Etsy removing my very much handmade work for "violating handmade policy"

[FennecDesignCo]

Seriously, what is going on with Etsy's sudden deactivations? Today we had one of our bestselling listings deactived for violating Etsy's "handmade policy". It's a hand printed women's tank top that we have carried for quite a while, and definitely one of our top sellers during this somewhat slower than usual summer. It's my original illustration, and I have documentation of both the illustration and the screen printing process (which we do by hand, in house without a production partner). We are a long standing shop, a top seller, a star seller every month the program has been live, we were even featured sellers back in the day. I know of multiple other artist friends who had had their handmade best sellers deactivated over the last few days/weeks in a similar fashion. Some have been reactivated after days of messaging and constant posting on social media, some have not yet. There is no clear answer as to which method actually resulted in the re-activation for those who had success. The email that we were sent notifying of the deactivation contains no details, no means of appeal, and no way for us contest this seemingly random deactivation. I've sent a help ticket, I've tried every means of contacting Etsy support that I can think of (including a very nice person on the phone line who told me that this was happening a lot but they would accelerate my request, it seemed like it was definitely not the first time they'd gotten a frantic call about this today) , but I am incredibly anxious waiting for a response that I can only hope will be helpful or timely or even happen at all? Our Etsy is a huge part of our income as full time artists, and we can't afford to continue on without it but this volatility and uncertainty is really scary

[SmudgePlant]

This Seller had something similar happen https://community.etsy.com/t5/Managing-Your-Shop/My-garments-are-all-handmade-by-me-but-my-best-sell...

She has some good info on that thread .

Sorry this happened to you. Unfortunately "escalate " and "accelerate" don't have the same urgency that we would hope when it comes to Etsy.

[2di4jewelryoriginals]

I'm so sorry this is happening to you. Your art work is amazing! Have you tried contacting esty on social media, Instagram and Twitter? I would be blowing up their accounts. 

@cindylouwho2 Do you have any insight into this? 

I really don't understand what is going on with this site lately, it's a complete dumpster fire. 

[cindylouwho2]

@2di4jewelryoriginals It's been happening for a while now. The handmade takedowns all seem to be best sellers from shops with lots of sales. Etsy reviews things eventually, but it is very frustrating for the sellers. 

[CelticHeartBoutique]

I just dealt with this less than a month ago. My handmade, lariat necklace was flagged with an explanation that drug paraphernalia was against Etsy policies lol. Like you, the email gave me basically no recourse. Just the slightest glace at the listing thumbnail would let tell anyone it had absolutely nothing to do with drug paraphernalia. From what I could find on the internet and several YouTube videos, I learned Etsy is now using AI to root out non-allowed listings. Unfortunately, it seems this new algorithm often gets it wrong. And even more unfortunately, instead of having the algorithm flag a listing for human verification before deactivating a listing, they go straight to deactivation - THEN have it reviewed by a pair of human eyes. My deactivated listing was magically re-activated by the time I got to my shop the next morning. Hopefully your issue will resolve itself the same way, and just as quickly. Good luck, and try not to stress too much, though I know that's easier said than done! 

[cindylouwho2]

@CelticHeartBoutique I had 2 removed for drug paraphernalia. Not sure why the tektite earrings got flagged LOL

Fortunately mine were restored in about 4 days. 

[ThePaperShoppeCA]

I had a similar issue and it was re-activated within a couple days with no notice.

[ExtremeCreation]

@cindylouwho2 

Question...does one's shop get penalized for that type of situation where a listing gets deactivated by Etsy bots and then gets reinstated by Etsy? 

[cindylouwho2]

@ExtremeCreation not as far as we know. 

[OneEyeCatStudio]

Quite clearly, if you are a successful seller, Etsy would rather you sell those wares elsewhere.

[UppNorthEh]

or be a POD shop

[PristinityJewelry]

@cindylouwho2 

I had a curious thing last week.

Late afternoon, I'd recieved an email stating that a listing had been de-activated for violating handmade policy. A listing with 200 orders and $38K in revenue, over six years.

Later that evening, when in front of my desktop, I went to investigate further. The listing had already been re-activated.

However, in its place, they de-activated its counterpart in white gold (same item, but two listings, one in yellow gold and one in white gold).
Apparently they changed their mind and decided the yellow gold was okay, but not the white gold.

(shrug)

Haven't yet decided if I should, or how to persue.

[SewlyButtons]

@PristinityJewelry 
Apparently "white gold" is another lingo for cocaine...

Shame on you!

[cindylouwho2]

@PristinityJewelry I'd try appealing, but be aware it could take weeks to get someone who understands the issue to look at it. 

[GraffitiFonts]

Yup, having a similar issue. My top selling item has been deactivated. Etsy has claimed that it's some sort of counterfeit. It's a digital product entirely of my own design. I see no link to contact anyone to challenge this. No information is provided on the supposed infringed party even though Etsy claims they will supply such info.

If they've had an AI running around causing all of this havoc for weeks they should have shut it down a long time ago. Good thing Etsy makes their contact info so hard to find or I'd already be bothering some poor person who just works there and can't do anything about this.