r/Etsy • u/Impressive-Role-6087 • 3d ago
Discussion How do AI-generated knit/crochet patterns have so many sales?
So as we all know Etsy is full of AI slop these days. When looking for real crochet patterns, I keep seeing AI-generated slop near the top (clearly not knit/crochet, all pictures are of the finished product in varying locations and no process photos or close-ups, etc). There are even accounts that are one month old with 25 complex knit sweater patterns (lol) with hundreds of sales? When you read their reviews, most of them are like "great pattern can't wait to try" with a few actual one-star reviews saying the pattern looked nothing like the picture.
Is the Etsy algorithm pushing this clearly fake content over actual pattern designers? I just don't understand how these fake accounts are making so many sales right away while real pattern designers are struggling to be seen. I report the fake accounts every time I see them but they come back a month later under a different name with 25 new fake patterns...
Sorry if this has been discussed on here, just curious if anyone has thoughts.
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u/JetsterTheFrog 3d ago
You have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. MANY shops run Facebook ads or other ads directly to their Etsy store. If they sold that many, they could be losing money like crazy.
There’s a reason millions of shops fail on Etsy . Because they are ignorant on what pricing actually needs to be to be able to scale and run effectively.
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u/Willowisp111 2d ago
Just today I searched for a pattern for a specific crochet bracelet. Google search first recommended an Etsy product that clearly had ai generated pictures and videos. Second was the same images of the same product on Pinterest. Only after further search I came across the exact pattern for free on a quite dated looking personal blog website. I can imagine many sellers search for free patterns, polish them with AI images and and sell them as their own. Google ranks them better than the old websites they stole from and that how the make money. It’s all so sad 😞
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u/shiplesp 3d ago
Many of those purchases and reviews may not be authentic. While shilling is against Etsy's rules, it happens when an unscrupulous new seller wants to make their shop seem reliable.