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The products sold on etsy are valuable because they are hand crafted. That is their value-add, if any mass-production products make it in, their brand is dilute
by Jack000 13y ago
The products sold on etsy are valuable because they are hand crafted. That is their value-add, if any mass-production products make it in, their brand is diluted.
That is - they are really selling the hand-craftedness of the items, rather than the items themselves.
- tedyoung 13y agoEtsy should open up a new site that handles businesses that outgrow Etsy. Seems silly to try and squeeze everyone into the same mold and then not have an option to make money on those who are "too" successful to hand make everything.
- illuminate 13y agoIt's not about "outgrowing" Etsy. Their entire model is based around avoiding commodity items and towards "boutique", handcrafted, or vintage. In theory, at least. In reality they're selective about the non-handcrafted stuff they tolerate (bought in scale from AliBaba) and what they don't.
- snogglethorpe 13y agoThe thing is though, there are many steps in making most products, and where you draw the line seems pretty vague. If you pushed hard enough, you could probably make a case for anything on Etsy as being "not handmade." Where did the yarn in that "handmade" sweater come from? Was it hand-spun? Who raised the sheep?! Is the dye from hand-raised and harvested vegetable sources or is it... INDUSTRIAL?!1?! Given Etsy's touchy-feely narrative I'm betting they're just generally kind of suspicious of anything electronic and being disproportionately harsh in this case...