Incorrect Handmade Policy Violation

[Lapelling]

I sell ITA bags, and I’ve been selling them for close to 1.5 years. Etsy just recently decided that one of the two bags I sell is not “handmade”. Yes, I use a production partner from China, but the design & look are 100% crated by me under my very own trademarked brand. I’ve tried dealing with Etsy support but you already know that got me nowhere. I even got to their “specialized team” as they call it, and still nothing useful. They finally just told me they can’t relist a product for me. Am I outta luck here? Do I gamble and relist it hoping it doesn’t happen again? Do I continue to push and push and push support? Or is the fact that my products are associated with China means I’m just screwed? Don’t know what to do here

[Jewels2at]

Maybe take a pic of your drafts of the design...where you sketched your designs and send to Etsy

[VintageRescueSquad]

Often, it's because etsy's image recognition bots see a photo all over the internet, so assume you are reselling. Have you done a reverse image search? I see your photo all over the internet. If your photos were stolen, you have to file DCMA takedown notices. 

If your bag is made by your manufacturer for others, then that could be the problem. 

And yes, if you "gamble and relist it hoping it doesn’t happen again" you run the risk of harming your shop further. They may just take it down entirely.

[PlatypusDream]

You are using the word "DISNEY" to draw traffic to your shop. And photos of official Disney / Harry Potter pins.

Do you have licensing to do so?

Perhaps that's the problem.

Replace the copyrighted designs with generic ones and see what happens.

[Lapelling]

Yeah I thought about that too, and I’m going to remove this from my listing, but I still question why it would come out as a handmade policy violation if it’s just my description? I don’t know

[PlatypusDream]

@Lapelling 

Sometimes Etsy uses other reasons, when they can't outright point to IP infringement.

It's lucky that it's Etsy, and not Disney or Warner Bros. coming after you.

[nineteen27]

you are using...

disneyland... disney... universal studios etc.

in your tags.

your tagline says disney.

and i believe that you are designing them.

and it has nothing to do with the country making them.

and i agree with @PlatypusDream 

you need to use generic pics.

and you need to remove disney etc from every part of your shop.

[Lapelling]

Yeah I thought about that too, and I’m going to remove this from my listing, but I still question why it would come out as a handmade policy violation if it’s just my description? I don’t know

[BootifulLabels]

You have the words Disney and Disney Accessories in your shop title.

Your pictures show the display window of the bag filled with pins depicting Disney and other Trademarked characters.

Your bags look just like a bog standard children's backpack bag, and leaves one wondering what is is you actually designed.  

There is nothing unique about your bags, they are all over the internet, many with the same pictures and much lower prices.

As a result, it appears at a quick glance that you are using Disney to draw sales of your generic bag and attract buyers who will pay Disney prices, and since those bags are everywhere, it is not a stretch to think you had no hand in the design.  You have IP issues, as well as the assumption that these are not "handmade" by Etsy standards.  In short, it looks like you are reselling cheap bags and using Disney's IP to bring buyers in. 

I would not relist the removed items, unless and until Etsy tells you it is okay to do so.  They have thousands of these removals every day and it takes time to get through them all.  They will eventually get around to your case.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Disney is a trademarked brand

If you are selling anything with the brand name, anywhere, and selling as handmade, it is counterfeit, so breaches the handmade policy
as well as being illegal.

you have Disneyland in a tag, and Dobby on an image

....

Do I gamble and relist it hoping it doesn’t happen again? 

The gamble is Etsy will find out, and they will shut your shop for good, and you will never be able to open another

[CoquetteBath]

you also have Harry Potter images clearly visible.

seriously IP theft.

doesn't matter that you aren't selling those.

but you are using the IP to sell your items...THAT is a problem. You can be sued. They will win.

I'm also not 100% sure what you are selling, but likely because I'm not in the generation who would want them. But I do recognize a lot of protected motifs & characters...

so yeah, very problematic. Very.