UPDATE by quirke 06-15-08
The accused shop, Ulljasbeads.etsy.com, is no longer active on Etsy.
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UEN has received an outline from Etsy seller Abeadisborn detailing an apparent case of fraud on Etsy, alleging that another Etsy seller has been purchasing and re-selling lampwork beads from other artists under the claim that she had made the beads herself. The following information has been published with permission of the author.
On April 19th, 2008, I received an email from a fellow glass-bead maker on Ebay. She had asked if I was aware of someone purchasing my handmade lampwork beads through Ebay, and selling them in her own Etsy store, claiming to have made the beads herself. I was quite shocked, and had to investigate further. This link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200215772276&category=34070 shows my Ebay auction, won by the alleged IP offender, gerbera28, aka Ullja/Melek Kuntze. By request, I made this auction available as a “buy it now” for the customer, because she said she was in need of the beads very quickly. The beads were mailed to: Melek Kuntze [address removed], with a delivery confirmation of 9101 7850 9140 1537 7553 85, which were delivered to the home at 5:24 PM on April 22, 2008 in [location removed].
After investigating further, I found this indeed was true. This link: http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=8440928 is the link to the altered by Etsy sale information, of my beads. Sold by Ullja Kuntze, gerbera28. The attachment with this email is the original sold information page, screen printed, BEFORE Etsy made alterations to the description. Also attached, is the PDF file of the documents I faxed to Etsy, on May 27th 2008, pertaining to this matter.
After contacting other fellow lampworkers about this occurance, many beadmakers like myself, found evidence of this happening to them as well. It became a very big issue, and more complaints were sent to Etsy.
I followed Etsy’s Intellectual Property Right claim guidelines, by faxing them all the pertinent information pointing to this Etsy seller, and provided them with the proof, showing her fraudulent activity on Etsy. Etsy’s attorney, Sarah Feingold, called me to confirm that she had gotten the fax information, and the matter was being looked into. Shortly after, I noticed about 72 sale listings at Ulljasbeads.etsy.com, disappeared. Those listings were of the same nature as mine. They were handmade lampwork beads, made by people other than her, and she knew she was caught. I have a PDF file of all Ulljas Etsy listing pages, before they were removed. If you need them, please let me know so I can send you a copy.
To date, Ulljasbeads.etsy.com is still an active selling member of Etsy. She is still advertising other people’s handmade lampwork beads on her website, located at http://yhst-59139618684516.stores.yahoo.net/ - if you follow this link, the blue encased floral bead featured on her front page, is still being displayed, whos copyright belongs to someone other than her, who has also filed an IPC complaint on her.
In case the screenshot linked to is unclear, the text that was removed from the sold listing reads “All my beads are made by me in my private glass studio in Milan Italy… kiln annealed overnight for durabilityand strenght and Dremel cleaned for you”.
The listing that Abeadisborn refers to as being altered by Etsy may be one of the listings that Etsy has admitted to altering (see our previous coverage here).
From Etsy’s Copyright Policy:
B. Once Proper Bona Fide Infringement Notification is Received by the Designated Agent, it is Etsy’s policy:
1. To remove or disable access to the material infringing upon the intellectual property;
2. To notify the user that Etsy has removed or disabled access to the material; and
3. That repeat offenders will have their infringing material removed from the system and that Etsy will terminate such users’ access to the service.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:05 am
The selling community can sigh with relief now that the offending store has finally been shut down, but customer confidence in Etsy is severely damaged. By customers, I mean the sellers, remember us Etsy? And what does this do to the reputation of the site? The confidence of buyers?
Hosting an “open site” has responsibilities and consequences. By allowing the site to grow to over 150,000 stores without adequate controls and the willingness to enforce them has left Etsy in quite a mess. While Etsy writes a huge and ever-growing newsletter, hosts 6 different chat areas, promotes and attends shows to recruit more stores, and spends 80% of their efforts on promoting social networking functions, the ecommerce has suffered from lack of attention.
And it shows.
When customers start complaining that they “can’t find any handmade items on Etsy anymore, it’s so full of junk.” ALL stores are hurt by that perception and that reality. And now buyers have to be worried about outright fraud?
June 16th, 2008 at 3:10 am
I am BEYOND thrilled that her shop has been closed down. This affects the entire art community, and I’m pleased Etsy shut her down (finally).
I followed the entire LE thread as it went on, and from what I gathered, she was reported to the Texas authorities for her bakery, and the people living in that location denied access for a kitchen inspection. From what I understand, it looks like she herself may have asked Etsy to close down the bakery shop, not the other way around, to avoid any trouble. Also, at several different times, she claimed that online bakery shop as her own and then as her mother’s, hence the being in two different countries at the same time. Who is actually who, and how that whole closure happened is anybody’s guess.
I DO know that on top of a bakery and a bead shop, she also had a jewelry shop last fall (she was on a street team that I was on), but closed that shop over the winter. And the new owner of Indiepublic has since kicked her off that site, too.
In any event, I’m glad she’s gone.
June 15th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Thank You Etsy, for protecting artists rights!
(finally)
June 15th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
*claps*
June 15th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Thanks, Unofficial Etsy News!!
June 15th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Amen!!!
June 15th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
HER SHOP IS FINALLY CLOSED!
June 15th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
They shot themselves in the foot by using their right too loosely and now they’re gonna say “but you told us to be more careful!” Just like they always do. “Well you wanted alchemy” when that free for all was launched in beta without being called beta “well you wanted gift guides” when they added a curated site wide one instead of shop ones”well you wanted more promo opportunities” when they added more showcases “well you wanted to be more SEO friendly” when they added our shop names all over. Turning it back on their customers.
Real smart way to do business
June 15th, 2008 at 4:08 am
Soap I think you’re probably right. Etsy is over-correcting again, swinging too far to the opposite extreme. I know that when so many sellers got brick-walled over mistakes or over one non-delivery out of thousands of sales, many people (including me) said they need to take more time, have a more objective process, etc.
But I have ALWAYS supported and defended Etsy’s right to refuse service at any time for any reason. Every website has that clause in the TOU, and if they don’t, they are crazy. Private business needs that right but they also need to use it judiciously.
My only objection was that Etsy seemed to refuse service too hastily, or over small infractions. I never said they shouldn’t use that clause ever, only that they shouldn’t use it lightly. But this situation right now is exactly the kind of thing that clause was designed for! This is the time to use it.
June 15th, 2008 at 3:06 am
btw - the LE forum posts are an interesting read and I’ve only touched the first few pages. It sounds really convoluted. I don’t really want to post even a synopsis here because I don’t want to chance getting it wrong.
Seriously, sign up and go read.