Etsy tests removing the link to Vintage from its pages, and changing the link to Gifts -- reported by sellers in the Forums! #etsysellsvintage

Back in July 2018 some shop owners in the Etsy Vintage Seller Community seemed surprised by Etsy's staff holding to an assessment of shopper behavior on the site first shared in 2012:

In our research we found that most buyers are not first searching or browsing for items by when they were made or who made them. Buyers tend think about the item they want to buy, like a jacket or blanket, before deciding if they want it to be vintage or not.

For most of a decade, Etsy has believed that shoppers on the site aren't looking for Vintage items specifically, so why not lose the Vintage link that now appears at the top/right of all pages?  During special sale promotions, like the recent Labor Day Sale weekend, the Vintage link was removed -- changed to "Sale".  Even though there were two huge links to the sale at the top of the home page, and one of the two (a black bar across the top) appeared on all pages. Vintage took the weekend off, and I noticed no complaints or comments from the seller community.

It looks like Vintage might be taking a permanent vacation according to this Forums thread:  Vintage category replaced by gifts??? Seriously?

Not all users are seeing this; it's another unannounced test.  If this becomes permanent, new visitors to the site will be unaware that Vintage items are for sale on Etsy, unless they use SEARCH and scroll down to see option on the left margin to view only Vintage results -- an option that is being placed lower and lower on SEARCH results pages as Etsy redesigns its pages.

Since anything sold on Etsy might be gifted, how will items qualify for the new Gift linked category?  I'm not in the test (yet), but will update this with more info on Gift items when/if I get to see the test.

UPDATE:  another Forums thread -- No more vintage heading??? Tag vintage as gift?  Don't think so.  The test Gift link has nothing to do with Vintage items.  Vintage items be gone!

More!  Another thread:  Etsy, vintage replaced with gifts - Please don't do it!  Unfortunately for the Etsy Seller Community, most of them don't realize that Etsy removed Vintage as a category when the original category links list was removed from the left side of the Home Page, circa 2012.  Etsy has no Vintage Category.