Let me start off with gratitude. I am so grateful for every Etsy buyer that trusted me to create something beautiful for them. I am grateful that for a number of years I was able to bring home a large chunk of change to my dinner table. I am grateful that I have a family that supported me, watched as I worked crazy hours and believed in my dream.
I am so very grateful for what Etsy was, but things have changed. Somewhere in the last couple of years, the heart and soul was lost. The beautiful handcrafted community has been blanketed by mass amounts of resellers. I'm not talking about those selling supplies or vintage goods - there is no ambiguity there. I'm talking about those shops that are selling mass produced items under the false guise of handcrafted.
Now personally my niche is not really at stake. Art and quilts don't normally have mass produced competitors. However it is what Etsy is not doing that has pushed me to leave.
I don't want to dwell on negativity. To each their own, but I've decided that is something that really matters to me and I have to stand my ground. I will continue to buy on Etsy from the sellers I know and love. I hope that in the future things will change for Etsy. In the meantime I have closed up my shop and will be trying out Big Cartel. There is a link to my shop in the header. You can also peruse the gallery to see some offerings.
xo,
Jennifer
