What Happened to Made Trade? The Not So Ethical Shop That Disappeared
The supposedly “ethical” Made Trade online marketplace disappeared near the end of January. The website is no longer available. The ability to tag them on Instagram and comment has been turned off.
The only thing I could find was a Facebook thread of frustrated customers missing orders and small businesses that are owed money.
When I first realized the website was down. I thought it was a mistake. I have been an affiliate for Made Trade since it first launched back in 2018.
I e-mailed the founder, Cayley Pater, multiple times with no response. I also sent messages through social media. No response.
I learned that other small business owners were also not receiving responses. I e-mailed CJ affiliate who their affiliate program was through and received a response:
“After further review, it appears the advertiser may be closing their business, that may be why their website is down. I believe they should be reaching out in that regard.”
Weeks later I have still not been contacted by Made Trade. However, their affiliate program mysteriously disappear from CJ Affiliate after my inquiry.
So, Did Made Trade Go Out of Business?
After releasing my list of ethical brands that are not so ethical, I have received multiple messages from readers reporting Made Trade’s bankruptcy and dissolution. There is also a Reddit thread reporting this.
From my research it seems that Made Trade did have investors. And maybe lost funding?
Unfortunately, I think they suspected they were going to lose funding as they had e-mailed vendors to make sure holiday orders were shipped and dropped their third party marketing agency around the same time.
It’s unacceptable that they were not transparent with customers, small business partners, affiliates, and all those that were involved.
It seems that orders placed after the holidays were not being sent to customers due to the drop ship nature of Made Trade’s business model.
Since the company removed its website their small business dropship partners were unable to ship orders. AND their small business partners were still missing payments for previously shipped orders.
About a month later the small businesses are still out without the money for already shipped product.
This is truly unacceptable for a brand who claimed to be ethical.
I used to run an e-commerce shop and I know there are a lot of challenges. I think these challenges are an opportunity to be transparent with your customers and business partners.
Failing to communicate what’s going on and not paying vendors is not the right thing to do.
Pin this post, so that other conscious consumers are aware too!
I try to my best to do my research before recommending brands. I even met one of the founders in person. I thought she was ethical and I thought Made Trade was. However, the handling of this situation has proven otherwise.
I’m sorry to the customers and small businesses who have lost money in this situation. I’m hoping that by writing this post and drawing attention to the situation that they do something to make this right.
I’m currently working on removing all their links from my website. Unfortunately, this will take a while for me.
I’ve listed a few guides that might help you find some alternatives to Made Trade:
MEET THE AUTHOR
Emily Waddell is the founder of The Honest Consumer. She has always been passionate about business for good and has a Bachelor degree in Social Entrepreneurship. She currently lives in Seattle where she practices imperfect sustainability. When she’s not writing, Emily enjoys supporting small businesses, clean eating, & practicing slow living. Learn more about Emily’s journey starting The Honest Consumer.
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