Etsy, please address internal spam issue

[WilliamsGiftshop]

Dear Etsy,
Isn't it about time that you educate new (and some not so new) Etsy sellers on the issue of spamming?
Teach them how inapropriate and rude it is to promote their listings in teams that are not meant for promoting and in team forum threads that are not meant for promoting?

It seems to be getting absolutely out of hand.
I know of members who abandon teams because of this issue.
I am not talking about 'professional' spammers from outside of Etsy (of course you have to stop those), but about Etsy sellers who seem to think it is a great idea to annoy other sellers by dropping links to their listings where they are not supposed to do so.

And since it often takes a very long time before their spam is removed by Etsy or by team captains/leaders, they get away with it too.
It looks like sellers who spam don't get into trouble at all. Why? They are clearly breaking Etsy policies and team rules and annoying other team members. People get muted for much smaller offences in the public forums....

Please put a stop to it.
Thank you!

[Former_Member]

i can´t say anything about the forums as i don´t spend any time there but i agree for the teams!!! there are after all enough promo teams where people can drop their links.

[Mzcarley]

I totally agree. I have been seeing it a lot. I have also been seeing many newer sellers sending coupons in the convos too and that is annoying. I think that the Etsy guidelines need to be more clear and concise

[heartsabustin]

SO. MUCH. THIS.

There have been several occasions recently when I've been ready to leave THIS team for that very reason, and I've been on this team since Daniellexo was the Captain. People have argued with me and others when we have clearly pointed out that there are rules against promotion of any kind on this team.

Please!

[Former_Member]

Very irritating. Especially on a testing team where the engineer stops monitoring it (without telling us) and it gets taken over with promotions.

[Former_Member]

This week I even got a conversation from a seller I've never communicated with before trying to promote her products.

[RomaMiaTradingCo]

I so agree with this!!!

Etsy should really educate sellers at least on the basics between SPAM and MARKETING. They are totally different. Granted, its the sellers job to extensively research marketing that is best for them. But I guarantee you that the people who are spamming are also the same people who are blaming Etsy for their poor views/sales.

[LydiasWeb]

I agree also. I tried recently to educate a new seller on this very thing about promoting in conversations. I sent every link I could think of about what spam is and Etsy's policy on this. She wrote back and told me "but I'm not promoting myself. All I'm doing is asking you to like my Facebook page, my pinterest, and my twitter." What? She totally did not understand that all that was PROMOTION. Now I just delete and move on.

[SpangGangDesigns]

Agree!

[Mzcarley]

I usually also just delete and move on. Another thing I do is if somebody sends me a coupon code, I put it in a folder, archive it and save it for later. That way if its christmas or a birthday or something I can pull up that coupon code and maybe use it to buy gifts for people.

I also don't like it when people post their facebook page or their store on my facebook page. That is spammy. And when they ask me to like them because they liked my page that is annoying too.

[TLCLyn]

Totally agree!

[Graciosa]

I agree, it's so annoying! I always report them, but seems like that is no use.