The EU Answered Some GSPR Questions. Vintage, Packaging and more

[@EJPARSONSUK]

I make items out of all sorts of materials, possibly hundreds in one item, and many second hand and from charity shops. I cannot possibly track the details of all these materials, and for many of them there is no way I can know the manufacturer or the technical information. Afraid there is only one option for me, but I need Etsy to get their act together and make it possible to switch off the EU and NI.

[@lindedesigns]

I wish they would release an example form of every document we should have. I have no clue what exactly should be in it.

[@BizzarBox]

Thanks for the update Pam. Means so much! Keep up the great work. Give your puppy pets for me!

[@PamDuthie]

I will

[@queenofswordspodcast]

I sell digital coloring pages, so I would love more guidance on digital.

[@superbrokul]

Thank you for another video on this 💩 topic! As a difital seller, I'm still confused 😂 Do I i just write in my Etsy listings that the PDFs I'm selling are virus free becasue have been checked with an antivirus software? I hope EU gives us more clarifications!

[@PamDuthie]

:D I am not toally sure. I think some of it is what we should already be doing. Stating it is a PDF and the intended use. Then if they by it and try and use it as a different file and try and build a house with it then that is on them

[@karenl8837]

@@PamDuthielmao build a house with it, love it ❤

[@donnaw5332]

Thank you for your video Pam Super helpful😊. I've just seen an update on the Etsy handbook added last night it seems....they are not going to let us separate NI until they start a roll out at the end of February 😮

[@EmilyBluebean]

Thank you for this video! I can understand the requirement for physical items but for digital, I think that's ridiculous. Reminds me of when I bought a hair curling iron and it had a warning, "Do not use while sleeping" . 😂

[@PamDuthie]

:D yeah some warning labels are silly

[@etgdesignstudio]

My frustration at this point is with Etsy not having an option for me to turn off my digital listings to customers from the EU and when I brought it up last week on Etsy Help Chat asking if they had a workaround yet or if I had missed something, the customer service agent "hung up" on me. I'm sure they are overworked and tired, but... sad. Have you heard anything from Etsy about enabling sellers to "turn off" access to the EU?

[@sambukah41]

Thanks for keeping us up to date with this! I was really hoping digital didn't count. ☹ Especially because Ravelry doesn't seem interested in separating the EU & NI according to the staff in their forums.

[@BizzarBox]

I just don't understand how this works/effects me as a digital artist shop. I sell PNG art Files in a zip folder. Instant download. No chocking hazard lol. But in all seriousness... I hope more, CLEARER info comes out. This all came out of no where and wasn't too informative. Big ty to Pam for being amazing and keeping us in the loop!

[@PamDuthie]

Oh dear, I haddnt started looking at Ravelry yet! This is all such a mess

[@PamDuthie]

I really hope for more specific clarifications soon when they start talking about tiny businesses like ours

[@sambukah41]

@PamDuthie yeah they posted in the Shop Keepers forum on December 9th to say they don't think there'll be a need for any feature to exclude the EU, and they've no plans to add one. Hopefully if more information comes out, they'll reconsider.

[@galaxia4709]

The EU is forgetting to modernize their regulations. While they're for safety, it's too unsafe to add your personal address on your product, say packaging of soap, rather than your website that then has your address, with which you are as traceable. That it HAS to be on your product is unacceptable. This was already the rule, but while they were adding rules they should have modernized this part!

[@the.toxic.phoenix]

Toy regulations address has needed to be on tags for some time. Years ago I totally freaked out when a customer asked me to refund the postage and she'd collect as she lived locally, I really didn't want to but couldn't find the way to say no. Then one day she turned up at my door on a Sunday morning unannounced asking if I had anything she could buy as a last minute gift 😑

[@KellyAttenborough]

Thank you for your videos Pam. They are very helpful

[@wendytownrow3950]

as a digital seller of machine embroidery files I am totally confused. I include a pdf file of instructions including machine compatibility. But I am not sure how the whole representative in the EU would work, I dont earn enough off Etsy to go paying someone else's wages. What do I need to do to be compliant????

[@Malaology]

You're providing great service with these videos, Pam. Thanks for going deep and being authentic. 💖 I get that all consumers are entitled to safe products, but how does that justify requiring someone selling greeting cards or digital items to pay for a representative in the EU??? It sounds like they are trying to create more jobs for Europeans and a whole new bureaucratic industry by requiring people not living in Europe to employ Europeans to represent them when no representation is needed. Taxation without representation? Lol. No offense to the EU, but this is very, very unAmerican. No surprise there.

[@ninetiesperson7980]

Thank you for your update. You are really helping. I've decided for now 😊not to sell to the EU as it's just not worth the hassle and stress

[@rozanidesignsmasquerade7050]

Interesting. Thx. for the update. 👍

[@PamDuthie]

You are welcome

[@lindedesigns]

I already hate the new rules. Literally EVERY package send WITHIN the EU is held by customs, To Germany every package stays in customs for the maximum 30 days. I'm just sending within the EU (Netherlands to Germany) and not crossing EU borders.

[@emmafletcher8716]

Let's not justify the madness. This regulation is utterly ridiculous - it's just not logicstically possible for small businesses. Pay for an authorized representative.. are you kidding me?! And who has the time for all the documenting. I'm cutting off the EU and just hope the madness doesn't spread globally. There's no point in talking about how to go about complying with it, because very few businesses will be able to, and that doesn't mean that what they are selling is even unsafe.

[@the.toxic.phoenix]

So what about those living in the EU? If they want to sell within the EU they have to comply. Shipping outside the EU is prohibitive for many due to shipping costs

[@isabelandradesantos]

I'm in the the EU and I sell items handmade by me, to the EU and USA. Does this apply to me too? I had absolutely no warning from Etsy on this.

[@the.toxic.phoenix]

Yes, unfortunately, even if you live in the EU if you're selling to the EU

[@fernanda1818]

I have had buyers from the EU who buy gifts for consumers in Mexico, would such sales be legal if the product will never reach EU territory? That would be the only way for me to sell to someone in the EU from now on.

[@PamDuthie]

Yes and no. I think it would be legal for someone in the EU to pay you to ship things to Mexico. But you couldnt have your items with the option to ship to the EU so people would not be able to find your items without a direct link to a listing, and they would have to change their postcode before being able to purchase

[@christraher4260]

Just stop selling to the EU- I have

[@the.toxic.phoenix]

Unless you live in the EU and shipping costs outside the EU are too expensive.... 🙄

[@CoventinaSoapery]

Firstly, we all want safe items, of course. BUT I wonder how this will affect those of us who upcycle using old materials? Or those of us who mudlark & sell their finds? Those magpies amongst us who spy interesting items languishing in boxes or attics & see their items worth & want to sell them on? Precisely one of the aspects of charity shop buying is the utter excitement of being able to upcycle things, breathing new life into items which may well be destined for landfill otherwise. And that is a big concern of mine, waste & landfill. If you cant sell items,, where are they to go? Are we on the cusp of seeing masses of perfectly safe items destined for landfill simply because we don't have SDS sheets for them? Is that progress? I'm under no illusion that the UK won't follow suit, so am already getting things in order, but I have a whole load of thrifted fabric & destash yarns, which I have used & still want to use! I have no intention of binning any of it. Ugh, just think of the beautiful old things that aren't antique yet, (OR items that we have no way of knowing the age of), which we'll have to figure out how to sell on, IF we're allowed to... Gorgeous printed 1930s feedsack cloth, French linens & tablecloths, vintage 1970s velvets & bold printed cottons, 1950-60s glasswear & ceramics, bakelite jewellry, old lucite beads, vintage picture frames, mid century modern oddities & nick-nacks etc etc... Am I worrying about nothing here? Because as I see it, it pretty much covers the whole lot above.

[@PamDuthie]

That is really good questions. I hope for eg found natural items will count just so long as you keep a note that you used a twig and pebble or something Honestly I dont know about upcycling.