As most of you know, Etsy has required it's sellers to revise their herbal products that attribute health, or healing properties to them. At first I was not contacted by Etsy, but a couple of days ago I got an e-mail requesting me to also revise my items. Which I did and responded to them that the matter was being taken care of in the immediate.
Why?
Simple; I don't shit where I eat.
Some sellers are fighting this, asking Etsy to list which items must be amended and insisting that a disclaimer should be enough for the protection of Etsy, the shops, and the clients who patron them.
Etsy can not possibly go through each listing and tell us what we need to change as there are millions of listing on Etsy. They need to cover their, and OUR, asses. Also, these regulations prevent people from selling silly and shady items on Etsy claiming "magical healing abilities" that are just bull shit. In the end, my items will look more legitimate by weeding out the crazies. If we want a shop on Etsy, then we must comply with the rules. I would rather take the loss of a couple of people not being able to find my items then lose the ability to help all the clients I have gained over the years.
I have been contacted by several sellers who are ALL worked up. Asking me if I am closing my shop and where I am moving it to. I AM NOT LEAVING and have NO plants to. This seems like an awfully drastic and dramatic view to take and I don't borrow trouble. I never assume the worst and I don't make plans for it to happen. I will not manifest failure.
I am deeply saddened for those shops that exclusively sell herbal medicines and items that will now have to leave Etsy. It must be devastating and I am so sorry for the feelings they must be experiencing of loss, devastation, and anger.
I was lucky and for me, it's a pretty simple fix. I removed the words "health" and "healing" as well as any specific conditions such as "eczema, ring worm, yeast, acne" etc. from my descriptions. Now, this did bother me a bit wit my salves as these have provided a lot of people with relief from such conditions but I know that people will still be able to find these items if they search. I also had to re-name my Blue Healer items...:/ They are now called "Blue Worker" just to prevent any problems. Two items have been removed-my healing bellarmine and Egeszseg oil as they are, well, healing items and I can not adjust their descriptions to other wise.
ALL these items are still available, you only need contact me for them.
If you find yourself having trouble finding one of my items, all you need to do is ask and I will be happy to find it for you or create a listing:)
Many blessings and thanks to all of you who have shown concern and support. I am not goin' anywhere folks:)
I think what etsy's doing is really ridiculous. They have tons of resellers that they don't go after at all, obviously because they're making money off them. But then they go after stuff like this.
ReplyDeleteI do understand your point about that, and agree. I think it's more about covering their asses over people misusing or being uneducated about the use of herbal medicines and causing potential hazards to themselves. No one really knows what it's all about but i would rather comply at this point than not be able to reach my clients.
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