The amount of people expressing frustrations and concerns regarding Etsy has been climbing over the years, especially with the rising use of drop shipping and AI content. One thing that makes sellers want to avoid Etsy completely as well was their always increasing fees.
Etsy was originally a marketplace for small businesses who wanted to sell their crafts; however, with the increased amount of 3rd party production, drop shipping products instead of crafting them, infringement of property from others, use of AI, and other things that has now made the oasis for small businesses to get their leg up in the business world to a majority of drop shipped items, AI slop, and the smallest sprinkle of handmade items on top.
Rachel Powell hated the new Etsy and what it had turned into, so she decided to take matters into her own hands. She decided to create Fybe.art, a new way to sell handmade creations.
“I was kinda just waiting around for the right alternative to come along,” Powell said. “and it never happened exactly how I was envisioning. I saw a video by a skincare company that was doing profit sharing and that’s how the idea started.”
Building a website is not an easy task at all as any web developer would tell you, so as a web developer, Powell took the opportunity. She started working in web development eight years ago where she started out as a freelance copywriter. Through her work, she became obsessed with WordPress, how their websites work, and all of the customizations that come with it. While coding isn’t her favorite past time, she loves creating the end result that is involved, so it’s worth the knowledge she has gain from learning code.
Powell originally started with the name Fybe as to be the Etsy-solution for just fiber arts (cross stitch, embroidery, crochet, knitting, etc); however, over time, it became an Etsy-Solution for most and others who wanted to leave Etsy.
Unlike Etsy, Fybe is keeping themselves clearly away from AI in every way necessary. For right now, Powell is having human moderating done for everything from product listings to the creation of new shops. All listings are manually approved by Powell, members of the Fybe team, or volunteer vendor mods that signed up to help.
“I’m a firm believer that humans will always be the best AI detectors, so, for now, vendors have to apply, providing as much information about their business as possible, including social links, and we vet them as thoroughly as we can,” Powell said.
Fybe is also completely avoiding drop shipping. “I think an important distinction to make first is that drop shipping and print on demand are not the same thing, according to Fybe.” Powell said. “Drop shipping being ‘oh I ordered this 25 pack of scissors from Temu and I’m going to resell them at 500% markup’ or ‘this item on amazon fits my shop aesthetic so i’m gonna list it as my own and mark it up, then just order it from Amazon with the customer’s delivery address’. Print on demand is markedly different – as long as it’s real human art on the item, and the vendor discloses their “print” or “production” partner, they can list it on Fybe.”
Powell stated that the team will also reverse image search through tineye.com, intentionally avoiding Google, and if they receive an hit on an item that doesn’t appear to be created by the vendor that applied with Fybe.
Fybe’s main goals are to be able to provide the space and the process for others to succeed.
“We aren’t looking to get rich, so if Fybe does well, we’re going to hire ethically, remotely, and profit share with our vendors,” Powell said. “In no universe does my soul yearn to be a billionaire CEO.”
In ways for Fybe to be different from it’s other popular competitors like Etsy, Powell said that human moderation is going to stay the biggest part of it.
“Human moderation and screening is a huge part of it, but really what we want is for buyers to be able to come to our platform and not have to spend the extra five minutes per item trying to figure out if it is real or a scam,” Powell said. “No shopper has time for that. We do that part so people can shop easily.”
Another way in Fybe being different is by making sure that the Sellers’ Voices are always heard. Plans and discussions are underway about developing a Vendor Success Team, and while it is only Rachel and her husband, Jonathan, doing this role presently, they will NEVER add robots to their chats or their phones.
For Vendors on Fybe, they will be a doing a subscription based fee structure for vendors. (This does not include Stripe fees)
The structure is as follows:
| Cost (Per Month) | Fee Percentage |
| Free | 5% |
| $5 | 4% |
| $15 | 3% |
| $25 | 2% |
The amount of growth for Fybe was not what Powell was expecting. With the launch happening tomorrow, September 1st, Fybe.art now has over 1,100 vendors registered, which is exponentially higher than what Powell expected of maybe 100 vendors. Their Threads account now has about 15,000 followers and their Instagram is quickly approaching 5,000 followers.
Most of the advertising going towards Fybe has been primarily posts and word of mouth from creators wanting this replacement from Etsy. Futuristically speaking, Powell is working on the idea of ads in Reddit, but she wants to avoid using Google and Meta as much as necessarily possible.
While Fybe is still in its growing and new fully developed launch, Powell has started planning employment once Fybe is able to have a reliable and robust monthly income.
“I want it to be 100% remote, freelance/contract to start,” Powell said. “Additionally, I’d like to build out a benefits structure and look at official employment. I want there to be livable wages and profit sharing with both vendors and employees. If Fybe does well, you do well. It’s that simple.”
In order to support small businesses and the crafts properly, Rachel Powell decided to create Fybe, a new marketplace that supports real people. Powell doesn’t want to be rich from this, rather wants to support others grow and develop with her.
A new replacement for Etsy is here! It’s bright. It’s colorful. It’s keeping handmade creations real. It’s 100% human, no AI. It’s Fybe. Launching September 1st.
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