Etsy update, prohibited items

[Klara]

Do you produce and sell amounts so big that you need automatic order processing? Otherwise, put up a website (with an independent hoster) that shows what you can do and tell customers to contact you by email. Cost is next to nothing, moneywise, time is another problem. 

Incidentally, I don't consider holsters as "attaching" to firearms - one wouldn't say that a tool box attaches to a hammer, would one?

 

[PastorBob]

So far, I still have several listed on Etsy and don't know that I have received a cease and desist....could have ended up in spam or trash filter though.

[Hardrada]

2 hours ago, PastorBob said:

So far, I still have several listed on Etsy and don't know that I have received a cease and desist....could have ended up in spam or trash filter though.

I'd suggest checking those spam folders.

They're being proactive, not waiting for members to comply. I just received this to-day:

Quote

This is a message from Etsy regarding your shop XXXXX. We're writing to let you know we've removed one or more of your listings in accordance with our Prohibited Items Policy. We’ve refunded you the fees for the listing(s) we removed. You can see your deactivated listings here [link removed].

Etsy prohibits the sale of weapons, and this includes all gun parts and accessories that attach to a firearm. This policy is informed by U.S. Federal law, international laws, and also safety regulations. You can read more about our policy on weapons in Our House Rules.

We periodically revisit our policies and make updates to our enforcement in accordance with industry standards, laws, and regulations.

All sellers and listings in our marketplace are subject to the same policies, which you can review here.

We have begun removing these items from our marketplace, but this is a process that takes time. As a result, you may still come across listings for these kinds of items in the marketplace.

Etsy will be unable to offer Seller Protection for transactions that involve a prohibited item, so if you've received any sales for an item that violates Etsy's Prohibited Items Policy, we ask that you please refund those buyers and cancel any orders that have not yet been shipped.
 

(Boldface mine.)

 

Yeah, like I am gonna refund them.

Edited May 25, 2021 by Hardrada

[Charley1]

Looking at Etsy's "our house rules" it says holsters are not prohibited.

 

Quote

Storage items for guns may be sold as long as they are not affixed to the gun in any way. Some examples include:

Cases and racks

Holsters

 

[chiefjason]

Here is the response I got after a very terse response to the initial non answer I received.  All of my holster listings are still up.  

 

Hello,

Thanks for checking in about this. 

As of May 25, 2021, we will no longer accommodate any gun parts or accessories that attach to a firearm, including, but not limited to:

• Slings
• Grips
• Scopes
• Stocks

These kinds of items will be prohibited, regardless of whether or not they are permanently attached to or alter the functionality or lethality of the firearm.

Holsters, racks, cases and other storage accessories that are not physically attached to a firearm may still be sold as long as they otherwise meet Etsy’s policies.

Best,
Ian
Etsy Marketplace Integrity
 

 

[chuck123wapati]

On 6/12/2021 at 7:21 PM, chiefjason said:

Here is the response I got after a very terse response to the initial non answer I received.  All of my holster listings are still up.  

 

Hello,

Thanks for checking in about this. 

As of May 25, 2021, we will no longer accommodate any gun parts or accessories that attach to a firearm, including, but not limited to:

• Slings
• Grips
• Scopes
• Stocks

These kinds of items will be prohibited, regardless of whether or not they are permanently attached to or alter the functionality or lethality of the firearm.

Holsters, racks, cases and other storage accessories that are not physically attached to a firearm may still be sold as long as they otherwise meet Etsy’s policies.

Best,
Ian
Etsy Marketplace Integrity
 

 

So now i guess its up to you if you continue to do business with a company that doesn't believe in the Bill of rights or your rights as a US citizen. I know I've lost money but dumped Fakebook because of it never used etsy.

[PastorBob]

40 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

So now i guess its up to you if you continue to do business with a company that doesn't believe in the Bill of rights or your rights as a US citizen. I know I've lost money but dumped Fakebook because of it never used etsy.

Do you have a site or is your sales just word of mouth?  IF you have a site, I wouldn't mind taking a look at it.  Thanks

[chuck123wapati]

2 hours ago, PastorBob said:

Do you have a site or is your sales just word of mouth?  IF you have a site, I wouldn't mind taking a look at it.  Thanks

No i sell locally mostly by word o mouth now there are also a couple consignment shops i put stuff in. lol, i sell all kinds of stuff, wood work, knives and leather goods mostly. But i'm not trying to make a living just adding to a retirement. It really sucks to have major companies put people in the situation we have now.

[Hardrada]

4 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

So now i guess its up to you if you continue to do business with a company that doesn't believe in the Bill of rights or your rights as a US citizen. I know I've lost money but dumped Fakebook because of it never used etsy.

Yep, that's what I did: I dumped Etsy. Their "slings ban" is just a ridiculous piece of woketardness. Not even in Canada, which has some of the most stringent gun laws in the world, are slings a forbidden or even restricted item—anyone can buy them; only for the purchase of actual guns or ammunition is a PAL required.

As for holsters, they're not sellable in Canada: people are not allowed to carry guns here.

Edited June 17, 2021 by Hardrada

[chiefjason]

19 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

So now i guess its up to you if you continue to do business with a company that doesn't believe in the Bill of rights or your rights as a US citizen. I know I've lost money but dumped Fakebook because of it never used etsy.

 

If you dig into the issue it's kind of convoluted.  And then they just went overboard in response.  They were allowing things to sell on their platform that actually were against their terms.  No one is hand making magazines and actual firearms accessories like lights and such.  Apparently they ignored it.  Then some consumer group got wind of it and made a fuss about it.  That's when they got stupid and overreacted by banning things they actually built categories for.  Most of the stuff they banned is just stupid woketarianism and SJW feel good BS with zero grounding in reality.  

 

I'm not fooling myself thinking a lot of management would prefer anyone like me not be there.  And they may move on that at some point.  Etsy is also responsible for most of my sales now that I'm off ebay for different reasons.  And doing this on the side I just don't have time to deal with my own website.  I've barely got time to deal with what I have now.  

 

So I'll take a small bit of pleasure in using their platform to sell things that they hate and doing my best to help arm the country. 

If I had to stop doing business for those reasons I wouldn't be in business at all.  I have lots of businesses that support the 2A, since I'm using them to make holsters.  But probably more of them that I have to use don't.  And if you think building your own site would free you from that, you are in for an expensive lesson in providing all the hardware yourself, or having to go through Amazon web services or using a business that uses AWS.  You can't be online and get away from it, you just have to push through it and deal with it when you can't avoid it.  

 

BTW, fun fact.  Glock had my store shut down on ebay.  How's that for 2A friendly?  

Edited June 18, 2021 by chiefjason