Etsy removed my listing due to Etsy's creativity standards

[RustysGrind]

Hey everyone,

Etsy just removed my best selling item for violating "Etsy's creativity standards". It is a wooden earring holder that I designed myself and each one is handmade by only me, so this has to be a mistake. The photos were all taken by me and I've had this listing on Etsy for over 2 years now. I contacted Etsy to see what they could do and they just told me to review the Etsy seller policy and that "Etsy Support cannot reactivate your listing(s) or provide more information about the removed listing". They didn't address most of what I said in the message, the chat wasn't any help either.

I've read over the seller policy and I'm not violating anything. I have multiple listings that are a similar item with a different design, so now I'm wondering if this will happen again and my shop will be shut down. I've been selling on Etsy full time for over 3 years, and now I'm feeling uncomfortable about selling on the platform.

Does anyone know what else I can do to fix this?

Thanks!

[CoquetteBath]

have you checked to see if any of the mass import sites have stolen your photo?

If so, you need to get them to take it down, file a DMCA on that. Etsy's AI driven BOTS are merely searching for duplicative content, which can mean that someone is buying for resale (but clearly, not always).

I didn't see anything problematic in your shop (quick view only) so that's the only thing I got....

[RustysGrind]

I just found it listed on Temu! They stole my actual photos and are selling my item. It's more than one listing.

https://www.temu.com/wooden-earring-holder-with-honeycomb-design 

Will filing a DMCA work with Temu if my Etsy listing isn't visible? And Why would I be punished by Etsy if I've had this listed first and for years?

[BagmakerSupply]

@RustysGrind: Providing Etsy with copies of any DMCA take downs you filed will only help your cause.

"And Why would I be punished by Etsy if I've had this listed first and for years?" There is no reliable way to automatically determine who listed first. But there is a bigger issue - Josh Silverman has made comments which imply that if a picture is found on one of the wholesale sites the shop is considered guilty until proven otherwise.

[leinweberstudio]

 Josh Silverman has made comments which imply that if a picture is found on one of the wholesale sites the shop is considered guilty until proven otherwise.

This is correct.

I saw and heard words to that effect leave his lips, and he didn't seem to care all that much either as to what it would/could do a shop's survival.

With over 8 million sellers, clearly he thinks losing a few hundreds or thousands won't matter.

One could write an entire book about his flawed thinking and what it has done to the site.

[BagmakerSupply]

@RustysGrind; Granted that based on the many posts in this forum there are a lot of false positives occurring, but It is almost impossible to speculate on why a particular listing was deactivated.

"... I designed myself and each one is handmade by only me, so this has to be a mistake." True violations of 'creativity standards' encompass much more than just who designed it and who made it.

Etsy is cracking down on what they feel inappropriate. Reselling and copyright and trademark infringements is a always large factor, but it also seems that the bots are looking for trigger words with no consideration for context. Just as an example that may or may not apply to you, if you say an item is ivory colored the listing may get flagged because ivory is not allowed to be sold on Etsy. Since Etsy is now also factoring descriptions in search, they along with titles, tags, and materials (and possibly even alt tags if you are using them) are all probably being checked. And the bots are also "reading" images. Plus we do not know what combination of possibly multiple factors constitute the trigger that flagged your listing.

Not likely that Etsy will ever provide the exact reason (they may not even know themselves) but hopefully a human will review the listing and reactivate it.

[FabioMcMustache · Accepted solution]

Hello! We're sorry to hear you're experiencing issues with your listings. We've forwarded your concerns to a specialist team, and your case is being worked on as we speak - Moving forward, they will handle it directly with you, so please stay tuned to your email as they may reach out through there. Thank you! 

Please know we handle support inquiries privately per our Community Policy – we’re closing this thread, so you can get the support you need from us directly.