I do apologize for the main image, but in order to drive the message home, sometimes we have to do things that feel wrong.
You might have guessed from the title, but this post is also not going to be about models…
I know, I know it’s not really a big news given how rarely I write and how many times I actually wrote about models
…rather seller platform called Etsy and their hypocrisy when it comes to distributing their rules unevenly.
Our story begins when I started to create 3D printed replicas of German tank rounds for fun and profit. Like these:
Initially these weren’t that popular, but slowly they caught on and I managed to sell a few of these bad boys, making money for myself and for Etsy of course.
As interest grew, so did my repertoire of these very dangerous items and by the end of 2024 I already had all major PanzerGranate variants up for sale, from the short 7.5cm KwK37 to the majestic 8.8cm KwK43.
Life was good and the time before Christmas brought in a lot of orders. I had two big ones from Germany which did ring some alarm bells and I was thinking about contacting MI6 to look in to the matter as we all know how dangerous Germans are when it comes to tank rounds. Perhaps they already 3D printed a whole fleet of Tigers and Panthers.
Anyway, I already started to scour the internet for information on British, American, Soviet and Italian shells, to increase the variety and ride the waves whilst they are still high.
Little did I know that someone (namely Etsy) will break down my door, climb on my dinner table and take a big shit right in the middle of it.
Fast forward to this year end of January, I got an email from Etsy telling me that they removed one of my listing because it violates their policies. To my surprise it was one of the tank rounds. Namely this:
Now you might ask “why didn’t you read the policies?”
And that would be a fair question, to which my answer would be, that I didn’t think it will be an issue as others are selling similar things. Even original shells, not just plastic replicas.
I know, I know… This is not the best way to determine what one can or cannot do and to be fair, if it’s a policy or rule on the platform, we have to follow it. You agree to the terms, so don’t bitch about it, right?
And I don’t have a problem with that. Given the circumstance I will accept the responsibility of not following policies and accept the ramifications.
But what I am not going to accept is the disproportionate application of these rules. Rules which are clearly overlooked and whilst many sellers don’t get a slap on their wrists, others do.
Seemingly one can fly under the radar for years and not get caught by the web of policies.
Which does beg the questions…
How do they even know?
How did they manage to get wind of my item?
Why only one out of the twelve?
It certainly looks like it solely depends on someone reporting an item, or reporting your shop. Sure as shit there is no check when you create a listing as all of my tank rounds went on without a warning.
This means that you can run your business without bother, until someone comes along and smashes that tiny button on the item’s page to report it. If this is the case then what keeps someone from reporting you, or your items because they are a competitor and want to sell the same, or similar items in their shop?
Nothing, that’s what.
You can go as a seller and report any item you don’t like, because the system seemingly doesn’t distinguish between sellers and buyers on the surface level. Even if it does, one could open a separate account just for reporting.
Does that mean that you can destroy a competitor?
Sure, I can imagine this being abused relentlessly on a daily basis on the platform.
Do I think, I was reported with this intent?
Yes, I certainly do as after my item got banned another relatively new shop started selling the same tank round, with same art style, same pricing and they literally took my item’s title and description word for word.
By no means I try to claim copy right on a tank round used in WW2, that would be insane. But the designs I have are my own and proprietary, I made them from actual technical documents, spent hours on it whilst others usually just get something for free, from a website spreading free printable files and start selling like they own the thing.
I also can’t really claim anything on the presentation designs. Anyone can replicate it, but when you have another store using exactly the same title and description for the item, and doing the same rendered designs as mine… you can’t shake the feeling that they aren’t copying you out of admiration.
In short the whole situation was highly suspicious. And the most bothering thing was that I had 12 tank rounds up for sale and only the 8.8cm Kwk36 got flagged, which incidentally is the same what that other shop started selling.
It’s called the old “Bait & Switch”
But let’s give the other the benefit of doubt, the “innocent until proven guilty” and say it was just a bit of envy and he took liking to my design, presentation, product title and description. Let’s pretend that his intent went only that far and he didn’t hit the report button on my item. It’s still somewhat of a shitty move to copy-paste other peoples work. At least make an effort next time.
Anyway… I think I got that out of my system, so let’s get to the spicy stuff.
The icing on this shit-cake is that hundreds if not thousands of shops on Etsy violate their policies in terms of sexually explicit content. From 3D figures, to AI generated smut, from spread eagle to full blown tentacle penetration (as seen in the title image)…
Everything is for the taking!
I am a man who loves some smut from time to time, but let’s be clear. Etsy is not the place for such things.
But yet, there they are.
But don’t take my word for it. Rather have a look at the policy page.
What does it say?
For non-realistic content, the following are prohibited:
- Sex acts with visible genitalia or anuses
- Depictions of genitalia or anuses with other sexual context (such as sex acts, visible arousal, sexual stimulation, sexual body fluids, or sexually suggestive posing)
So let’s have another look at some example images, shall we…
I mean, what can I say?
Sure, the main image is fully blurred, but does it matter? We all know what’s happening regardless of the full blur.
In the secondary image you can’t see the main thing either, but does it matter?
Even a five year old understands what’s happening here. It’s not rocket science.
We all know that the tentacles aren’t just gently tickling her inner thighs whilst another is brushing her teeth.
Like who are we trying to convince at this point?
You can dress this up or down as much as you want, smut is smut. I am not against it, but there is a place for everything and for this kind of content, it’s called porn sites.
So did I use the power of reporting?
Yes, I reported the item in question and what do you think happened?
Nothing!
Then I reported the whole store.
Nothing!
The shop is still up and running and it’s not even a bigger shop than mine, so we can’t even say that Etsy turns a blind eye because that particular seller makes them sooooo much money.
So tentacle porn and other garbage is fine, but a plastic tank round will ruin our society? That’s where we draw the lines?
I thought sexual objectification of women is a bad thing. At least that’s what the progressives keep on screaming about.
Make love, not war!
It is a powerful message, but I highly doubt whoever came up with it, meant tentacles crawling up ones ass and snatch.
This whole situation really soured my make-believe relationship with Etsy. I thought it is going to be a good platform to thrive and have a nice store that generates some revenue as it is so far my most successful store yet. With a bitter taste (not from tentacles) in my mouth I do accept the ban-hammer on my tank rounds and continue without them on the platform, but now that I have experienced this hypocrisy I just can’t really recommend this platform to anyone with clear conscience. Unless you are willing to take risks and milk it (no, not that way) until you are banned.
And you know what…
The cherry on top is that a lot of this graphic stuff is AI. These people can’t even fucking draw! They just type in some shit in to an image generator with the words “tits”, “tentacles” and “suck”… and Bob’s your uncle, here are 30 generated images of making love the modern way. Or even worse, they steal shit and resell.
So they aren’t even making anything by themselves. It is the farthest from hand made, unless you consider typing words on a keyboard hand made.
Anyway, I stop here with my salty bitchin’.
If you are interested in my tank rounds, you can buy theme here directly, or you can find them on eBay.
Stay safe and build models instead of watching smut.
Cheerio!
Pingback: New Products: Weapons Of War - Rogue Plastic