That thing where an ISP — like your wireless or cable company — can exempt certain services from counting against your data cap is called zero-rating, and it exists in a weird regulatory space. There are no rules against it, but there are also no rules explicitly permitting it. The businesses that do it, of course, say it is “innovative” and “competitive.” The FCC hasn’t openly decided whether or not it agrees. So a whole huge group of consumer advocates, business advocates, and businesses have gotten together to ask the FCC officially, and publicly, make up its mind. [More]
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Etsy Will Open A Real-Life Store In Macy’s Youngster-Focused Bargainless Basement
By 1.28.16
In the basement of their flagship store in Manhattan’s Herald Square, Macy’s is running an experiment. One Below is a store focused on shoppers in their teens and twenties that the department store is using as a laboratory to figure out what the kids today like, and they plan to use what they learn there in their other stores across the country. Now they’re adding something new: a real-life Etsy store. [More]
Amazon Launches Marketplace Dedicated To Handcrafted, “Factory-Free” Products
By 10.8.15
Back in May, we reported that Amazon was dipping its toes into yet another marketplace venture, this one centered on handcrafted goods. At the time, the e-commerce behemoth was prepping for a showdown with the top site in the craft world, Etsy, by attempting to lure away its vendors. Fast-forward four months, and the launch of “Handmade at Amazon” is upon us. [More]
Etsy To Try Same-Day, Next-Day Delivery In New York City
By 9.11.15
With Amazon’s new “Handmade” platform trying to nose into territory that has long been the domain of Etsy, the online crafts and vintage marketplace is taking a page from Amazon’s playbook and trying its hand at same-day and next-day delivery. [More]
Sen. Calls For More Precise Data On “On-Demand” Economy & Workforce
By 9.1.15
Independent contractors are nothing new — taxi drivers paying to use a medallion, barbers renting out chairs to cut hair, local artisans selling jewelry and apparel on consignment — but the boom in online platforms that give everyone immediate access to these services and products has resulted in an “on-demand” economy and workforce whose true size and scope is unknown. In an effort to get a more accurate picture on this issue, one U.S. senator is calling on federal officials to provide more relevant data. [More]
Amazon, eBay And Etsy Join List Of Retailers That Have Removed Confederate Battle Flag Items From Their Stores
By 6.23.15
Amazon, eBay and Etsy have joined fellow retailers Walmart and Sears in announcing that they’ve removed all merchandise featuring the Confederate battle flag from their stores. [More]
Etsy Launches Pilot Crowdfunding Program To Help Sellers Grow Their Businesses
By 6.16.15
While Etsy has long been a marketplace where sellers could launch small businesses, the site has not had a Kickstarter-like crowdfunding platform for sellers to raise money to grow their businesses. Today, Etsy announced it is finally giving crowd-sourced funding a shot with the launch of a new pilot program. [More]
Amazon Trying To Lure Etsy Sellers To New “Handmade” Marketplace
By 5.26.15
Amazon is apparently not content with just allowing third-party vendors to sell mass-produced items through the website. The online retail giant is reportedly prepping a new marketplace for customized, unique products, setting up a potential showdown with Etsy. [More]
Artist Claims Someone Stole Her Painting From Etsy And Is Now Selling It Through Walmart
By 9.23.14
For millions of artists Etsy.com offers a personalized marketplace to sell hand-crafted, unique items without the hassle of mass production or working with national retailers. Only that’s not how it’s working for one artist who claims her painting is being sold through Walmart’s website without her permission. [More]
Major Internet Players, Including Reddit, Tumblr, And Others, To Protest For Net Neutrality On September 10
By 9.4.14
In an action somewhat reminiscent of the widespread protests against SOPA back in 2012, several major internet businesses are planning a symbolic “internet slowdown” on September 10 to advocate for stronger net neutrality regulations. [More]
eBay Says Etsy Is Wrongity Wrong To Blame It For Spam Problems
By 6.6.14
Yesterday, we reported that the craft honchos who run Etsy have noticed an increase in hijacked accounts sending out spammy messages, and they put at least some of the blame on users with the same passwords on both their Etsy and eBay accounts. However, eBay counters that this is not their fault, since unencrypted passwords weren’t part of last month’s account data breach. [More]
Spammers Take Advantage Of eBay Breach, Invade Etsy
By 6.5.14
When the usernames and passwords of a big, popular site like eBay are compromised, consequences can spread beyond the original site that was attacked. It’s possible that users of selling platforms Etsy and eBay use the same usernames and passwords on both sites, since security staff at Etsy say that they’ve noticed an uptick in spam and account hijackings since the recent eBay breach. [More]
Cody Foster & Co. Sends Cease And Desist Letter To Catalog Whistleblower
By 1.16.14
Nebraska-based trinket maker Cody Foster wholesales adorable items to boutiques, gift shops, and even bigger retailers like Anthropologie. Their catalog is only visible to their customers. One of those customers noticed a curious resemblance between items in the Cody Foster catalog and items made and sold by prominent (but not too prominent) artists and Etsy sellers. [More]
“Onesie” Is A Trademarked Term, Even Though No One Cares
By 11.15.13
What do you call a garment for infants and toddlers that’s a body suit with snaps at the crotch for easy diaper-changing? A “onesie”? No, no, gentle consumer, that’s not the case. Gerber (the baby stuff company, not the knife company) holds the trademark for the word “onesie.” [More]
Etsy Decides “Handmade” Has Flexible Meaning, Eases Restrictions On Factory-Produced Items
By 10.1.13
Online mega-storefront Etsy.com was intended to be a place where makers of handmade goods and vintage finds could sell their wares directly to customers. The site has had restrictions on the reselling of items made by someone else and on products manufactured in a factory. But today Etsy announced that it is putting new guidelines in place that will allow for some previously prohibited sellers to offer their products on the site. [More]
FOX Not Done Ruining Firefly Fans’ Lives: Network Trying To Ban Handmade Jayne Hats
By 4.12.13
Ever since FOX ruined the lives of Firefly aficionados by canceling the show after only four months back in 2002, fans have been coping the best way they can, including knitting their own orange “Jayne” hats in an homage to one of its characters. In one of the only 14 episodes, Jayne Cobb’s ma sends him the cozy headgear. He loves it, it’s silly looking and thus, it’s awesome. But attracted by the scent of money changing hands for these handmade versions on Etsy and elsewhere, FOX suddenly seems to care about Firefly. [More]
This Hot Topic Brain Necklace Looks Awfully Familiar
By 8.2.12
On her Etsy profile, Sarah writes that she makes sculpted jewelry in her Toronto apartment. Her pieces are cute, like cookie-shaped rings, and creepy-cute, like cufflinks shaped like anatomical hearts. But one of her signature pieces is a set of heart-shaped “best friends” necklaces with the texture of green brains. It’s creepily adorable, and a best-seller. Apparently national chain Hot Topic agrees, since they happen to be selling a very similar design. [More]
More Than 1,000 Etsy Shops To Shut Down For Day To Protest "Collective" Shops
By 5.7.12
A few weeks ago, the Etsy folks stirred up a hornet’s nest of hate among its own sellers and the handmade goods community in general by featuring an Etsy shop that some accused of mass-producing furniture. Etsy didn’t help itself by later defending the shop, saying it is a “collective.” This hasn’t gone over well with a number of Etsy sellers and buyers who plan on taking a “vacation” on May 10 in protest. [More]
