Etsy has some issues

Yesterday I got an Etsy conversation from a seller who I had recently purchased some Angry Birds inspired hats from. She gave me permission to share it with my blog, which I asked for because I think it really highlights two of the major problems Etsy has.

JezeBearDesigns will no longer be advertising on Etsy.com. Today they removed another of my hats siting (sic) copyright infringement. My items are handmade and my own designs. Yes, the inspiration might have come originally from cartoons etc. but that is as far as the similarity goes. For goodness sake they are knitted and crocheted!. Others have similar items but have not been touched. I think I must have gotten up someone's nose how else do you explain the discrimination and victimisation. Etsy does not allow anyone to make comment on these decisions on their blog page so they don't allow any public recourse.

Enough is enough.

It's so frustrating to see good sellers leave Etsy (for good reason!) when it is so full of problem sellers - trying to sell junk or resell inappropriately or blatantly stealing art and designs. I think this seller's reasons for leaving, Etsy's inconsistent policies and censorship, are extremely valid and frustrating. And since one isn't allowed to complain about Etsy's policies on Etsy I feel the need to voice concerns here.

Etsy tolerates loads of art theft and copyright infringement. They don't seem to be bothered by people selling other people's art on pendants or little mirrors or whatever as long as they get to profit from it. Until recently, for example, they were fine with Angry Birds inspired things being sold on Etsy, even apparently use of its art. Etsy continues to be full of products blatantly using art from Disney, anime, etc. I imagine the Angry Birds people, who are expanding their own merchandising, recently sent Etsy a cease and desist letter threatening litigation if Etsy continued to allow Angry Birds items to be sold. Hence the crackdown, by which a few sellers told me they were targeted. It appears that some sellers are continuing to sell Angry Birds inspired products on Etsy so this crackdown appears to be inconsistent as well.

If Etsy can't be consistent in its policies it seems egregiously unfair to single out some sellers and punish them for what loads of others are doing! Lots of really successful shops appear to use art that's not their own in products they continue to sell without repercussions. What's the distinction Etsy?

Of course, we can't really ask Etsy to clarify since it seems to be their strategy to immediately shut down critical forum threads. In the arena of forum thread closing, Etsy responds quickly and comprehensively. Go figure. No shortage of resources there.

Has anyone else had issues with Etsy's confusing policies on copyrights? Or censorship?

You Can't Tell Me What To Do!!

I've noticed an irritating trend among builders of treasuries recently that I feel the need to publicly object to. Because I like complaining. When curators feature your item in their treasury and send you a little conversation saying they've done so it's nice. But it annoys me when they then ask/tell you to promote their treasury for them on social media or whatever.

I often post pretty treasuries I'm in to facebook, twitter, etc. It is fun content to promote, I think. But I don't promote treasuries I'm featured in if I am told/asked to! It is just rude, I think. I don't object as much if it's phrased like "feel free to tweet this treasury" or something. I guess I still list them in the side-bar of this blog, but that's mostly for my purposes as far as I can tell anyway.

What do you think? Do you find it rude when people tell you to promote their treasuries? Am I being ungrateful and bitchy about nothing?

8 things not to do at the gym

I have been working out a lot lately, and it has brought to my attention all kinds of rude behaviors people engage in at the gym. I think a rant is in order! To mitigate the harshness of the rant, it will be illustrated with pretty Etsy things. Yay. So. 8 things not to do at the gym.

1. Talk in an excessively loud voice. People around you don't want to hear about your stupid dinner or your date tonight or ANYTHING. It's super obnoxious. Bonus points if it's also crude or derogatory or offensive.



2. Puppy guard more equipment than strictly necessary. At any gym I've ever been to there is a limited amount of equipment and space. It's incredibly selfish to hoard a bunch of weights, mats, balls, whatever just so you can do your stupid power sets without having to wait or walk at all. Share!



3. Grunting. Just like No. 1 except it's also really gross. :(



4. Leering at the sexy exercisers. I always see creepy men just standing (or worse, sitting on equipment without using it) and watching girls do yoga or whatever. It's so perverse and sleazy!



5. Talking on your cell phone. It's like No. 1, but louder! Take it outside or wait until you are done. No one wants to hear about it.



6. Hanging out naked in the locker room. Maybe it's a fat older lady thing, but there is always someone just chilling naked in the locker room making me uncomfortable. It's one thing to change; that's what they're for; it's another to just sit there reading, doing makeup, talking butt ass naked! NOT COOL!



7. Sitting on exercise machines you aren't actually using. Everyone pauses between sets. That's no problem. It's when someone is camping out on a popular machine for a long time with no sets occurring that I get annoyed. Inevitably, this gym sin is combined with No. 1, 4 or 5.



8. Personal space invasion. This applies mostly to the locker room and group fitness situations. Invariably I give myself plenty of room in yoga class and at the last minute someone comes and sets up right next to me! The space invaders normal also engage in grunting. Yuck.



End of rant. For now. What have I left out? Do you notice other things that annoy you? Are you guilty of any of my gym sins? Am I being too hard on people? LOL!

There is a correct time for cleaning...

I realized this morning that I get irrationally annoyed when businesses are being cleaned and maintained while open. It can't be that hard to clean when the business is closed. Obviously 24 hour places are exempt from my rage, as are places that need to be continuously cleaned. It's annoying when it's not necessary or when they want the customers to get out of the way of the cleaners.


It's so obnoxious to be at a gym or a restaurant or something when they are running a fucking vacuum right near me. And it's almost insulting when they clean up right behind you! Like when I get waxed I understand that they disinfect the table between each client (it's a good thing...) but it makes me feel gross when they disinfect it WHILE I'M STILL IN THE ROOM!


Cleaning supplies, particularly the kind businesses use, always smell incredibly gross and toxic. I feel like I am going to get sick just by breathing some of those fumes!

End of rant. I just wish businesses would make an effort to clean when clients weren't around.

Pro Tip for Bloggers

...and all designers of web content.

IF YOUR SITE HAS AUTO-PLAYING MUSIC I WILL LEAVE INSTANTLY AND NEVER RETURN.

Optional music that starts OFF when a page loads is fine, but I do not want to be blasted by surprise music upon opening a page. Ever. No one wants to hear your blog. Just stop.

A rant on consumer fascism

Please, renew my faith in capitalism! Nothing frustrates me more than feeling powerless with my money. I worry that it is only going to get worse, as huge companies consolidate and monopolize while gaining influence over American politics and culture. I feel like I should be able to do business only with companies that seem to WANT my money, give me generally positive experiences, and whose business and social practices don't make me want to vomit. I haven't figured out how to make my idealistic fantasy a reality, however and am constantly infuriated by feeling forced to buy from companies that treat me like shit. This week has been really bad in terms of this powerless consumer feeling. It may be the holidays, or maybe I am just in a bad mood in general, but I pretty much want to scream about every buying experience I have had this week!

I pretty much bit the head off the Best Buy cashier at lunch today. I was waiting at the front of the line for several minutes. There was maybe one person behind me in line, and one other cashier working. I thought the cashier I chewed out was helping someone, because I saw her talking and she sure seemed busy. After a while I looked around and saw that she was just flirting with the security guy. Yay. I stormed up and told her that I had been standing there for a while and didn't appreciated being ignored. Maybe I said it a little less pleasantly than that. She said something along the lines of "I, like, didn't see you!" and I pointed out that if she had turned around for a second to see the line forming she would have. I was buying a $200 Christmas present. I definitely should have bought it somewhere else.

Seriously, customer service is not that hard. I did it for a few years and I was really good at it. It's not that hard to be interested, nice and helpful! Sure, you have problem customers (like me, I'm sure) but it isn't that hard to do your freakin job and treat customers like you actually want their money. It's a lost art, apparently.

When I was in Idaho for Thanksgiving we went to the Northface store where I was vaguely considering buying a new coat. We were immediately helped by an amazing salesperson who was knowledgeable, helpful, and encouraging. She even gave helpful opinions and helped talk me into the right jacket and boots. I wish every store had salespeople like her, and I told her so. I doubt it made an impact, but seriously. In this economy you would think that even those in retail would appreciate having a job enough to do it right. There is no reason stores can't do it right.

I hate feeling forced into buying from companies that I dislike. Recently, paypal, Visa and Mastercard have made some very political moves that I frantically disagree with. But how do you stop supporting companies like that? I couldn't use Etsy if I boycotted paypal. I couldn't feasibly boycott Visa and Mastercard. These companies have too much power if they exist with no viable alternatives and are basically mandatory for important activities like selling online and, I don't know, existing in America.

Likewise, Amazon. They have all kinds of business practices that I hate. I think there is a real risk that they (or someone like them) will get a monopoly on ebooks or even the future of reading in general. At best, I think we can look forward a powerful oligopoly of like-minded companies controlling what we read. (Is it censorship if companies refuse to sell what they disagree politically or morally with? What if such companies are the only place to realistically buy books?) I can't support such a company in good conscious. I hear constantly that people don't necessarily approve of Amazon, but they feel they have to use it because it is the best way to buy X, Y or Z. I was essentially forced to buy from Amazon recently because it was the only place possible to buy a book I had to get for my work. It becomes increasingly hard to buy in accordance with my so-called principles.

So many businesses are powerful enough to essentially lock in customers with complicated pricing structures. Recently I have been frustrated by this in phone companies and my gym. I would lose a ton of money if I needed to switch cell phone companies. I think most people are in that boat. We are essentially trapped within a company, and they can basically treat us and charge us how they want without much fear of customers leaving. I think such companies invest more in marketing than customer service. Why bother with a few people who have the means and motivation to actually leave for reasons related to service when they can attract many new customers through advertising?

Any situation where I feel like I can&'t get up and take my business elsewhere makes me very, very uncomfortable. I hesitate to compare
this type of market power to fascism, but it seems related. I think the American (maybe world, I don't know) economy is lending itself to greater monopolies, extensive corporate power, and less consumer freedom. What are we to do when we get into monopoly situations where companies can tell us what to buy, charge us what they want and treat us how they want for goods or services we absolutely require? At that point, we have no choice but to bend over and mourn the loss of our economic freedom.

I feel intensely frustrated by all of this, but I honestly don't know what I can do about it, other than complain on my little soapboxes. To enjoy complete economic freedom I think one would have to be willing to basically leave the economy. Take credit cards. If I really wanted to take a stand against Visa and Mastercard I imagine I could switch to American Express. I would have to switch banks, and many retailers don't take AE. Likewise, smaller credit card companies would be difficult to use. In reality these companies probably employ business practices similar to those I oppose in Visa and Mastercard. So to really stick to my guns I would have to be willing to forgo credit cards. I don't see that as remotely possible in my life, I would have to drastically change the way I live. So are my options to reduce the standards to which I would hold companies or to escape this economy? Neither of those really work for me.

3 things that make restaurants fail

I interrupt your normal programming to bring you this rant. Stay tuned for more Etsy soon!

These things restaurants do or don't do drive me crazy. None of them are that difficult, but they all get screwed up all the time! Whyyyyyy?? I tend to tip base my tipping along these points, as well as return visits, as I am sure many people do!

1. If I pay with my credit card, I want the check handed to me for signing. If I am eating with a man and I pay with my credit card, 9 times out of 10 the waiter or waitress hands the check directly to the man to sign. Apparently it doesn't occur to them that a woman is paying? It would take an instant to look at the credit card or receipt and speculate that with the name Emma, the woman at the table is the one paying. The 10% or so of times the waiter actually notices and hands me the card I typically double the tip I would have paid otherwise, it's that rare.

2. Have options for different diets. As a vegetarian, I want to see vegetarian meals. Not just some salads I can ask for the chicken to be left out of. Many restaurants seem to be oblivious to the fact that people want to eat vegetarian, lactose-free, kosher, gluten-free, whatever. I don't want to have to pester clueless waiters about what has meat, what meat can be removed from, etc. I want restaurants that have a little bit of variety for us weird eaters!

3. Bring a table's meals out at one time. It drives me insane when restaurants fail at this. Waiters frequently bring half the table's food at one time, and then the rest a while later. It's not that hard to time it and bring the dishes out at once! Denny's can do it, why can't nicer places?? If all the dishes are out and one person's is missing, something has probably gone wrong. Don't just walk away!