How Dropshipping Ruined Online Shopping

[@itsgabibelle]

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[@witchypophead]

Hey Gabi I have a question. Do you have a set posting schedule or is it more like, posting whenever the video is finished? I use youtube on my laptop not my phone so I don't get post notifications so I'm trying to figure out when to look for new videos. Love your work! Have a great day

[@foxbuns]

Gabi, I'm a disabled jewelry artist. I (actually) handmake all of my jewelry and use properly hypoallergenic materials, and I would love to send you a PR package with freebies! Etsy is an absolute warzone unfortunately.

[@dontgivetwothwips3615]

Love your videos but not your choice of sponsors. Factor is owned by Hello Fresh and to say they’re a problematic company is an understatement.

[@juanjoseloboa9407]

qq00

[@WilliamBrowning]

I. F. S. M. I. T. I. L. M. I. A. M. N. I. F. sounds like an instant KZbin classic. When you make the merch for it, go a pair of teeshirts for a couple, starting on one shirt and ending on the other.

[@appeasing]

It’s especially ruined Etsy. I can’t buy much from there anymore because it’s mostly drop shipped crap incorrectly labeled as hand made.

[@Velereonics]

once i find a real shop on etsy i save it immediately. The number of times my ass tried to just get 3 yards of linen like my god.

[@brettdomenick]

Literally! I stopped shopping on Etsy once I saw that my entire purchase history was straight off of Temu!

[@me0101001000]

There are some extensions which tell you where a company is based, where the seller is from, and if there are similar products out there. The one I use is called Cultivate, but I'm sure there are more out there.

[@Muhluri]

I guess we need a new Etsy. Then the cycle will start again

[@lolno6465]

It's absolutely infuriating. It's also Not Just handcrafted Things, Vintage items are also really difficult to find now. A few years ago when i searched "Vintage Ring Art Deco" i would get alot of those and a few abspired ones, now i only find cheap Rings that have nothing to do with what i search for and all Look the same

[@Slash-pq]

It's disheartening to see genuine handmade products buried under mass-produced items, truly sad

[@Reverse_Cat_Cowgirl]

Yeah, etsy doesn't really do anything to regulate. It seems like all you have to do is say "it's hand-made" and they are cool with it. Etsy had it's peek in the 2010s.

[@Temp-g8o]

I agree. People are flocking to cheap sites bc you get them for less than at the dollar store. With free shipping...

[@kwaddamage8286]

i cant even find normal stuff that isnt these drop shipped brands. even when i am intentionally trying to filter them out. examples: hand vacuums, darts, thermal printer. 3 things i recently tried to buy and didnt mind spending a little more for a quality product. i literally couldnt find unless i went to brothers website and bought a super expensive thermal printer, or bought like 100$ professional level darts. there is no in between. its either the absolute shittiest chinese knockoff, or super premium name brand

[@yesed]

As someone who can handcraft everything from a chair to jewlery I can assure you that youre very correct. Competing with robots and machines that take minutes to craft something is nearly impossible. And most of items that were handmade just vanished because makers just realized its easier to sell something from china and make a whole lot money. Plus its nearly impossible to make unique pieces because that price tag will be in hundreds or thousands

[@litigioussociety4249]

It's consumer demand. Only a ludite or an authoritarian opposes competition, innovation, and efficiency. The problem is fraud is involved in many cases with the product not being as advertised, or claims of quality being false, but that can happen even with individual producers and artisans. Fighting the fraud is very hard, because of governments getting in the way of private accountability being able to engage the same way in different places.

[@moxxibekk]

I remember when etsy first announced they would allow mass-marketed items and not be exclusively handcrafted small businesses. People were rightfully pissed. But etsy didn't care.

[@littlemsterious991]

"People were pissed, etsy didn't care" seems to be their slogan these days

[@pemex23]

Are there websites/apps that exclusively sell items from actual small businesses?? It's really sad to see all this mass produced garbage

[@WhimsicalCrochet]

@@pemex23 I’m curious about this too. As a small buisness, my shop gets no sales and barely any views because of the insane amount of wholesalers on Etsy now. I’d love to be able to just sell on a site that is HANDMADE only. It hurts that I have to price my items so low that I get paid less than minimum wage, for the sake of having the prices be some what understandable next to the wholesalers.

[@TheTundraTerror]

Regretsy died far too early.

[@WobblesandBean]

​@@TheTundraTerror RIGHT? April, you abandoned us when we needed you most!

[@TEFFTPATTERN]

I work for the Post Office. The Temu craze is mostly over. This winter we had mountains of orange Temu packages, every day… now its just back to Amazon boxes and regular packages. Some Temu still comes through but the volume took a nose dive a few weeks ago.

[@frozencatcake]

Good

[@ggghost000]

This just made me grateful I wasn't working my mail sorting job during this craze, sorting 90k with our dinky lil warehouse 😭

[@wildfirefox1]

It's just as bad where I deliver because it's a poorer area. I always feel terrible delivering seventeen temu packages a week to one house because I know it's all garbage. I might start printing stickers that say "warning: contents hazardous and made in sweat shops" 😂

[@Its_Asteria]

Same here but through UPS. Though we get mountains of Amazon returns daily at my specific location. I think Amazon has a similar issue with dropshippers. Most Amazon returns either are due to the product being broken or due to it not being the quality that was listed (cheaply mass produced)

[@Its_Asteria]

​​@wildfirefox1 I started verbally telling people that at my ups store job, I do the same with shein as well. People are more likely to listen to someone who works at a mailing store it seems. Cause it's worked quite well as far as I can tell, + the craze dying down

[@shangerdanger]

what's funny about handmade jewelry is that it's SO EXPENSIVE to get legit handmade jewelry, that nobody would buy it. I have a few friends that make jewelry and most of them are backed up with work for about 6 months, and if they charged an amount that would make them paid fair, nobody would buy it.

[@kaylakthulhu8623]

Handmade ANYTHING is so expensive 😢

[@purplecat4977]

Specifically, it's labor intensive. I've had people ask to pay me to design and knit them sweaters or gloves or what have you, and I turn them down because I couldn't charge them a price that would pay me a fair wage, and charging less hurts people who are trying to make a living at it by training people to think 'this is what this should cost'. (BTW, other knitters: You can thrift yarn by finding sweaters in thrift stores that are machine knitted as separate pieces and then stitched together. I have a couple of different sweaters that cost me about $5-10 in materials to make. There is more work involved because you have to unravel them, but if you're on a budget, you can make sweaters this way.)

[@LeDank]

@@kaylakthulhu8623yes, because you have to pay for a living human’s time and living is notoriously expensive.

[@sadkirby161]

​@@purplecat4977great advise!!

[@maxbielawski6745]

My mom makes jewelry are her margins are super thin and she’s always working

[@britty23]

My mom is obsessed with Temu and it was obvious all of our Christmas gifts were bought from there. Everything was so cheap and broke within a few weeks. I dont even want to think about how 99% of this crap is going to end up in a landfill. Its disgusting consumerism and it should be illegal to sell this crap.

[@Cultureclashash]

Nooooo :(

[@Dos_Caffeine]

Fuck dude. That's rough :(

[@AnxietyAttack.]

I’m so glad my mom is forced to use technology at work to keep her sharp on these things. I’d be so upset if she spent a crapload of money on one of these sites.

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

A lot of it is illegal to sell, there's just so much going through borders now that nothing gets checked

[@HamsterK37]

It's the thought that counts? I tried. Sorry.

[@anthonyperez8143]

I hate how Etsy isn’t how it was before. I can’t trust that everything is a small business edit: fixed the typo since there was such a discourse over it

[@ilspeth99]

I remember when Etsy was born. I was selling vintage lingerie, really gorgeous nightgowns, on eBay. But eBay started making life very hard on vintage sellers. Etsy came along promising to be a comfortable place for vintage and handmade sellers to thrive. And it was, until the company went public. When that happens, the only thing that matters is shareholders.

[@ShotgunRocket]

I feel like it's been this for a while now. I once looked for antiques and got page after page of brand new stuff from a single seller. I feel like it's doing what eBay did: prioritize high volume sellers at the expense of everyone else, essentially dooming itself to stagnancy and mockery.

[@TheNewton]

enshitification FULL STEAMER AHEAD

[@Matt_The_Hugenot]

Closed my store there.

[@singithi8556]

Why is it a bad thing that there are small businesses selling boutique products on etsy?

[@bvallerina]

Something I’ve found is emailing the Etsy seller to see if they can customize the product. If you get a response and they can, probably an actually small business.

[@StarfieldWX-tb42]

This is big brain thinking. Thank you!

[@annagizziatlas62]

That’s a great idea. I’ve messaged Otto ask if they craft the piece themselves or if it’s outsourced and that also has worked.

[@GDISinc]

First off you can't blame the sellers on Etsy. It's Etsy who caused this by going public. Now they have shareholders and they wanted more money so Etsy opened it up to that because they had no other choice!! Etsy sucks today even handmade is garbage and not worth the money!!

[@silverdreams3]

I make wire wrapped jewelry and a lot of my stuff is unique and completely one of a kind... high quality and takes HOURS... I only say all this because with my stuff, unless you order a custom piece, there's only so much I can do to personalize it once it's made. That SAID... the wire wrapped g world has been OVERWHELMED with Asian companies making low quality wraps SUPER quickly (like... quickly enough that it's evident). They WAY undersell a lot of the small businesses that work hard to make quality products... and we are struggling to compete with that, especially when the customers can't seem to tell the difference... which is honestly sad because the difference is HUGE and obvious... But anyway...

[@LowlyDegenerate]

I still see a lot of people using drop shipped items for that, but it appears that they order the items in bulk and customize them themselves. So kinda drop shipping, kinda not, but still far better than pure AliExpress junk

[@annastreetly4307]

i'm an etsy seller myself and it's super depressing to see how much mass produced crap gets boosted in the searches while all my hard work is buried underneath, especially knowing that etsy themselves don't give a shit thankyou so much for making this video!

[@WillowSchneider]

Yeah Etsy and their BS policies and stupid bots shutting down vintage stores and truly handmade items for stupid reasons!

[@bib4eto656]

What do you make?

[@amaiwaez]

I’m interested in what you make? What’s your store?

[@teryakisoda]

what’s your store?

[@ColdCreekB]

This is so sad, really. Etsy used to be such an awesome way to support small businesses selling *authentic* items. Now it’s all the same cheap Chinese things you see on Amazon 67 times in a single scroll.

[@Kenmoore674]

Edit: Thank you all for your likes and sharing your stories! Sending you all love. Your whole section on Etsy made my heart sink. My small business totally flopped on that platform due to the floods of drop shipping and “fake” products like these. I finally shut it down because it wasn’t worth it.

[@briancrawford8751]

My handmade soap business flopped because my product wasn't pretty enough, and since I made it from lye and expensive oils like olive and used essential oils for subtle scents, I couldn't compete with melt and pour crap scented with overwhelming chemicals and wrapped in that perfectly aesthetically pleasing manner people seem to prefer over actually decent soap. Maybe I should have just ordered ten or twenty kilo blocks of melt and pour, added chemical scents, and paid someone minimum wage to wrap it all pretty and nice. I found out that consumers preferred pretty soap that smelled nice to the options I offered like completely scent free 100% olive oil soap that contained only two ingredients: lye solution and olive oil. If I showed it to someone, they'd immediately sniff it and get immediately turned off by it, not understanding that some people need that kind of soap because usually "unscented" isn't at all unscented, and "hypoallergenic" does not mean it won't cause an allergic reaction in the highly sensitive.

[@leetwrapsandresin5677]

Exactly! Same with me. It's been absolutely terrible since that started happening.

[@DragonriderEpona]

​@briancrawford8751 Is there a chance you can try selling your soaps on markets? Like farmer's market, renfairs, bazaara, flee markets etc? I know the fees for stalls and booths and the time you need to spend there are quite high and long. But I've seen more and more soap makers and medieval markets and some local markets during the last years. I don't know if it's just a European thing or easier be done here than the US. But I know from personal experience and peiple around me that they actually really like those self-made, traditionally made soaps.

[@ANPC-pi9vu]

@@briancrawford8751 I would definitely recommend doing local farmers markets and trying to get your products carried at mom and pop shops in your area. That is the best way to sell something like that. Also, reality is that looks matter. I'm sure there are ways you can brand and upscale your presentation without altering what the product is made out of. There is a market for artisan soaps of specific formulations, but you have to go to your customers and make the sale, they will not come to you. I hope you can still make your dream a reality. There are people out there doing it. Just look into your options and watch some video guides on marketing. You can do it.

[@topwomble]

This sucks. I love buying unique gifts on Etsy but it can take hours of browsing to find proper stuff, especially in jewellery

[@kate7827]

The Etsy thing kills me. I've been struggling financially lately, but have also been wanting to invest in higher-quality items. So when I got some Christmas money I decided to finally treat myself to some jewelry. I spent hours choosing the perfect item on Etsy, hoping to get something high-quality that would support a small artist. The item I got ended up being a cheap piece of junk sold for $60. I went back to Etsy again thinking I'd be more discerning this time around, and bought my girlfriend a guitar strap that I thought was handmade. As soon as it arrived I could tell that it was also a dropshipped item. It's infuriating and I wish this shit wasn't so rampant

[@AC-rb9rl]

I relate I remember thinking I did a good job purchasing an handmade item and supporting small business...just for me to see the exact same jewelery pieces on Shein for way less than what i paid for 😪😪😪😪 Now I stick to purchasing indie perfumes but even then, I'm still cautious

[@LexTime89]

Etsy really ruined their site when they started to allow this.

[@GhostCake27]

Etsy is the worst!! A lot of these shops will make their storefronts look like indie brands or a one person homemade shop but then it’s drop shipped :/ it’s hours of sifting through junk. Gotta be even more critical these days

[@dobbyaf559]

@@AC-rb9rlshein also steals small business designs as well. So the actual business suffers because people think it’s dropshippig too!

[@karensmith3738]

Please don't turn your back on Etsy! Those of us who are genuine handmade artists are here struggling to be seen among the rampant drop shippers. And Etsy knows there is a huge problem and is implementing ways to weed them out. Sadly. it will take time and I can only hope we will be able to hold out long enough to still have a business when they finally rid the platform of them.

[@Natasha_Velkirk]

I forst saw Temu when it was doing its "Shop like a Billionaire" adds. I sat there stunned at the gall of implying that billionaires purchase what was clearly normal cheap stuff. Learning it's a dropshipping nightmare that sells shit for dirt cheap prices, while having the same quality as a motorcycle contructed entirely by two babies using clay, is unsurprising.

[@the-postal-dude]

the tagline isn't implying that billionaires buy cheap shit, it's implying that you can feel like a billionaire because you can afford pretty much anything on the site (also, unsurprising is an understatement)

[@dilEmmaClaire]

As someone who recently started an Etsy shop for real handcrafted items, it can be really disheartening and frustrating to see drop shippers fill the search and home pages rather than real artists :/

[@Evelyn_Rose1151]

I was trying to commission art and I had to spend hours checking listings for Ai use. It’s like 90% Ai now

[@megahorses89]

@@Evelyn_Rose1151as an artist myself, it’s encouraging to hear that people who value actual art are still out there!

[@rgggxo]

Etsy has sucked for a long time 🥹 it sucks.

[@moonshineaudios5740]

@@Evelyn_Rose1151I draw cartoony styles (furries especially) if you want to check me out ^^ @panpanillustrations Not for the sake of purchase, I just like talking about + showing off my work without the stress of porting it on social media ;v;

[@joTheBonas]

I think you go better selling locally and advertising in your town and area if you make handmade stuff. then people know that its really handmade and high quality

[@AJR355]

I remember in secondary school we had a woman come in to tell us about her successful business and how she achieved it. we had to sit and listen to her tell us about her drop shipping 'business' for an hour 😭 she didn't even try to hide it

[@drunkenprayer8390]

That sounds dangerously close to MLM.

[@smalltime0]

why did you have to listen to them?

[@kdc6002]

school assembly id assume @@smalltime0

[@ColdCreekB]

There was this thing called “SMC” about 20 years ago, where it was advertised on TV how to make money at home. You could build a website and sell product… it was all drop ship crap basically. Everyone was selling the same cheap stuff from a catalog.

[@AJR355]

@@smalltime0 motivational speaker wasn't in the budget and we were supposed to be deciding our career paths

[@vanessabrannan4059]

As a jewelry maker, I feel this so so much!! I've discovered my love of selling in person, which really helps. Plus, having supplies so I can make earrings during the lulls really helps assure people that I'm actually making them myself!

[@thomicrisler9855]

Yes! I love seeing crafters and artisans actively working on their crafts at fairs. If it's something particularly unique I even like chatting with them about their techniques, it's so nice to talk to passionate people.

[@ionia2376]

That's such a cool idea, I'd love to be able to know more about the technique used in the jewellery I buy❤

[@justaninnocentpomegranate3702]

I’ve also noticed dropshippers at local craft fairs and farmer’s markets and it’s so infuriating! It feels almost impossible to find genuinely handmade products

[@donotgotthis]

Genuinely, one of the only things tiktok is good for, imo. I like finding smaller artists on tiktok because a lot of them actually film their setup/ creation process.

[@andreat6882]

That’s not what dropshipping is. Dropshipping is specifically when people sell a product through a website without owning any of the product. A dropshipper will go on cheap wholesale websites like alibaba or aliexpress. They will find a product on that website they think will sell well. Lets say they picked a mug and that its price is $2. They will then take the images and information from that listing and post it on their own website at a markup, lets say $20. The KEY here is that they never ordered stock of that item. He will then advertise that item, and when someone buys the item from the dropshipper’s listing, the dropshipper is basically a middleman and buys the item for $2 and sends it DIRECTLY to the customer. He never receives any of that item. He makes $18 off of this. What you’re talking about is just people buying stock of certain items and pretending they made it themselves.

[@amphithere]

​@@andreat6882yes this is a very important distinction to make! Too many people don't make this distinction online. Dropshipping is when there is a middleman involved and the seller you bought the item from is NOT the one sending the item. Dropshipping has to involve literal shipping, which wouldn't apply to a live in-person market or fair. I totally understand what they meant though. It's a huge issue where some sellers at fairs are actually selling cheap crap from Aliexpress amongst genuine vendors.

[@xblade11230]

@@andreat6882 There's also an entire industry of get rich quick scammers, encouraging people to buy courses to teach people how to drop ship , and they cherry pick examples of like one guy making a mil per year from dropshiping when the vast majority of people buying these drop shipping classes won't make it big

[@Nikki_the_G]

Yeah, not drop shippers. They don't physically have anything, they order off Alibaba or whatever and have it mailed to you.

[@ttaisinha1]

The absolute guts of KZbin to show me an add of a guy selling a dropshipping course in the middle of your segment on dropshipping courses is baffling

[@blackstar9481]

youtube shows you related ads, so like, lets say your watching some video about an IT subject, you'll get an ad about a vpn, so its not really all that baffling to be honest.

[@MrSociofobs]

@@blackstar9481 It is baffling how they're still relying on failed strategies. Those algorithms pushing "related" content clearly aren't sophisticated enough to tell whether the content they're relating something to is supporting, or opposing to the thing they're pushing. And then they blame the users for blocking ads.

[@mandarinsandclementines2997]

Its the irony that is baffeling ​@blackstar9481

[@interstellarpepsi]

This just happened to me

[@nandoskitty1723]

Omg this just happened to me!! Was he ginger with a UK accent? It started around the 4 min mark 😂😂😂

[@TimeBucks]

Another problem starting to occur is photos being stolen from true handmade business and then being used across other platforms

[@TheKnallkorper]

She mentioned that

[@asantepauwels]

I wonder if there's a way to have a hidden water mark or not so obvious. To help with this

[@KingOfGaymes]

@@asantepauwelsI feel like a big obvious watermark would be best at this point lol

[@xChaosReignsx]

I can’t stand that!!! It’s so obvious too

[@leetwrapsandresin5677]

Yes I have seen that happen to another jeweler

[@keystone9920]

This sort of shopping experience is even starting to affect irl shopping. Recently there were two art/craft fairs near each other in my area so I went to both. Obviously not everything sold was hand made but much of it was original designs by that seller (like fan art stickers). I saw a pair of earrings at the first market and then at the second, exact same pair (they had a very unique design). Who knows where they came from but people are literally selling at small local markets shit that they did not design or produce.

[@sarahperry8299]

ONG one time when I went to a an area where small sellers had booths and I saw a ring that I had bought on Amazon a year earlier likely from a dropshipping type of business

[@char932]

Is this legal? Like genuine question

[@LowlyDegenerate]

​@@char932yes, assuming they pay taxes. It's no different than a Walmart buying items to sell

[@kemerydunn9532]

​@@char932depends on the market. It's always "legal" but some market runners are stricter than others about needing to be actually handmade. If you cheated and get found out then you'll get kicked out. But some market runners don't care and it sucks. If a market as MLMs, then that's a tell tale sign that they don't have standards

[@fairpoet]

​@@char932it's legal but in bad taste. Some markets will state outright in their merchant agreement that you have to sell items that you've made, but it's up to the organizer to research and reinforce. The two big art shows I do take months to notify participants because they have to research each applicant to confirm they make their own stuff.

[@karolinamanka2113]

The problem is that Etsy does nothing to protect legitimate sellers and allows drop shippers to spoil the market and create unfair competitiveness. They don't care as long as they pay the charges.

[@Delightedly]

The problem with the way Etsy works is that they profit more from fast drop shipped fake stuff, and so they can deprioritize actual artisans in search or punish them for taking a while to handcrafted custom products.

[@JadyLester]

Simultaneously raising the fees for all sellers, to the point that it's less worth the trouble of selling on Etsy! And gamefying the algorithm, making more hoops to jump through just to be seen.

[@absolutemaniac7368]

Sorry to put this on a top comment but I really want people to see this: is gage beasley a dropshipping site? I brought this up with other people and they got extremely mad at me for insinuating it but like. A bunch of stuff in their store isnt from the same manufacturer and can be found on Alibaba. So wth. Why doesn't anyone talk about them bc theyre literally like, kinda huge? Theres ads for them everywhere and theyre always the first results for plushies of any weird creature or arthropod.

[@CRneu]

Back in the early days, Etsy actually did verify business addresses and went to some lengths to ensure you were ordering from small businesses. I don't remember when but Etsy abandoned all that one day and it absolutely flooded the website with cheap goods. I think Etsy was having a hard time verifying business information and decided to just give up.

[@DHD10000]

unfair competitiveness, isnt a thing lol

[@cookingwithsilence]

Remember when the internet was where you could find the best price? Now you find results for whoever spent the most money to put the product in front of you. It doesn't matter to them, you are paying extra for them to market the product to you.

[@pondy1]

just sort by price 🤣

[@cookingwithsilence]

@@pondy1 good luck!

[@RobotronSage]

So much THIS

[@RobotronSage]

@@pondy1 the pont: . Your head: 👄

[@mikenewbold1699]

@@pondy1 no leave him to think he's clever with his comment

[@pedrofreire6169]

I work at a small business and I can't tell how many times I've heard people say: but that's way more expensive than what I saw on the internet! after offering something handcrafted or at least made here in Europe. People just completely lost their sense of how much effort goes into making something...

[@solitarelee6200]

It reminds me of something I heard that was like, being in your 30s is realizing that you would, in fact, pay $800 for shoes, so long as you could buy them from a cobbler! I spent a small fortune on some very nice black formal shoes when I started working, in a simple style that's held the test of time and will go with most outfits. The difference between them and the $30 sneakers I grew up wearing was so jaw-dropping I couldn't believe it. It's completely different from the materials to how it's crafted to the mentality that went into it. The shoes are designed in such a way and with such materials as not only last long, but be completely possible to repair by another person in 100 years.

[@frostreaper1607]

They never had that sense in the first place, this is something artists know from early on.

[@kerstiny4698]

If they say something like this then they are not your target customers anyway...many ppl are just happy with cheap functioning stuff. It would be unrealistic to say that they can't tell the difference between quality items or cheap items. They often do.

[@relo999]

@@solitarelee6200 You don't need to be in your 30's to learn that, you just need to have access in your daily life to quality stuff. Coming from a small town with a proper butcher, multiple bakers, fish shops, former european champion of cobbling, tailor, and quite a few other small scale shops you notice quality difference quickly, on top of that it's generally not notably more expensive. Most of which are still the default shops to go to (thank fuck for my extremely conservative town where most are family ran business'). Having lived in a few major cities however I've notice that finding quality products is extremely expensive in major cities, probably due to finding people that can actually do the job becoming rare. And a lot of people simply buy goods based on sticker price rather than lifetime price. Here in the Netherlands we have a saying (poorly translated): "Cheap is expensive". To give my own example I've had the same 200 euro leather jacket for 15+ years that I only recently replaced and not because it was worn but simply because I got fat and didn't fit properly anymore. Meanwhile I have friends that swear by cheap primark and aliexpress jackets they buy for 50 euro and last a few months at best. The amount of money I saved by not buying cheap jackets is probably in the thousands at this point. On a side note, it pisses me of to no end when people say "aliexpress/chinese crap sellers makes it so poor people can afford products". You can't tell me people can't buy 20 euro for a good quality socks that last half a year or longer but can shell out 5 euro's every 2 weeks for socks that almost fall apart when you look at them funny. Those products help poor people to stay poor.

[@Creampuf1977]

How do you respond to those people?

[@yuki_mr]

I live in a city where jewelry making is traditional and one of the city’s biggest income sources. People are using this to sell “handmade jewelry” in streets where tourists usually buy, lying labeling it as handmade and shadowing the ACTUAL traditional stores. So, be aware that this also happens on small stores and inform yourselves before buying in this kind of places. Be careful and support real local artists and their businesses! ❤

[@yuki_mr]

Also sorry if there’re some spelling mistakes, I’m spanish

[@NBDYSPCL]

It gets worse because my shopping mall is now full of stores that open for a few months, sell a warehouse of white label and dropshipped garbage and then close. They're bleeding into the physical world now. I absolutely hate it.

[@nerychristian]

LOL. It's been like that for decades. All stores sell products that are made in China

[@Fragenzeichenplatte]

​​@@nerychristian LOL no, selling stuff from China is not automatically dropshipping

[@Boop4544]

I think stores like this often just look temporary. Blank walls, cheap looking shelving, and a bunch of junk inside

[@kellygreen7236]

And bulk. Plus when you guve it more than a goance you can see the poor quality of the products and then you cant stop seeing it in every aspect of the store. It's so obvious they threw this all together in less than a week and BAM, they're gone ​@Zuzu22322

[@bartomolev6682]

its unrelated but there is a pizza place in my shoop that changes ownership and name litearly every 6 months to a year *eddit: the menu and the inside of the restaurant stays the same with no changes

[@kimiroar2644]

One of the worst parts is this muddies the water of people who actually do make handmade goods, have their images stolen and their 'items' resold on shein, alibaba, temu, and the likes. I know because I know an actual jeweler that constantly has to deal with this. They often have no recourse to try and take those products down, or even if they do it often gets relisted weeks later by someone else.

[@darkarcana9448]

No joke. I have found my fiancé’s art being printed on stuff and resold on Amazon and on wish, shien, temu, what ever it’s going to be in the next 2 years. We tried to file a dispute on Amazon since we are a small business of two people selling on etsy and drawing stuff to share with other fans in fandoms being turned into someone else’s profit without even crediting the artist. Amazon just blocked me from seeing that seller but they still out there printing our art on coffee mugs, blankets, posters, phone cases everything. They even pay for my fiancé’s patreon to steal the art for their personal profit. So it’s tarnishing our work and names while also blatantly stealing and making us look like we may not be the original artists too since the artist is NEVER credited.

[@bluegypsydoll]

Id consider it a cyber attack at this point 😅

[@milk-sharks]

yes!!!! and then it makes the actual seller look less credible since “it clearly must be dropshipped”!!!

[@chattycatty3336]

I know it sucks but girl, you GOT to watermark your images. I know it takes from the display, but it's better than having scammers use the photos of YOUR products to steal YOUR potential customers.. don't let them win! Edit: maybe try to come up with a way that your products are always real. Like engraving tiny initials or a star into a product. Something a cheap manufacturer would never notice. Or maybe use a specific color in your photos that signify is YOUR product. For example, there's a baker on youtube who often has her videos stolen. So she started using bright lime green cake batter, so you always knew it was one of HER cakes being made. The batter is covered by the end of the video, but it's a permanently ingrained "watermark" of sorts

[@darkarcana9448]

@@chattycatty3336 we water mark them all the time. Thieves will seriously crop it and or blur it that the watermark fades

[@sas534]

Its really sad because Etsy used be unique. That was their whole thing. Same as how Pinterest has gone to sht because of ai images

[@cev-tr1xp]

my pinterest feed is 60-70% ads. i don’t even get on there anymore because it’s gotten so out of hand

[@maddie8983]

I haven't come across a crazy amount of AI images on Pinterest yet but yeah the ads are outrageous, and a lot of them are borderline inappropriate/sexually explicit. I report a lot of them and occasionally one will actually get taken down.

[@wasserruebenvergilbungsvirus]

Pinterest was always shit because they force you to make an account just to view images.

[@treebehrendtbrox5766]

Showing the reverse image search to thwart dropshippers earned both a like and a subscribe. Looking forward to seeing more of your content (and commenting to tell the algo that this is good stuff, and it should show this video to more people!)

[@JonNuclear]

Something that also has happened is that these factories will find actual hand made high quality products that are doing well on Etsy or another site and then make cheep replicas and even use the same picture. Which is even worse because you get all the normal issues mentioned in the video but also now the actual person who created this product is having their business stolen and being labeled as a drop shipper when they are not

[@NamelessAidan]

I have seen this happen with some plush and clothing I liked on etsy from actual small, independent artists. After they started to have success, someone in an overseas factory stole their design and their photos and started selling the same item for much cheaper and end up out-competing them in search results with a stolen, cheap, unethically made version of their own item. It's so messed up.

[@FlorSilvestre12]

What the fuck

[@Slash27015]

Remember Segways? Those futuristic two wheeler things that would read your body's movements and turn it into motion? The Chinese clone of that sold so well that when Segway tried to sue them the Chinese just bought Segway, which is crazy

[@katherinec2759]

Bernadette Banner has an AMAZING video entitled something along the lines of "Buying my own dress--an educated roast." It's hilarious, because this is exactly what happened to something that she made (though she wasn't selling it, just showing how she made it).

[@Savithny]

Safiye Nygard has a whole video in which she ordered the same floral dress that influencers were wearing from a bunch of different sources and it became clear they were stealing the high-end manufacturers photos, and stealing influencer pictures as well, and selling really bad, cheap copies of a high quality dress.

[@AthenaPOfficial]

GABI THANK YOU!!!!! I hate that they’re trying to rebrand greed as ambition. You can be ambitious and grateful

[@chobies5383]

If Gabi is willing and so are you, both of you guys should collab.

[@LordOfElysium]

Ah, someone i recognize! 😄

[@Abigart69]

Holy fuck athenap

[@SeanFerree]

Well said!!

[@laraalvarezzz2]

OMGG ATEENA HIIII I LOVE YOU

[@anxiousanimeartist]

I’m a small business owner who makes crochet plushies and sells my art. I sell on Etsy, so I’m glad that people are willing to scroll through the endless supply of drop shipped plushies to find mine. Especially when most of my shoppers weren’t specifically looking for crochet plushies in the first place. I’m so grateful for my customers who are willing to pay for the time it takes to make everything and also appreciate the amount of detail I put into everything (especially customs).

[@kuru4467]

Do you mind sharing your shop name? :)

[@MCalland]

​@@kuru4467 I second this. I am interested

[@anxiousanimeartist]

It’s Graveyard Art Designs on Etsy I’m on vacation rn though, so my shop is closed this week

[@vx8431]

A good friend of mine is in simillar spot as you. She makes crotchet things and jewlery selling on Etsy so she has to market heavily on other platforms since swamped by dropshippers.

[@ValleyOfTheShadow]

I do too and the reality is that AliExpress and Temu aren’t just coming up with these ideas out of nowhere. I’ve created several trends and am the top in what I do and getting knocked off is just a reality these days. Patent and Trademark office in the Us takes nearly a year while I’m knocked off within just a couple months. I’ve seen my stuff for sale across the internet. It sucks but you just have to keep innovating and it’s exhausting.

[@katimius]

Wow, thank you for that reverse search tip! Another way sellers on Etsy get around the "hand crafted" thing is by offering personalization, like adding engraving on a drop shipped bracelet.

[@rjgar0721]

You mentioned Dollar Shave club and as someone who worked at the razor blade manufacturing plant for their "competition", ALL BLADES ARE MADE THE SAME. I tell everyone that the only difference between the premium brand and the generic brand is the handle and packaging. Please everyone save your money and buy the generic brand.

[@scarletweaver171]

And if you’re a woman just buy a man’s razor because pink tax is real.

[@shabath]

​@@iagas9Store brand food items come to mind. Oftentimes comes from same place the brand name ones do.

[@SaitekFreak999]

Or just buy safety razors. Much better shave at an even cheaper price.

[@youresogolden_]

Had a similar experience with those Estrid razors. I actually used them and found them rather poor in quality and their customer service wasn’t too helpful. Found the same blades in the men’s section in a drugstore for half of estrid’s price. Quality of the razor itself is much better, too. Immediately cancelled the estrid subscription and never looked back 😂

[@weir9996]

@@iagas9She doesn't claim that it's dropshipping though, she claims it's white labelling, which is what it is

[@lizzyblitz07]

I worked in a small town family owned jewelry store. Here are some tips to know what youre getting and spot bad quality 1 - "Solid gold" can still mean a gold shell with nothing in the center. All it actually means is that shell is made entirely of gold. Even Kays will sell a "solid gold" necklace you can completely squash with a pinch - legally 2 - There are different terms for different thicknesses of gold coating. Gold plated is thinnest. Gold-filled is thicker and will last a long while if you dont get it wet or get cleaners/perfumes on it. Its fine if you accidentally get it wet, just dry it immediately. Gold vermeil is similar but can tarnish like silver. So best to go with gold filled 3 - Gold coated pieces arent always .925 sterling silver underneath. It can be a copper mix or even just copper. That's the stuff turning you green. Unless youre allergic, sterling silver (code 925 or .925) wont stain you. Dirt might come off, but polishing with a cloth/toothbrush and silver cleaner will get rid of that. Keep it in a small pouch and itll tarnish way slower. Its like bread - minimize the air its exposed to 4 - Stainless steel and Surgical steel dont mean anything. It could have a high copper content, meaning itll tarnish and/or turn ya green. If you want legit stainless steel, and ESPECIALLY if its going in a piercing, you need to look for 316L in the description and/or stamped on the piece. Thats the stuff that wont corrode. Implant grade titanium is best but more expensive. Dont worry about it unless you're getting piercing jewelry 5 - Even with fake jewels, if you want it to last, look for prongs. If the jewels aren't being held by prongs, they're just glued in. They *will* fall out. 6 - Sterling silver tarnishes, but its not a huge deal if you're willing to polish it with a cloth and some solution now and then. A toothbrush may be needed for tight spots. NEVER wear it in piercings though Hope this helps. Keep it in mind if you ever use ebay, go to thrift stores, pawn shops, etc. Anything gold will be stamped with its purity (10k, 14k, etc). Sterling silver will always be stamped 925. Trust no one, but trust the stamps 😂

[@pouakai]

So even on Temu the stamps are legit? Also, why can’t you wear silver in piercings?

[@lizzyblitz07]

@@pouakai So, the caveat with all my advice is - these sites lie. Obviously if a reverse Google image search pulls up a bunch of other posts, don't trust it at all. But the main thing I see isn't lying, but misleading with the general terms I mentioned. I doubt you'd receive a piece with a stamp that wasn't accurate because it's not worth the trouble, but who knows how far scammers will go. I'm just trying to help as much as I can. As for piercings - NO. Absolutely DO NOT wear sterling silver piercings. The whole thing with silver is it tarnishes. It creates dirt (basically) just from oxygen alone. Imagine it in your body. No 🙅 Very old ear piercings are maybe possibly the ONLY exception, but it's up to whether or not you're willing to take that risk. I have 1 pair that's sterling, but my ears have been healed for 20+ years, and I inherited them. I check they're clean each time I wear them. Obviously sterling earrings with steel backs are fine

[@TigerOfTheMist]

Prongs are not the only setting that hold jewelry without glue, just FYI. But these are good tips, thank you

[@theXgreatXperhaps]

What would you look for if trying to buy gold jewelry that you want to wear everyday and really have it last? Like good gold earrings.

[@carleeelizabeth]

thank you for this!

[@rosecity_chris]

I drive for amazon, and what pisses me off the most is they make trillions a year, but dont pay me enough to feed my child. I qualify for assistance, yet have a full time job for one of the biggest corporations in the world.

[@faeriesmak]

That sucks. I am sorry about that.

[@publicenemy1238]

You look like someone who has a mustang gtr and got a women pregnant who ur not even with anymore

[@emmacurnuck]

Cause our good friend Jeff keeps it all for himself to go to ‘space’

[@publicenemy1238]

@@emmacurnuck 🤦 you obviously obviously aren't very intelligent

[@SinkLikeStone]

You drive for a DSP, which provides delivery services for Amazon, you don’t “work” for Amazon.

[@The_pillow_fort]

I hilariously got an ad for manscaped in the beginning and then another for Alibaba on this very video. I realize its because its mentioned in the video but i find it quite funny that they cant tell between good and bad mentions so they just end up adding some extra dystopia on to the video. How meta

[@scarletweaver171]

Having a small business I had to leave Etsy because of all this. Not only did they start charging me for a percentage of shipping, which makes no sense, these fake “handmade” items ruined it.

[@bento393]

They took your money when you shipped it? That's insane.

[@shabath]

Yeah etsy is not a good guy either, they treat their sellers extremely poorly.

[@shabath]

@@bento393 They have all kinds of funny costs for the seller. For example a while back they ran a campaign for free shipping, making the seller pay for it themselves or lose visibility on the site.

[@dontgivetwothwips3615]

What?! They don’t charge you for shipping, the buyer pays unless you have free shipping setup. There’s a lot to complain about with Etsy but I’ve seen so many sellers who font seem to understand how the site and fees work. How do I know? I have a shop there

[@rainyday6430]

@@dontgivetwothwips3615they do actually, this is one of the reasons I closed my shop. They take a percentage for carbon emissions and shipping practices. It’s just another way to nickel and dime the small sellers to death.

[@laura_moonlight_official]

Another problem starting to occur is photos being stolen from true handmade business and then being used across other platforms to sell cheaper versions. Some of these etsy shops have also been shut down for "copyright infringement" for product and product photos that were original their own, I am seeing at least a post a week about these problems now.

[@daliam8715]

This is why we shouldn't just assume that something is drop shipped just because it's also on those cheap and shitty websites. We can however, use our brains. Eg the Caitlyn person. There's no way that ring would be 30 bucks unless she actually bought it herself for that much cheaper.

[@xblade11230]

@@daliam8715 Obviously the lowest price is the manufacturer , all the other 48 guys just are middlemen who buy and sell the same thing after jacking up the price

[@pchou8118]

That's why it's always good to encourage those businesses to watermark their photos! Dropshippers are getting better at photoshopping those but if it takes them an extra step, it's better than not having one at all.

[@iRaven23]

watermarks can be easily removed with so called "ai", you can even drop multiple photos at once and the watermark will be removed with one click of the button. And it's really hard to make a watermark that it is unable to remove@@pchou8118

[@KingOfGaymes]

Which is ironic because I see official artwork from tv shows and anime being slapped onto random products and sold on Etsy 💀

[@aperson9847]

The fact that this has spilled over to Etsy is such a tragedy. I try to be extremely careful when buying anything from that site these days, and always save/heart sellers who I'm 95% confident are actually small business owners so I can buy from them again in the future, but there's no way to know for sure anymore. Basically, online shopping is dead to me.

[@robertawalsh2995]

The other problem is the a lot of creators who sell printed products (greeting cards, books, playing cards, etc. ) have them printed in China and then shipped to the US for them to sell. Meanwhile, the manufacturer in China rips off the item, packages it in a cheaper format (thinner paper or whatever) and sells it directly for cheaper. There are lots of items on Etsy that are being sold by the creator and the same item in a cheaper format is being sold on Etsy for cheaper by the company that stole it. I used to report these to Etsy but they don't allow me to anymore. Now they only accept complaints from the creator.

[@olgapopova5768]

But it is happening even IRL!!!! I was visiting some fairs this fall/winter and about 80 % of stuff there are the same sad chinese fakes all over again, marked as "handmade". I dont remember it being that bad even 5 years ago :(

[@ChillingDusselgurr]

​@@robertawalsh2995Yeahh this. So many artists out there who sell cheap plastic keychains and stuff and like. I love supporting small artists whenever I can, but not when their merch is cheaply produced plastic waste with a character drawing slapped onto it lol.

[@amandasdesignsss]

Yes! It's heartbreaking. I handmake my earrings. But with these drop shippers it makes me want to leave etsy.

[@aperson9847]

@@amandasdesignsss I feel like someone needs to make a website that shows sellers on Etsy who sell verified handmade/vintage stuff and are not dropshippers. Because Etsy won't do it themselves.

[@canoepick1140]

The irony is that the ad before I could watch this video was an online tutorial program on how to setup an online storefront for dropshipping.

[@bbyjscx]

Same 😂 Shopify

[@Outerghost559]

@@bbyjscx Literally same haha

[@JeniJade]

@@Outerghost559hey I got shopify too

[@wowsuchname1939]

It’s really sad that ETSY has become a hub of marked up dropshipped products. It’s annoying that users are now having to spend time searching to see if items are dropshipped, the handmade label can be so misleading

[@alexhoward7627]

It’s so annoying. I bought my boyfriend what I thought was a beautiful handmade / bashed copper bracelet from a small local business to replace one he loved for decades. It’s obviously mass produced. So disappointing and a huge waste of money 😢

[@thearchivist250]

Etsy should have never gone public. It’s the opposite of the original company.

[@artuno1207]

The word you're looking for is "enSHITtification" and it's something we are now seeing everywhere. Companies have amassed so much wealth and power that they they know they can reduce the quality of their products while raising prices. Because they know there aren't many alternatives.

[@MassiveSwordAndCards]

As a seller, I was unable to remove the handmade mark from my listings. Etsy forcibly adds that and would not let me remove it. Basically, I had a limited manufactured production of some particular designs of mine turned into Enamel pins, since that's not really something you can handmake. I added the manufacturing info and everything, but Etsy still says it's handmade. And when I contacted them, they refused to do anything about it. They are in on the scam.

[@romeocelestial]

something especially heartbreaking to me is it's seeping offline. i see these cheap dropshipped products at FARMERS MARKETS ...

[@jennatandy6272]

That’s just so disheartening

[@bloodmooncomics2249]

Pretty much that and MLM tables now. Very rare to see people selling their handmade things now. Last time I went to one there was only three tables of handmade things and the rest were dropshipped items and MLMs like Pink Zebra. Makes it so I don't want to go to them anymore.

[@TQFMTradingStrategies]

Ever since we legalized it here our farmers markets have been pretty wild.

[@r3mm13arts]

And yet, the booths that I see frequented and bought from are those very same ones. Buyers don't have discernment or care about it either, sometimes. People will often ask me as an artist if I make my work and compliment me, but will often buy from people selling stuff you could get at Walmart. I don't get it. Why come to a farmer's market for Walmart stuff...? And why the coordinators let them in to begin with is beyond me. Well established events have no excuse.

[@riribeasley4741]

I see them in shopping malls a lot. Like those pop up stores in the middle of the centre

[@thestoushlife]

As a hand-crafted small business, it can be frustrating when people tell me my product is too expensive not considering the cost and time it takes to make my product i font drop ship i make everything by hand in small batches and I've since learned to focus on the customers who are interested in what I have to offer. and appreciate every one that supports 😊

[@dmo848]

Ah screw them and do you

[@thestoushlife]

@dmo848 thank you. I learned to focus on my brand and building a good reputation with my company.

[@meows_and_woof]

People just want a product to be honest most of people don’t care for strictly hand made items. They just want a quality and a good price

[@gaudylady7]

Don't worry. I was talking to a designer named Andrea Geer about pricing. I was saying I am afraid to charge what I want for my items. She told me people will buy what they like, the right crowd will have NO issue pay the prices! :) I am one of those people don't mind if I like it and it know its a good quality. Wishing your more wonderful customers in the future as well!

[@Cheepchipsable]

Welcome to capitalism...

[@melevonne]

As a Etsy seller myself it's so sad. Wish Etsy would have a big overhaul and make it for handmade only, but since they went public they've gone downhill.

[@slowstowns]

as someone who sells crochet items and patterns on etsy, there's also been an influx recently of shops stealing other people's photos and recreating them poorly to sell to people who buy them. it's genuinely sad how the people who genuinely put time and effort into their products are buried under mass-produced crochet items that aren't what people see in the pictures

[@kiereanm3254]

Not to mention AI crochet content that’s been ruining the fiber arts space it sucks

[@lVideoWatcherl]

Watermark your photos. Put it directly over the product, with decent transparency. Ppl can still see the product, but for crooks and frauds the picture is worthless.

[@tsdobbi]

@@lVideoWatcherl It's insanely easy to remove a watermark with photoshop. If you are actually willing to go the legal route to protect your copyright, you do it by putting things in your photos that wouldn't be obvious to a thief, but will allow you to indisputably prove in court are yours. i.e. Just recently there was a start up company that made phone cases based on the schematics of the guts of the phone they were designed for. On the inside of electronics the PCB's memory chips etc will have serial numbers etc. on them. Well this company changed those numbers to have meaning to their particular company (like some of the numbers were their company founding date, binary for their company name etc.) Any way the MASSIVE phone case manufacturer CASETIFY. Released their own line of phone cases designed to show the guts of a phone, some customers noticed the designs looked awfully similar to this startup. Some people accused them of plagiarism and they responded with "our designs are 100%" original. Then people looked closer at the phones and found the little "easter eggs" the start up put in their designs that only have meaning for their company, were also on the Casetify phone case designs. When this was pointed out, they immediately took that case line down despite claiming earlier they were 100% original. They stole and were completely unaware these seemingly random numbers and stuff on the designs actually had meaning specifically for the company that made them and weren't just random numbers simulating serial numbers etc you would find on electronics parts.

[@solitarelee6200]

@@kiereanm3254 God, yeah, I recently bought a pattern (I'm new to the crochet scene) only to realize it was AI generated and the finished product looks NOTHING like the photos in the pattern. It's garbage compared to the ones I've bought via Ravelry (the only place I will go for patterns now, may the bots never find it), just based off of repeating the same magic ring concept for every single part regardless of whether or not it really works.

[@evanthesquirrel]

If it is mass produced and crochet, it was slave labor

[@godspeedyoublacknerd]

I love that dropshipping is essentially just those kiosks in the mall that nobody shops at taken to the nth degree

[@snail8672]

Plus a lot of those kiosks are drop shipped items too

[@maggiebottoms6526]

@@snail8672I was walking around my normal mall today and I was thinking of this. The phone case booth there can literally only be profiting by getting them for cents on the dollar

[@GracieeLinn]

That is the REALEST comparison

[@JulesKM]

Hello Fresh, a company known for it's unethical treatment of workers, owns Factor. I normally wouldn't notice the sponsor, but it stood out to me in the context of this video.

[@caranook]

I thought that they were competitors, that’s really bad.

[@randomtinypotatocried]

@@caranookHello Fresh has been making quite a few "competitors" as of lately

[@julianlaresch6266]

Hello fresh owns like 5 or 6 "separate" meal in a box programs

[@dontgivetwothwips3615]

I looked it up and you’re right. But seriously, are there any ethical companies advertising on KZbin? I’d wager no

[@dillpickle-no9hl]

@@dontgivetwothwips3615​​⁠​⁠I mean most businesses that advertise on here aren't the greatest, but Hello Fresh is one of the really bad ones. Considering the fact that Gabi seems to be pretty passionate about worker exploitation, I think its fair to let her know that her sponsor is well known for exploiting its workers, so she can do some research and decide whether she feels comfortable working with Hello Fresh brands in the future.

[@LKBean]

I really enjoyed this highly informative exposé --- It's so packed with information, but also very interesting all the way through. Love everything, especially the sass.

[@NeonNijahn]

This reminds me of how restaurants on uber eats will be listed multiple times with the same pictures but a different name for the establishment.

[@cardiganweather]

Ghost kitchens!

[@caranook]

What the fuck, I’ve never noticed that! Is it illegal?

[@KOCMOH4BT]

​@caranook Eddy Burback has a deep dive into ghost kitchens. It gets worse when ghost kitchens avoid a bad reputation and/or bad health inspections.

[@Automedon2]

@@caranook Yup, some of the cute sounding little boutique restaurants are a actually IHop, Chili's or Outback. You Buy from 'Milano's Pizzeria' , it's Dominos in a different box.

[@GeekyBoutiquey]

Hi former toy & collectible manufacturer. The Cancer warning is a warning to get around the California required extremely expensive testing that needs to done on every individual batch of product. A lot of small businesses complain that there are "ambulance chaser" lawyers who go after their vulnerable businesses who sell things in CA without having that warning on their products. One of the small companies I used to work for was one of these companies. But even big companies put this warning on their packaging because it's way too expensive to test every order and subsequent order over and over again. The warning is usually a legalese way to avoid having to do a California only testing law beyond standard testing requirements. This is also why you see a lot of toys claiming to be "novelty collectibles" because testing for items that are meant for kids is even more expensive.

[@TheNewton]

What's a little cancer for children, why all the fuss.

[@GeekyBoutiquey]

@@TheNewton no, it's not that there are cancer causing things. It says "it may have" because legally they have to say that because the cost to test for the very expensive tests are not financially feasible for most companies, especially small companies. These tests are above and beyond the normal testing that companies actually do. For example, the one company I worked for made a batch of 500 pins and the ambulance chaser lawyers claimed there was one of these "possible cancer causing materials" in the product (it's actually wild what this list is in CA, citing out of date and not really conclusive testing). Their claim was that we didn't warn the public. Man...they're gunna have to go after all the Comic Con Artist Alley folks too! I have yet to see the same warning on their packaging and I know a few of those artists who make pins from the same factory. When you do a deep dive, you'll be surprised that there are literally lawyers and private individuals with lawyers who make millions chasing products like this. All they gotta do is buy the item, have it tested, send a complaint to the courts for damages, then profit off the court order.

[@gerilyn]

Thank you so much for explaining this, not enough people know this information and lose their minds over how “toxic” and “cancer causing” every item is, regardless of how one google search for a reputable source will prove otherwise

[@kai325d3]

@@TheNewton Actual braindead comment

[@nicolasechegaray7565]

And when everything is “known to the state of CA to cause Cancer”, nothing will truly be known to cause cancer 😂

[@TheEducat0r]

Dropshipping seriously killed the vibe of online shopping! You never know if what you're getting is legit or just a scam!

[@parsonk4041]

Check sales numbers and/or reviews. Or flip a coin.

[@lukeshioshio]

What's really crazy is I didn't know if your comment was legit or just a bot

[@NadezdaBeka]

I'm not sure about other countries but when I see a generic white background photo of the product (or a bbl model for clothes) on a cheaply designed website with hefty prices it's 100% dropshipping.

[@richardwillson101]

Dropshipping has nothing to do with being a "scam". The two are not really connected. Dripshipping just means you can't guarantee the quality or safety standard of a product you buy domestically. It also means you are paying more for something you could get cheaper direct. Scams are not usually linked to drop shipping.

[@fborgestls]

​@NadezdaBeka in Brazil there is one of the biggest marketplace sites, both in terms in online traffic and actual marketshare numbers, that let people sell used goods (or as new but in small quantities), but straght up DEMANDS that the seller provide the main photo with that generic edited white background. That will be the thumbnail and first image of the product in your listing, and you can actually choose one that other seller already provided, so that your listing will be as close to everyone else's as possible. The big data driven online marketplaces of today just want sellers to provide the most generic and identical information (and actual products) as possible, so automated tools can deal with the listings more efficiently, they can rank sellers (and actually deal with them) as easily as possible, pool up reviews for the "same products" and make them seem to apply to every listing of the "same" thing for every seller, disregarding individual care, quality, handling and/or delivery issues that different sellers might have. Even in this dropshipping world of ours, there are a lot of original and great products with decent quality, in spite of being mass produced whitelabel stuff, that is cloned by other factories across the street with worse components, tooling, parts, finishing or whatever else, and the marketplaces force sellers to make their listings as if those products were the same thing, and compete in price with even the same reviews applied to both.

[@Greatgoogilygoo]

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for making this video! This is really important info that people should know and I appreciate seeing creators talk about it.

[@JKTCGMV13]

One of my main takeaways from this is to be reverse image searching a lot more things I plan to buy

[@knufyeinundzwanzig2004]

I mean you can probably filter out the lowest of china garbage there is but I don't think this really helps in other cases, or even when searching for generic items

[@yuarentlucky]

This doesn't help, from experience because I just find MORE dropshipped items, I am convinced that I will never find something that's not dropshipped again. (Except hot topic...)

[@patricknelson]

And that’s particularly useful when they’re too lazy to even be bothered to attempt to do some basic photography themselves. However, photo theft has always been a big issue in e-commerce for _many_ years.

[@TheCinderDude]

It's useful bc you can find the source of the dropshipping and get it way cheaper.

[@Zack_Wester]

@@TheCinderDude its still complete garbage even if its 1% the cost. what good is a pair of earing for 5 usd when you might get lead poisoned after one use.

[@syrpentina]

I dont buy from the "nameless" brands on amazon anymore. I look up the companies, their warranties and satisfaction guarantees, and when possible, I buy from that brand's website directly

[@PhilDietz]

And do you think every manufacturer has an IT department and engineers and webfarms? It all goes to the same place. Some smarmy company who hosts websites for smarmy companies who sell things that they actually get from smarmy places manufactured in china.

[@caramelcocoa234]

@@PhilDietzwhat are you talking about 😂

[@caramelcocoa234]

I agree same! Even name brands I buy in store or from the original manufacturer

[@TimeQ-o9p]

We''ve come full circle

[@Am-wq4mp]

It’s usually cheaper directly off the website now too

[@MoiselleTheFae]

My partner has an etsy shop for pins she designed and handmade dice and we've found those pin designs stolen and sold on the cheap and cheaply made on temu. We tried to reach out and they just don't care. We even found the cheap temu knockoff being sold in a comic store the other day! And she of course ain't seeing a cent of that. Absolutely ghoulish.

[@Fragamitake]

For pin designs (assuming it’s enamel pins), sadly the culprit is most likely your manufacturer, or another manufacturer you reached out for quotes for Best way I’ve seen is to always send and post with watermarks until you finalize stuff

[@melbapeach162]

@@Fragamitakeunfortunately most watermarks can easily be removed nowadays using simple AI 🙁 I’ve seen with my own eyes an artists genuine piece (with watermark) and then the exact same image being used by these scummy sites without the watermark, they just edit it out

[@seisage]

Hopefully you at least reached out to the comic store! If you haven't, I'd recommend doing so. Temu won't care a whit about selling stolen designs, but an independent comic shop might, especially since the artist in this case is local to them. At the very least, you alerting them to the stolen design might get them to stop selling the knockoff version.

[@Yakuzaka1412]

It's the same for EVERYTHING and I hate it so much. I like buying quality Items I really do but it has become so damn hard to find them. I used to buy a ton on amazon. this year I made ONE order when usually I ordered atr least once a week.@rat_in_a_bucket

[@maryshannonhart7921]

This actually made me really happy. The amount you talk seemingly negatively about china (as a government not as a culture) and forced Uyghur labor makes me feel good. I never see people talk about that. It’s never really about Uyghurs and it should be. I think it’s because it’s easier to believe that what you’re buying isn’t being forced, but it’s just sad. I’ve seen like less than five posts that include talking about Uyghurs in the past year and it’s sad. These are the people we need to be talking about and supporting! Also, a note about Amazon, I’ve even ordered something from there that said it was from California and later I got a notification that my package was stuck in customs after coming in from china? I’m sorry, you can’t trust anything if you’re trying to not buy from china, it’s impossible. I hate corporatism.

[@jacquelinefatica1404]

I'm not all the way through the video so I don't know if this was addressed, but I just wanted to chime in and also mention that sites like Temu and Shein, etc...actually steal product photos from artists on Etsy to mass product the stolen product. And then it's the original artist who gets accused of drop shipping and using photos from those sites. It's so important to expose that!!

[@GhostCake27]

Yes!!! So important to talk about!

[@lyndahatches765]

Yes it’s something that should be addressed! They steal designs and make them out of crappy materials. Then the original designer is accused of selling crap! Ask me how I know.. 😢

[@MassiveSwordAndCards]

The best way to avoid being accused is to show your process. If you don't actively post on social media showing your process, I'll simply never believe you handmake things. It's unfortunate but that's how it is.

[@Dia.Ghoul8]

I see this a lot! A lot of people who design pins will see their art / pin on these sites, but if you order it, it is a very low quality version of it. I even had a friend who designed plushies show a site using her unique design/ even the photos she took herself and if you ordered it, it was just a completely different plushie.

[@stephanieestep7529]

I came here to say this. I have had my jewelry photos stolen by Alibaba. Even other Etsy sellers have used my photos.

[@CharlotteLavoie-g7t]

I work for a small family jewelry company (only 5 people) and we are no longer on etsy, we are on shopify with our own website. We also sell wholesale to museums like the Smithsonian and some local native museums. I was actually watching while working!!! It took me 20 minutes of your video to make 1 pair of pearl earrings. So idk how long it should have taken to make 3 million orders if they really were a small business. Thank you so much for shining a light on this topic!

[@johnchedsey1306]

I just did some math and if you worked non stop, I think it's 114 years to make 3 million but that might be too low of a time frame.

[@aphrodite._.4835]

Omg I love pearls is there any way non museum humans could buy this??

[@faeriesmak]

I had to stop selling handmade on Etsy and moved onto selling vintage because people were stealing my designs and then. Making and selling the item cheaper. I have been considering moving back to my own website again. I used to have one…until Etsy put me out of business when they first opened!

[@nell1251]

Mind dropping the name of your store/site? Would be interested in cheking it out :).

[@zinabchahine4817]

haha same, im also making handmade earrings while watching

[@honeymatcha379]

it's so upsetting that etsy has basically become a more expensive temu, it's really hard to tell what is from a small business and what is re-sold drop shipping. even personalised products i feel like in a few years will be really easy to produce on mass if not already

[@soupAutism]

Easy way to check if you want to avoid this is to screenshot the image, get a pandabuy account & then reverse image search it through that & it’ll show you if it’s a dropshipped item as you’ll see the supplier prices

[@pancake2700]

I’ve definitely seen custom product listings that look SUPER suspicious on there. My sister wanted little sculptures of her dogs for her wedding cake, something that can really only be custom. It took SO LONG to weed through a zillion listings from different sellers that looked WAY too similar to be a coincidence. Eventually found a real seller who’d been on Etsy since 2009 who did a great job, but like. The amount of effort it took to find that was insane when this is the sort of thing Etsy is supposed to be made for. There’s also print on demand dropshipping which is… sort of allowed on Etsy if the seller at least makes the design that’s being printed, but the one time I ordered something that I think was part of this in retrospect, they said they were located in California, but the item shipped from China and took forever to arrive, and I’m pretty sure lying about where they’re located is against Etsy’s rules. The shop got shut down while I was waiting for my item, so that was fun, but my item did eventually arrive… definitely was a sketchy ass situation the whole time tho

[@luukjacobs8378]

Not to mention the rampant infestation of AI-generated "products" that make it almost impossible to buy genuine prints and stickers anymore

[@mallarieluvsgirls]

no shit. nothing should be more cheap than temu. keep supporting human rights abuse

[@ThMrksman]

Oh my goodness this woman is amazing. Not even really mad about the ad. Thank you for making this.

[@melanino]

Exactly my biggest problem with shopping clothing online. I see a unique shirt, pants or other on some super cheap and sketchy website, but finding the ACTUAL company that makes theses clothes is soooo hard. I dont even care if its a secret expensive brand that I can't afford, I just want to know where it even stems from! Those cheap website piss me off more than the fact that its a scam, its more the fact that i'll never know where this unique piece of clothing is actually sold from😭😭

[@jessicag6729]

Try doing image search on google, you can find the location of the image

[@pkmntrainerlilly5]

Safiya Nyggard did a video on that recent enough, in buying the "same dress" at a couple different price points. She went out of her way to find the original item that is being duped, often with the original pictures and videos being used for the cheaper knock offs.

[@axdonat]

i've bought some super cute stickers on aliexpress and it's so sad that i have no idea who the original creator is :((((

[@moonshineaudios5740]

@@axdonat the reverse Image search she explained in the video should be able to help 🫶🏽 I think ;v;

[@Eli-lk3cn]

And don’t even bother if you have to return the item. You’ll never get your money back!

[@kyoopihd]

Reminds me of going to craft markets and seeing the booths that are clearly just a bunch of mass produced and marked up crap that the seller had nothing to do with "crafting."

[@cuervojones4889]

Yep. Some of the shows actually are limiting the number of MLM people they allow now. I guess too many people were complaining that everyone was selling the same MLM stuff at every show.

[@DanC]

Don't forget farmers markets where it's clearly produce from Costco and Sams for sale.

[@kyoopihd]

@@DanC Oh yeah, I’ve seen that too! UPC stickers still on them. 🙄

[@Meraxes6]

If you go to the higher-end shows, this is very much not allowed, and you can be reasonably sure you’re buying from the maker. I sell my art at art festivals and some craft markets and everyone there is legit, as far as Ive seen

[@hctompkins]

I went to a flea market recently and was telling my husband that they used to be so cool. Market space for small local craftsmanship. Now? It's all this type of drop shipping junk.

[@carpo719]

People who think dropshipping is a legitimate business disgust me. But Etsy is just a shame

[@kiannasade]

There’s a way to do dropshipping that involves some bit of creativity Ex. Designing notebook covers, creating graphic design for shirts/ totes

[@ReiMari12]

I mean it is if you're trying to sell unique designs. Not everyone can afford to set up production and shipping lines.

[@randomcharacter6501]

​@@kiannasadeThat's not drop shipping. That's make on demand, or print on demand. One requires work to at least come up with original designs. The other is just a low margin middle man.

[@ReiMari12]

@@randomcharacter6501 To be fair. I've seen both terms used interchangeably.

[@VanSanProductions]

Etsy would probably need to increase fees to be able to really fix their site.

[@kimatlastlooks2915]

I learned this lesson the hard way a few years ago. Searching for a birthday gift for my boho sister, I found this adorable “handmade” necklace & bracelet. Ordered it, had it delivered to my house & was absolutely shocked when it showed up. It looked vaguely like the pics, but it was evident it was NOT handmade. Got online, didn’t find anything on Amazon, but damn if I didn’t find both pieces on AliExpress. 🤬🤬🤬 I was so mad & disappointed. The necklace & bracelet were still kinda cute & I did still give it to her, but it really took the joy out of it. Here I thought I was helping a fellow artist & small business. I don’t have a problem with drop-shipping, just be honest about it & don’t steal designs from artists.

[@cloudycolacorp]

My most hated thing about it of all is how when I search a product, everything is so “optimised” that half the time it’s impossible to find anything and the names of all items are completely packed with what should be tags

[@Schemilix]

You mena you don't want a ceramic mug earthware cute aesthetic chic vintage retro drinking mason vibe couture for tea coffee macha beverage holder cup?

[@cloudycolacorp]

​@@Schemilix 😭

[@scarletsletter4466]

😂 this is a huge issue. I was trying to buy a tea set recently. It was complicated to figure out what was actually included in the item, because so many words are in the title.

[@dogma8538]

lmaoo 😂

[@KinglerJord]

The enshittification of everything leaves no stone unturned.

[@jack-a-lopium]

Late stage capitalism, innit? Whatever comes next'll be better, it'll just take a tonne of pain before we get there.

[@AngelaBurgos-xm2df]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@monad_tcp]

@@jack-a-lopium late stage capitalism, things get to be $0, everything is shit, you can have everything at all, but its all trash. end game of capitalism = communism

[@HiGlowie]

Even entertainment has been affected

[@blake9746]

​@@jack-a-lopium 😳

[@CalebJahnke]

I had no idea dropshipping/resellers were this big of an issue. A few months ago, I accidentally got under the skin of users on r/ebay. I asked how to avoid dropshippers/resellers, and I apparently raised a huge stink with the users. I wanted to know how to search for items from people just wanting to get rid of their stuff. Like an online garage sale. I ended up accidentally questioning their sacred cow with my question.

[@Alex-xq3ze]

That’s so annoying, I’ve found the same- I only want to buy from on normal people getting rid of their unneeded things. I want second hand items that means less waste and normal people get some extra money! No way am I giving my money to drop shippers

[@icu3869]

Google estate and garage sales, you can get great items for such a low price.

[@user-sg4ov7ng4h]

right, or "small businesses", you ain't doing your own items, you buy in bulks? why would i spend money on them?

[@ronniedale6040]

On Ebay sorting your search results by "distance nearest first" can be a tremendous tool as long as you dont live anywhere near "city of industry" CA

[@harmoni6399]

Not sure if you got your answer but on ebay you can filter by condition/ pre-owned !

[@DawnRGenX]

I ❤ your content and your confident yet sarcastic delivery. It’s giving big GenX energy! As a 50+ yo, I hope you give HELL to any older person who says our youth is not intelligent. You are THAT!

[@pipticken]

The moment a website gives me one of those roulette wheel "spin to win a discount" pop ups, I leave. They're always dodgy as hell

[@icymaja]

how is that even legal? that’s literally gambling

[@reed8712]

@@icymajai would guess because theyre free and theres no way to ‘lose’ since youre not putting anything on the line

[@cheeseballs9579]

Where are you even shopping? What could you possible need that someone would need to spin a wheel for a discount

[@braderley]

@@cheeseballs9579non eu countries thing, I moved from the uk to the us and started experiencing it, it’s mental. All it does is ask you to give it an email address afterwards too lol

[@kernaishaxoxo]

@@cheeseballs9579Temu, AliExpress, hell even fashion nova has the wheel. And it’s not just online, 12 years ago Shoe Carnival (a in person shoe reseller like Payless) had a legit spin the wheel in the store that had all types of “deals” that incentivized you to buy more.

[@soozafone]

My own creative work got dropshipped out from under me. I design 3D printable toys which are available as free downloads. Some company started printing them and put them on AliExpress (without attribution or permission of course). Now multiple different stores have popped up, all rebranding my designs and aggressively marketing on social media. I've tried to take down some of them but they keep multiplying and I don't have the resources to lawyer up. I've effectively written off the idea of regaining any ownership of my own designs. It sucks because I could probably be supporting myself full time on the income from selling these designs and developing new ones... if that money were actually going to me.

[@jjescorpiso21]

Open source plans! Those bad actors are the reasons we can’t have nice things 😡

[@l.scales7516]

YES I JUST MADE A POST ABOUT HOW IF YOU TRY ... They can , even if forced to stop sales during the proceedings (unlikely) they can fight you with the funds they'd continue to receive from buyers who bought from them on credit , who would be able to continue to market their copies of your goods indefinitely, even if you win & shut down the manufacturer or the ' thief ' corp , IF the actual ' thief ' can even be traced! Sadly enough im sure that sometimes the first ' passing off/ handing off ' of the pertinent info required for the theft to become a done deal isn't actually' spies ' but rather a friend or associate offered $ for the info or an item although it is easy for them to just buy one to copy as well if the material & process is basic enough.

[@SnowieShiba]

If you had a clause for personal use only and not commercial, you can actually go after them legally since it's your intellectual property. Also, whenever making anything such as toys get a patent and/or trademark, that way if it's ever used in the future you can go to the legal system and be like "This is actually mine. Here's proof. I want those taken down and/or royalties from all sales, thnx"

[@richardbloemenkamp8532]

Dream on, almost nobody can make money from plastic toys, certainly not in the first-world countries. Only a few well-known brands can more or less survive (Lego etc). Anything that has the slightest success will be copied or a tiny bit modified to evade copyright issues. If you really think you have a good idea, keep it for yourself and try to sell it to a large brand or maybe sell it as hand-made in local shops. Once it finds a minor success on the internet you will have lost.

[@MatnaChan]

Hey @SnowieShiba ! Op just said they can't afford lawyers, which is what you need to uphold set clauses. And getting a patent is not something a lot of small businesses can do, because of the huge cost.

[@DJDrLandWhaleOfficial]

I miss the days when Amazon sold decent quality goods, now it’s all dollar store quality with big box store prices.

[@HotelSnob]

And so much counterfeit! Don’t say that in a review though or they take away your ability to leave reviews. Most reviews are fake. Just look at the 3 stars

[@Cara.314]

the natural outcome of capitalism. need people consuming! oh, and everyone needs to have a job regardless of how good automation gets.

[@DJDrLandWhaleOfficial]

@@Cara.314 think it has less to do with capitalism than it does the fact that so many people are willing to accept it. Even quality in stores like target and Walmart has dropped pretty drastically.

[@Cookie-nq9vv]

@@DJDrLandWhaleOfficial this is the function of capitalism, everything is about profit and beat out the competitors until you’re a monopoly. Literally like the game. We created antitrust laws during the progressive era to prevent this, but some of those laws have been relaxed or not enforced. We are basically in a second Gilden age, where we have a lot of unchecked capitalism.

[@aceroy9195]

Then why did sears go under?​@@Cookie-nq9vv

[@silviehurlimann6257]

Thank you for your deep research into this matter. Its eye opening. Making sure that you buy the real thing dito the quality you’re looking for the one to one shopping experience is still the best.

[@Barberwoad]

My boyfriend and I were really excited to go to a local flea market hoping to get some antique secondhand furniture for our new apartment, and the entire market - probably 100+ booths - were all drop shippers selling cheap garbage. We bought a mirror, thinking it was the one seller with actual secondhand furniture, and when we asked for the mirror on display, they went into their truck and brought out the same mirror in an Amazon return box. This is in person shopping. The problem is everywhere

[@Conquered]

That's crazy! Honestly what a smart hustle from the guy, but shame on them for clearly misleading everyone! Also, if it was a returned item that means they most likely got it off Amazon Warehouse where they sell Amazon returns for heavy discounts. I used to buy up all sorts of things from there and resell them when I was in school

[@pleasedontwatchthese9593]

Lol I was kinda the opposite, I always thought of the flea market as the place you went to get this stuff before Amazon got really big.

[@rdean150]

Holy sh*t that is depressing

[@landywilson]

For second hand furniture cheap check out estate sales

[@davidinwashington]

As long as they are upfront about it, I don't have any issues with liquidators selling Amazon return merchandise. Hopefully, it keeps some of it out of the landfill.

[@TerraCottaCrochet]

I crochet plushies, and I recently started to sell them on Etsy. Can confirm it's awful! Crochet takes a lot of time, and I just can't compete with the unethically made drop-shipped crochet items flooding the market.

[@MegCazalet]

Do you do commissions?

[@shabath]

Sadly, selling on etsy is not worth it if you can't move the volume. Slow to make stuff like that just doesn't cut it.

[@jordanweber3381]

Saved you on Etsy! ☺️

[@dontgivetwothwips3615]

Please do not buy Fan Art. It’s illegal to sell and can land the seller in a lot of legal trouble as well as get their shop permanently shut down. There is lots of intellectual property theft on Etsy with many sellers unaware of the laws and oblivious to Etsy’s Terms of service. The number of times I’ve seen IP infringing sellers complain about drop shippers breaking the rules could fill a novel.

[@minathepinkpigglet2812]

It breaks my heart to see crochet items in large quantities at stores like forever 21 or tjmaxx. It hurts my soul and can't bring myself to use/buy it. I crochet too! My specialty is plushies and sweaters and the amount is strain on my wrist on my larger projects makes me wonder how much pain the workers making mass produced items are.

[@elainamariejewelry]

I have a handmade jewelry business that I started on Etsy in 2020, it's become SO HARD to compete with businesses selling products that aren't handmade. They can sell things for so much cheaper, ship things way faster, and they straight up lie about how it's made and what materials they use. It's extra frustrating because Etsy promotes these people, meanwhile my listings get buried. I have to price things lower than what I think I actually deserve just to keep up. THANK GOD I started selling in person too, otherwise I'd have to find a new job lol.

[@julianlaresch6266]

Handmade things are priced so high almost nobody can buy them. There's a super cute moss rug with all types of different color and textures of moss but for a very small size it's like $400. I wish I could afford that.

[@Hippidippimahm]

@@julianlaresch6266if you’re willing to invest some time and energy into it, you can definitely make a rug like that for less. I taught myself to spin wool on a handmade drop spindle and dyeing wool yarn is pretty simple. Crocheting is a little trickier but it’s much easier than it looks. Sincerely, a textile and fiber obsessed wierdo

[@bellamay3741]

so random but what’s ur business link!

[@-rin_]

maybe you could send a link to your business? I’d like to check it out :)

[@Tea-uo7ev]

Send link!

[@PorthosAmazing]

A beautiful piece of research by Gabi, as always.

[@StrawberryFeildsforNever]

If etsy isn’t going to get rid of drop shippers they need to make it possible to block accounts.

[@harmonymcmullin8881]

And report them

[@BlueberryDragon13]

Can you at least give them a bad review?

[@MassiveSwordAndCards]

@BlueberryDragon13 no, it just gets removed

[@candyDander]

Both of those make a lot of sense.

[@Automedon2]

Etsy is a Wall Street traded company. The shareholder profit comes from the mass sellers. They aren't going to do anything to lessen their profit.

[@xBananaskinx]

Buying something, and reselling it on a much higher price, pretending it is higher quality is a tale as old as time. In my home town there was a local farmers market, where there were higher quality locally produced vegtables and goods. Some scheming people bought cheap vegetable bundles from the supermarket, repackage them, and sold it for 3x the price saying it's organic/locally grown. With the Internet it's so much easier to do this.

[@wolvie1618]

The farmers markets where I live do that too. They get their produce from a mainland distributor and then try to sell it off like it's their own. You'll have a dozen people selling the exact same produce from the exact same place for wildly different prices. There will be someone selling bananas for $5 while right next to them is someone else with the same ones for $3. Disgusting.

[@Steve-ev6vx]

You have to basically have to know the farmer and buy the stuff off of his tractor with the dirt still on it.

[@solitarelee6200]

Even the actual farmers do this, I've got a guy at my farmer's market who grows mushrooms, but in order to expand his business he started buying excess eggs from hobby owners and repackaging them and selling them at a higher price. I know this is like business 101 but it pisses me off to see it at a farmer's market. I'm suppose to be free of your business 101 bullshit here! If I'm paying $9 for a dozen fucking eggs at a farmer's market, I'm doing so out of a sense of trust that this is how you need to price them to turn a profit on your free range chicken farm. I'm not doing it to pay you a 25% markup for bothering to gather the eggs into a box for me.

[@vxicepickxv]

Dropshippimg is basically that, except you're selling things you don't own.

[@LordArikado]

Reminds me of the cafe I worked at. The owner wanted to start selling bagels and muffins, but no bakery in the area wanted to work with him because he was a total cheapskate piece of shit. Eventually, he settled on just driving to Costco once a week, buying their bagels, and selling them individually for $5 a pop and claiming they were fresh even if they were several days old. Even the coffee was sourced from another cafe right up the street that had better prices and selection AND roasted all of their beans in-house so they'd always be fresh.

[@mabus4910]

Another problem is that buying from a small website and not amazon is no guarantee that you won't be scammed. A friend of mine was very idealistic and resolved to only order from small, local and environmentally sustainable businesses. After her products failed to arrive a few times, she went back to amazon. It's really crazy: It doesn't matter whether it's a big mega corporation or a small shop. Everyone wants to scam you.

[@patricknelson]

That’s one nice thing about eBay. Lots of mom/pop shops on there (lots of dropshippers, though). Just check seller ratings first before buying. Disclaimer: Am employee of said company.

[@Tsukaiyo]

That really sucks that the one seller did that. I think that's more reason to buy irl instead of online, though. Shopping irl, you get to hold the product, inspect it, and leave with it same-day. I agree, buying online usually delivers trash. I've pretty much never walked away with trash when buying irl.

[@LeviForWaifu]

Profit to effort ratio is generally the highest with fraud.

[@user-ov4wr5yu4r]

My product didn't arrive from Amazon, and there was no one to call. That was the last time

[@ClockworkWyrm]

If only there was some way to actually GO to a store to buy a product in person and ensure you received what you spent money on?! Can you even imagine what that would look like?

[@Amayas_page]

I've had so many people try and either steal my designs or etsy shop, it's unreal.

[@hybridizedhere]

I remember when etsy was a great place to get handmade and vintage stuff Nowadays the only thing it feels like you can trust are taxidermy enthusiasts and luthiers

[@proteetiahmed]

Never thought I'd read the words trust, taxidermy enthusiast, and lutheirs in the same sentence, but man do i love the sentence

[@nickoifish]

unfortunately a lot of taxidermists aren’t even safe on there! there are sellers who have loads of readily available specimens (esp bats and snakes) that often have so many in their inventory bc they source them through poachers. i’ve heard that even some folk who think they r sourcing their taxidermy ethically r often tricked into buying specimens that were killed via poachers

[@cannibalvegetableyt]

@@nickoifish..or weird, annoying TikTokers stealing human bones from old graves they found in some Louisiana swamp and reselling them on Etsy..

[@katiempojer]

There are so many still great items

[@dougdoug9223]

​@@cannibalvegetableytyuck 🤮

[@whereheathergrows]

As a former Etsy seller I can 100% say it really is nothing like its creation. When they started pushing the sellers to offer free shipping (2018?) I smelled a rat. Sure enough…..I had so many items and art stolen & Etsy never did a thing. Now they have, what like?, Super Bowl ads!? They don’t care about keeping the company as an artisan market. Is there a replacement? Oh the Wild West early days were inspired!

[@robertawalsh2995]

This "free shipping" thing massively favors companies shipping directly from China because of postage rates. The postage rates in China are much lower than postage rates in the US or UK.

[@TheLandau1894]

I'd just like to add that this was part of a delibrate, maliciously targeted strategy, concocted by the CCP, to destroy domestic U.S. manufacturing. And it fucking worked.

[@tylersmith7534]

What's wrong with "free shipping"? Just add it to the base cost. I think consumers like it because of a psychology thing even if it leads to them payer a higher overall cost.

[@whereheathergrows]

@@tylersmith7534 it was the fact that etsy was pushing it. If I wanted to offer that as a seller I could have. But it became mandatory & to me and many other sellers it became indicative of a pattern of putting profits above the core principles of the company --it was a bigger picture issue (ie the beginning of problem)

[@ElinWinblad]

Why would they care? They went public and thus have to turn profit per law .

[@pancake2700]

Helping my sister plan her wedding DEFINITELY opened my eyes to the amount of bullshit going on on Etsy. Like every damn item we tried to look for on there had us sorting through seller after seller with the most shady shit, whether it was dropshipped physical shit or AI digital shit, it was all *shit*. Finding real handmade sellers on a site /designed for handmade sellers/ should not be as hard as it’s become!

[@cannibalvegetableyt]

It's so sad. I remember when it wasn't absolute garbage.

[@pancake2700]

@@cannibalvegetableyt oh same. I’ve found some really cool artists on there over the years. It’s so disappointing to see how it’s gone downhill

[@AlissaSss23]

That's exactly my experience, I kept hearing about Etsy, and when I finally checked them out, it was full of cheap looking items selling for a lot of money

[@celisewillis]

I think we need an Etsy replacement, and it'll need to be artist-owned so the same thing doesn't happen all over again. A co-op, something like Nebula, where the creators all own a share of the company. No CEO shaving millions of dollars off the top. Nebula is invite-only, which I think helps keep the content high-quality.

[@fraizie6815]

We probably need a new site where sellers have to confirm their identity by ID and are only allowed to sell x amount of something per month as to ensure nobody is selling suspiciously high quantities that indicate mass production. Maybe let them apply for higher quantities until they're able to sell so much per month, it's considered a large business and they have to sell on other sites.

[@quackkedupfunnygirl]

6:52 I love the missed grab of the microwave handle bc gabi was definitely looking at the camera and had no depth perception 🔥

[@brendamoon2660]

I'm glad you mentioned this is not new. When I was a child in the 70s my aunts worked in a textile mill. They made men's shirts sold as Van Husen and Kmarts Ketch brand. The only difference was the brand lable and the consumer price.

[@candyfuntime184]

i’ve been able to snag designer fabrics and even things like hand woven carpets which are considered “defective” :) u just have to know where to look

[@THEEJONESY]

@@candyfuntime184where

[@everythingpony]

I knew it!

[@Confucius_Says...]

Funnily enough, this is still going on... Exact same shirt with three different labels but with huge differences in cost.

[@bexwalker3582]

This is a thing! I'm not spending my money, I'm spending my family's- husband and kids-money. If I get duped, they get shafted too. I have no idea if I am wearing slavery made clothes because I can't trust the label. Even if it wasn't slavery made, I bet that something about it isn't good. Maybe the dye that was used or the shopping or something about the elastic in it and so on.

[@malenateves]

As a small business owner who does ZERO dropshipping, it is damn near impossible to compete with China. No one seems to care their quality is bad and their silver is fake. Now it's all about price. 😩

[@cuervojones4889]

Yep. And it's sad. People will bitch about that crap breaking, but they don't want to PAY for anything GOOD.

[@hummingbird3032]

Hey what do you sell ?

[@cuervojones4889]

@@hummingbird3032 wooden items and decor. I made a few garden planters, but everyone wants cheap, plastic junk from China that only lasts one season. Not anything out of treated wood or cedar that will last years.

[@eleonarcrimson858]

Blame the hyper consumerism that is abundant in america not the people responding to the demand.

[@amentco8445]

​@@eleonarcrimson858the ethereal "consumer" is not and has never been the one directly responsible for factories in the western world shuttering their doors cause they can't compete with cheaper, abused labor in overseas sweatshops, it's politicians getting kickbacks for allowing domestic corps to walk straight out of their borders.

[@enemyspotted2467]

It’s an absolutely wild thought that we ship cheap products by land, sea, and air from the other side of the globe to solve problems as mundane as efficiently slicing an avacado

[@KjetilSeimHaugen]

A lot of it boils down to "shipping things is too cheap" so it rarely makes financial sense to produce anything locally... it is depressing.

[@fullstackcrackerjack]

Because morons buy it

[@kindlin]

@@KjetilSeimHaugen Moving product cannot be _too cheap,_ that's just a great feature to have. The reason we get things from across the globe is more to do with labor costs, cheap labor in far-away counties.

[@EddieSlabb]

Nice that we never factor the environmental or social costs of these products and business models.

[@PanEtRosa]

@@kindlin it's really not a great future because the reason shipping is too cheap is that oil and even coal are subsidized to hell and back. which is also why it's so hard to move to energies with a better margin between production and productivity. everything is being cannibalized for the benefit of oil and coal producers, including the future.

[@calenlass1112]

(FYI, Prop 65 warnings are applied when things test positive for heavy metals, but ALSO when the manufacturer opts not to pay for the test. In this case, it's probably fair, but there are lots of food products that come from smaller sellers and are produced in the USA with ingredients grown in the USA, like bread and bakery items, that are marked "may contain lead or cadmium" when the bakery really just couldn't afford to test them at all and they're likely perfectly fine.)

[@Automedon2]

Small organic farmers are the same. They can't sell as organic without a certification, but the certification costs so much that they can't afford it.

[@jamietigges2154]

It's one thing for this to happen online, but I've been seeing so many stalls at local farmers markets and art fairs that are only Alibaba crap. It's really depressing how the cheap we've let ourselves become.

[@abelhapedras]

THIS. YES.

[@neromillie]

Yes! 😢

[@gin2943]

I sold at a one-off vintage/handmade market a couple years ago and my mom insisted on adding random Alibaba junk to my booth for the sake of making a couple bucks. She always has the mindset of "find a way to make money and follow that," and doesn't understand mine of "find something you're passionate about creating and your audience will find you."

[@alexanderredhorse1297]

who is this we? In the United States, Oxfam research reveals that a person in the top 1% emits 25 times as much carbon pollution as a person in the bottom 50%.

[@Nabee_H]

Everything we get is from China, thats where the whole "made in china" thing came from. I thought this was common knowledge? Sites like AliBaba just made it so the average person didnt have to fly to China to buy from these guys. My uncle has been wholesaling since the 80s and regularly takes flights to China. AliBaba enables you to do that but it's just online now and easier to see. What you're complaining about is our dependency on China, thats where China always wins.

[@servidig483]

As a handmade Etsy seller, this is no longer just infuriating, this is killing my career

[@Polkaknot]

What's your Etsy page?

[@aceyage]

You are a different market segment. Keep doing stuff and make sure quality is top notch and you'll be fine!

[@tsdobbi]

Yeah and now it's going to be flooded with "artists" that will just be plugging your request parameters into a program to generate the art in seconds via AI. I've already seen stores popping up of people selling art prints of AI art.

[@fairygrl999]

⁠@@tsdobbiyess exactly this too, i was working with someone on a big illustration project and they decided to instead go with an artist on fiver that's charging $10 for a "full children's book illustration" claiming to do it himself but it's alllll AI. what's worse is at first the person i was working with expected me to recreate the ai art style, and i had to explain that that's not really attainable with traditional digital illustration methods. the whole experience was frustrating and it's disappointing that the culmination of my life's work has come to this yk

[@Pumpkinpie1980]

Same! 12 years of me destroying my hands wrapping my art jewelry and building my Etsy shop! And I have been obliterated by these places! 😢

[@Kiytee9]

One big issue I have noticed, especially with dresses on etsy is the lack of actually decent reviews. I've seen lots of dress I know are made by a completely different designer being sold on etsy and the review photos show that people are definitely not receiving the same dress but they still give the item 4 or 5 stars. People just seem to be accepting lower quality as an alright standard. So even going by shops that are well reviewed can leave you stung.

[@darkwetntight910]

If you pay less than 6 dollars for a dress and the collar looks a bit off, you’ve still got a dress for 6 dollars. Take the win 😂

[@tappydani9378]

Could also be people cheaply hired on Fiver to leave fake, positive reviews

[@Kiytee9]

@@darkwetntight910 I'm not talking about $6 dollar dresses I'm talking about hundreds of dollars. You will see dresses where the real version costs like 1.5k and someone is 'selling' it for $500. What you end up with is a cheap imitation and it's not a good one.

[@implozia1360]

This is only my own 2 cents on the topic, but I have been told by friends and also found it talked here on KZbin that reviews are faked. Not sure if on Etsy but on shady sites and Amazon is a frequent occurence. Not even the reviews with pictures are safe, either! Sites take the pictures of reviews of another item sold somewhere else as their own! Even if reviews where genuine, it might be hard to tell.

[@babyqeels]

@@darkwetntight910if you’re buying off of Etsy, you’re not paying $6. You’re probably paying a way higher price, because Etsy is marketed as handmade items. Drop-shipping on Etsy is genuinely a scam in item quality AND price

[@stephaniepower3607]

Explanation of Temu app interrupted by an ad for Temu app ::chefs kiss::

[@Otori6386]

My wife was interested in dropshipping and wanted to take some online course for it. I sat next to her for the pre-interview and they guy just straight up admitted to doing multiple crimes; fake reviews, fake discounts, false advertising. Told her no way are we doing this.

[@bubblegumplastic]

Your advice happened to be good but your tone is weirdly controlling

[@Otori6386]

@@bubblegumplastic how the hell is “let’s not do something illegal” controlling?

[@bobob9969]

@@Otori6386 replier's prolly the pre-interview guy

[@FIRING_BLIND]

​@@bubblegumplasticno....when you're married, you share finances. So her doing drop shipping would be a financial risk for both of them, and could risk one of them going to jail (which, if they have kids, is super not good)

[@Boop4544]

@@Otori6386I think it’s 1) the thought of you looming over your wife telling her what to do. 2) the fact that your wife doesn’t have control of her own finances and needs her husband’s permission to do things. I wouldn’t go into this business either, but you asked why the above person thinks you sound controlling, and that is the answer

[@Knurek007]

It's terrible at conventions too. I'm not from the USA, but at our anime or fantasy conventions you can see booths with cheap stuff for higher prices, and I always get so mad because they don't even tell their customers that this figurine is not from the real source, but it's the cheaper version from aliexpress! Or with stolen art keychains that are ironically so close to the real artist booths.

[@zoepreall2276]

same with AI art in artist alleys... but luckily they've started to crack down on that at least!!

[@bropoke6799]

My sister makes handmade crystal terrariums and she ended up saying she isnt going to markets anymore because of this sort of stuff. She bought a suncatcher from one of the other booths and ended up seeing the exact one she bought, at the dollar store for $8 less

[@Silvermoon424]

YES OMG. I went to an anime convention a few months ago and saw SO many cheap bootlegs being sold as if they were authentic items. Being an experienced collector, I have a good eye for bootlegs so it didn't affect me, but I couldn't help but think of all the people who were duped into buying a crappy $30 bootleg that they could have gotten on Aliexpress for like $2.

[@eveellisen]

It especially pisses me off how people will flock to the cheap shit, think that's a normal price to pay, and then attack actual legitimate businesses for being ToO eXpEnSiVe

[@driftergrey]

Which happens all too often. And partly why small local businesses die 😅😐

[@Karrdeh]

Consumerism and wanting things cheap created this Market. And people don't even consider the amount of plastic produced keeping this market alive. Same as wanting things quick creates mind numbing bs like TikTok or AI content. Sigh..

[@lackoliver55]

I witness on a daily basis on forums where people are looking for specific items. Person A will suggest a product from a maker. Person B will say boo, and proclaim "it's like $0.80 on AliExpress, that seller Person A recommends is probably just drop shipping..." People are now blaming the creator/maker of a unique product of drop shipping, and suggesting to "get it from the source". The source being, the people that ripped of the original design but can mass produce a sub-par version of the product, destroying the actual small business owner in the process...

[@TheNwr1]

I kinda don’t blame them. Wages are pretty low for damn near anyone who isn’t in some high managerial role, so objectively, a product that cost what it needs to generate enough revenue to pay its workers 80% of a living wage, will be expensive to most people. It’s what it should cost, but it is expensive because it takes up more of your disposable income. I can’t blame people being upset about that. The only other option is to not buy the thing. Which is good, except now small businesses go out of business.

[@VuNguyen-fv5jl]

Race to the bottom i stg

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

With places like ebay and etsy you also use to be able to be a casual ‘hobby’ seller that sold craftables or collectable, not as your main income but just here and there and now that’s basically drowned out by drop shipping sellers. Heck, I remember it being easy to sell your old textbooks through Amazon and do better than selling back to the bookstore. If only we knew the beast we were feeding back then (I am old and was in college in the days Amazon JUST sold books).

[@lauraidk5022]

Etsy shut down my account when they suddenly changed something in their policies and banned the term 'roach clip' but I guesssss they're supportive of misleading shops with unethical practices n underpaid workers...totally solid morals💖

[@darkninjafirefox]

A shame really cause I need one

[@Tackk6]

@@darkninjafirefox lmao etsy lost a customer to this stupidity

[@RelatableGirl]

Ughh I keep hearing these stories from my jewelry pals who are still on there! Etsy used to be so great, and they absolutely suuuuck now :'( I got out a few years ago and sell almost exclusively on my website now, but I still have to buy some supplies on Etsy. Always hope the people I'm buying from are okay :'(

[@ThisisCitrus]

Dropshipping is against policy too, not allowed on Etsy. But Caitlyn makes lots of money, so....

[@Duckz4bucks]

“300 likes and almost no replies? Lemme fix that” 🤓☝️

[@ChaoticallyDani]

I’ve been saying this for YEARS I know so many people who hate temu/wish/shein/etc but end up buying the same stuff on amazon…while spending more for it. It’s fine not to shop there for moral reasons, but at least keep it consistent.

[@peridot_craponite_earrings]

So true!!

[@marianasalescruz]

Maybe they don’t know it’s the same stuff?

[@hisuru9134]

@@marianasalescruz but if somebody really doesn't wanna support these cheap dropshipping brands and websites I think they'll make sure not to buy from amazon or at least research on what they are buying. And if they don't care enough, well, then they just don't care enough.

[@toffiet3347]

I can't lie it is hard sometimes. I hate amazon with a passion, half the time I never even get my shit. I try my hardest not to buy from there but there's a good few things that I want or need that just armt available by me.

[@SuitedSkaterLion]

Is hard to belive when peoples speak of "morals" when all companies are harmfull toward peoples and envyroment, is not just shein and aliexpress and temu, is any other company. If you want a "less" harmfull company you may need to pay 1.000$ for 1 pair of socks. All companies in 99% of cases are toxic to peoples and suroundings, i think 90% of this about temu,shein,aliexpress being so "horrible" is based of huge companies being butthurt for peoples not willing to pay 1000$ for some socks, when they could pay 1000$ and buy more clothes that they NEED, yes clothes peoples NEED, not just clothes to wear for trend and throw away, so i hope you won't come after me to say the other way around , me, and there are some other peoples who buy clothes for the need of wearing them, not to throw them. About quality you may end up having same issues with expensive one too, maybe more less. No clue.But is just funny to me when peoples speak bad of Temu,Shein,Aliexpress, but if we would do a search of Adidas, H&M, Zara, Puma , Nike, we may get into same stuff as Temu and etc.

[@mashashushera5425]

another problem is, the waste produced by this. I really try to shop more in a suistanible way. Yet our second hand shops in Berlin are overflooded by cheap plastic items from Temu, Shein and co. And, because they had to be washed, sanitized /prepared in general for me finding them there... They cost 3 times more than on that original dropshipping websites. It's a madness!

[@KristinaVeshtort-Kask]

Right?! Just ten years ago thrift shops were a way to avoid overpriced ""single-use"" clothing, but now secondhand market is flooded with shein to the point where h&m and zara stuff starts to feel like rare finds of -ughhhh I hate to say it - superior quality

[@virtualgambit577]

Yes, this! My thrift store was charging $13 for some cheap Temu tank top that couldn’t have been more than $5 originally. Just a few years ago this thrift store sold me a like new Wilson’s leather jacket for $30. Now it’s $90 for that jacket and more than full price for fast dropshipped fashion.

[@StephanieS8788]

I love how this was recommended to me after falling for drop shipping on Etsy despite my efforts and previous research on the topic. Damn, my terrible memory. After exploding today due to the lack of transparency of the listing after getting my package, your video came to the rescue. Sure enough, the item I bought was originally on Alibaba and was shipped by Amazon. Another thing claiming to be handmade. I'm neurodivergent on top of being pregnant right now. I have very limited spoons to sus out this b.s. Naturally, I'm punishing myself and feeling so stupid that I fell for this. I slipped up and blindly trusted making me feel like I have to go back to being hypervigilant. I can't find the middle ground. Thank you for this video.