late stage capitalism – One Rabbit Riot

This is not a shock, Etsy in 2026 sucks. It has been going downhill for a while, but the drop off in our current time is abysmal.

I used to find amazing things on the site. The best coat I’ve ever own from an indie designer from Shanghai. A cool elephant print messenger bag from Thailand. An intricate glass bead necklace from a glass artisan in Estonia. Vintage buttons from Ohio. Handmade wind chimes to honor the passing of my family dog from a shop in Maryland.

But there is no replacement for what was. 7 years ago I purchased a moonstone ring from an artist in India, but through my moves I have misplaced it. Frustrated with myself for not being more careful, I went on Etsy to see if I could find a similar piece and I thought I had. The seller said they were from my home state and prominently displayed certification on their listings, so I went ahead and purchased a new ring.

That’s when I realized I got got by the new Etsy. The ring did not ship for over a week, no message from the seller at all after purchase, and when it did ship the origin was not from Pennsylvania but from New York City, a port city, a drop shipper paradise. Then the ring arrived, looking nothing like the listing.

The stone was plastic, flat, lower than the metal setting, clear instead of the milky hue of moonstone, and loose in its setting. The ring came in a cheap plastic bag like you won it out of a gachapon machine. This was a trinket, not the certified small business jewelry I thought I ordered. This was a Alibaba or Temu special delivery from an Etsy seller cosplaying as a handmade artist who probably stole the product images on their site.

Why is this the way now? I just want to go back to the days of easily being connected with real artists and not people stealing and scamming to make a buck. I hope the person really needed that money.

I’m not bothering to contact Etsy, they will do nothing. They created this situation by rewarding AI and drop shippers, while silencing the makers who made their company a household name. Instead I have deleted my account and the start of a shop, I have had in limbo on the back end since 2020 because Etsy is not a place I want to be a part of anymore, as a seller or a customer. It is hollow.

I hope, dear reader, you know how much this WordPress community means to me. I have shared before how frustrating it is to share my designs on Instagram, how I have chased the algorithm and have been disappointed over and over by the shifting sands of Meta. The algorithm has felt even more desolate lately, not even showing my posts with my friends. It feels like yelling into a void. I feel like the rat in a cage from a Bullet with Butterfly Wings.

The reason why I started sharing my work on my Facebook and Instagram when I began sewing and picked up knitting again in the 2020, was to connect with others and find community. I’m tired of my feed drowning in advertisement, and feeling disconnected from others when they post and I post because we are not monetizing our every post. I don’t want to sell you anything. I want to inspire and learn together. I want to make art. I want to not feel alone, just like we all do.

WordPress has been the exception and your community makes me feel hopeful that in the AI Slop, short-form content, linked-below hellscape that is the internet right now, that we can still be there for each other. Thank you for every view, every like, every comment. You mean the world to me. Being an artist right now sucks, but you all make it magical.

I have been making a lot, organizing my work room, finding a lot of inspiration from like-minded folks on the internet and listening to good music. My favorites recently have been Haute & Freddy and rediscovering The Smashing Pumpkins after their amazing Lollapalooza performance. I wish you a lovely Friday! Until next time ❤