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?

Mendacious Etsy vintage sellers still backdating Wovo plastic kitchenware items #etsysellsvintage

For background, please read my 2018 post about fake dating Wovo products on Etsy here  That earlier post includes lots of dating information for this brand.  I just did a Google search for wovo+bowl, and discovered the summary for some of the links includes a date -- always post 2000.

But it's still happening:  on mendacious Etsy vintage sellers obscure the reality of what they list for sale.

Here's a listing infested with misinformation for a melamine bowl by Wovo which the  seller has listed as "vintage from before 2000" even though it is easy to find online documentation that Wovo as a brand first existed in 2001, and melamine products were introduced to the market in 2003.  Priced at $40 -- perfect for you Etsygirls who love to pay the Etsy Reseller Stupid Tax.

Was sold by Wovo on Amazon beginning in 2017.  Designed and sold as a one piece Chip-and-Dip (which is clear from the photos), Sassypantsgrrl tags it as "serving bowl" and "planter".  Yeah, right?  One just like this was listed on eBay for $9.99, mint condition (no longer in eBay's database).  Wovo products, including this item, are correctly dated to the early 21st Century everywhere but Etsy.


More!  It's a Myth of the Etsyverse that vintage sellers should not include the brand names of the items in their listings in titles and/or tags because that is so business-like and off-putting to hipsters.  So I used Google images to find wovo+etsy, and this listing showed up (the word Wovo appears in the seller's Description) for a mixed lot of Wovo relish trays and 4 unrelated plates.  Sold by Passagethrutime who back-dated the item to the 1960s!  2 of these sets are available, priced at $49.  Just listed on October 1, 2019.

October 16

Just listed yesterday by HowdyPartnerVintage is this 7 piece salad bowl set by Wovo mendaciously claiming to be "vintage from before 2000".  As if.  And the seller admits in her description that, yeah, she's a bald faced liar:

"So this bowl set isn't *technically* vintage- but you'd never know it by looking at them. These were manufactured in the early 2000s by a company called WOVO as a reference to mid-century aesthetic. "


Of course a true Etsygirl prefers to purchase from a dishonest seller, so this one knows her target market.  I mean, the set is priced at $40, even though

"In good used condition with some minor cosmetic flaws around perimeter of larger bowl and some light wear and scratching to inside surfaces. "

No one but an Etsygirl would pay that much for worn items about a decade old when it's probably not impossible to find a MIB (mint in box) set at some point on eBay for much less.  UPDATE OCTOBER 21:  the price for the set has been reduced to $32.  Shouldn't be listed for sale on Etsy at any price, hon.  

October 21

Fauxtique seller RRGS featured in my original post about Wovo (linked above) has once again ID'ed their pair of acrylic snack servers as Wovo in a tag so it shows up in an Etsy search.  Pretending to be "vintage from before 2000", which it can't be since documentation shows the design dates to 2002 at the earliest, with the manufacturing some time later.  Was priced at $46 for the pair, now priced at the predictable (wait for it!) $40.  So cool the way mendacious Etsygirls huddle like sheep around their pricing!  Baaaaah!  Description still has the silly mention of "vintage condition" to indicate wear/damage -- these are used items less than 20 years old that were low priced and cheaply made.  But please do scoop these up and pay the Etsy Reseller Stupid Tax because, if you love to shop on Etsy, you kind of have to.

The 3 section bowl (bottom in photo) is for sale on eBay for just $10.99.  Seller says "great condition"


November 5


Added 2 days ago by pnpvintagegeneral is this cobalt blue acrylic Wovo twist tray deceptively titled "Vintage Danish serving tray".  Mendaciously listed as "Vintage from before 2000", which it certainly isn't.  Priced at $17, it is the same item sold as part of the set listed by Etsy shop RRGS (above)..

Will update here as more Wovo fauxtiques are listed.

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.

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.