Deactivated Listing -Etsy Admits Fault

[ElunaJewelry]

On April 5th, I renewed one of my listing that was to expire. A bracelet for the zodiac sign leo made of suntone, lava stone, dumortierite, and tigers eye. In the listing I reference stones that would compliment the semi-precious stones in this bracelet, which includes amber.  That one word, amber, caused the AI to deactivate the listing immediately upon renewal.

I called Etsy support twice (ticket 8210460). I reached out on twitter. Every time I was told, yes Etsy was at fault. The listing should not have inactivated, that it did not break any listing rules. I was promised it would be elevated and should be active within a week. 

Today is June 11th. Nothing has been done yet. I understand that there are a lot of sellers/technical issues on Etsy. But seriously, over 2 months since I originally reported the issue and nothing has been done yet. On top of that, my listing fee was taken for the renewal (which did not actually happen) and has not been returned, and there are less than 30 days left of the original listing time. 

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

I don't think you should list all other stones it could be compatible with as that messes with search for everyone.  You can't use the word amber so simply remove it and relist or make a new listing altogether excluding amber and list that.  

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Just take out the word "amber" as there is no amber in it, and relist,
- also, as description are in searches now, having words in descriptions, that don't match what you have, could lower the quality score, as people will search, see, and ignore

it's only 20c, and for the amount of time it would take to repeatedly chase etsy, it wouldn't be worth it for me

[PeaPodProps]

One of my items was deactivated and I’m pretty sure it was from using the word ivory. I was using it to describe a color not selling the actual thing. I haven’t been able to get any response from etsy. It’s been a week but I can’t even get them to admit it was a mistake. If I could than I would just make a new listing with the item. I’m concerned that they will shut me down if I do it without knowing because the first email I got said specifically not to list this again or they may shut me down. This is my only source of income. I’ve had my shop for 11 years. This is so incredibly disappointing that Etsy treats it’s sellers this way. Good luck!

[SeasideRoseCreations]

We can't use the word ivory to describe color.  

You received an email stating they would shut you down if you relist, so believe them.

They're ignoring you for a reason.

You were warned.  There's no negotiating.

[dollyfabriccrafts]

Hi use the word Off White. For Ivory.

[JDTotesnDolls]

We can use the word ivory but the bot will deactivate the listing for a human to look at.

@PeaPodProps  You had answers on your thread.  It might not be the color but the item itself as Etsy is cracking down on children's products in light of recent events.  Did you ask them if it was specifically the color or something else. 

[riverofbeautydesigns]

@PeaPodProps  

Just get the listing from your deactivated file, make a copy of it using the Manage button in the upper right corner, change the word to cream or off-white, and relist. 

[ElunaJewelry]

Can’t remove the wording because Etsy has already deactivated. So in order to “fix it” I would have to spend more money. Etsy screwed up, etsy should fix it. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

I am a business person, and look a it - for 20c, why spend all that time chasing something, it's not worth the time, for me.

However, if you want to, when you log a call, the first thing that comes back, is a useless auto-reply, you have to reply to that to say it's not fixed,

and every few days, go into your open tickets from your dashboard, and reply to the SAME ticket (don't open another) that it's still not fixed, what is wrong, and what you want done about it,

you keep going, every couple of days, and you eventually get up the food chain.

...don't leave it too long, as when etsy replies, at the bottom of the e-mail, they say something like - if you don't reply, we'll assume it's fixed, and they close the ticket

[SeasideRoseCreations]

At what point is 20 cents worth the hours you have spent on this?

Etsy didn't screw up.

We aren't allowed to use the word amber.

[ElunaJewelry]

Actually you can use the word, not the product.

As stated, product was not used. Etsy screwed up. Pretty simple.

Directly from the automated message:

Etsy prohibits the sale of highly regulated items, including (but not limited to), necklaces, bracelets, or anklets composed of a string or strand of small amber beads, chips, or nuggets smaller than 1.25 inches.

[SeasideRoseCreations]

It doesn't say anything about the word.

It specifies amber, yes, but the COLOR triggers the bots.

Trust me, I know.

I have vintage amber glassware I sell that no longer uses that word for the color.

You are going to go around in circles with them.

Ivory is a prohibited item and we can not even use the word ivory to describe the color.

Your items will keep being taken down and eventually you could lose your shop permanently all because of the word/color amber.

Not worth it to me.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

I have to agree with the above posts. Refusing to spend twenty cents to solve the problem seems counterproductive.

This bot business is badly done and heavy handed but it is how Etsy works.  Refusing to move on just so that you can continue the blame is cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[JDTotesnDolls]

Etsy didn't screw it up.  You used the word amber which is a trigger for the BOT.   Now a human has to look at it to determine if it meets the criteria of size as well as composition.

Did you reply to the reply email saying the issue is not resolved? 

Putting up a brand new listing with no reference to amber may be the best bet.  

However now that Etsy is working the ability of search to use description, your listings for the zodiac bracelets is coming awfully close to healing advice which may tread on Etsy's article on medical and healing descriptions.

[FirenzeByDajay]

Hello guys. How about if it’s real “amber” loose stones and it is one of your components in your jewelry making it is not allowed use it? As a new seller I also have real amber that I want to include in my design and someone told me here I can’t use the name same as Swarovski. For Swarovski I use instead authentic crystal. For amber I have no idea how to described real amber aside from telling my buyer the color of the beads. Any suggestions. 

[ColorfulCastAndCrew]

You can easily relist this item without the word "amber" in it as the bracelet doesn't contain amber. If you want to continue hassling with Etsy over it that's your call but in the meantime why let 20 cents stand in the way of a possible sale?

[SugarTaffySoap]

@ElunaJewelry There's a simple solution. Take a new photo and create a new listing. You know what words not to use. Whether Etsy is wrong or not, you have lost two months of your Leo bracelet sales.  You'll want to get this new listing going since Leo birthdays are in July. Hope this helps and best of luck. 

[ElunaJewelry]

Thank you for the advice, but I will just sell it on my other platforms. Ultimately Etsy is the one who loses out, because they don’t get a cent (other than the listing fee) if it is sold elsewhere. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

etsy expects churn, I sometimes think it's a deliberate thing

I think it's a good thing to sell in more than one place,

but I wouldn't stop selling on a platform for something like this, most have things like this, and many have worse things

[cindylouwho2]

That's ridiculous! I had mine reinstated in 48 hours. And no, I didn't remove the word, either. 

Check to see if your ticket is still open: https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/requests?segment=selling and if not, start a new one mentioning the old one. 

Most people here don't seem to understand that this is not about the 20 cents, but about the fact you lose an active listing that had likes, maybe sales and feedback, and possibly backlinks. Copying it without the word amber is not a satisfactory solution.

[PeaPodProps]

That is why I want my listing to be put back up. If I know it’s an error, I will probably relist it myself just so I can get some more sales but I still want the original listing cause it has so many likes, sales, links and had around 20 in peoples cart. It is very important the original be put back up.

my ticket is still active, but it’s been sitting for 8 days. I have responded to it several times throughout. The waiting continues….

[SugarTaffySoap]

Interesting thread. Someone got it reactivated and then deactivated etc.

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Managing-Your-Shop/Be-careful-using-the-word-quot-Amber-quot-in-your-t....

[PeaPodProps]

@JDTotesnDolls

i have asked many questions regarding the take down of the item but I get no response. The chat and phone support didn’t know what the reason was.  The original email didn’t specify what the reason was other than prohibited item.  If I knew it was just the word I would create a new listing of the item cause I’m not selling actual ivory. I have also read all the responses to my thread about prohibited baby items but this does not apply to that. I read all the prohibited items section in Etsy and non of my items apply. I don’t sell crib bumpers, inclined sleepers etc. my items are specifically photography props. Plus they only took down the one item and left all the other listings with all the colors of the same items up. Only took down the ivory listing.

So I continue to wait…..

[VinaDesign]

I had the same issues on my Amber color mini bottle , I was using the live chat to communicate with Etsy support on today morning , they response us very fast , hopefully they can solve these issues soon, good luck for you too