CraftHouseParty
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Final Violation Warnings

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I keep getting violation warnings for Handmade Policy but all my designs are designed and created by me. I use different frames to put my designs in and it seems like some frames cause my listings to get triggered and then when I repost with a different frame, it's fine. I've reached out to Etsy support and they just keep giving me copy and paste responses and not providing any helpful information. Is it actually possible for them to review my shop and see that I am not violating any policies and remove these violations. Or am I SOL? Has anyone else experienced this?

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ModKenneth
Community Specialist
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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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It seems that Etsy sometimes indicates a handmade policy violation when the actual violation is due to another reason such as medical claims or infringement issues.  I do see a lot of the Grinch in your listings. 

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CraftHouseParty
Inspiration Seeker

Re: Final Violation Warnings

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Thanks for the feedback. I find it very interesting though as I see a TON of Disney digital products and so many of them are best sellers and have been posted for years.

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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@CraftHouseParty: "... as I see a TON of Disney digital products ..." What we don't see is all the listings deactivated and shops closed due to intellectual property infringements. Or the shops that have had the Mouse show up at their front door with a court order to confiscate everything used to design, manufacture, and market infringing items. Just because another shop has not been caught yet does not make their strategy okay. And of course it is always possible that some actually do have licensing to use the trademarked and copyrighted names and images legally.

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nineteen27
Community Maker

Re: Final Violation Warnings

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the grinch is not owned by disney.

the grinch is owned by dr. seuss enterprises.

and anyone selling anything with the grinch on it... without a license.

is infringing and counterfeiting the items.

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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@CraftHouseParty   I see a lot of people speeding and running red lights but that doesn’t make it acceptable. You don’t see all the shops that have been closed by Etsy. 
Disney doesn’t seem to keep up with all the shops using their images, they wait and do a big sweep and hundreds of items get taken down and shops closed. That’s when we get a ton of threads asking why their shops were closed or their items taken down. The law doesn’t change just because everyone else is breaking it. 

This is a little old but gives some good statistics. 

We removed approximately 468,000 listings in 2022 for suspected counterfeiting violations
 
We removed more than four times as many listings for violating our Handmade Policy in 2022 than in the previous year.
 
In total, we removed 1.9 million listings for violating our policies in 2022, a 16% increase from 2021.
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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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Etsy's Support team is rub**sh, they dont help you and now they stop responding, they didint emailed me or sent me notification of warning just got final warning direct

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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As I recall from your other thread, the consensus was that your pet and human grooming scissors are not craft supplies, vintage or handmade.  They are not Etsy legal. 

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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@FallenAngelBrass FallenAngelBrass So that means i cant sell my scissors on etsy? by any means? like comon people are selling them in thousands and they are star sellers

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PoochandTabby
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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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@BirminghamBeautyShop

In your own post about your issue, everyone has already pointed out what your issue is and you don't seem to want to listen. If I was Etsy, I would stop responding to you too, because they are probably telling you what is wrong and you aren't listening to them either.

How many times do you need to be told that your items are not Etsy legal? Stick to eBay and Amazon. 

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PJs3Dprints
Inspiration Seeker

Re: Final Violation Warnings

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Unless you designed and own copyright to the Grinch, I think I'd remove those...

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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@PoochandTabby  How people are selling scissors saying handmade and still being star seller, is that legal if yes how if no i got my answer that they are illgegal too...

thats only what i wanan know

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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@BirminghamBeautyShop: "How people are selling scissors saying handmade and still being star seller ..." Just because someone else is doing it does not make it legal or within Etsy rules. And what you see on Etsy is only the ones who have not yet been caught - you no longer see all of the listings and shops that have been taken down for violations.

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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@CraftHouseParty to clarify for you, it appears that the message Etsy send is generic. It's sent for items listed in the handmade category. So yes it is vague. What it actually means is you are listing something which goes against the platforms selling policy.  

The takedown is automated based on image recognition. It does point to your use of Grinch images without a licence from the brand owner.  Not only is this against Etsy policy it's illegal in many countries including your own. You can find yourself in deep water with the owner, who can and do sue people like yourself for doing this.

I've attached a copy of Etsy selling policy for you here to help.etsy.com/What-Can-I-Sell-on-Etsy  I'd recommend reading the prohibited items section specifically about IP.

I'd also recommend checking Etsy policy on Mockups which changed earlier this year ( help section link top of page ) 

 

 

 

 

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PoochandTabby
Conversation Maker

Re: Final Violation Warnings

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Just to add that if Etsy takes down a listing, it probably isn't ideal to repost it until you find out what is wrong with it. Just keep using one message/email to keep responding, because you go to the back of the line if you open a new request to try to get info. Many times listings are removed in error and they will admit/relist if they deem it to be that. You can also reverse search your images and see if some of these wholesale sites like Aliexpress, etc., have stolen your images, which could also trigger a handmade violation.

As a side note, I used to have a superhero collar a million years ago and Warner Brothers legal team came at me directly to my email and not through Etsy, even though other people were selling the exact same thing.  Using the 'other people are doing it, so that means I can too' excuse doesn't work with these big companies protecting their IPs. They can come for just you or they can come for all of you and you definitely don't want to be caught up in that situation. Although I did work out permissions with them, I decided not to relist once I sold the last of the design and the stress of dealing with them to begin with, although the lawyer was super nice, wasn't worth it. Back then, it seems like these companies weren't suing people like you read about now.

If you are on your final policy warning, I would tread carefully at this point and not do anything to get your shop closed down permanently because you won't be able to open another one, ever. Just try to focus on what's Etsy legal through the available resources and through your info you're able to glean from them and not what other people are doing. 

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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to paraphrase what others have said, illegal is not a sick bird...

it means what you are doing is against the law, in that using an image that you didn't create and do not own, is theft.

pure & simple. Theft.

in this case, Etsy waits for the IP holder to file infringement against you. They can close your shop (Etsy). If they do, you'll never have another one.

The IP holder can sue you. And they can get money for every single sale, going back for years. If you share this info on social media (which is forever)...yeah, it can be found.

basically...those 5 or 6 images (I didn't look t hroughout your shop) could be the end of your shop. Do you want to roll the dice? If so, you do you.

 

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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With all due respect you did not design or create The Grinch.

 

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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It doesn't matter what others are getting away with, it matters that you got caught.  You really do want to pull that Grinch.  It will shut down your shop now that you are on the radar.

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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Does anyone know if u can come back from a final warning, how long the warning lasts etc - I am aware of my listing issues and do not re- post violated listings, I am in the process of completely changing my work on Etsy to prevent any further issues, I don't want to take all my greeting card listings down as they are/were my biggest revenue but will if necessary, I have worked through my tags and titles and think I have removed all red flag wording that would get picked up. I agree with a comment I read on here that just because everyone else is doing it any getting away with it we should't be doing the same......  any feedback most welcome

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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Etsy doesn't share that info, as people will "game the system".

Your mouse cards still can be found via image recognition.  So, just because you removed the words, doesn't mean you won't get hit with a violation.

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Final Violation Warnings

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Final warnings don't disappear. Looks like almost your entire shop is IP theft. There is no coming back from that. I am confused how you think that it is OK to just use others work like that? Is it because they are larger companies? Is it OK to shoplift from large department stores but not mom and pops (until it is)? How does one justify just taking from other companies?

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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"I don't want to take all my greeting card listings down as they are/were my biggest revenue but will if necessary, I have worked through my tags and titles and think I have removed all red flag wording that would get picked up."

So you know what you're doing is illegal but you're going to try and get round it anyway?  That's ethical.

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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Incredible, you still have the Grinch listings up.

Disney, where are you?

Please do a total sweep and get rid of the illegal shops/items.

I know they won't see this, but one can hope.

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Re: Final Violation Warnings

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Grinch is owned by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the seem to sweep Etsy all the time.

Once Etsy decides you have had to many warnings, there will be no coming back.. is it really worth it?

I will not at all be surprised if IP lawyers / agents view forums

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ModKenneth
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Re: Final Violation Warnings

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Hello!

Before posting on the Forums, please check if you are not bumping an old thread that hasn't seen any activity in a while. You can do this by looking at the dates of the most recent replies.

Since this thread is indeed a bit older and the information contained here may be outdated, it will now be closed.

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If you have any questions about how the Community Forums work, please read our Community Policies.

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