This is good in my opinion.
-Ana
7 Likes
WAtched 2 minutes of the video.
Go Etsy!!! If you are going to be a creative site, require sellers to be creative. Although the policy sounds broad, it could be broader.
As for these commentators, they demonstrate how some subjects are hard to stretch into a half hour video.
4 Likes
Linus is always wordy as I’m sure goes to “content creation”. If they said it in 2 minutes, they wouldn’t get monetized.
-Ana
6 Likes
I watched the video and found the discussion to be going in circles. If I were to buy a 3D printer for $2K, I would need to create or buy a mold for $100 to $500, then it would take up to 1 hour for the machine to create my miniature object. I could never charge enough money to cover my out-of-pocket cost.
The best way to figure out who is selling mass-produced anything is to evaluate their sales. The top “handmade” seller on Etsy has sales over $100 million dollars but no one on Etsy is challenging that phenomenal revenue source!
Marilyn
7 Likes
All it sounds like is that they want the original creator selling things, and they don’t want to be a print farm marketplace. If you design & print your own files, you can keep selling; if you design but can’t print, you can use a production partner under their rules, supposedly, or sell digital files.
https://www.etsy.com/legal/creativity/
Though I have to say, this makes me glad I got my last 3d printed purchases when I did. The odds of me finding a varactyl print anywhere (that I wanted to spend money) other than Etsy was slim, and I don’t own a 3D printer (yet).
4 Likes
I looked into the Etsy changes and it is impacting a lot of items typically sold in the supplies category, such as party and paper goods supplies, non-specific holiday decorations, costumes, tools, repair parts, blank clothing, and decor the seller did not create, etc. Many of the prohibited items were originally bought on Amazon and resold as supplies on Etsy.
Marilyn
5 Likes
There are definitely people who are 3D printing designs which they have purchased the codes to print on the internet for virtually nothing or obtained for free.
My wife is an earring collector. I have found her designs on the net for free, and she has taken them to our local library which has a 3D printer and printed them for under $1. This is even worse than some sellers selling print on demand books they obtained from archive.org or other sites on Amazon or Ebay.
I am constantly running close to the edge of the rules on SAS because of my opinions which are often viewed as being political. If I go any further, it is likely that whatever I say will be viewed as political. Let us say that in this area, I share Etsy’s values.
I have seen some of these free designs and many POD books, on Amazon and Ebay with no value added by the seller.
@VitRhea isn’t the original creator what Etsy proports to be built for?
2 Likes
The YouTube summary:
Etsy is cracking down on mass-produced digital goods by banning sellers who use 3D printers, CNC, or laser cutters unless the design is 100% their own. Linus and Luke debate whether this move protects Etsy’s handmade identity, or kills a thriving ecosystem of creators, licensors, and makers who don’t want to run a print farm just to monetize their work.
And an article:
Aaand another article:
2 Likes
As someone who makes earrings, I am very, very curious to see a picture of one of these 3D printed earrings your wife obtained. Can you share a picture of the original earrings and the 3D copy?
Marilyn
2 Likes
They need not be a reproduction. Indeed the discussion in the video refers to items designed to be 3-D printed which are sold by download or usb stick to be made by the purchaser.
We frequent the craft show circuit. there are exhibitors who are selling their 3D printed jewelry each show. There need not be a model in some other media to create 3D printed items.
It is not like when we created molds of some late 19th and early 20th century jewelry whose design was in the public domain and offered reproductions (in materials which could not be confused with the originals).
Or when a jewelry designer uses lost wax casting or another method to make multiples of a design.
Every 3D printed item can be an original, or indistinguishable from every other copy.
It has a greater claim to being an original than a giclee print has.
There are definite styles associated with 3D printed jewelry.
There is a link to a site with lots of printable earrings
2 Likes
I am blown away by the 3D earring designs. I presume these are all made out of a resin, but the gold designs look like metal and I know they can’t be. I am wondering if these 3D earring designs are intended to be mass-produced on a 3D printer.
Marilyn
2 Likes
I believe they definitely are intended for production on a 3D printer, and whether they are mass producted is a function of the capabilities of the printer. The input is standardized.
The number of different materials used in 3D printers has multiplied, as have the number of applications have increased. They are even 3D printing homes.
You can see why Etsy’s best interests are being served by this new limitation. It would cost them a lot of money providing more computer capacity for no increase in sales if every one who could list these items for sale did. Could be worse than the effects of Chinese sellers selling commodities. At least those Chinese sellers have skin in the game.
These products can be designed online using a CAD program (computer aided design) with little skill or understanding of the materials. It will not be long, if it has not already reached the point, where the design will be done by AI.
2 Likes
Ayup. It’s meant to be an “I made this” site, though it expanded to “I found this [unique thing]” and “I collected these things in a thoughtful way”.
“I printed this [from an available source file, with minimal if any edits needed]” isn’t really the same vibe.
3 Likes
My AI-loving artist coworkers astound me. I’m not saying I presented this to them with no comment, but…
2 Likes