341
submitted 2 months ago by Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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.

all 47 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 232 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 147 points 2 months ago

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

[-] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 67 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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

[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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.

[-] notanaltaccount@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] Rookwood@lemmy.world 25 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] restingboredface@sh.itjust.works 42 points 2 months ago

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)

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 21 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] sandalbucket@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 months ago

(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.

[-] sandalbucket@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] cygnus@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 months ago

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

[-] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 2 points 2 months ago

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

[-] Starkstruck@lemmy.world 123 points 2 months ago

How about they get rid of the shitty dropshippers instead?

[-] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 37 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] Pips@lemmy.sdf.org 32 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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

[-] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 22 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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.

[-] SnotFlickerman 107 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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.

[-] Lewo@lemmy.world 46 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 months ago

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

[-] pixeltree 2 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

But you trust corpos?

Also, all that stuff is standard movie industry prop material and is well documented. Here's one listing from Smooth-on with the Safety Data Sheet right in front. It would be harder to get the toxic stuff. If you're unsure, just ask the maker for the SDS. If they don't know what that is, then run.

[-] Shotgun_Alice@lemmy.world 82 points 2 months ago

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

[-] psvrh@lemmy.ca 47 points 2 months ago

"Going to be"?

[-] InFerNo@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago

"crack down" on their business model?

[-] Lodra@programming.dev 72 points 2 months ago

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

[-] SexyVetra@sh.itjust.works 58 points 2 months ago

While still young and not a drop-in replacement yet, https://artisans.coop/ looks promising

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

Awesome! Thank you for this!

[-] adarza@lemmy.ca 13 points 2 months ago

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

[-] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] fiercekitten@lemm.ee 52 points 2 months ago

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

[-] vk6flab@lemmy.radio 41 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] gnutrino@programming.dev 44 points 2 months ago

Yeah, this stinks of another company coming under pressure from Exodus Cry/Morality in Media lobbying of payment processors.

[-] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 29 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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

[-] StrawberryPigtails@lemmy.sdf.org 25 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] ramble81@lemm.ee 17 points 2 months ago

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

[-] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] Num10ck@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago

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?

[-] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

There seems to be a discussion regarding this topic here. I found several other such conversations too. It could work!

https://lemmy.eus/post/247855

[-] motor_spirit@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

noooo not my whiskey barrel butt plugs for the groomsmen!

[-] MeaanBeaan@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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

[-] Snapz@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

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?

[-] viperex@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

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

[-] sbexpert@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

I recommend Fantasticocks and DeepFantasies.

this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2024
341 points (100.0% liked)

News

22907 readers
3061 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS