Reporting to Etsy

[Former_Member]

I'm curious. How many of you actually report listings to Etsy if they violate the TOS? Are there some things you report and others that you don't? (General guidelines not specific listings/shops.) If you don't report, why not?

[HausofAriella]

To report a specific item, go to the bottom of the listing and next to item details there's a link that says "Report this item to Etsy." To report an entire shop, go to the shop home page and look on the right side. Under actions after Add to Favorites and See who favorites this, there's an option to report this shop.

I don't want to be overzealous about that sort of thing, because I don't want to cause problems for legitimate shops by mistake. I've only ever reported one shop because it was so obvious and egregious. They were selling wedding dresses that were supposedly handmade by one woman in the US. Only I recognized a couple of the dresses (as in the exact same pictures - I did a google image search) from some of the Chinese knock-off sites I had seen while looking for my wedding dress. Also, this one woman who was "handmaking" all of these WEDDING DRESSES (many of which were priced so low that the price would barely cover the cost of fabric in the US) in a month and had 29 orders in the two months she'd been open. Thankfully, Etsy did shut the shop down.

[ThePlaidPineconeCo]

If I'm not 110% sure that someone is violating the TOS, I don't bother. Since someone reported me for apparently no reason and it was a huge inconvenience for me to prove my validity.

[Former_Member]

I know how to report, and have reported a few things that were pretty blatant, such as a liscened t-shirt with the company's label clearly visable. I'm just curious as to how many people do report and what they report. It seems like people can sometimes get very upset over other sellers breaking the terms but I wonder how many do anything about it.

[drudruchu]

I report things that are obvious scams and not right. I suppose I can't give an example, but something that you shouldn't be making money off and that would also be bad for possible buyers or to honest people.

I don't report copyright stuff. Because that's still a person who invested a lot of work in making their items and shop, and if it's a true problem, they will be found without me.

[Former_Member]

I never reported anything, that's not our job but Etsy's.

[HausofAriella]

Sorry, Amie, I misread your first post.

[Former_Member]

I respond to unsolicited emails (mainly when I favorite something) by pointing out this is a violation of TsOU. I don't actually report anyone, because I don't think that offense is all that egregious, but it annoys me that people don't follow the rules. And those messages are annoying! A bit different than what you asked, but sort of the same idea.

[kidsstore]

I will if it is important and harmful to the serious and honest sellers on Etsy.

I reported one seller/potential seller because she wanted to buy a large quantity of items from me for resale purposes. When I happened to ask where she would be selling them and included if they would be sold on Etsy, she answered yes plus other internet sites. On her profile she states she makes all of her items herself as she has always been a crafter. I also noticed that she had been favoriting hundreds of items on shops that carried childrens' items. She was supposed to open her child oriented shop in the next month or so. In this case I felt Etsy should be aware of what might happen and inform the member that it wasn't allowed on Etsy. I do not know what happened between Etsy and her, but that particular shop never did open.

[Former_Member]

@Fate I don't think it's my job to report, but it does help make this a better environment for all of us. It only takes a couple of seconds to report something, so I look at it as volunteering for a better Etsy community :)

I def do report obvious violations on TOU. But, I know the Etsy staff is so bogged down with reports it might be more helpful to follow sites like http://etsycallout.wordpress.com/ That way lots of people are reporting the same shop, and they will be reviewed faster.