Etsy removed my listings due to Ety's Creativity Standards

[TutuGirl]

Etsy please help!  A few days ago I received an email from Etsy stating my listing violated their Creativity Standard.  I reached out to Etsy and my ticket was ignored.  Now yesterday Etsy removed a second listing. I have been selling on Etsy for 17 years!  All designs are my original designs and I make everything myself from scratch.  I create my own patterns, cut and sew my own fabric and make my own dresses from start to finish all by myself.

I noticed today my star seller badge has been removed and that I have a final warning in my dashboard which is just so upsetting since I have worked so hard to make my customers happy with excellent service. 

Etsy please help me get my listings reinstated and well as my star seller rating.   My listings have been erroneously caught by a bot and I would greatly appreciate an actual person look at my listings.  I’m so worried my shop will get shut down for something I didn’t do.  It’s so upsetting.

[ChillwolfArt]

Hi, I'm very sorry this is happening to you and so many other Sellers. It could be because your photos have been stolen, and are on other sites. And bots have flagged those items. You'll need to do a Reverse Image Search, and if they are stolen, you'll need to file DMCA Takedowns. Unfortunately Etsy considers Sellers guilty till proven innocent. Some Sellers say to shoot new photos, but it stinks that the burden of proof is on the Seller whose photo got ripped off. Again, I'm very sorry if this happened to you.

Hope this helps in some way. 

ETA: Etsy also closes many of these Threads, saying they'll refer the Seller to a Specialist. And I wonder how many actually get assistance to get this resolved (by a HUMAN).

[VintageRescueSquad]

Chillwold is right. This seems to be what is happening to most sellers. Do as she says, and then forward the takedown notices to etsy to prove that you are proactively protecting your IP (photos).

The forums are filled with threads like yours.

[KeetaLuxury]

I’m facing the same issue, and I honestly don’t understand why Etsy isn’t taking this seriously. This is a major problem that puts immense pressure on small business owners who rely on Etsy for their livelihood.

Etsy, as a company making millions, wouldn’t feel the impact of such issues, but for us, our shops mean everything. This very same problem has been going on for nearly a year now and thousands of sellers impacted so far, yet there’s still no fair support system in place to properly evaluate whether these bot-driven decisions are justified. It’s heartbreaking to see years of hard work taken away just because an automated system made an error.

Please, Someone from Etsy needs to step up and think about the small sellers who are being affected by this injustice. Right now, we have no one to listen to us—just bots that keep repeating the same responses no matter what we ask. This isn’t fair, and it needs to change.