In 2017, Emily Olson, a stay-at-home mom based in Boulder, Colorado, started selling prints and custom-made puppy portraits on Etsy.
Her watercolors were simple and relatively cheap—images of saucer-eyed corgis and malamutes in mini-tuxes, which she sold for 75to300 each—but dog owners adored them: “They were a labor of love,” she says. In 2021, she says she made more than 40,000offherEtsystore,andher[socialmedia](https://www.wired.com/category/business/social−media/)followingballoonedto180,000followerson[YouTube](https://www.wired.com/tag/youtube/).Butin2022,shenoticedsomethingodd:Hersalesstartedprecipitouslydeclining.Competitorsfloodedtheplatform,andshekeptfindingcopiesofherworkondrop−shippingsiteslikeAlibaba,wheretheywereadvertisedasoriginalcreations.ThenthereweretheAI−generatedpetportraits,whichweresupplantingherlistingsinsearchresultsandsellingforafractionoftheprice.Themostfrustratingpart,shesays,wasthattheAI−generatedportraitsweregettinggreatreviews.“Peoplewerelike,‘Oh,thisisthecutestimage,Iloveitinmydaughter’sbedroom.’Theydidn’treallyknoworcarewhomadeit,theywerejusteatingitup,”Olsonsays.In2022,shesays,hersalesdecreasedby30percent,followedby50percentthefollowingyear.In2024,EtsyofficiallyannouncedthatitwouldcontinuetoallowAI−generatedartonitsplatform,providedsellersdiscloseditassuch.Frustratedwiththepolicyandwithherdecliningsales,Olsonposteda[video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywTKz4NVhec)onherYouTubechannelinJanuary2025titled:“EtsyWasGreat…UntilItWasn’t—WhyI’mWalkingAway.”“Etsydoesn’talignwithmyvaluesthesedays,”shesaysinthevideo.“Itfeelslikethey’vejustbecomeanothergiantcorporationchasingprofitsaboveallelse.”Onceaquirkybastionofamateurvulvajewelryandtweecrocheteddolls,longtimeEtsysellerslikeOlsonarenowmigratingfromtheplatforminlargenumbersduetotheirfrustrationwithpoliciestheyfeelarelax.Competitorsareemerging.Fybe,forinstance,anewonlinecraftsmarketplace,willopentovendorsAugust1.ItexplicitlyprohibitsAI−generatedcontentanddrop−shippingontheplatform,andwillrelyonvolunteermoderatorsanddirectconversationswithsellerstoensureallproductsarehuman−made.BothbuyersandsellersonEtsy“arealittlediscontented,”saysRachelPowell,thefounderofFybe.“Ifiguredifwecouldstartaplatformthathashumanmoderationandonlyallowsvendorsthataren’tusingAIorusingdrop−shipping,thenwecouldbefillingaveryrealneedinthecommunity.”Onthesubredditr/EtsyCommunity,therearedozensofthreadsfromangrysellersgripingaboutdecliningsalesandtheinfluxofwhatoneuserreferredtoas“AI−generatedslop”thatisn’tlabeledassuch.“EverymakerI′vetalkedtoisbasicallyscreamingintothevoidaboutit,andEtsydoesn′tseemtocare,”onepostconcludes.Itisn’tjustmass−producedmugsorT−shirts.BuyershavebeeninundatedbyAI−generatedproductlistingsfor[crochetingpatterns](https://www.reddit.com/r/EtsyCommunity/comments/1ok3vvw/theamountofaicraplistingsisreally/),[hermitcrabpools,](https://www.reddit.com/r/hermitcrabs/comments/1q6oepr/heyyallcheckoutthisfreshhelletsyai/)even[medievalsuitsofarmor](https://www.reddit.com/r/EtsyCommunity/comments/1mhciem/forcedtobuyfromamazonandebaybecauseai/).Longtimevendorssaythehand−craftedaestheticsonceprizedbytheplatformaredisappearing,thankstoaburgeoningmarketofonlineentrepreneurs[promotingEtsy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMlsIcO0DRM)asaplaceforAI−drivensidehustles.“ThewholeAIsideofthingshasreally,reallyhamperedEtsyforsellers,bigtime,”saysChloeRose,anartistandcontentcreatorwhoforyearssoldstickersandoriginalwatercolorsontheplatform.Viktor,aUK−basedillustratorwhohasbeenonEtsyfor10years,sayshissaleshavedecreasedby98percentoverthelastyearalone,thankstopeopleusingtheplatformas“aneasywaytomakeaquickbuck.”“Peoplehavelearnednottotrustonce−trustedsiteslikeEtsy,becausetheyaretiredofseeingAIslopthatisnowinfectingthesite,”saysViktor,whogoesbyhisfirstnameonlineforprivacyreasons.“Unfortunately,thishasturnedpotentialcustomersawayfromactualartists.”Since2021,thecompany’sgrossmerchandisesaleshave[declined](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/3−metrics−reveal−why−once−185000702.html),whichanalystshave[attributed](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/09/etsy−escaping−race−to−the−bottom−and−getting−back−to−artisan−roots.html)toincreasedcompetitionfromsiteslikeTemuandShein;inlate2023,it[laidoff11percentofitsworkforce](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/13/etsy−laying−off−11percent−of−staff−citing−competitive−environment.html).Inrecentyears,however,theplatformhaslargelymaintaineditloyaluserbase:Etsyhasapproximately5.6millionsellers,accordingtoa2025transparencyreport;anditgenerated2.8 billion in revenue last year, a 2.7 percent increase from 2024.
As part of Etsy’s 2024 announcement allowing sellers to use works made with AI, the platform prohibited users from selling their own customized AI prompts, also noting that sellers must disclose if they used AI in product listings.
But this mandate is not strictly enforced, and Etsy is largely unresponsive to complaints about AI content regulation, according to Etsy sellers who spoke with WIRED for this story. Olson says that the platform even flagged her own products as copies of other vendors’ works, despite her artworks being wholly original. Her efforts to reach a customer service representative were unsuccessful. “They are not easy to work with, at all,” she says.
In response to a list of questions, James Ossman, vice president of customer operations at Etsy, told WIRED the company knows “how deeply our sellers care about protecting human creativity.”
“Etsy is the marketplace for goods made, designed, handpicked, or sourced by real people,” Ossman said. “That includes original works created by sellers who may use AI as one of many tools in their creative process.” Ossman added that enforcing the company’s standards regarding transparency and AI is “complex, and we know we have a lot more work to do.” He said the company is “continuing to improve our ability to detect and remove listings that don’t belong on Etsy.”
Olson has pivoted to Shopify, though she says sales there have been disappointing as well. “It is definitely harder to sell on your own website than on communities like Etsy,” she says.
But given the rising popularity of AI slop across platforms, there are also larger, more uncomfortable questions artists like her have to wrestle with, about whether there is even a future for handmade or crafted products in general. Sure, a hand-painted watercolor of a beloved shih tzu will have a different, more rough-hewn quality than a slick AI-generated portrait—but do consumers even care about the difference, particularly when the latter is so much cheaper and more accessible than the former?
“Face it, art is a luxury, and with all this economic uncertainty right now, it tends to be one of the last things people want to spend money on,” she says. “So I have empathy for people who don’t buy hand-painted works of art, but I also think we will always want to seek out things of beauty that are made by real people.”
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