What Vintage looks like on Etsy, Winter Holiday shopping season 2019 #etsysellsvintage

OMG!  Am laughing so hard I can barely type.

Just saw this item in a paid listing (AD) on page 3 of the most relevant vintage listings on Etsy:  a 12 month Netflix Subscription in the shop of mendacious reseller netflisimon  The item was listed today, as "Vintage from before 2000".  200 units in stock, priced at $1.20.

Remember back in August 2017 when CEO Josh Silverman claimed the site had AI code in operation to identify and remove resellers?  Works great, doesn't it?


UPDATE NOVEMBER 22:  netflisimon has been closed, and their user ID is NARU. 


NOVEMBER 23:  Etsy CEO is making good on his promise earlier this year to promote "personalized, customized" vintage.  Which means promoting items that are listed in Etsy shops as 20+ years old but are, in reality, brand new or even not made yet (made to order).  Here's an item on page 1 of the most relevant "vintage" items on the site, listed by JigsawCreations :  a made to order personalized wooden name puzzle  Buyers can select the name, color of the letters, and have the back of the tray engraved to order.  So, you might wonder, how can this totally customized product also be "Vintage from the 1900s"?  It can't be "vintage", and the seller simply lied during the listing process and back-dated it so it would show up in search results for Vintage items.  And that is how #etsysellsvintage with the approval and encouragement of Etsy CEO Josh Silverman.

610 units in stock.  Etsy has curated this listing into a featured thumbnail for Vintage Toys and Games, earning the gratitude of Etsy shops with authentic Vintage toys or games.

More.  Etsy shop EmyLuRoseVintage is a mixture of actual 20+ year old Vintage, and stuff that has a look of "vintage" for those who have no expertise in fauxtique fakery.  One of the most relevant "vintage" listings on Etsy today is this Jim Shore Angel Ornament which is pretending to be "Vintage from before 2000".

And there it is.

Etsy Product Marketing staff member has a test shop full of contemporary products listed with hundreds of units in stock, pretending to be vintage. #etsysellsvintage

If you are an Etsy shop owner and have wondered what kind of thinking is behind the site's marketing goofs, take a look at StrikeUpTheBandsaw and be amazed!

If you sell Vintage on Etsy, you should go beyond amazement to the urgent realization that you need to move your business off of Etsy, pronto.

StrikeUpTheBandsaw is identified as being under the ownership of one Bryan Rahija.  His Profile says "I work in Product Marketing at Etsy".  The shop's inventory includes over 40 listings for various hair clips and barrettes, all pretending to be "vintage from the 1900s" and available in quantities of over 200 units each.  The item titles do not match the product listed, and the item descriptions are gibberish.  

Ads for the shop's fake vintage products appear in rows of paid listings among actual vintage items -- side by side with legitimate ads for real items listed on the site.

So now there is some info available about how Etsy plans and executes its Marketing efforts.  Sellers be warned.

Example (check it out, and think it over):

This sunflower print barrette from StrikeUpTheBandsaw is titled

Leather hair barrette, hair slide, hair pin, XSmall, in black or brown

which has nothing to do with the product photo

 Priced at $50, with 207 units in stock, all pretending to be "vintage from the 1900s".  The item's Description says:

Celtic Shawl Pin, Double Coil Hair Barrette, Copper Scarf Pin, Kilt Pin, Celtic Brooch, Hair Pin, Handmade Copper Jewellery, Cloak Clasp

Which is a hearty helping of EtSEO, baby!  IOW, the title and description have nothing to do with the item shown.  More:  an item using the same image is also listed by another test shop tester1ca1ee9a9 which is a fake person without a shop!  Priced at $34, with 296 units in stock.  Pretending to be "vintage from the 1900s", the item here is titled

Brass Sun Metal Hair Barrette, large hand etched artisan metal barrette with sun design in antiqued brass

and its Description is the same one quoted above.

But wait...the same barrette was listed by another tester called tester1d27c992b but is currently unavailable.

The question is:  why is Etsy Marketing sneaking obviously contemporary -- not vintage -- products into paid listing ads and regular vintage listings?  What is Etsy doing this TEST FOR?