A few years ago, buying handmade or second hand goods was exciting and green. However, lately, it's become quite annoying.
Searching for something on Etsy these days can be, well, difficult. I see my friends on Pinterest find the cutest things on there. My friends in real life have gorgeous hand knitted scarves and woollen hats that they’ve purchased from sellers on Etsy. However, when I go on to Etsy, all I find are naked babies and Blythe dolls.
Naked babies wearing headband, naked babies in knitted blankets, Blythe dolls in scarves, Blythe dolls in bows, Blythe dolls in hats, naked babies wearing bow headbands, naked babies in baskets covered in cashmere throws...
It’s getting old.
Regretsy highlighted the problem with Etsy sellers making things and selling them just because they can, and I fear now the only thing that will keep me purchasing things on Etsy is an advanced search option, or if Etsy starts moderating the lies people tag their products with.
For example, if you search for “blog” you get the occasional product about blogs, like this awesome “I love you, blogs and coffee” poster, but I’m not looking for a “handmade” eBook on “Social Media Marketing Success Guide”. Nor am I looking for a "vintage" Wordpress template. (And, pray tell, how is a template handmade? I mean, I typed this article with my hands, so should I say that this is a handmade website? Is this where the concept of making money online has been going wrong? Should we be marketing ourselves as being HANDMADE, too?)
The other thing I find mind-numbingly boring not only with Etsy, but with craft fairs and craft markets is that all the merchants/crafters just rip off each other, bigger designers, and Tatty Devine, over and over again.
Obviously, artists and designers have been “borrowing” inspiration from each other for centuries, but I find it hilarious that everyone gets very angry when people like Paperchase rip off independent artists’ work and make a giant profit from it, and yet, artist and crafters on Etsy do this all of the time! Craft fairs and Etsy are filled to the brim with work that’s clearly been heavily inspired by bigger artist’s creations – so what’s the message there? That you can rip off Tatty Devine because they make more money than you do? How exactly does that work?
Sure, artists can always claim they’ve “never seen” the bigger artist’s work before - but how many lazer cut acrylic moustaches does this world really need?!
I’ve actually been put off going to any of the big handmade craft fairs lately because I am just sick to death of seeing booth after booth of the same thing. Oh look, it’s an acrylic owl. Oh look, it’s an illustration of a bird. Or a deer. And some antlers. And HOLY CHRISTMAS it’s an everyday kitchen item, but with a naughty word on it!
Obviously, trying to pin down the original creator of anything these days – from concepts to art - is quite difficult. This will, unfortunately, always go on. Yet I plead with the artists and the Etsy sellers and the craft fair merchants to try as hard as they can to remain original and true.
There’s enough crap in the world without having to shop local and support indie designers and artists who just rip off each other’s work.
Cate Sevilla is the editor-in-chief of BitchBuzz.com. You can follow her on Twitter as @CupCate or read her personal blog over at CupCate.com.
Image via StacyZ's Flickr