Etsy to ban sale of most sex toys, explicit content, and more

Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 343 points – Etsy to ban sale of most sex toys, explicit content, and more
mashable.com

Online retailer Etsy will prohibit sales of most sex toys, content that depicts sex acts and genitalia, and more starting July 29.

The indie seller published its Adult Nudity and Sexual Content policy yesterday, which states that sales of adult toys that are insertable, "applied to the genitalia," or "designed for genitals to be inserted into them" will be prohibited. That pretty much runs the gamut — dildos, vibrators, rings, plugs, and the like will be banned.

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That is the problem Etsy thinks it should be tackling rather than the fact that its small business sellers are being driven off the platform. Shows where their priorities are.

Yeah, it's turning into Amazon, flooded by resellers of cheap Chinese shit. That does far more harm to the Etsy brand.

It would do even more harm if people were more aware of how China is able to make things so inexpensively. Amazon and Walmart have standardized obfuscating slave labor.

In Xinjiang, the government is the trafficker. Authorities use threats of physical violence, forcible drug intake, physical and sexual abuse, and torture to force detainees to work in adjacent or off-site factories or worksites producing garments, footwear, carpets, yarn, food products, holiday decorations, building materials, extractives, materials for solar power equipment and other renewable energy components, consumer electronics, bedding, hair products, cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment, face masks, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other goods—and these goods are finding their way into businesses and homes around the world.

https://www.state.gov/forced-labor-in-chinas-xinjiang-region/

Yes, the US also employs slave labor for big food brands. It’s important to be aware of those as well.

https://apnews.com/article/prison-to-plate-inmate-labor-investigation-c6f0eb4747963283316e494eadf08c4e

It would do even more harm if people were more aware of how China is able to make things so inexpensively. Amazon and Walmart have standardized obfuscating slave labor.

And Etsy has turned obfuscating slave labor into a side hustle. What bleak times we inhabit.

It's all so horrible. 😭

I'm sure I've used some of the slave labor products. To those who are captive, I am so sorry! I am an exhausted worker bee and just trying to get by in the world and wish I could help you.

Chinese reselling is the most profitable business model. Etsy is a public company and must choose the most profitable business model. The idea that a publicly traded company will have it's primary business model being selling handcrafted goods is asinine.

Not attacking anyone that didn't see this coming, I'm just commenting on how stupid it is that every company feels the need to go public in our culture of greed regardless of their mission and place in the market.

Well the funny thing is Etsy actually made a different choice originally. They claimed b-corp status, which is supposed to mean they prioritize social good in their business strategy. It's annoying that they seem to be so much more profit focused because if they were going to go to the trouble of becoming a bcorp they really should be working harder to stick to it.

Here's a bit more about benefit corporations (b-corps)

Chinese reselling is the most profitable business model. Etsy is a public company and must choose the most profitable business model.

This is a definition of capitalism contrived by someone looking to dunk on capitalism at any cost. BMW could be "profitable" if they started flooding the market with $20k cars... for a while.

I have no context for how expensive a bmw is. I assume it’s more than 20k? - how much more? 50k?

I’m trying to save for a house downpayment but have also been thinking about a new car, and the Tiguan looks kinda nice, assuming it’s not one of those touch screen cars

Edit: I am a fool, the tiguan is a VW.

(sorry everyone else for going way off topic here)

The Tiguan is indeed nice! It drives pretty well and had enough cargo room to hold a bunch of musical instruments last time I needed to do that. It has gotten expensive, though. For my money I'd either buy a gently used one, or check out the Taos if you don't mind the slightly smaller size.

The Taos might be the play - I am very nearly in love with the Golf, and even though I love a small car, it’s just slightly too small. I want to fit at least a hiking backpack in the trunk.

I quite like the Taos, One of my friends has one and it's roomier than most other crossovers in that segment.

I like how this interaction started as an argument and ended with recommendations for a good, used car.

How about they get rid of the shitty dropshippers instead?

My favorite was the one that generated a ship code but never actually shipped the item, and kept telling Etsy "Oops - one more week for us to get this figured out" every time I complained with Etsy until the refund period ended, and Etsy stood behind them.

I'm never using Etsy again after that bullshit.

So that's fraud, report it to your state/local AG office of consumer protection. Might be able to get your money back.

Or just contact your credit card provider and say the item was never shipped, because it wasn't. Bonus points if you can prove that they never sent you a tracking number. If Etsy won't help you then fuck them.

Ain't that their main money driver now?

I'm gonna be real with you people.

I'm not putting something in my body made by some fucking rando with no evidence whatsoever of what kind of materials they made it with.

Maybe, just maybe, this is a good thing because who knows what kind of toxic plastics were being used to make DIWhy sex toys.

The banning of porn is otherwise dumb, of course.

Meanwhile, most sex shops: selling jelly which just straight up melts with time, TPE/TPR which are porous and might melt when boiled and therefore pretty much impossible to keep clean, PVC which they promise doesn't contain phthalates this time, and silicone that has about a 50% chance of actually being platinum cured. DIYers can't be much worse, as far as I know, they either outright state what methods and materials they use or will provide them upon request.

What's wrong with platinum?

Nothing, I think the issue is that the other 50% will be peroxide cured because it's cheaper, though more likely to have fillers and potentially cause skin irritation or allergies.

Platinum cured silicone is, afaik, the only silicone that is food safe, thus safe to put inside any of your holes. It's significantly more expensive than other silicones, mostly due to the catalyst (platinum).

That’s why I only get my toys from Bad Dragon!

There's plenty of other good reliable makers that aren't scummy to their employees and customers. nobd.info If you're in the US, twin tail creations, all night toys, fantasy drove and square peg toys are all absolutely fantastic. 3 out of 5 of my top favorites are from all night toys, the couple who run it are cammers who are extreme size people and couldn't get toys large enough so they decided to make their own and goddamn it really shows that it's a great thing to have people so involved in using toys being the ones to design them, they know exactly what goes into a good toy.

Exotic erotics is good too, but their website is really bad. Just hard to use. Topped toys is really good, but they're canadian so ordering from them directly you have to worry about international shipping. You can get them through some retailers like mr s leather.

That's fair, etsy also sells a lot of adult toys that aren't meant to go inside. They have plenty of bdsm gear made by small creators, I've bought a couple from specific people who I follow and they've been great.

There is wisdom in this one haha

Lame, now Etsy is just going to be a wish or temu resalers hawking cheaply made goods, crack down on that instead Etsy.

"crack down" on their business model?

Etsy hasn’t been good for years. But I haven’t found an alternative yet. Anybody know what we should use instead?

started going downhill around the time they went public (2015). chasing higher stock prices instead of attracting quality sellers of actual handmade goods.

I hate to say it, but Amazon Handmade is the only one stop shop I've found that can compete so far. I'm hoping that changes soon.

Depending on what you want there are specific marketplaces dealing in it. Aftcra tried to do American handcrafted stuff but they closed down recently. Most of the places are just T-shirt or other textile printing on demand or they give you the tools to make your own storefront without the cohesive "search everything we've got" format of Etsy.

That's what I've found, which means I could be way the fuck off base because I'm just a drunk and I'm not passionate about handmade goods unless I happen to run across them locally.

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Etsy is now dead to me. Any site that bans writings or nipples is not a place that deserves my money.

Hmm. If the concern is the Etsy brand value, I'd just spin it off into a new company that does permit it. If you've already built a network of people selling and buying stuff and the software to do so, terminating it just sends the value of that to zero.

I think it's most likely pressure from payment processors.

Payment processors shouldn't be acting as a moral authority.

Yet again, failure to enforce antitrust law is a big part of the problem.

The government has ceded the entirety of modern currency exchange to private companies, which is still crazy to me, but I honestly don't see people even question it that often. As if it's just a given that online purchases (the increasing majority of all economic activity) is subject purely to a ToS and not the laws and protections granted to us by the government.

As if it’s just a given that online purchases (the increasing majority of all economic activity) is subject purely to a ToS and not the laws and protections granted to us by the government.

What? Of course they're still subject to laws. There's so many laws and precedent based around banking that it requires specialized lawyers.

They shouldn't be, but they have a long history of doing exactly that.

Could be liability? Someone sells a poorly made toy which breaks inside someone. Is etsy concerned they maybe held liable for that sort of thing being allowed to be sold? I don’t know - thinking out loud

Ehh. I mean, if they were just banning sex toys, I could believe something like that, but doesn't explain why they'd ban stuff other than sex toys simultaneously:

Etsy is also banning nudity for human models, including "gluteal clefts and female nipples/areolas." If you're selling a sexy item of clothing, for example, you must censor body parts, use a mannequin, or opt for just photographing the clothing.

"Sexual language" concerning incest or "referencing familial relationships" will also be banned now. The examples Etsy lists are "Daddy's slut" and "Choke me Mommy." As of publication, these terms are still searchable on Etsy, and so is nude content. Searches for "porn" come up blank.

They do know that terms like "daddy's slut" are not actually incest terms most of the time, right?

Even like 'real' dildo manufactures tend to claim the toy is for novelty use only and don't recommend actually using the thing as an insertable object. Adult toys aren't really regulated, because that would mean legitimizing them which is icky to the government. So they'll never really be regulated for health and safety

https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_today-vid-canonical-featured-desktop,f_auto,q_auto:best/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/tdy_trending_qtips_160121.jpg

Yeah, because it's stupid to use them for that.

https://clinere.com/

There are products that are designed to clean the ears. Q-tips are for makeup and cleaning electronics and stuff.

I'm just going to have to disagree with you on that.

If you can get your hands on them, try the clinear things. They're shaped like cotton swabs, except instead of a wad of cotton on the end, it has a little scoop.

It's like using a spoon to eat cereal instead of a hammer. I don't understand why people use hammers.

So they've reinvented earspoons?

I bought one a few years ago for medieval reenactment stuff. Never planned to use it because I always hated the feeling of cotton buds. Then eventually got curious enough to try it.

Turns out it's the texture I hate.

Actually I do have something similar and it is indeed pretty great but q-tips are still in go to the daily use.

Companies don't spin-off new competition. That would get everyone of the executives and the board fired. They kill competition. That's why it's mergers and acquisitions. Not spin-offs that meet the needs of consumers.

Based on the various draconian terms and conditions I've seen on my search for a solution I'd be surprised if this was driven by Etsy. In my opinion this is much more likely to be caused by its payment processor.

Wasn't the Hitachi Magic Wand initially sold as a "muscle massager"?

Depending where you look it may still be. My wife uses hers frequently on the back of her head and neck to help with migraines.

Whether or not I am the cause of those migraines I shall neither confirm or deny.

“Insertable” or “designed to be inserted in to”…. Never underestimate the creativity of a horny person…

They're messing with my retirement plans!

No, I'm not selling the stuff! That's the problem. I better get on a shopping spree.

Let me know where all these sellers will take their wares next. I'm hoping it's a fediverse based shopping app.

i'm trying to imagine a fediverse shopping setup where vendors and shoppers are globally trusted in an unhackable way. i'm guessing blockchain is involved?

On an unrelated note I recently just came into some massive stock of ornamental desk noodles if anyone is interested.

As for non-realistic content — like drawings — total nudity and sex acts "without visible genitalia or anuses" are allowed, but non-realistic images of explicit acts aren't.

Okay okay... So if we don't SEE the anuses, but I ABSOLUTELY know that there ARE anuses under the clothes, and I'm talking I can picture these things vividly, man... So then we're cool right, Etsy?

I have questions about the sex toy space on Etsy that I think can only be answered by a visit there

This is great news because of the homemade instruments people use on themselves/eachother.

This is terrible for the cheap painting and sculpture market.