Etsy is the most popular online handmade venue. It advertises itself as a place to buy and sell all things handmade.
When sellers of Mature art and handmade goods signed up, they took a look at Etsy's terms of use and agreed. They built livelihoods off of their businesses and worked hard at it.
Etsy has decided to change the way these sellers are viewed on the site. They are slowly filtering them out of the search starting with the treasuries by setting all accounts to opt of out seeing these listings. There is no indication to new and old accounts that they are being filtered out, so knowing to opt in is near impossible. They will be charging these hidden sellers the same fees as those with complete visibility.
We, the sellers that have done our best to follow the TOU from the beginning, are asking that Etsy require users to opt in rather than opt out, having the default filter setting such as that mature listings/treasuries are not being automatically filtered out. This will give all users the ability to opt out of having mature listings come up in the results while treating those sellers fairly in terms of visibility. We are paying the same fee and should have the same opportunity to be seen as your other sellers.
We are also asking that, if the opt out filter described above is implemented site wide that the first image restrictions placed on mature listings is lifted so that our visibility within the site is equal to the other sellers paying the same fee that we are. If any further changes are made to the TOU and to the site that will affect views and visibility in any way that Etsy communicate them to its sellers via convo, e-mail, front page notice and a notice upon sign in.
**NOTE: Once you have signed ipetitions will take you to a donation page. At this point your signature has been recorded and you can close the page without donating**
The growth of this petition has captured the attention of a national tech reporter. I am preparing a formal brief detailing how search throttling impacts our earnings to share with their desk tomorrow. Expect an update once the interview process is complete.
Reached 100 supporters
July 16, 2010
7 Comments
M
Mark Jenkins
16 years ago
Featured
SERIOUSLY ETSY? I work hard on my stuff and now nobody can even find it in a search. Fix this mess.
D
David Watson
16 years ago
Featured
Etsy has totally changed. It used to be about the artists but now they just want to hide us away.
S
Sarah Vogel
16 years ago
Featured
been selling here for years and this just feels like a kick in the teeth. why change the rules now when we have done nothing wrong?
J
Janet Shaw
16 years ago
Featured
My views have dropped to almost nothing this month. How am I supposed to pay my bills if nobody can see my listings?
K
Kevin Mason
16 years ago
Featured
just make it an opt in for buyers. stop punishing us for selling mature items that fit all your guidelines.
L
Linda Lee
16 years ago
Featured
its not fair to take our money and hide the shops at the same time. either let us be seen or stop charging the fees.
M
Michael Hougom
3 years ago
Suspended my account but let others sell the same stuff?
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Etsy is the most popular online handmade venue. It advertises itself as a place to buy and sell all things handmade.
When sellers of Mature art and handmade goods signed up, they took a look at Etsy's terms of use and agreed. They built livelihoods off of their businesses and worked hard at it.
Etsy has decided to change the way these sellers are viewed on the site. They are slowly filtering them out of the search starting with the treasuries by setting all accounts to opt of out seeing these listings. There is no indication to new and old accounts that they are being filtered out, so knowing to opt in is near impossible. They will be charging these hidden sellers the same fees as those with complete visibility.
We, the sellers that have done our best to follow the TOU from the beginning, are asking that Etsy require users to opt in rather than opt out, having the default filter setting such as that mature listings/treasuries are not being automatically filtered out. This will give all users the ability to opt out of having mature listings come up in the results while treating those sellers fairly in terms of visibility. We are paying the same fee and should have the same opportunity to be seen as your other sellers.
We are also asking that, if the opt out filter described above is implemented site wide that the first image restrictions placed on mature listings is lifted so that our visibility within the site is equal to the other sellers paying the same fee that we are. If any further changes are made to the TOU and to the site that will affect views and visibility in any way that Etsy communicate them to its sellers via convo, e-mail, front page notice and a notice upon sign in.
**NOTE: Once you have signed ipetitions will take you to a donation page. At this point your signature has been recorded and you can close the page without donating**
The growth of this petition has captured the attention of a national tech reporter. I am preparing a formal brief detailing how search throttling impacts our earnings to share with their desk tomorrow. Expect an update once the interview process is complete.
Reached 100 supporters
July 16, 2010
7 Comments
M
Mark Jenkins
16 years ago
Featured
SERIOUSLY ETSY? I work hard on my stuff and now nobody can even find it in a search. Fix this mess.
D
David Watson
16 years ago
Featured
Etsy has totally changed. It used to be about the artists but now they just want to hide us away.
S
Sarah Vogel
16 years ago
Featured
been selling here for years and this just feels like a kick in the teeth. why change the rules now when we have done nothing wrong?
J
Janet Shaw
16 years ago
Featured
My views have dropped to almost nothing this month. How am I supposed to pay my bills if nobody can see my listings?
K
Kevin Mason
16 years ago
Featured
just make it an opt in for buyers. stop punishing us for selling mature items that fit all your guidelines.
L
Linda Lee
16 years ago
Featured
its not fair to take our money and hide the shops at the same time. either let us be seen or stop charging the fees.
M
Michael Hougom
3 years ago
Suspended my account but let others sell the same stuff?
Help this petition grow
Share it with friends to help reach
250 signatures.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
or sign with Email
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via . Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
Signing with Google or Facebook verifies your signature instantly — no email needed.
SERIOUSLY ETSY? I work hard on my stuff and now nobody can even find it in a search. Fix this mess.