It's Throwback Thursday, and once again Etsy curates a made to order brand new customized item into the promotional email #etsysellsvintage

Another Throwback Thursday, and another new, made to order, customized, item is included in the promotional email which is (supposedly) about Vintage on Etsy.  Today's email includes only 5 featured items, 4 Vintage and 1 fauxtique, which is actually better than Etsy's usual 30 percent non-Vintage curation for most features.  I am sure the Vintage seller community on Etsy will be tearing up with joy.  Ha.


Let's have a look at Etsy's new "vintage" trend:  custom "vintage"!

The item is sold by HelloRetrodesign whose inventory includes handmade small furniture pieces (wood cubes and flat surfaces attached to contemporary hairpin legs) and Danish modern furniture of a style sold from the 1940s through the late 1980s.  All the Vintage pieces seem to have a similar pumpkin orange color.  Could be the photography, but I've owned Danish modern pieces from the 60s, 70s, and 80s and never saw colors like these!

The item featured is this small chest of drawers married to brand new hairpin legs fake dated to the 1950s, with 2 units in stock.

The item's description explains how this item actually is a piece of a wall unit (not originally a chest), and the many options available for height and color of the legs.  Nothing about this item is actually Vintage.  It's a brand new piece constructed from materials old and new.  Not from the 1950s.  CAVEAT EMPTOR.

This is how #etsysellsvintage.


AUGUST 1 --again!

Another "Throwback Thursday" promotion email arrives, and once again one of the 5 curated thumbnails shows a made-to-order fauxtique.  This reclaimed locker and basket storage unit is pretending to be "vintage from the 1950s".  But the description clearly says

Please note: These images are a sample of our custom work. Our locker units are made to order! Production takes 3-4 weeks.

And

Let us make one just for you! Custom sizes and colors are available upon request.

In the real world, outside the mendacious Etsyverse, made to order items pretending to be 60+ years old are considered fraud.  On Etsy, they're "vintage".  And that's how #etsysellsvintage.

Congratulations to all the Etsy sellers whose authentic vintage items were pushed out of consideration by this piece of faux.

Etsy sellers fabricate impossible ages for contemporary products, pretending they are 20+ year old vintage. Watch the pants catch fire and burn. #etsysellsvintage

I dunno if a picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes.

But these hilarious Etsy listings for products pretending to be "vintage" (at least 20 years old) prove that a picture can disclose the dishonesty of a seller.

I found these items while I was browsing through the "vintage" items at the Vintage link in the upper right corner of Etsy's pages.  Items are displayed in order of relevancy, so out of 10 million or so listings the sellers claim are "vintage" the 12,000 items shown at the link are what Etsy corporate wants shoppers to see.

LythaStudios sells supplies for making jewelry, but it seems that the shop owner is one of those Etsygirls who can't resist seizing a Tag-o-rama Moment.  (Tag-o-rama was a suggestion made by Etsy's management and staff that sellers should list their items in categories other than those that are the best, common sense, match for them.)  LythaStudios rammed her Kumi Loom Kumihimo disk into Vintageville even though it's a perfect fit for Crafting Supplies and Tools.  Dated by this mendacious seller as "Vintage from before 2000", the smell of combusting pants (on fire) becomes unmistakable as soon as you view the main photo:  the item has a date stamped right on it, and it says 2008!  UPDATE JUNE29:  the mendacious LythaStudios has revised the item, stating NOW that it is simply "vintage", which it will be according to Etsy's 20+ year old standard in 2028.  Why do Etsygirls get so obsessed with lying?  This item is clearly a tool for crafting, and would be listed by an honest seller as a (non vintage) Supply.  3 units in stock.

How would you like one of Etsy's "vintage" sellers to create a custom item for you, traveling back in time 20 years after she receives your order?  That's what FiregypsyVintage is selling in her listing for an embroidered patch with up to 17 custom characters -- and it's listed as "Vintage from before 2000".  Only in the Etsyverse can you order an item to be created for you in the future that is already 20 years old.  Except, of course, it's not vintage.  It's brand new.

Etsy has done it again:  on June 20 a handmade to order listing was featured as "vintage" as part of the "throwback Thursday" promotional email.  Just to remind you, Etsy shop owners can list anything handmade as "vintage" as part of the site's "tag-o-rama" concept of categorizing items in irrelevant ways to make them visible to more shoppers.  And doing this with Vintage has two additional benefits from corporate's point-of-view:  1) it increases the count of items listed AS vintage without adding additional authentic Vintage items to the site and 2) it discourages shoppers knowledgeable about authentic Vintage from shopping on Etsy (see too many fakes, and you click away) which, in turn, encourages Vintage sellers with declining sales to close up shop and leave.  Win, win.


The email, titled "Vintage summer staples" included these silver earrings with turquoise and blue topaz which the mendacious sack of a seller JanPalomboDesign listed as both "vintage from before 2000" and "handmade".  The seller's Description clearly states "Handmade to order", but the listing says there are 16 pairs of the earrings in stock.  There are so many contradiction here that Etsy's promotional curators found the listing impossible to resist!

Currently the link to the online version of the June 20, 2019 email has been disabled, and half of the images originally visible in the email version are gone.  If the link becomes available again, I'll post it here.

Etsy fake vintage reseller 20thcenturydesignsny has a second undisclosed Etsy shop Goodtimesvtg that also resells new items as vintage #etsysellsvintage

Etsy long term reseller 20thcenturydesignsny has another -- undisclosed -- Etsy shop Goodtimesvtg  Etsy sellers are supposed to include links to ALL the shops they own on their Etsy user Profile -- which this deceptive seller does not.

I discovered the two shops were the same seller because they have some of the same (supposedly) vintage items listed in both shops, and the two shops have favorited many of each other's items.  Oh, and I recognized this pair of Chinese import earrings from this decade as having been listed originally by 20thcenturydesignsny.  Recognized, because who could forget these photos?

Seller claims these are "Vintage from before 2000" but they are contemporary, and you can still purchase them new on AliExpress for a dollar and change


Let's have a look at some of the items Goodtimesvtg lists as "vintage", along with sources to buy for less in case you really want any of these items.  Remember:  don't let a mendacious Etsy reseller rip you off!


Goodtimesvtg says this resin family sculpture on a wooden base is both "Mid century" and "Vintage from the 1980s".  Since the 1980s are not the "mid" of any Century, one of these claims can't be true.  Actually, both of them are deceptive:  this is a contemporary product, from the early 21st Century.

Buy the same item on Amazon for less than $15, compared to the $35 price in Goodtimesvtg's shop.


This Chinese knock-off of a Scandinavian Modern ceiling lamp is priced at $249, and is pretending to be "Vintage from the 1970s".

The same lamp was featured in this blog on April 18, 2019 as sold by her other shop 20thcenturydesignsny  It's still for sale in both shops, but the price in the 20thcenturydesignsny listing has been increased to $273!  Current price on Amazon is $85.99; many listings on eBay under $100.


With the discovery of the second shop, following the mendacious antics of this long time reseller has become twice as amusing.

Etsy features contemporary item in Throwback Thursday promotional email. #etsysellsvintage

One thing that hasn't changed about Etsy since the first years of its existence is their corporate policy about promoting as "vintage" contemporary items that match current trends.  Seems like a no-brainer to me that items most likely to be trendy are those currently in production.  But then I live outside the Etsyverse.

One of 6 thumbnails shown under the link Fron the vintage vault is an assortment of contemporary mood rings with glitter and flowers pretending to be "Vintage from before 2000".  The rings shown were manufactured in China in the 21st Century.

Seller WeAreCrimsonClover wants $5.75 per piece for these rings.  But you can buy a lot of 20 rings from a Chinese seller on eBay and pay just $16.14.  Also on eBay are 5 wholesale lots of 50 pieces for just $22.88.  More:  a lot of 100 pieces in countertop store display for $25.99  Nearly 10K units in stock on DHGate

Check out the other jewelry listings in the shop and see ready to wear earrings listed as "crafting supplies" and a choker necklace pretending to be "vintage" that is contemporary and easy to find for sale NEW.

There are almost 3 million listings on Etsy for vintage+jewelry.  While many of them belong to deceptive sellers, most of them sell authentic vintage items.  Too bad Etsy's staff curators couldn't be bothered to find something real for their email.

Etsy long term fake vintage reseller 20thcenturydesignsny is still at it: back dating new products and misrepresenting them to shoppers as "vintage" #etsysellsvintage

Last featured here in July 2018 Etsy long term reseller of fake vintage (that is, contemporary mass made products) 20thcenturydesignsny is still at it.  Her gimmick is to list all of the brand new products as "mid century" and then apply fake dates to the items -- sometimes attributing the same item to more than one decade.  The shop is an amazing display of Etsyverse mendacity in action, and is one more reason why friends don't encourage friends to shop for vintage on Etsy.

Let's have a look at some of the brand new "vintage" currently listed in the shop.


Listed as "Vintage from before 2000" this "melting" shelf clock inspired by Dali has been sold multiple times (I counted 8 in the shop's Sold Items Gallery) by 20thcenturydesignny.  It is a 21st Century product, and easily found for sale NEW online.  Seller says it's "in perfect condition" (and why should a brand new product not be?), and it's priced at $35.

One of the dumbuns who purchased, and then reviewed, this product says it is "average priced".  But if you shop around you can find it easily for under $20  on Amazon on DHGate and of course on eBay  Take a look online, and be amazed at all the merchants selling it -- another glowing example of "unique" "vintage" listed on Etsy.


Another piece of "AliExpress Vintage" is this multi color ball coatrack which is, again, widely sold all over the web.  The seller titled it "mid century modern", and backdated it into "Vintage from the 1980s".  Priced at $65.

You can buy one for $40 and change on Amazon or Home Depot   Wholesale from a Chinese manufacturer here  Note that deceptive seller 20thcenturydesignsny borrowed the photo above from her wholesale source.  Not from the 1980s!


Another listing in the shop using a thumbnail photo from the manufactured is this Sterling and Noble pink neon wall clock that the seller (again) calls "mid century" and deceptively attributes to the 1980s (which was way after the "mid" 20th Century, just sayin') as well as being a "reproduction from the 1970s".  Remember that Etsy resellers don't simply lie -- they lie extravagantly.  Priced at $85.

Available from multiple eBay listings at less than half the price.  Similarly priced from multiple sellers on Amazon  But do feel free to pay the Etsy "stupid tax" and buy it from 20thcenturydesignsny.


More!  Here's another product listed with photos "borrowed" from the Chinese manufacturer:  a cheapie contemporary copy of a Scandinavian Modern hanging lamp back dated by this lying sack of a reseller to the 1980s.  Priced at $249!

Get it for about $100 on Amazon where various sellers have it listed in several color options.  Lots of listings on eBay


Finally, here's a contemporary bib necklace manufactured in China in this decade, but pretending to be "vintage from the 1980s".  Priced at $29.  Photo below belongs to the manufacturer.

Available from this merchant on DHGate in a choice of 5 colors, priced at less than $7.  Was first listed for sale on Amazon in 2014; get it for under $10 (lots of less than glowing reviews -- it's cheapie junque).  Available in 3 color options, priced at less than $5 on AliExpress

Many more contemporary products listed in the shop with fake dating.

Etsy fake vintage reseller shop DREAMWEAVER4U2 is at it again: her 1980s vintage is available factory fresh from China #etsysellsvintage

Last featured in this blog in December 2018 Etsy long term reseller DREAMWEAVER4U2 is once again listing factory fresh Chinese import items as "vintage" in her shop.

Check out this lace up front halter top the seller claims is "dead stock" "club wear" found in "storage".  Listed as a "vintage item from the 1980s", it is offered in 2 color choices, 2 units in stock, priced at $22.

Once again, DREAMWEAVER4U2 is deceptive about the sizing, which is based on the Asian market and sized much smaller than clothing manufactured for retail in the USA.  The description says "One size will fit Medium to Large", but if you don't check out listings for this item sold elsewhere online you are in for a surprise!

Listed on Amazon for just $4.09, the available sizes are listed as 4, 6, and 8.  The only customer review notes that the black version is "slightly see through".  And this item was first listed for sale on Amazon in January 2018 -- not the same thing as 1980s dead stock vintage.

Listed on eBay by a Chinese seller in black, priced at $4.66 (FREE shipping).  The size chart in the listing once again shows US equivalent sizes as 4, 6, and 8.

The white version is listed here on AliExpress priced at $5.40.


As always, when shopping on Etsy it pays to comparison shop, unless you want a deceptive reseller to rip you off?

Etsy abandons the concept of Vintage, and a flea market assortment of new items are about a third of the most relevant "vintage" listings #etsysellsvintage

It's been a while since I posted about the growing presence of listings for items much newer than 20 years old on the pages of the most relevant Vintage on Etsy.  I do look at the first 5 or so pages daily, and out of the 48 items on each page close to 20 of them aren't remotely considered Vintage anywhere outside the Etsyverse.

The pages are dominated by newly mined and processed mineral specimens (and decorative products made from them), "ephemera packs" (paper scraps, mostly not datable), digital downloads, and rugs (which are mostly Vintage).  Vintage jewelry, clothing and accessories are not commonly found there.  Neither are Vintage décor items or homewares.

Let's have a look at some of the most mendacious listings for ultra-relevant Etsy "vintage".

Instantly recognized as deceptive since it's listed as "vintage handmade" is this "hello" vinyl wall decal  Offered in dozens of colors, with over 50 units in stock.  While most of seller JustTheFrosting items are appropriately listed as handmade, the shop owner has opted for tag-o-rama, lying about the age of the some of them during the listing process.

Another tag-o-rama deceptive seller is craftycreekcreations whose "vintage handmade" bear decals are offered in multiple styles/sizes/colors.

Pretending to be a "vintage item from the 1960s" is this listing soliciting buyers for a "custom refinished Mid Century Dresser".  In other words, an altered piece of furniture with its value as a Vintage item removed.  Shop 150Grit also sells unaltered Vintage furniture, but the Etsyverse is all about increasing the carbon footprint of Vintage whenever possible.

TSRCrafts is another tag-o-rama abuser, who claims her digital download listing for The Beginners Bullet Journal page set is "vintage handmade".  Of course there is nothing remotely "vintage" about this item.

Finally, a listing that is nothing but mendacity:  a brand new, mass manufactured, toilet paper holder which has earned an Etsy AI "Best Seller" icon.  92 "vintage" units are currently in stock.

These are widely available all over the web in various metal finishes.  Seller Personalisedwood has been vetted and approved by Etsy's Marketplace Integrity Team to sell newly manufactured items as "vintage".  The item above also sold by SpearheadCollection as "handmade", with 79 units in stock.  UrbangrandmasAttic sells them, too, as "handmade"  with 9 units in stock.  As does CastironCreations with 9 units in stock.  How many deceptive Etsy sellers can dance on the head of a pin?


And the percentage of Vintage listings -- which includes all items deceptively listed as "vintage" when they're not -- on Etsy continues to slowly fall:  today it's just 16.7%, down from nearly 25% a decade ago.