Removed my product listing after several years of selling

[LilCuddlersUS]

After several years and 5-Star reviews Etsy decided to pull my listing down. I can't even appeal this nor speak to a human about it. Numerous emails have gone unanswered and their link to listing violations are non-specific and provide zero reconciliation. 

I would imagine if my product was breaking the rules, it never would have been able to be listed in the first place, nor have been selling for as many years, 3-4 years of selling, 5-stars, zero returns or refunds, with the lowest single review being 4 stars. 

I am dumbfounded how companies like this continue to operate and treat business owners as a useless human resource, where they can easily rip your business down without a single care.

I used to love this platform, shop on it personally and recommended it to friends. I used to think it was better than Amazon, but it's the same.
It is nothing more than a large company profiting off the backs of hardworking people trying to make a living, you're disposable to them. A number.

[TinTeddy]

There are many listings on Etsy that break the rules (or even laws). Etsy does not curate the site, so people can list things they shouldn't, and they remain up until someone reports it or Etsy spots it.

What was your listing for?

I am on my phone, so it is not easy to see old snapshots of your shop, but it appears you may have been selling baby bedding.

Etsy do not allow the sale of many types of baby bedding, so this could perhaps be why the listing was removed?

"Infant Sleeping Accessories

Etsy prohibits certain infant sleeping accessories. This is inclusive of, but not limited to, the following:

• Crib bumpers
• Crib rail covers extending over the side of the crib
• Crib liners made out of non-mesh fabric
• Pillows intended for babies/infants/newborns to sleep on"

https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/childrens-clothing-and-products/239344787532

[ThePurplePuppy]

@TinTeddy 

per the reviews--a baby pillow that "helps prevent flat head"

[AAANativeArts]

Pillows are a safety hazzard for children under two years old.

[hopeandjoystudios]

"I would imagine if my product was breaking the rules, it never would have been able to be listed in the first place, nor have been selling for as many years, 3-4 years of selling, 5-stars, zero returns or refunds, with the lowest single review being 4 stars. "

You would imagine so very wrong. People break the rules and post prohibited items here every single minute.

If your item was the baby head shaper pillow yeah that is prohibited. 

Etsy prohibits certain infant sleeping accessories. This is inclusive of, but not limited to, the following:

• Crib bumpers
• Crib rail covers extending over the side of the crib
• Crib liners made out of non-mesh fabric
• Pillows intended for babies/infants/newborns to sleep on

Children’s Clothing and Products - Our House Rules | Etsy

•  

[ThePurplePuppy]

Just guessing--which is all we other sellers can do--I am guessing that Etsy regarded this "helps prevent flat head" as a medical claim.  They do not check every listing as it is posted so you flew under the radar for a long time but finally were caught--probably by a bot.  Sort of like running a red light for years but now you were caught by the camera. 

As I said--this is merely a guess on my part but that is all I can see that might be a problem per Etsy TOU.

[PlatypusDream]

Someone may have reported you.

The newly programmed safety bots may have finally found your prohibited product.

Good luck elsewhere.

Edited to add:

Etsy is constantly revising and updating its' rules.

For example, yesterday I could search the word "porn" and countless illicit videos popped up, some with Disney cartoon characters as the lead "actors".

Today the word has been added to Etsy's forbidden "shadowbanned" words that return zero results in search (even though there are still countless illegal listings in the system).

[hopeandjoystudios]

@PlatypusDream If you look at the bottom of the Prohibited items page it says it was updated May 15th 2024..so there has been some sort of tinkering behind the scenes. I am amazed they shadowbanned porn!

[cindylouwho2]

@PlatypusDream thanks for the tip on porn being shadowbanned! AI porn has been called out for many months now in various media articles. Certainly took long enough. 

@hopeandjoystudios thanks for noticing the Prohibited Items policy had changed! I will run a comparison tomorrow. 

[leinweberstudio]

I would imagine if my product was breaking the rules, it never would have been able to be listed in the first place,...

Ha. Wish it were so.

Etsy is happy to collect that 20 cent listing fee for anything and everything, including vials of body fluids, counterfeit handbags and clothing, bootleg copies of just-released movies --- you name it, Etsy has it.

And sometimes those items run for years before someone, or some bot, steps up and removes what shouldn't have been allowed here in the first place. But mostly they stay.

[JDTotesnDolls]

Pillows | CPSC.gov

This details what kind of baby pillows cannot be sold. Compare your item to the guidelines.  

Recedntly the US government has been focusing on safety for infants after a lot of campaigning by pediatricians and parents.  This has resulted in many changes.

Years back you could sell such items freely but that has changed. 

[LilMissSweetPea]

See my post from earlier. I have the same issue but I found my STOLEN photo on AliExpress. Two messages to support and one to chat, only to be told "have a nice day", there is nothing we can do. I did get through to them on request a call. I will find that link someone posted for me and come back and add it.  Good luck. Do a Google image search, and you may find it on a China website, so they think you are a reseller. I even send in photos of the supplies to make my items and was rejected. The person called back quickly and filed a report, but I still am not convinced Etsy give a DA - - about sellers.

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?segment=selling&fbclid=IwAR3XJULkao3ZPR8XcOEf2A7143n87Xt...

[LynnsLittleShop]

Here it is:

Submit a request – Etsy Help

[8000Shop]

They did this with me too! And then I had to verify again and they wouldn’t take my bank details telling me they do not accept my bank!!? (It’s one of the uk biggest banks!) I think this platform isn’t as good as it used to be I’m taking my shop to another platform! 

[hopeandjoystudios]

That may have been a scammer.  If they have issue with your bank details they put your shop on vacation. Make sure financial asks are only coming via your "from Etsy" message folder on your message dashboard or via your financial page directly. Don't give out your banking info. Hopefully not too late. @8000Shop 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@8000Shop 

If it was fraud, UK banks are spotting a lot of them, so scammers can't use them

they try to get you to open a revolute account, with a least a couple hundred pounds, which has no protection, then the scammers fleece you for the lot

[bradgoodell]

Yesterday, a shop that had been selling here for seven years had their shop closed down by Etsy.  Yes, they had been violating policies for those seven years.  It does happen.

The rules for children's products have become increasingly strict over the that 15 years, and what was once considered safe no longer is.  Etsy follows the changing laws and industry standards by also making their policies on what can be sold more restrictive.  Etsy does announce various restriction changes, the ones for baby goods was announced some time ago.  Sorry you missed that announcement.  Here is another of Etsy's announcements saying they are stepping up enforcement of policy violations:

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/Etsy-s-2023-Trust-amp-Safety-highlights-and-our-plans-fo...

[BagmakerSupply]

@LilCuddlersUS: "Removed my product listing after several years of selling" It is almost impossible to speculate on why a particular listing was deactivated. Just because something was "allowed" yesterday does not mean that the laws or rules have not changed to make it "disallowed" today.

Without getting into a discussion of what is fair or right or if your listing should be deactivated, the fact that you have been selling something for years only means that the bots have been updated.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Many things were never allowed,

but etsy didn't catch them

they are upping their game. and now more are being caught

... baby head shaping pillow..... - really!!!!

[PieceByNumberQuilts]

Sorry if it looks like I'm piling on, but an additional reason may be that at least from one of the review photos, the pillow looks unlikely to be made by you.  So If you're reselling, Etsy is also cracking down more on those listings.