Etsy account was permanently suspended by mistake

[UrekaGo]

SOOOOooooo frustrated to encounter with such disaster again!!!

Have been working on this for hours but no reply yet.

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I was informed that my Etsy account was permanently suspended for policy violations. I submitted an appeal and a specialist replied me in 4 minutes! That was really quick but here is the question - is that possible to finish a thorough investigation in just 4 minutes? I'd like to request that another specialist look at my case carefully.

My account was suspended by AI mistakenly in the early August. Does the same thing happen to me again? I've read the policies and terms of use for several times, finding nothing wrong with my account. I've also read many posts in Etsy forum, noting that many shops were suspended by bots by mistake. Would this be the case?

The banner in my shop dashboard shows that my appeal will receive an E-mail later, while the E-mail shows any further replies will be automatically closed. These inconsistent information is quite confusing to me.

I fully understand the security concerns by Etsy. However, the decision to permanently suspend a shop is also a significant one. Is that possible that I talk to a specialist? Anyone could help me out?

[UniqueGiftOrnaments]

What were you selling?

[UrekaGo]

I have 18 listings so far, mainly focus on personalized products and craft supplies in cyanotype and screen printing.

I'm a new seller and kept a good performance. I'm confident that my shop can get the "Best Seller" Badge next month (opening 3 months on Etsy).

[CryzalisMasksUK]

Just keep replying to the one email, others have reported that the "thorough investigation" took minutes, so imagine this is also decided by the "System"

You could try requesting a call back, but not sure if it is working as the information on this page is playing up this morning.

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

[UrekaGo]

Thank you so much for the possible solution. I've check out the link but Etsy does not provide call back service in the country I currently live in. 

I was indeed suspicious about the so-called thorough investigation. How could that be possible to finish all the job in merely 4 minutes, right?

It seems that many sellers encountered with the same issue like I do...

[CraftyCornishMaids]

There have been people whose items have been taken down , because their images have been stolen, and the solution, is to ensure you issue dcma's , and keep on top of it,

however many others, are because they are breaking etsy creativity standards, by either listing in the wrong categories, or selling things that are no longer able to sell here, or using mockups when they shouldn't, etc, and are being correctly taken down.

and some are using trademarks, without the manufacturers permission.

When you appeal, you 100% have to know what you are appealing against, because if you appeal against the wrong thing, etsy doesn't need to do any investigation, it will be the wrong appeal, and will be turned down very quickly.

were you selling handpicked , handmade, or sourced by, and using mockups  as a first picture?

were you listing things as designed by, instead of handmade etc, or vice versa ... etc eg personalised in handmade, instead of sourced by?

were you selling sourced by, that are not craft or party supplies, or personalised? - craft supplies cannot be used - as is - like paper

go through the creativity standards, and work out why, then do the appeal

[UrekaGo]

Thanks for the detailed information!! I have only 18 listings so I think it's not too difficult to rule the possible violations. 

I've recently visited mainland China and my shop is registered in New York. Would the change of IP contributed the shop suspension? I've just got to know that IP in mainland China can by risky for Etsy users.

[SpottedOctopusShop]

The change in IP will trigger something. I traveled a lot during COVID and noticed a few days I had no sales and my listings weren't showing. I got in touch with support and they said the location change triggered a suspicious activity action. And that was within the US. 

Were you shipping from China too?

[CraftyCornishMaids]

no, IP won't matter, mine changes weekly

If it will be what you are selling, or how you are classifying it, or what your photos are,

I have looked at your website, and here are a lot of mockups, if you were using those photos for craft supplies here (sourced by) you can't

read the creativity standards

[UrekaGo]

Yeah, all of the products are handmade and delivered from China.

I used to study and live in New York and I'm eligible to work in the US. However, I'm currently living in mainland China. Would that be an issue?

[CraftyCornishMaids]

How did you set up your shop

If your shop was set up as a USA shop, you have to have a USA tax ID, and USA bank account, and USA proof of  address.
Etsy notifies the USA government at the end of the year, the income you earned in the USA, so they can check to pay the taxes to them.

If you move countries, you have to set up a new shop, in the country you are in, with all the correct ID, TAX, and bank account, for that country

Shops cannot be transferred to different countries.

[UrekaGo]

Sure, I have all the significant documents, bank account and SSN issued by the US government. 

The most urgent issue would defining the reason why my shop was suspended.

Is there any chance to chat with a specialist? I used to use Etsy support chat, but can't find it anymore. All I can find is contacting through E-mail.

[UrekaGo]

I'm so glad that you spent time browsing my website. As you have already known, I have many mockup pictures on the website to demonstrate that I accept personalized orders from customers. They'll be able to print their own apparel and other stuff using screen printing technique. However, I won't use them as product picture, needless to way the first picture in the listing. 

Do you know if there is any IP infringement by Etsy?

[CraftyCornishMaids]

you can't have mockups in personalised,

personalised is - sourced by, and it specifically states

Listings for items ‘sourced by a seller’ must use photo or video content of the items you have for sale,not stock or commercial images.