Monday, September 26, 2011

Wait? How can "Regretsy" be a warm fuzzy?

In the crafting community, if you're moderately computer savvy, and want to try and make a go of attempting to fund your chosen addiction by trying to sell the finished product, you've probably got an Etsy store.  That way, people who appreciate handcrafted goodies, can put their money where their mouth is.  Of course, Etsy makes my idea of what is a warm fuzzy feeling look like a Brillo pad.  They're so concerned with hurting the feelings of sellers (or perhaps their profits), they are willing to overlook their founding principle, namely to have a place where people can sell handcrafted or vintage items.

So, do mass produced non-vintage items make it onto the site?  Oh, like you wouldn't believe.  While you can voice your opinions about re-sellers on the Etsy forums, it's lacking something.  I don't know about you, but there's something that makes my heart pitter-patter at the thought of a person hand crafting something and sending it to someone who genuinely appreciates the fact that it is unique and not made in a sweat shop.  It's like the re-sellers have taken my warm fuzzy feeling and used it like a dog would use a fire hydrant.  I want vindication.

For this and so many other reasons, I have a special spot in my heart for Regretsy.  I love how they call out re-sellers, you can check those out under the banner 'Not Remotely Handmade'.  Side by side comparisons with the original product, nearly always using the same picture, it lets you see how much you would have saved.  Also this site does a great job of pointing out some items which are answers to questions that no one asked.  Aside from holding up a mirror for Etsy to see what it is advertising, Regretsy and the followers (April's Army) passionately support at least one charitable purpose each month (click here for examples).  Oh, I also forgot to mention how much unholy glee I feel reading the hilarious posts.

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