Etsy deactivated my listing in error, took 10 days to fix, I haven't had a single sale in 18 days.

[#1]

Etsy apologized for their mistake, but I believe that my shop was dinged because of the deactivation. I am a star seller but cannot get through on Chat. Before I send an email, thought I would see if anyone else has experience in a post-deactivation death of shop? How long did it last? Can anything be done? I figured once Etsy fixed their mistake, I would go back to getting sales, but it's been over a week and still nothing. This is not normal and I hope Etsy has a way to fix what they broke. Any advice?

[iFeltFanciful]

Three listings were purchased for the filming of "Pink Skies Ahead". I have written permission to use the film's name on those listing and on my social media. So, no, not infringing at all. A lot of big names on the cast list, so it was exciting, unfortunately the premiere at SXSW was scheduled right when Covid hit. Thanks for the kind words!

[Amaradorn]

Your shop is still indexed so that's not the problem. If you have tweaked all your keywords then it can take a little while for Etsy to work out the new search placement - that's probably why your listings are lower in search ranking.

My sales are really slow right now. Like down >60% YoY. It's miserable. I also tried tweaking keywords but I think I made it worse. I'm even listing new items but that doesn't seem to be helping.

[iFeltFanciful]

@Amaradorn I'm pretty conservative with tag changes. I generally change only 1-2 per listing at a time. Really sorry to hear your shop is down so severely too. I messed up my bestseller years ago by changing too many things at once and it took several sales before it was performing normally again. And I know what you mean about new listings....they start at the bottom, so they don't really help right away anymore. I'm planning on new photographs, but since my shop is made to order, I have to reknit everything that I want to photograph, so it's gonna take a while.

[VibeEnvy]

I went from up 60 and shop did a 100 mph U-turn to down 60. 5 star reviews, new listings, even wasted a little money on ads and still declining. Started around the time my shop started getting the lights turned out for 6-8 hours "every" "single" "day". A dead few hours is common but it's never been a month and a half of happening daily. Before that I'd get activity almost every hour of every day even if I'm not getting sales.

[iFeltFanciful]

@VibeEnvy Really sorry to hear you are also down by 60%. I was already down YOY before the deactivation. Now I am down 62%, and it sounds like there isn't anything I can do but wait. If it's weeks more of this, I'll be past my Easter rush and likely down at least 75%. Pretty steep price to pay for Etsy's bot's mistake.

[CherryTees]

Etsy deactivated a listing of mine by mistake few months ago and I emailed them and took them about 6-7 business days to reactivate it. I did notice a slowdown of sales for a few weeks but then picked back up again. 

[iFeltFanciful]

@CherryTees Thanks for letting me know that, and sorry to hear you got caught in the net as well. I haven't been able to contact Etsy yet, but I am guessing that this post-deactivation syndrome is not something they can correct, but rather baked in to the algorithm.

[khleetools]

I'm dealing with this 'deactivated by Etsy' insanity myself for the last month. They pulled one of my tools that I've sold on Etsy for 12 YEARS claiming it was a "regulated" item. I proved them wrong, they 'apologized' and re-activated it. Now, every time I sell this item they DE-activate it immediately, I contact them, they reactivate it and the cycle continues. No solution in sight. Pretty disgusted after giving them an income for 12 YEARS and they won't even talk to me.

[iFeltFanciful]

I'm so sorry that is happening, once was maddening enough! 

[ChloeCreatesUK]

Sorry, I don’t have advice, I wondered how you managed to get Etsy to reactivate the listing? I had a listing deactivated in error on Friday and the only response I can get is an auto response saying there is no appeals process and they cannot reactivate listings, even if you believe it was an error!

[CherryTees]

You can try replying to the email that was sent to you. I believe if you have the Star Seller badge, there are more options available for contacting them as well as appeal and re-activation. 

[iFeltFanciful]

I've been a Star Seller every month since they started the program, so I have the Chat icon on my dash and I used that to open a ticket and then follow up daily. Weirdly, my initial email about the deactivation had none of the wording I've seen other sellers report about no appeals. Not sure what that means.

[PristinityJewelry]

For what its worth...

I search "Sloth stuffed animal" and yours is #2 out of 2800 results.

I search "Giraffe stuffed animal" and yours is #1 out of 6700 results

[iFeltFanciful]

@PristinityJewelry Wow, I like those search results! I wouldn't have expected that, we're nowhere near the same region. Thanks for relaying that!

[Discombobulous]

Can I ask the procedure you used for contacting Etsy about the deactivation and how they came to the conclusion it was their mistake? I recently had two items deactivated without warning or explanation. When I contacted customer support they told me I couldn't appeal and they refused to discuss it with me any further.

[iFeltFanciful]

@Discombobulous I've just looked thoroughly and couldn't find any concrete info in the Seller Handbook about this. My initial email about the deactivation did not say that I could not appeal. I have been a Star Seller every month since they introduced the program, so I used the Live Chat icon on my dashboard to open a ticket. It seems like there may be different deactivation emails going out. I'm not sure what that could mean. Perhaps different emails depending on whether a bot or a human being deactivated the listing to begin with? 

[CherryTees]

It seems that if you're a Star Seller, you can appeal it and have it re-activated which seemed to be the case for me.

[bettysworld4u]

Well this may help me to understand why I had no sales for 2 1/2 weeks last month. I had a Vintage Candy Dish listed from 2 years ago that was deactivated by Etsy, as I had the word Amber Color in the Listing/Description-Not in Tags, or Title. Somehow, I just overlooked it by mistake, and didn't catch it, as I had replaced anything with the word Amber Color in it along time ago, but Etsy/Bot caught it. 

[SpiritPortalYoniCare]

I highly agree ! I’m having the same issue , they need to fix it smh

[PrintFanaticShop]

I'm a Star Seller and Etsy deactivated a listing few months back. I tried to have it re-activated with them and after a reply took about 2 weeks, they said they weren't able to.