Hi Everyone i'm reaching out on here as i have tried live chat and emailed etsy directly. But i'm either getting standard generic replies or no reply.
I have been selling on etsy for nearly 8 years and have shipped 35k orders in that time. Yet this month i keep getting hit with creativity policy removals and i'll be honest i don't know what i'm doing wrong. My store just got the dreaded 1 more violation and my store will be banned email.
The main items i sell are vintage patent print i recently had a creativity policy removal for a set of 3 drummer related patents from the 1920-30s please note that old patent documents and drawings are public domain and are not protected by copyright restrictions.
As the email from etsy is so generic i have no clue what the reason why the item was removed i'm thinking its either the use of mockups or the category made by or designed by is not correct at the moment my products are under the made by category.
I have always used mockups to display my artwork as it can be hard to take really good photos. I'm sure a lot of you have tried this yourself but to be honest they will usually never look as good as some of the mockups. Getting good lighting and setting can be hard unless you get a professional company in to take photos. I do create my own videos though for my artwork which look okay.
The mockups i use are all edited by me personally using my artwork that i have created. I have not just gone online and downloaded other sellers pictures and put them on my store, Many of these prints i've been selling for nearly 8 years. And i'm fully aware that my images have been stolen thousands of times over the years and used by sellers on various platforms. Small family businesses are unable to police stuff like this, if large corporations are unable to do it. How can it be expected that tiny businesses like many of us on here to do it. We don't have legal teams and if we did they would probably cost more than our entire profits each year. Do i need to take photos myself for all of my products photos on etsy?
If it's not the mockup issue is it the category my products are listed under is incorrect? at the moment mine are in the made by me category should it be designed by or maybe one of the other categories?
Please note all of my products have been created by me on my computer, they are all printed by me in my studio and then packaged and shipped by me we don't use a third party for any of my items. Etsy please let me know which categories my products should be in? Especially if this is why my products are getting hit for creativity policy violations.
Any advice from the community or etsy would be greatly appreciated as i don't know what to do. I started this business 8 years ago on the side to my full time job as a carer and within 2 years i was able to give up my job and do this what i love full time. Now i can't help but think that i'm about to lose everything i've worked for and all etsy are doing is sending me generic pre written replies. This is my families livelihood i'm a father of 4 i have put everything into etsy to make it a success. All i want is some transparency from the etsy support team as to what i'm doing wrong. This store is literally my whole life if it were to get banned i would most likely be in a position where i would lose our family home.
Sorry if this all looks a bit of a mess i typed this on my phone. The stress of this is pushing me edge mentally as i feel my world is about to collapse. I have no idea how i can some assistance from etsy before my store is closed. I hope someone from etsy sees this message as live chat and emails have been no help at all so far.
Many Thanks
Gaz
