing Etsy right now is like looking at a Teespring for crafts.

ineedasername 7y ago

> "Is there an alternative to Etsy for actual hand-crafted goods?" There are a few, none nearly so larger with such a large audience though. I think people that sell on them are often using them as a second option, Etsy as the first. One is aftcra.com. There's also a few services geared toward making it very easy for hand-crafted sellers to make their own shop-- Big Cartel and IndieMade come to mind.

ansible 7y ago
Overall the aftcra.com site seems nice, though the selection is very limited. Then I ran across this for Adobe Acrobat XI Pro: http://www.aftcra.com/fullstop/listing/308980/adobe-acrobat-xi-pro-download http://www.aftcra.com/fullstop/listing/308980/adobe-acrobat-... WTF?
- NikkiA 7y ago
  Pirates infiltrate any service where they can list an item for sale. Report and move on.