Why is every online artisan marketplace full of fake and AI items?
Online marketplaces are flooded with AI-generated images, dropshipped goods, and low-quality knockoffs disguised as handmade or vintage items. Buyers are forced to manually reverse-image search and vet every listing for fake reviews, making the shopping experience so exhausting that many simply give up.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Doing reverse image searches on product photos
- 2Checking Amazon or AliExpress beforehand to identify potential dropshipped inventory
- 3Looking for casual, non-professional photos with background elements like kitchen tables or trucks to verify a human maker
- 4Google searching sellers independently to build trust
- 5Leaving honest 1-star reviews with photos of the actual received items
- 6stop shopping on the platform entirely
- 7spend a significant amount of time weeding out untrustworthy listings
- 8stick to buying only from a very few known shops
- 9Searching for items using external platforms like Instagram
- 10Checking item prices against real-world market values
- 11Doing a reverse image search to find matching listings on Temu, AliExpress, or other sites
- 12complaining on forums
- 13comparing the platform to Amazon
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I have been a seller on Etsy for almost a decade and I re sell vintage items like Pyrex and other home decor of the 50s-70s. And the way that I curate my items was and is always a top priority with detailed and informative and REAL photos and great quality. Id never sell something I wouldn't want.”source ↗
“Now its all AI generated photos and fake shops with temu resale drop shipped items, not to mention fake and payed for reviews. And it is EXHAUSTING to filter through everything.”source ↗
“I purchased a veil that was almost $70 with great reviews and photos only to be met with a TERRIBLY constructed piece of garbage with terrible adhesive fake embroidery and sparce florals when the photos showed something so much better.”source ↗
“I also purchased a nose ring to go with my ring, and it came today about 5x smaller than what was advertised and it was also $60...”source ↗
“the fact the I now have to reverse image EVERYTHING I feel like the egg guy as well, its like having to fbi search a damn necklace”source ↗
“I had to talk my friend out of buying a $500 Halloween costume on Etsy today because the photos were AI and there were only three shop reviews with no pics to show quality.”source ↗
“If this is allowed, how do you know who to trust?”source ↗
“I didn’t realize how bad it was til I searched halloween decor and every photo was ai on the entire main page. wow”source ↗
“Entire businesses built on fraud, and you can report it with all the proof in the world, etsy doesmt care.”source ↗
“I crochet and so many patterns sold on there now is AI. I hate it.”source ↗
“It takes far too much time to weed them out, so I have given up.”source ↗
“You have to really take a deep dive when you see something you want.”source ↗
“I bought a stuffed doll that said ships from Texas.”source ↗
“I checked tracking on 9/11 to see where it was and it said International Shipment Release - Export.”source ↗
“It’s (now) obviously drop shipped. How do I report it to Etsy?”source ↗
“It is SO hard to find anyone actually selling handmade things though.”source ↗
“I was looking for jewlery on Etsy and noticed that it is either fairly cheap (around 60PLN) or quite expensive (couple hundreds PLN). Is the cheap jewlery dropshipped crap or is there a diffrent rrason for it being so cheap?”source ↗
“Etsy unfortunately is no longer the way to go for handmade goods as the vast majority of it is AI or drop shipped.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5Seller gave me a fake tracking number with a thank you card
- 8How to tell if an international online marketplace seller is a scam
- 5How do I spot scams as a new seller on online marketplaces?
- 18How to stop fraudulent chargebacks on online stores
- 4How to stop sellers from harassing you to change reviews
- 2Why do online sellers send useless automated replies?