Etsy Answers the Call to Boot Resellers

Posted by Handmade Spark on 3/20/10   |   Categorized as Etsy Tips,For Buyers,For Sellers,Front Page Features

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Apollo - Assemblage Robot Sculpture

Apollo - Assemblage Robot Sculpture

What is a reseller?

Technically a reseller is anyone who buys goods and resells.  On Etsy only 2 types of resellers are allowed, that vintage items and commercial supplies.  Anyone else reselling goods is not allowed.  by artisanwoodcrafting

Reselling has been happening on Etsy for a while and Etsy has been working hard to put a stop to these shops.  Their latest and greatest effort is the SCRAM (Systems for Catching Resellers and Abusers of the Marketplace) system that Chris Bohn from Etsy has developed.  This system is designed to spot resellers. what is a reseller….. Well the classic reseller is someone who is attempting to pass off mass-produced goods as handmade items.

Technically a reseller is anyone who buys goods and resells.  On Etsy only 2 types of resellers are allowed, that vintage items and commercial supplies.  Anyone else reselling goods is not allowed.  by artisanwoodcrafting.

According to Etsy  in a recent Storque article they mentioned that SCRAM  is essentially an internal Etsy “bot” that prowls the many halls of shops and listings, looking for probable resellers and other troublemakers. Since SCRAM was introduced recently, it has identified several hundred potential resellers, each of which our Support Team is reviewing for appropriate action, ranging from gentle reminders to outright banishment. Furthermore, SCRAM pays particular attention to catching those reseller shops that seem to pop up overnight, stuffed with mass-produced products.

SCRAM sounds like an amazing system and i am glad it is running and catching resellers.  Etsy has also just released a new part of their Atlas system that will allow Etsy members to flag shops that we see as potential resellers.   Etsy members are already familiar with flagging and  reporting listings that break Etsy’s rules.

So be on the look out for resellers and do your part to flag and get rid of these resellers.

  • http://www.oscarbaronartists.com/ Mike Smarr

    Great news! I like how etsy is trying to keep everything as fair as possible. Good effort. Thumbs up folks!

  • http://icouldsewdothat.com/ Elizabeth

    How exciting; this sounds like a very innovative solution for a very long standing issue. It’s hard enough to be seen with so many great handmade artisans out there, I don’t want to have to compete with these mass market resellers too.

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  • http://ArtSnark.blogspot.com ArtSnark

    Yay! Some resellers are so blatant & have been getting flagged for ages. Glad something is being done

  • http://AudreyGardenLady.etsy.com AudreyGardenLady

    Glad to hear it!!
    Love Apollo!!!!

    Audrey

  • http://MoxyFoxDesigns.etsy.com Susan Givens

    Think this just happened to me. I had listed a vintage doll book and within 20 minutes I had a convo asking me lower the price. Checking the potential buyer, I found she collects all things related to old dolls — but with no sales. Raised a red flag. Reselling was my first thought.

    Thanks for the great report.

  • http://www.flossyfloss.com Kim M

    I’m glad to see etsy make this move. It’s the reason I left this selling platform.

    I noticed a seller selling the same silk pillow covers my imprter friend sells.

    I asked the seller about it and she said she was helping the poor over worked ladies and children of India… that’s a sweat shop in my book!

    I left.

    Might consider coming back now.

    Thanks again.

    Kim M

  • http://sophiecls.etsy.com Charity

    I’m so glad to hear something is being done about resellers.

  • http://Beadlady5.etsy.com Beadlady5

    A very interesting article–something that I was definitely not aware of. It’s good to hear that Etsy is implimenting this “cracking down” on resellers. I think alot of “legitimate” sellers will be feeling pretty comfortable about this.
    Thanks for the info.

  • http://www.helenesmith.etsy.com Helene Smith

    I’m really gald to hear this! Pretty sure I’ve spotted a few, and it’s a bummer. Thanks for the article!;)

  • http://www.tkdesigns.etsy.com Tracey Kleinwaks

    I’m always happy to see etsy’s improvements! I too wasn’t aware of people reselling items! I’m glad etsy is trying to do something about the problem with SCRAM, and if people dilligently flag shops they come across, it should help cut down the problem considerably.

    Tracey

  • http://MoxyFoxDesigns.com Susan Givens

    I wonder if the resellers wandered over from eBay where reselling is allowed?

  • Deemoda77

    How about this guy, he is reselling and getting $1000 a day selling cheap goods. Etsy refuses to boot him even after showing his items are selling on 2 websites.This site sells clothing for huge profits a lot of it!
    http://www.etsy.com/shop/thaisaket?ref=ss_profile%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20?ref=ss_itemsYou can find all of his stuff at this site, http://www.weloveshopping.com/shop/s_product.php?page=5&shopid=112738&groupproduct=allIf you look at the sellers stock number on etsy, you will see he has the same stock numbers, just added some numbers to try to conceal his idenity.I also call this shop in Thailand. They are open 9:30am to 7PM, and are located in the Pratinum shopping center, famous in thailand for selling clothing and jewelry.this is his other shop for handmade earrings, all made in bali,http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheEarringChest?ref=ss_profile++++++++++++%3Fref%3Dss_items, you can buy all of this very cheap on this website, Look! www.bodytouchonline.comHow about this guy, claims to make earrings on Etsy, http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheEarringChest?ref=ss_profile++++++++++++%3Fref%3Dss_items, you can buy all of this very cheap on this website, Read his profiles, I had to laugh. To make clothing and earrings, you need a huge skull and have to been in a poor country like Indonesia.He said he is learning tooling, the people that made the earrings are not learning.here is a site in Bali that is a corporation, it shows a lot about this kind of product and the people that make it.http://www.coconutjewelry.com/Tribalstyle on etsy,http://www.etsy.com/shop/TribalStyle?ref=ss_profile%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20?ref=ss_itemsthese are the same people that are on Ebay also, but they know they cannot sell much on Ebay. On etsy, they sell $200,000 a year! Can you imagine a reseller on etsy selling that much?here they are on EBAY, and they admit they are part of a corp. They are in Cleveland OH, same place as tribal style!Look how this hurts other sellers on Ebay. Mark sells $1000 a day and does nothing, just replaces stock numbers, and this other site, in their profile, they dont bother to mentionthey are a corporation and are resellers of earrings made in bali. Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!

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