FAQs

If you don’t see your question answered below, feel free to send us a message.

What classifies a shop as “ethical”?

For us at PD, to be “ethical” means a shop hires, produces for, fundraises for, or otherwise benefits individuals from underserved and/or minority communities, nations, ethnic and racial backgrounds, genders, sexualities, neurodivergences, other minority identities, and/or to benefit animals, the environment, and other green practices, with a focused, mission-based business plan.

Does PD only feature small businesses?

While we try to support and lift up small businesses, we will never remove or downplay a shop because it reaches a bigger audience over time. That’s the whole point—to make ethical shopping more accessible!

How does PD make money?

Unlike larger online marketplaces, we do not believe in listing our own products alongside our shops to undercut their prices and turn a profit. PD is entirely run on donations and all our sales at the merch shop go back into keeping the site up and running.

Why doesn’t PD feature shops from places like Etsy?

Sites like Etsy are a great place to find handmade items, but we are focused on listing shops that have their own websites/shipping protocols/etc outside of these sites. Some shops on PD may have a listing on Etsy, but no shops on PD will only have an Etsy listing. Make sense?

Are there any items/ideologies/topics in a shop that would cause PD to not list it?

PD will never support or list shops that have hateful, racist, anti-immigrant, xenophobic, misogynistic, LGBTQIA+ phobic, religion-/belief-phobic rhetoric. If you believe a shop is selling or discussing any sentiments that involve the above or are similar to the above, please contact our team immediately.

If I don’t buy everything from ethical shops on PD does that make me a bad person?

No! It makes you human. The big corporations have made it easy for us to buy their products. They’ve utilized genius marketing techniques, in-depth analytics, human psychology, and more to make it difficult for us to step away from the comforts they’ve provided. At PD, we never want to shame or guilt trip our visitors. The reality is, it’s going to take longer than any of us want to buy in purely ethical ways. But, if the shops on PD make a big enough “stink”, maybe those big corporations will take notice and the world can breathe a little bit easier knowing we’re on our way to a truly ethical marketplace.