More Etsy Forums complaints from the seller community about the quantity of fake vintage and fauxtiques for sale on the site #etsysellsvintage

Another one!  Here's the thread:  what is being done about NON VINTAGE items being sold as vintage?  The answer, in one word, is nothing.

Contrary to the icing drips from the Forums cupcake posts, there is nothing the Vintage seller community can do about this issue.

Reporting doesn't work.  All flags are reviewed by AI  before being seen by a real live human Etsy employee.  Most reports are simply discarded by the AI code, no matter the type of item being reported.  There is no way to know for sure, but my guess is only reports that deal with items that might get Etsy corporate into legal difficulties for being listed on the site are passed on by the AI.  This does not include IP violations, unless the community member making the report owns the IP in question.  Nothing else is addressed.

Any item can be considered "vintage" on Etsy if the seller describes it as a "reproduction".  That's right!  The item can be a brand new, fantasy vintage-style, piece never made until the 21st Century.  But it's all good according to Marketplace Integrity:  all Etsy sellers are honest, and if the seller says it's a "reproduction", then it is.  Additionally, items designated as "reproductions" can be dated to the age the seller believes the items represent, listed accordingly.  Such as "vintage from the 1910s" for a contemporary fake Nippon hat pin holder.  The word "reproduction" Teflon coats your listing, baby.

Etsy altered the listing form twice to include more items newer than 20 years old as Vintage.  The first time was circa 2011 when category double and triple dipping was added, to create nonsense listings like "vintage handmade" and "vintage handmade supply".  Of course it's possible that an artisan could have created some handmade glass beads, for example, 20 years ago -- and have some left to sell.  But most "vintage handmade" items turned out to be NEW handmade items created with "vintage" (maybe) materials.  This was reported to Etsy as a Bug in the Forums; resolved as "that's intentional, it's all good".  Except it's not:  it's not Vintage, except on Etsy.

The second change was offering the option to list "vintage" digital downloads, when digital items were added to the listing form, circa 2013.  A copy created after purchase isn't considered "vintage" anywhere outside the Etsyverse.

Etsy just wants the money from any listing, for any item, and it's the seller's choice whether to call a recently mass manufactured product Handmade or Vintage, even though it is neither.

If you don't care for the deceptive marketplace on mendacious Etsy, find another place to sell.  Etsy doesn't see fake vintage as a problem, and you're not going to convince them otherwise.