Transparency
The big marketplaces are hard to see into: why a shop ranks where it does, why a listing vanished, who decided. Here's how ByHand works, with the real numbers behind it.
The numbers
Over the last 90 days, counted from our own records on 2 Nov 2026. Nothing is estimated except the wait, which comes from how fast reviewers have really been going.
Live shops
6
In 1 country
Shops reviewed
8
1 waiting now
Typical wait
0.1 days
From sending a shop in to a decision (the median)
Free queue now
1 week
What a new shop would be told
Approved
6
Changes asked for
0
Turned down
2
Taken down
0
After going live
Reports acted on
0
0 found nothing wrong
Reports open
0
Live shops re-checked
0
Second looks
0
0 changed the decision
Decisions are counted by where each shop stands now, so a shop sent back and later approved counts once, as approved. 1 featured stall running now.
How a shop is reviewed
- A person looks through at least two photos or videos of the making, the pieces and the shop's own site. None of it is automated. What counts as handmade
- Every decision except an approval comes with a note saying why, emailed to the maker and shown on their account page.
- Turned down? The maker can ask for a second look once per application, and a reviewer decides again. Sent back or taken down, they can edit and resubmit.
- Live shops are re-checked at least once a year, and straight away when members report them for not being handmade, AI pictures or copying, or report a few problems with orders.
How shops are ranked
Every list says which order it's in, and there are only three:
- Trending (the default)
- Thumbprints from members, weighed against how long the shop has been listed, so newer makers get a look in. A thumbprint counts the same whoever gives it.
- Most loved
- The most thumbprints, all time.
- Newest
- Most recently listed first.
Nothing else moves a shop up: not money, not ads, not how much it sells, not who runs it. Search results put the closest matches first, then the most loved.
What money can and can't buy
- A featured stall puts a shop in a labelled space above an aisle for a few weeks. It's always marked "sponsored" and never changes where the shop ranks.
- A fast-track review moves an application up the queue. It never changes the decision, and a shop that's turned down gets it refunded in full.
- Some links to Shopify are affiliate links, and say so beside them. If a maker opens a Shopify shop through one, Shopify pays us a commission. It never changes what we write or where a shop ranks.
- Nothing else is for sale, and ads are never switched on for you.
What we never do
- Take a cut of a maker's sales, or hold back their money. We never handle it.
- Turn on advertising a maker didn't ask for.
- Sell anyone's data, or load product analytics before you say yes to cookies.
- Rank or track shops by the communities their makers belong to.
- Tell someone their comment was hidden by moderators, or tell a maker who reported them.
The rules in full: seller terms, community guidelines and privacy policy.