Etsy Forums Follies: vintage sellers afraid of bad karma won't report fraudulent listings! #etsysellsvintage

One of the earliest Myths of the Etsyverse, dating back more than a decade, is that it is "bad karma" to report a fraudulent shop or listing to Etsy's Marketplace Integrity Team.  This complicit involvement with reselling by shop owners who themselves are honest and professional bears a large burden of the responsibility for the overwhelming presence of deceptive listings on the site today.

And the "bad karma" myth will not die!  In August 2019 an Etsy vintage seller started this thread:  I just came across a shop selling NEWER Barbies and doing quite well but   Here's the original post:



I cannot bring myself to report them. What is my responsibility as an Etsy seller? I have come across questionable shops before, but this is ridiculous! She has a 2018 doll in people's carts. I don't like to cause trouble, but I have a Vintage Shop and don't believe in cheating. Why can't I bring myself to turn these cheaters in?? I favored the shop just to see how long this goes on. I feel like I am hurting other Etsy sellers by not reporting this. Do YOU report the shops you find that are not in compliance with Etsy's guidelines? I worry about bad karma, maybe that is ridiculous, but it is why I try not to stir the pot so to speak. Thank you in advance for your advice on this matter. Am I part of the problem if I do not turn the shops I come across in? Will Etsy even do anything about it?


In reality, it doesn't matter that this dumbun won't report the shop.  Etsy wouldn't act on it, even if the AI that screens all reports submitted by the community passed it on to be viewed by a human member of the Marketplace Integrity Team.  Vintage has never had any kind of strict definition on the site, and has always been whatever Etsy management and staff would like it to be at the moment.

But this thread is loaded with entertainment, and is well worth a read.  It's a tasty bit of crazy from first post to the last.

UPDATE: Etsy's Vintage sellers proudly call attention to a recent feature in HOUSE BEAUTIFUL about Etsy listings for items listed as Vintage that (wait for it!) aren't Vintage! #etsysellsvintage

The outpourings of Etsygirl dumbunnyspeak are multiplying in the Forums like, well, bunnies.

A few days ago, I called attention to some Etsy Forums threads complaining about a test removing the Vintage link from the site's pages here  The thread is still going strong, and yesterday a seller added a link on page 15 to a feature in HOUSE BEAUTIFUL magazine about Vintage on Etsy.  Of the 7 items shown and linked in the feature, 3 are not Vintage -- even though they are misleadingly listed as Vintage.  Three of the actual Vintage items ship from The Netherlands, Indonesia and Turkey; this is not a problem, but what about the millions of authentic Vintage items listed by sellers in the USA, Canada, and the UK?  The fourth Vintage item (ships from USA) is still being manufactured, and is available brand new (with the option of the same contemporary chair legs) for less money!

Here are the 3 fauxtiques:

Significantly altered "Midcentury Modern Dresser"  is listed as a "vintage handmade item from the 1950s", which translates as the shop owner designed and/or crafted this piece in the 1950s -- which is a blatant lie.  The listing includes only one photo (below)

While the wood it was made from is not mentioned, and neither is the maker, the seller explains that outer surfaces have been refinished with matte black, and the original knobs replaced with agate slices!  The seller has given this item a "recycled" attribute -- seriously, WTF?  Increasing the carbon footprint of an item by altering it is Etsyverse "recycling" now?  Not vintage.

This recently mined and processed 96g Raw Blue Kyanite and quartz specimen has already been sold.  Listed as a "vintage handmade item", which translates as the shop owner designed and/or crafted this item at least 20 years ago. which is a blatant lie.  Most of the mineral specimens for sale as "vintage" on Etsy -- along with spheres, pyramids, and obelisks made from minerals -- were recently mined and processed by mining/manufacturing corporations in Asia.  This is a new reseller product, as the seller's Shop Announcement makes clear:

"We use our personal connections in the crystal mining industry to deliver High vibration exceptional quality gems fresh from mother earth."

Also note that these crystal specimens are promised to deliver "high vibration" -- a bogus claim.

Not vintage.


The third item is a listing for paint to order piece of furniture, age unknown but listed as a "vintage item".  The photos in the listing do not show the item for sale, which doesn't exist until seller and buyer choose a piece of furniture and the refinishing it will receive -- this is what Etsy considers "vintage"!

The photo above is the one chosen to appear in HOUSE BEAUTIFUL.  Clearly shows the item isn't vintage.

Another thread for Etsy dumbun sellers to coo about "vintage" in HOUSE BEAUTIFUL here

Etsy Forums post asks Handmade or Vintage? And the dumb bunny seller community gets it wrong! #etsysellsvintage

Here's the thread:  Handmade or Vintage? It's over 10,000 years old.....but.....

The original post includes a link to an article at Siberian Times about an artisan who created a hat from 10,000 year old mammoth hair.

So, it's not 10,000 years old.  It's not even 20 years old (Etsy Vintage).  It's actually new, and Handmade.

But 4 of the dumb bunnies in the thread keyboard-titter moronically about it being "SUPER MEGA VINTAGE" -- which is EtsyverseSpeak for new Handmade.

Which is why Etsy's mendacious Marketplace Integrity Team revised the site's listing process to allow sellers to backdate new craft projects made with older materials into Vintageville.

And that's how #etsysellsvintage.

Etsy Forums Follies: faux vintage reseller AttiCuties starts another self-promotional thread #etsysellsvintage

She's still at it!  AttiCuties started another self-promotional thread in the Etsy Forums today:  Adding Age in the Title -- Turn Off? Or Enticement?  The amusement factor here is that AttiCuties has been featured numerous times in my blogs for fake-dating newer collectibles that are less than 20 years old -- some pushed back 60+ years!  To see what I mean, check out my previous posts about this seller:

• February 2017 published in this blog
• April 2018 published in LDW Calls Out Fake Shaming Etsy and Its Resellers
• May 2017 also published in LDW Calls Out

Note that in today's Forums thread, a few comments mention a need to know the date of an item to find out if it is actually "vintage":  20+ years old, according to Etsy's guidelines.  

I have no idea why, but there are Vintage sellers on Etsy whose shops are almost all authentic Vintage items, but for some reason (unknown to me) they have to add in 10-25 percent newer pieces and fake date them in the listings.  Why bother?  Most of these items are small in size, and could be wrapped and stored in a single bin marked "future vintage" or something like that.  Or just sold on eBay. 

Of course, AttiCuties is still listing 21st Century items in her shop and backdating them.  Let's have a look at some of her newest fauxtiques!

This Queen of Chocolate pillow is pretending to be a "vintage" "Southwest find".  But it's not "vintage" -- it can't be any older than circa 2001, and is likely much newer.  Note the manufacturer's tag in the photo that clearly shows the letters ADI.

ADI was a supplier of homewares to institutions, according to this article from 2004 in Home Textiles Today  The article mentions that ADI moved into the home fashions business 3 years ago (2004 minus 3 = 2001) with various product lines including "decorative pillows".  Not Vintage.

Another item pretending to be "vintage" is this small ceramic plaque by Sandra Magsamen for Dept 56  Sandra did not start licensing her work until 1997, which means some items from various brands might be barely 20 years old today.  But this item is newer.  A version you can have personalized is currently being made, and sold at mega big box retailers like WAL-MART.  A knock-off is for sale on the Alibaba site.

The photo above is the only one included in the listing, which is unfortunate because the reverse side shows the designer's signature, the Dept. 56 branding info, manufacturing location, and copyright date: 2005!  Shown in this eBay listing for the same item by an honest seller who listed it as "used".

The plaque can't be Vintage until 2025.  Oops.

This RV themed 9 X 12 pillow is pretending to be "vintage" and "machine stitched in the 1990s".  Uh huh.

You can buy it wholesale from Simply Home or retail on Amazon for less than AttiCuties is asking for her used (not Vintage!) version.

This teddy bear ring bearer pillow by S. Lee Jaeger was supposedly acquired "many years ago" by a bride (see Description), but the photo showing the label on the reverse shows no copyright date.  However, it does show email and Blogger addresses which indicate the label is less than 20 years old -- if you know how old Blogger is.

The Blogger address on the label shows the pillow in a post dated February 2011 -- 7 years ago!

Fake dated back to the 1970s, this Homer Laughlin Fiesta Ware Chartreuse Mug is clearly not the original chartreuse color, nor is it the original design used for Fiesta Ware mugs.  The bottom mark, the color, the shape -- and the price! -- all show that this is a 21st Century product, not something "from the 1970s".  Pants.  On.  Fire.  

For you Fiesta fans out there, the original chartreuse was made during the 1950s.  The Fiesta made in the 1970s were the Ironstone pieces in three earthy colors popular at the time.  New chartreuse was made 1997-99, so this item might be Vintage (barely), but this mendacious seller is trying to pass it off as the original.  CAVEAT EMPTOR!

This cross pendant necklace might be Vintage, but the mendacious AttiCuties has back-dated it to the 1980s.  One look at the clasp and sellers who know Vintage jewelry can see it dates from the 1990s, at the earliest.

For jewelry artisans and manufacturers during the 1980s, lobster (as shown above) was NOT on the materials "menu".

AttiCuties claims that this Cindy Shamp pillow is 20+ years old.

But you can buy it brand new here for less than AttiCuties is asking for a used one.

In one of her listings with "1990s" at the beginning of the title, AttiCuties claims this Lillian Rose wedding ring pillow is 20+ years old.

But that looks like at date 2010 on the label in the photo above.  

AttiCuties always represents herself in the Etsy Forums as being very conscientious about researching and dating her Vintage items.  Like this New Millennium commemorative banknote from New Zealand which was issued....wait for it...in 2000.

As documented on this website with all kinds of info about New Zealand

So there you have it:  what AttiCuties means by "adding age".