Friday, March 11, 2011

Etsy Banning Glass Pipes

No More Beautiful Things Like This
I just found out today that Etsy.com will be banning all glass pipes and other smoking accessories on March 15th. I am outraged. I do not make or sell pipes, however, I do buy them from etsy. I love knowing who made it and where it came from, and knowing it's a one of a kind. The pipes are even labeled for tobacco use only, some do say "or legal medicinal herbs". If you're legal and have a medical condition, what's the problem?

Letter From Etsy To Glass Artists:
Hello,

This is Sonia from Etsy Support. Thank you for being a member of this community; we admire your business and selling spirit! We are getting in touch to let you know that we are tightening up enforcement of our existing policy, and we need you to remove some of your listings.
Etsy's policies state that some items are inappropriate for Etsy's marketplace, even though they may otherwise meet Etsy's selling criteria. Per the policy, you may not list the following types of items on Etsy: Drugs, drug-like substances, drug paraphernalia. These items are prohibited. You can read more about Prohibited Items here: http://www.etsy.com/policy/dosdonts#prohibited and all of Etsy's DOs and DON'Ts here: http://www.etsy.com/policy/dosdonts

Please remove the following types of items:

* items with a carburetor
* items with a slide
* all bongs
* all bubblers

This is a site wide effort; you are not being singled-out. We are asking all sellers with these types of items to remove drug paraphernalia by Tuesday, March 15, 2011.
If you respond to this email with the listing numbers of the items you've removed by March 15th, we will issue you a one-time listing fee refund for those items. We cannot offer a refund for prohibited items that are left active after March 15th.
Even if these items are marketed as tobacco only, they will need to be removed. Any sellers with active drug paraphernalia after March 15 risk suspension of shop privileges.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your cooperation.

Best,
Sonia
Etsy's Support Team http://help.etsy.com


I'm so upset/mad, I want to close down both of my etsy shops. Seems a little extreme I know. But it makes me feel like I'm not welcome. As a medical marijuana patient, I loved going to etsy to find awesome smoking pieces and 420 goodies. Will etsy get rid of the products made with real hemp leaves? What about mini bong charms? What about hemp jewelry? Will they one day get rid of everything that will offend anyone?

This is art to me..
Seriously, I don't understand how Etsy can do this, when there are vagina's and cocks all over the place?! I do not have a problem with all those vagina sculptures and penis aprons. Even though I would never buy them, and some things freak me out a little bit. I would never complain or ask etsy to get rid of them. I thought etsy was a way of selling your artwork without being criticized or shut out.

I feel like there is nothing I can do. Hence, this post with my feelings. A big part of this blog was designed to promote Etsy Glass Artists. So many people have built there business up, only to be told they can no longer sell there art work. I'm sorry but I believe a beautiful glass pipe is much more interesting that a crocheted cock. Plus, it's useful.

GoodBye Colorful Works Of Art

If there is a protest or anything going on that can change this, please let us know. I love etsy and have been with them for years, but I feel like they just turned there back on me and slammed a door in my face. Once again, the world shows you that if you smoke marijuana, you're not welcome. The PLG Revolution is meant to change these things. =[


-Keefy Buddz


[Former Etsy Glass Artists: Please Post Your New Home/Link Here So We Can Find You!]


UPDATE 3-25-11
There are still a few glass pipes being sold on Etsy, the only catch is they need to be carb-less. =P

6 comments:

  1. I am in total agreement. My pipes are art, dammit, and this is the SECOND time that etsy has cut off my source of income. (Alchemy's disappearance being the first) Why have I bothered to put hours into developing an online shop on this site? But it's OK to sell dildos. I'm glad someone else noticed that.

    You can find me(Random Stuff) at www.facebook.com/TheLittleShopOfRandomStuff or on www.pipes.bz They just opened a marketplace for pipes there and it's pretty small still, but it's a start. It's an offshoot of glasspipes.org, and oddly enough, you can't sell pipes there either. (already got in trouble for that one too, hello, it's called "glasspipes.org" what the "F" is being sold on there anyway??)

    DOWN WITH ARTISTIC SUPPRESSION! BIG BROTHER FUCK OFF!!!

    Peace :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well this is life for the always forsaken pipe maker. As if I am even surprised. Anyone who didn't see this coming needs to go a shade lighter on their specs.

    We also spent many hours building up our peaceful little corner on Etsy, only to be met with more resistance against the ever growing counter culture. Blocked by the always looming hand of conservative capitalism. Fortunately in the wake of this I will remember the good times Etsy and I had together. We very much enjoyed the money and convenience but lets face it, it was not without it's faults.

    We as a company embrace this change as we have always embraced the opportunity to break away from the corporate mold. This desire for freedom is what drug us kicking and screaming into the world of full time pipe making.
    Etsy has become,"the man" and it's about high time we started to...well... stick it to em'. I personally know quite a few pipe makers. I know how most of us are not enthusiastic about change. I know this is going to be a long hard road and some of us might not make it. I don't have too much more advice but I will try to lead by example in this case...a) switch the bulk of your inventory to ArtFire. b) leave some carb-less spoons on your Etsy site to cross saturate the google search base. c) buy a domain name and build your own web site. d) continue to do what our Boro-fathers did before us...hit the streets with some glass and try to not take too much shit from the ruthless shop owners!

    You can find us in the next several weeks at http://www.artfire.com/users/cripplecreekglass and at www.cripplecreekglass.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Im startin this new site at least for practice, Im not sure what google thinks of it, but they probably dont like pipes either. I actually found this blog when trying to find out.. it still needs work, follow the link. You can email me ajaglass@yahoo.com if you have any special requests. thanks, Aaron , AJAGLASS
    https://sites.google.com/site/ajaglasshandblownglassusa

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh well, if you are looking for some other site that also sells great glass pipes, I just found a site that you might be looking for. Here it is, http://www.smokewire.com/glass-pipes.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. We've brought up a new website, www.TabooTrader.com, which actually caters to the sale of Hand Pipes, Water Pipes, Vaporizers, Grinders, Chillums, etc. We are generating over 400 new visitors each day through ads on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. We currently have over 700 items listed. It's free to register and free to list!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello, I read your post and impressed with you deep knowledge of "Smoking Water Pipe". Its hard to find this kind of blog post like to read more post from you. I appreciate your efforts in the post. Thanks for sharing you deep information on "Pipe Smoking Accessories".

    ReplyDelete

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