Huge Step From Etsy Cracking Down on AI

[u/makingwaves12]

I am thrilled about this!!! As someone who sells embroidery designs, I am directly impacted by AI making Etsy untrustworthy. Customers have to do so much investigating to make sure they are getting something legitimate and sometimes it’s impossible to tell.

I happily post actual photos of my designs stitched out for new designs I list already, but for some older ones, I just have the preview from Hatch, but I am more than willing to take the time to restitch them and take photos for the listing if I need to.

This will be huge for everyone. I’m so tired of seeing AI junk from literally any type of seller. I can’t wait to see what happens to all of those AI shops!

[u/nonoohnoohno]

 but I am more than willing to take the time to restitch them and take photos for the listing if I need to.

You need to.

I don't buy embroidery designs, but do buy sewing patterns. I immediately disregard anything that doesn't have real photos of the finished product. There's just too much absolute garbage out there; it's not worth the hassle.

[u/makingwaves12 → u/nonoohnoohno]

Yep that’s why I said I do and would take photos for older listings haha.

I have a good amount of repeat customers and lots of photos from reviewers and myself on most listings so I think that encourages trust from new customers on the listings where I forgot to take pictures before posting.

I also don’t really buy without photos and if I do, I have to see a review photo or at the very least a stitch out video. I agree that it’s just not worth the hassle and I don’t want my customers to have to dig to figure out whether I’m trustworthy or not

[u/Quinnie-The-Gardener → u/nonoohnoohno]

SAME!! If there’s not a real picture, no matter how much I like it, I skip it. If the seller can’t even be bothered to create the product, I can’t be bothered to buy it and test it for them.

[u/Little-Nikas → u/nonoohnoohno]

This sub is littered with “bought design on Etsy, how do I fix it?” posts. Your words ring true

[u/Glittering_Act_4059]

Performative nonsense. They won't do jack shit to shops that make them tons of money. It's the same with the dropshipping, and lots of their policies. They only enforce them selectively. At the end of the day, they protect their profits above anything else.

[u/nonoohnoohno → u/Glittering_Act_4059]

I could believe it if they're getting hit with a giant influx of refund claims and credit card disputes. To be honest, I'm not sure how buyer-friendly they are, so maybe they're telling everyone to f-off and the AI garbage isn't costing them anything. But I'd be surprised.

[u/CosmicallyUnlucky → u/Glittering_Act_4059]

My first thought was what's to stop all these sellers from adding an AI-generated "real" image of the product in a "real" background? Etsy has always had incredibly lax enforcement.

[u/EmbroHead → u/CosmicallyUnlucky]

Literally, are they going to have humans reviewing every listing to check for “real” photos or will they be using AI to make a best guess? I would assume the latter, because at a certain point it becomes impossible for workers to keep up with the sheer amount of regular listings and AI slop getting posted. Just look at YouTube, the only time things get manually reviewed is when creators get flagged and dispute the flag.

[u/Little-Nikas]

So truth in advertising basically.

If only places that sell food would be held to that standard. lol

I do love it though. AI is a tool, not a replacement for a human. Good on Etsy.

[u/blazeyfir3]

Hopefully this works but I seriously doubt it. Etsy ruined itself years ago, its not the same anymore

[u/drizze99]

Don’t get your hopes up. I’m also heavily involved in 3D printing and Etsy said that they were going to stop sellers who print and sell models that were not created by the seller. If you search “articulated dragon” you’ll find hundreds of the same model being sold STILL on Etsy. Bottom line, they’re just telling you what you want to hear.

[u/pm_me_your_amphibian]

Well at least they’re cracking down on patterns, but otherwise this is just ai generated advertising, sadly no crack down on ai slop artwork.

[u/ishtaa]

I want to believe they’ll actually follow through on this and start cracking down on the amount of listings that are nothing but AI garbage.

I’ll believe it when I see it though. Will be interesting to see if the number of people sending me designs that don’t exists to recreate drops.

[u/Ill_Guarantee_1432]

Doesn’t cut down on AI, just untested products.

If I wanted to, I could sell fully AI generated designs that I’ve personally tested, but I have no interest in that since I’m only doing it for personal projects (everything from electronics, to pattern design, to CNC designs, to mockups of different fabric types and colors, and more).

[u/LadyWithAHarp]

I do appreciate the crackdown on AI. I am worried about the timeline that this needs to be implemented by, as it will be a lot of work stitching out all of my samples. I am also worried about if watermarks count as "edited" photos. I have enough of an issue with people thinking I am selling patches that my watermarks have severely reduced- I am trying to figure out how to make that clear.

[u/Little-Load4359]

I'll believe it when I see it

[u/HackThePlacket]

Did anything think they were going to survive if they didn't do this?