Etsy listings deactivated due to "Creativity Standards"

[Videnda]

I've gotten two of my listings disabled due to violating Creativity Standards, although all my items are handmade from raw materials, I am the only worker in my shop, I take my own photos and videos, etc. I know this is probably happening from people stealing my photos, which I try to police but it is too much for one person to do, and there are too many websites for me to check on. 

Whenever I escalate my help tickets with Etsy, all I get are bot responses that there is nothing they can do and that if this continues, they will eventually suspend my account. Is there an Etsy admin who could help me get a real person to look at my listings? I have tried to also send video proof of me making my items to my help tickets, but all I get are bot responses.  I could really use some guidance here. 

[ArtSaltPlace]

I'm in the same boat. I was going to upload a lot of new listings today, but it seems my energy should be spent on building my own website. Between receiving threats of suspension due to items I know I designed and no help offered, it seems this is no longer a seller-friendly marketplace. I used to be so fond of Etsy, but this has all broken my heart. 

Does posting here ever lead to anyone contacting + helping sellers? 

[Videnda]

@ArtSaltPlace  I have no idea but I thought it was worth a shot. I have sold on Etsy for over 10 years, but it seems like it will be ending soon unless they put a better method for contesting all these items they are removing. 

The answer cannot be me spending ALL my time reverse image searching all my listings to harass international sellers to stop stealing my work and photos. 

[ArtSaltPlace]

Please do let us know if your post prompts someone to contact you with help. Thank you and good luck. 

[Videnda]

I definitely will and I am not going to give up!

[Jewels2at]

On the item that was removed...go to Google Images and see if it is on another site...like aliexpress, temu, or alibaba.  If so, you will need to file a DMCA for them to take it down.

[ArtSaltPlace]

I did this. I have had 2 listings removed and a threat of suspension as a result. 

The first listing did show up on Temu, albeit in another color than the one Etsy removed. I attempted to file a report, but continue to receive an error message. Temu has acknowledged the error, but has not fixed it. 

The listing was also published on an Architectural Digest page, which should be good news. Surely I shouldn't have to fear Etsy removing my listings when a major website is posting them to promote them, and driving more traffic to Etsy?...

The second did not yield any results on other sites, at least not yet. No idea why it was removed. 

[Videnda]

@Jewels2at 

I know they have, but this is not sustainable for me to do forever. I have over 300 listings, and I cannot just reverse image search 300+ listings every day to see who is stealing my work. I am a one woman shop, if this is the standard going forward, I will not be able to survive sadly. I cannot spend my 12 hours of the working day sending DMCA's constantly for 300+ listings. 

I have tried redoing my product photos every month, but this hasn't helped, these overseas sellers are FAST to steal

[Videnda]

I've also filed DMCAs before and they don't always take them down. It's like an impossible task, like finding needles in a haystack, over and over and over again. 

[TheBeeStop]

Not to mention it's extremely unsustainable to have to continue to take new photos of old listings . The photo taking process , plus editing etc. Is an entire time intensive process. 

Then it feels like we're simply supplying these online theives with additional content to steal from us. Which makes it feel like ultimately we lose out in the end because we aren't able to use our OWN PHOTOS.

First thing I did when I made my own website was prevent the ability of right clicking and downloading my images or any of the words I use in the description box. 

Etsy could literally prevent right clicking (and the downloading) of images on their site. While this wouldn't stop the problem it would add an additional road block.

Etsy could also train their little AI bot  to look for consistency throughout a sellers shop page before removing a listing. Many of the sellers I have seen who have had this issue have very consistent listings, similar backgrounds for each item or an overall similar aesthetic.

OR BETTER YET they could simply have an appeals process in place! And possibly prioritize appeals from shops that have had a long history and a positive history on their site. (Have those appeals sent directly to the dedicated team) and then have another team look thru the rest of the appeals and send up any other obvious legit sellers. Or request additional information before sending it up to the dedicated team. This way,  they will likely be able to get a good majority of authentic handmade sellers sorted thru quickly.

Half the time it wouldn't take very long to visually verify that these sellers are authentic.

If just ONE HUMAN looked at my listing that was removed they would literally see a video of me making my item attached to the listing. I attached that video as soon as videos were allowed after realizing that knock offs were being sold of my item. 

I miss the days where I could call etsy and get some person from their New York office on the phone. I miss being able to email the actual trust and safety department. 

I wonder if anyone who lives in New York would be able to speak to them about this. I'm not sure how their offices are but I know they used to do some sort of tour thing... 

[CanningCrafts]

Maybe an app like this would help you with "policing" the internet?  https://www.pixsy.com/  . 

This browser extension also searches images on multiple search engines. So maybe it can help find where your one removed listing is?

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/Search%20by%20Image/cnojnbdhbhnkbcieeekonklommdnndci

I have seen mods close these threads & say they are passing shops onto support specialists. But whether any specialist ever replies to sellers, I have no idea. I was "referred" to a specialist in several posts for other issues, but was never contacted.

[ArtSaltPlace]

It should be noted that the last customer service agent I spoke to through chat was at least more honest than the others, telling me that even if a case is escalated, you will not be contacted if someone has determined their decision is"final." Not for confirmation, not to explain the decision, nothing.

She said it was up to us to know what the rules are, and to follow them. If we've read them, understood them, and don't believe we have broken any, thus are asking to speak to someone who can clarify which rule Etsy thinks we're breaking and why – we're out of luck, they will not contact us for that reason either.

Again, according to this customer service representative. 

[OneEyeCatStudio]

"She said it was up to us to know what the rules are, and to follow them."

Seriously?

Up until now there was no problem with listing and selling your items on a different site, as long as you had more than one of them to sell.

And up until now no one was punished by Etsy for being a victim of IP theft.

[ArtSaltPlace]

I hope I'm not overstaying my welcome in your post Videnda, but does anyone know why the biggest shops on Etsy – whose listings and photos have been stolen hundreds if not thousands of times, and continue to appear in various places on the internet – why their shops have not been suspended, and their listings removed? Are they somehow immune from this threat? 

[Videnda]

@ArtSaltPlace 

my guess is, $. They make Etsy the most money so they get the exemption. 

[Videnda]

Also, I have gotten the same responses @ArtSaltPlace and to be honest it's not right. We need to band together as handmade sellers and insist that there is a more formal, straightforward way to contest these "AI bot decisions"

[PoochandTabby]

I've seen some very big shops shut down, even those on the top 100 list suddenly closed, with the 'not selling on Etsy' banner, so it's affecting shops big and small. You would never know that the bots are taking down listings anyway unless the shop owner says something publicly.

Etsy is quick to mark a shop's forum posts as being sent to the right team and shut down with solutions to presumably get them out of view. Don't worry, many are in the same predicament. 

[Videnda]

Honestly, it is astonishing

[ArtSaltPlace]

Yeah, I figured it was money related, but at the same time – even with being a small store, I've contributed thousands of dollars in fees this year to Etsy. You'd think that if they got rid of enough stores, or angered enough sellers to the point of leaving, that would make an impact.

A few of my pins on Pinterest directing traffic to my Etsy store have gone viral. Now I will be creating my own website and bringing my Pinterest traffic there. I could understand them not caring about lil' ol' me, but I can't possibly be the only one, given how many people I see complaining about this. It's just such an odd decision to do this en masse to a lot of sellers and shoot themselves in the foot. 

I caution people who assume only rule-breaking listings are getting removed, because that's just not the case. It could be you next. 

[Videnda]

exactly right. Honestly, cried a little bit about this tonight. I have been an Etsy seller for a LONG time and I never thought it would end like this. I have put a lot of hard work into my little store of one employee. Sad to see it go because of AI. 

[ArtSaltPlace]

So, the first customer service agent I spoke to told me that it's a human team making the decisions about which listings get removed. Like, AI may flag it, but the humans review + remove. Does anyone know for sure if that's a lie? Am I naive for thinking that might be right? 

[Videnda]

@ArtSaltPlace 

Has to be a lie, Because a furture review of the listing and the shop would show who the actual owner of the item/photos are. I have videos of almost all my products. I've also offered to provide proof in terms of video of me making item and image meta data and they don't care.

[TheBeeStop]

I highly doubt it is a human. I literally have a video of me making the item they removed from my shop attached to the listing. It was literally the very next slide. That video has been attached to the listing as soon as videos were allowed on etsy. Not to mention a quick look at my shop would have shown it was my work. All my pictures are basically the same with the same watermark shown on all of my stolen pictures.  

[artbyjocelyn]

Happened to me 3 days ago, for a bath mat featuring my own original graphic design from 2016. 

Etsy basically told me in an email response, too bad, can't be reinstated, decision final. Yeah, whatever, thanks for the stellar treatment.

I found it as a stolen image being sold on Amazon and Aliexpress. Amazon denied my take down request so I'm giving up, not worth the stress and time.

[Videnda]

@cindylouwho2 , I see you! Just read your post on this matter, I would love to hear more of your thoughts on this comments on this thread. I don't want to give up, I want to keep fighting!