Etsy Account Permanently Suspended – Need Advice

[#1]

Hi everyone,

I’m posting from a different account because my main account was permanently suspended on March 8, 2025, without a clear explanation. My shop, LindaMediumStudio, had over 7,000 sales, and I always prioritized customer satisfaction while following Etsy’s policies.

A week before the suspension, I received a 48-hour messaging restriction for unknowingly violating Etsy’s review policy by offering small gifts in exchange for 5-star reviews. Once I realized this was against the rules, I took immediate action to correct my mistake, thoroughly reviewed Etsy’s policies, and sought guidance from customer service on how to properly request reviews.

Etsy’s customer service informed me that I could ask for reviews in a polite and casual manner without offering anything in return, which I followed exactly. I fully complied with the rules and was careful not to repeat any mistakes. However, I suspect that certain keywords in my messages may have triggered Etsy’s automated filters, leading to my account's automatic suspension.

Just three days later, my account was permanently suspended without any warning or clear explanation. Despite contacting Etsy for clarification, I have not received any specific details.

Given that I followed the policies closely and even confirmed my approach with Etsy’s customer service, I am seeking advice from others who may have faced a similar situation.

Has anyone successfully appealed a permanent suspension after following the guidelines? If so, what steps did you take to resolve the issue? Any advice on how I can proceed from here?

Thank you in advance for any insights you can share.

[CatsWhiskersCurios]

.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

You always say that.

[LindaMedStudio]

I understand the importance of complying with Etsy's policies, and I am committed to doing so. However, I am finding it difficult to understand how many shops within the same category (such as the "metaphysical" or "spells" category) with thousands of sales from 2015 to 2020 have not been flagged or suspended. Many of these shops have over 10,000 sales and thousands of reviews, and it is hard to believe that none of them have received complaints or been investigated.

If needed, I can provide links to 100 shops that have made over 10,000 sales, some of which have been active for over 10 years in the same category. These shops seem to have operated without issue, and I am having trouble reconciling this with my situation.

I understand that offering gifts in exchange for reviews was a mistake, but many shops seem to continue operating without any apparent consequences. If this behavior is truly against the rules, I am curious why it appears that other shops are not being held to the same standard.

You can also find a number of active shops in the "spell" or "metaphysical" category on Etsy, with varying years of operation and sales volumes. It is difficult to understand how these shops can continue without issue if the policy violation is so severe.

[DesertChains]

@LindaMedStudio 

You cannot promise, or even suggest, a metaphysical outcome, and you need to provide something tangible to the buyer. Follow these requirements, and you should be ok.

Don’t worry about other shops. Focus on your own shop.

[TheVintagePineapple]

@LindaMedStudio 

Did you contact all of those 100 shops to find out if they ever had an issue?  It could be that they follow the rules to the letter, such as not having a second shop that also sold the same tarot readings, make no med/meta claims, etc.  Maybe they do violate a rule or two but if no one reported them, then Etsy isn't aware of them....yet. 

And, of course, you'll never know how many similar shops were suspended for not following the rules since you can't contact them if their accounts were also deactivated. 

It could be that once Support was aware of your shop because of the review situation, they took a deeper look at your accounts and noticed the first shop.  Or maybe someone else (another seller or buyer) noticed you were selling similar readings and reported your shop(s)?   Were you making med/meta claims on every listing in the suspended shop? 

These are questions only Etsy can answer but probably won't except to point you to the Sellers Handbook or a Help article that states this:  ''If you want to introduce a new line of products that is very different from your existing brand, a second shop may be useful.''

[hopeandjoystudios]

I don't think Etsy actively polices much, until they do. Lately it has been via the "duplicate photos on particular other sites" ai bot. Any seasoned seller here could empty swathes of non legitimate listings in an hour if they had "the button". I recall one shop I ran across with 73 listed "production partners" who were just people, businesses and wholesalers they were buying from to resell "handmade knitter Bumtuck, Alabama" , "small primitive shop Bacon, Georgia". You'd think 73 production partners would have set off a red flag someplace but apparently not. Hopefully Etsy will get to the point where more words are added to the flag list beyond amber and Havana.

[hopeandjoystudios]

@TheVintagePineapple  yes if you are keeping your head down and avoiding complaints to Etsy it is a bit harder for Etsy to ferret them out. I have seen obvious non legit shops post in the forum and I think "I wonder how many reports just got filed on their shop?"

[CoquetteBath]

again, we're back to the 'not every speeder is caught'...analogy.

I get the grousing about how you were, and someone else isn't...you do you on that. Some folks go temperamental and flag those other shops. Others shrug and go 'it was a good run while it lasted'...

but I'm a firm believer in karma...so you do you.

[BagmakerSupply]

@LindaMedStudio: Your frustration is understandable, but probably the single worst way to determine was is 'Etsy-legal' is to look at other shops.

Etsy let a lot of things slide for a long time and now they appear to be cracking down on what they feel is inappropriate. Yes there are false positives but it does appear that a lot of true offenders are also being caught.

One of the difficulties is speculating on why a specific listing or shop was taken down is that we do not know exactly what the trigger was that flagged you. Without getting into a discussion of what is fair or right or if your shop should be closed, the fact that there are other shops selling similar items it only means that they have not been caught yet, or those listings may not contain the same trigger that snared you. Additionally, we will not know how many other shops were caught using the same trigger that got you - only those that appear to not have been. And a trigger does not necessarily have to be a single factor. Pure conjecture as an example, but maybe the trigger was something like shops with a history of purchasing reviews and which also were not offering a "unique end-product". Either one alone might not have triggered a shop closure but the combination did.

Based on many other posts, it can be inferred that the advice from customer service can sometimes be incomplete, misleading or contrary to published information. Whether that is due to them not correctly understanding the issue being asked or because they have been provided with faulty information is open to interpretation.

[bradgoodell]

@LindaMedStudio 

You see the shops that are currently "getting away with it".

What you don't see is the thousands of shops closed last year, last month, or last week.  

What you also can't see is the thousands of shops that will be closed tomorrow, or next week, or next year.  

You can play the odds, but in the end, the house wins.  

[MrsDsHandKnits]

Aren't psychics able to predict outcomes?... should OP not have seen this coming?

C'est la vie!

Que sera, sera!

[CraftyCornishMaids]

maybe they didn't understand the difference between

predict

and

guess for money

[OneEyeCatStudio]

It goes to show you never can tell.

Whatever will be will be.

[GlassyFields]

Some of those shops might be compliant.

Some may not but haven't been caught yet. Etsy's policing is similar to traffic cops.  Pointing out that others were speeding doesn't excuse the car that is pulled over., 

Not sure what triggered your suspension but once your shop caught Etsy's attention ... you were under their radar. (Sounds like you sent too many unsolicited messages to buyers and were getting the standard message timeout punishment and then someone read the messages).

To be perfectly honest, I'm torn between feeling for a suspended seller and applauding Etsy for enforcing reasonable rules.