Why YSK: You should know that you can protect yourself as a buyer or a seller as anyone who uses Etsy. It's a very popular sales platform and they're making some changes to prevent class action lawsuits against any shenanigans they might pull against buyers and sellers on the platform. You have the ability to opt out of this to protect yourself; the linked article explains how to do this.
Crazy that a corporate TOS can take away your legal rights like that.
In 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a study showing that arbitration almost always benefits the corporation at the expense of the consumer. In 2017, they almost succeeded in passing a law to prevent class-action waivers in arbitration agreements for financial service corporations. Most mandatory arbitration agreements have held up in court, but there are also cases where courts have found these agreements “unconscionable”.
Today, corporations are trying to further shield themselves from accountability by quietly burying opt-out clauses into their lengthy arbitration agreements.
Sounds like Etsy is as well in the sprial of Enshittification: They lured in the customers with great deals on personal/handworked products, they lured in more seller by offering them the customer base while broaden the products they can offer (leaving behind the initial userbase going straight to a general marketplace). Now that they are both in, they changed the rules and make it just shitty enough that people do not quit, but the revenue is maximized. Now shutting down future risk by Class Action to protect the profits. Here is a great 29 Minute Podcast with Cory Doctorow explaining this shift that platforms are currently making.>>>
Lobbying and rule-of-money (in the US, the side who has the most resources has leverage over the legal discourse by having more, better and longer working lawyers which somehow will often be able to win a case)
I’m currently involved in a lawsuit against amazon that is being forced through arbitration. It’s been 3 years since the process started for me with no end in site because there are 50,000 others in queue to arbitrate the same claims. This is why they do it and it is unfortunately enforceable.
Re: enshittification - I totally agree that they’ve ruined what Etsy was actually good for and now they’re just milking it dry. It’s all generic, mass produced crap now and the search result ads within their site are incredibly obtrusive.
I want to start 3d printing as a side business. Etsy has seemed like a decent way to get some products out the door. But the more I look into it and the more I hear about moves coming from etsy makes me nervous to get too far into it.
I do run a 3D printing business, I’m on Etsy, eBay, and my own platform. Most of my sales unfortunately come through Etsy, they also take the largest chunk out of my profits…
I agree, it’s sketchy and unfair practice to include those lines. I’m thinking they either had an issue in the past like you said, or whatever legal team works for them decided that was something they could get away with to aggressively protect the business.
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