I’ve managed a shop on Etsy for the past 5 months selling electronic devices and synthesizers. I recently resigned from my job to pursue electronics design and fabrication.









Two days ago, my shop was unexpectedly CLOSED and I received an email stating that there was suspicion that I hadn’t constructed my devices by hand. At first I was a bit flattered and followed their instructions to confirm that I had in fact built them myself. I supplied the following photographs…

Shots of my workshop (soldering iron, electronic component cabinets, work bench)

Photos of the device (outside, inside, and the laser etched logo on the back with my etsy shop html link)

Photo of the raw materials used to construct the device (walnut and basswood)

However, they also requested I supply photos of the build process. I didn’t take photos during construction so I didn’t have any. Then I realized this was a more disconcerting request when I noticed NOWHERE in Etsy's

Terms of Use

or

Do’s and Dont’s

page does it say anything like…

“Sellers are expected to document, through the use of photographs, their construction process for all items and be able to supply those photos to Etsy staff upon request or risk having their shops permanently closed.”

I appealed to the representative to no avail. Was I suppose to take it apart and build it again? No, I would just have to document the build process for my next product I posted and my store would remain closed until I did so.









Disregarding the fact that having my shop up gains me at least one follower a day, it just so happens I don’t want Etsy to know exactly how I go about constructing my electronics and especially the enclosures. I realized this was an intellectual property issue and that Etsy was making an unfair and undocumented demand of me.









I’m upset by the suddenness. That at any point, you can be immediately removed from a community of builders and musicians for no other reason than a hunch.









The full text of the email can be found here…

http://wtfbyrne.tumblr.com/post/50437619970/etsy-accused-me-of-not-assembling-my-synths-by-hand





Note to any DIY synth enthusiasts/IP types: Music from Outer Space (MFOS) is a online synth hobbyist store/information goldmine that sells PCBs. Ray Wilson, designer and owner, allows for the resale of his PCBs in the form of completed kits as is the case for my item.