Ribbit! Ribbit! Zibbet?

I am never ever ever (ever) one to jump on bandwagons, but it appears I may be doing just that.

I was viewing facebook posts from pages I follow and someone pointed to the new Etsy policies that rolled out a few weeks ago.  The main thing I gleaned from it was that Etsy (in my words) was now catering to shops who use outside manufacturing and (also my words) would allow shops to pose as resellers (but they had to somehow be "honest" about NOT being a reseller).

I won't call out a particular shop (you can PM me if you are curious about which one it is, I'm happy to disclose it privately), but I discovered a few weeks ago through facebook feeds a few of their listings looked not-so-handmade.  I let it go until they complained about how facebook doesn't post some of their status updates.  I focused in on the photo of the item they were trying to promote.

The item did NOT look handmade. Whatsoever.  It looked like something pumped out by manufacturers in China.

I did a Google Image search and what do you know....it was being sold wholesale by a shop in Shanghai.  All they did was add a watermark to the photo.  Oh wow, wow, wow.  I was disgusted, especially since I had purchased items from this shop in the past.  I never thought about it at the time, but I'm pretty sure that everything in their shop is NOT handmade by the shop owner.  Not even her designs.  Disgusted.

On top of that, she is in the Top 100 Etsy Sellers list for 2013!  So disgusted.

I tried (in vain) to report this shop, and the items that were clearly being designed and sold by another shop, but really nothing happened.  I didn't even get the courtesy of a response from Etsy.  *Shrug* Oh well.

So tonight I came across some forum posts and found this link:

https://www.etsy.com/blog/news/2013/5-etsy-sellers-partnering-with-manufacturers/

I'm more interested in the comments by Etsy sellers.  These people have the same intentions as I do about what handmade is and what a small business is.  Etsy have moved to catering to small businesses and it only means that I will move elsewhere. 

Anyway, back to the bandwagon I'm about to jump on.  I recently (today) was made aware of another handmade website that echoes what I fell in love with about Etsy. 

Zibbet.com

It is strictly aimed at helping those who offer handmade goods. Period.  Here's the link to the article so I don't start sounding stupid:

http://allthingsd.com/20131002/new-seller-demand-crashes-handmade-marketplace-zibbet-after-etsys-big-changes/

Again, read the comments.  People are so wise sometimes (don't quote me, I'll deny it later). It's comforting to know that I'm not alone in being discouraged by Etsy.