Listings deactivated due to handmade policy my images stollen and used on other websites

[#1]

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this or has any advice for me.

I have been a seller on Etsy since 2010, I make handmade jewelry in a small studio which I was able to open because of my etsy sales. The jewelry is handmade by me, which can easily be seen on my website. I have a jewelers stamp and am registered in Switzerland with metal control.

I have built up my etsy shop for 14 years, taking care to make the best possible items and customer service. I have been a star seller from the beginning and have taken great pride in it.

Recently listings of mine have been deactivated due to handmade policy. These items are made by me, so I could not understand why they would choose these items to deactivate.  Then the next day more were deactivated and two days ago I received my last warning and my star seller badge was removed.  Now I wake up in the morning worrying that my shop will be shut down.  A shop that I have been building the last 14 years and have taken so much care with.

I did a bit of research and I think what may have happened ( it is the only thing that makes sense) is that with reverse photo search, I have seen that discount websites have stollen my images and used them on their site such as Temu, Alibaba and Co. So I am thinking that the Etsy bot found these images on othere sites and assumed I am re-selling these items on my etsy shop.

I have written etsy support twice but have not received a reply and now I am just so worried that my shop will be shut down, it is really a stressful situation because this shop is my lively hood and all the items deactivated are made by me.

I wish I could speak to someone from Etsy but all I seem to be able to do is contact support and hope they react before another image is found that someone has stollen from my website. I strive to take the best possible images for my shop as Etsy wishes us to do .... and they are being stollen.

In the meantime, I have deactivated a number of my items which I found images used on reverse image search.  This must all just be a Technical issue - no?

Does anyone have any advise for me or has gone throught the same thing? Can anyone help?

[ValkyriesSong]

Same here and they just won't listen. I even buy many of my supplies to make my costume jewelry here at Etsy They don't check. They could do if they wanted. I've told them "if you take a look at my reviews, you'll see some buyers mention how I accommodated to their requests and made a custom piece for them. A reseller can't do that! I really feel lost. I've made my mind I'll loose my shop at some point. I've been very attached to Etsy because it used to be such a special place. I've been a seller here since 2012... But I'll have to let go. I can't keep track, like you or any other seller can't, of all thieves and copycats out there. I'm busy creating! If Etsy doesn't want me, I'll sell my creations on my own web and elsewhere. I'm so exhausted. Etsy is costing me my mental health, I don't understand why they can be this blind. All best sellers are copied! What an amazing business model getting rid of them 🤦🏻‍ They could just check the metadata, I guess, and find out who was here in the first place, but of course they won't. They could do more to help protect our work from being stolen. They punish us instead... I won't fight more for my account here. Not worth it anymore.

[KoroniCreations]

So sorry that this is happening to you and to us all!!! I totally agree with the @ValkyriesSong last respond - it is not worth it anymore! This whole situation is taking so much time and mental health instead of focusing on your work, on your customer service, social media ets. I have just deactivated myself more than 100 of my jewelry listings because I am afraid after receiving 2 emails for `handmade policy violation` because of stolen by temu photos my whole shop would be closed... I left only the supplies listings as they are not followed by these Etsy bots. Etsy may not replay at all on the help requests - last year they fired almost all of their staff replacing them with AI system. There were announcements about this. There are no many people left and I guess there are hundreds / thousands similar help requests to their support every day. The support just may not respond on time before their crazy bots suspend the total shop! And yes, etsy phone number is for certain countries and my country is not included, too. I chatted with them a few times and all I received was `we do care for our sellers and will look and your case soon`. Even if they resume the removed listings you cannot be sure there will not be more `violations` for another listings with stolen photos tomorrow! I spent so much time and nerves on this issue instead of working on my own site! I have been on etsy for more than 8 years with a few shops for different products and I am absolutely disappointed and frustrated! 🤦‍🤦‍🤦‍ 

[VivienFrankDesigns]

Hi Koroni

Thanks for your reply. I have also deactivated so many listings because these images are on Temu and co. I have started take down requests but it is endless.

Does anyone have any tips how I can get a reply from Etsy? My country is not listed for live chat or phone calls. Anywhere else I can try?

[AlaskanConnection]

Same thing happening to me..I am a wreck for 2 weeks now i deactivated 200 listing with worry, the listing stated violated handmade but then the email said it was mature content images ?? it was a chopping board? I am tired with no sleep worrying what next. I have sold the same thins since 2016, now it is an issue? I feel better knowing I am not alone but why not listen to our cases. I hope they do something it is now another new thing with the re-birth of Etsy launched yesterday, more insecurities

[IntheWitchwood]

I don't think there is any other way to contact them for those of us who don't have access to live chat or phone calls. From what I have seen in the forums those avenues are useless anyway.

I'm still waiting on a response too about my deactivated listing (same one deactivated a second time after resolving the first time after 4 months).

Last time I opened three help requests, each was closed down and marked as solved after 4 weeks without any contact.

[VivienFrankDesigns]

Hi Inthewitchwood

How long did it take to get a response?

[IntheWitchwood]

About four months after I opened a fourth help request (after the other three were shutdown).

[openthecellardoor]

VivienFrankDesigns, I see you have your badges back, congratulations!!! 

How were you able to finally resolve with Etsy? I've been waiting 15 days since my first help request and I've provided Etsy with a ridiculous amount of proof. I've had serious issues with my photos being stolen by AliExpress, DHGate, Wish, Temu, and even other Esty sellers for about 5 years now. It's exhausting.

I use components in some of my pieces that I have purchased from jewelry supply shops (most of them on Etsy). My listings are fully transparent, I have all jewelry supply stores included as a production partners. 

Like all of you, my stress level is through the roof. 

[VivienFrankDesigns]

Hi Openthecellardoor

Yeah, I got it back finally yesterday!  It took about 4 weeks to get a reply. Unfortunately they did not re-instate all my listings ( probably just missed them) so need to write them back again today. I was on pins and needles since I was on my last notice. I deactivated a lot of my listing which I found out to my horror that images were stollen ( so many of them) , I was worried that the bot would find one more and then my shop would be shut down. I think all you can do is be patient. I wrote them every second day or so to let them know I still need help on my ticket. That was all I could do.

Wish you good luck, I am confident with all your proof that your listings will be activated again.

[openthecellardoor]

I'm so happy you got your badges back, we work WAY too hard to have those stripped away! They say Star Seller status doesn't affect the algorithm but I saw an almost immediate dip in sales and views after they were removed.

I've been adding to my ticket almost every day. I'm hoping they get so tired of me that they'll deal with me just to make me stop bugging them!!

Fingers crossed Etsy will get it together and stop penalizing us for being victimized. They really need to remember who makes them money every day/pays exorbitant fees and employ actual humans to evaluate any suspected violations before taking any actions. We deserve better than this!

[CraftyCornishMaids]

there is nothing to have to work hard about for star seller

ship on time with tracking 

reply to each new message thread in 24 hours

none of that should be hard or difficult

the review ones - we can get bad reviews for no reason, however "hard" we work 

none of it is hard work, is just ordinary stuff for 2 of them, and the reviews land as they will.

none of it is any different, from what I was doing before etsy started give us star seller, or not

[openthecellardoor]

I have run my shop like that from day one, none of my actions changed with the Star Seller program. We all know that balancing a million tasks to run a successful shop is hard work! Not everyone runs their shop properly, the badges at least give customers some security that we know what we're doing. Having them revoked is insulting and makes our shops look unprofessional and less trustworthy.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

star seller is not worth the pixels it is made of

millions of sellers here don't send tracked, because of the expense of it in most countries, so millions of very trustworthy shops don't have it.

and you can get a 1 star because sellers don't understand how to choose the rating properly, or they buy a knitting pattern and say they can't use it, because they can't knit.

Mine comes and goes, it has no affect on sales at all, and it is not an indicator, if I am trustworthy

However much extra work I put in, it will have no affect whatsoever on the badge, so it would be pointless.

I ignore it, much less stressful than working hard for something you can't do anything about.

[CottonFoxApparel]

This happened to me as well. It turns out that photos of my products are now on both Amazon and AliExpress. It's very painful because now I have to prove that I didn't steal them, but that they were stolen from me. I have already written numerous letters to stores on AliExpress and Amazon, and most of them have removed my photos. However, a few stores continue to ignore me. I wrote a detailed letter to Etsy support with photos of the process, originals of my works, and screenshots from AliExpress. Unfortunately, there has been no response and my listing is still deactivated.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

if the shops don't take them down, go direct to amazon and aliexpress, and follow their takedown procedure

[CottonFoxApparel]

Thank you for your support! The photos have already been removed from Amazon, and only one listing remains on AliExpress. I’ve almost won🥳.

I also received a response to my ticket from Etsy… a letter saying "if you think the listing was removed by mistake, please read the rules." I understand that no one actually reviewed my photo proofs - photos of the work process, the original photos that were in the listing, and even screenshots from Amazon and AliExpress. I don't want a "violation" to hang over my shop.

[jewelryMirta]

I am in this same boat! First listing deactivated on June 15th 2024 due to images being stolen by sellers on Ebay, Aliexpress and Amazon. Nobody told me this actually, I have simply been told by phone today that the removed listings are not handmade. Other sellers pointed out that might be the reason so I did a Google image search and found my images used all over. I should mentioned that I personally took all those images, and that I have sent numerous reports to all of these sites, but new counterfeit items emerge daily. A counterfeit seller simply removes a listing to post a new one on the next day.

Numerous Etsy chats with no result, help requests only resulting in copy paste answers with no actual help. I have been making and selling handmade jewelry here since 2010, and have paid many bills since.

After trying to get in touch with someone who can actually help for 4 weeks, today I received another email that another of my items was removed, and another email stating stating that I cannot earn a star seller badge any more (although I currently have it). They also added that if my shop violates Etsy's creativity standards again, it will get suspended. 

After this I even paid for a virtual UK phone number so I can receive a callback from Etsy - you cannot receive a callback if you are in Croatia. During the call, the customer service representative simply told me that they will make my requests of higher priority, but that there is essentially not much that they can do. They told me that these listings are removed by Etsy's Trust & Safety Team, but I cannot contact them, and I cannot send any proof or evidence that my items are in fact handmade. I tried to upload an original TIFF file of one of the photos to my help request, but the upload fails, as the file is 91.1MB. Etsy's customer service representative who I spoke to on the phone doesn't even know what a TIFF or RAW image file is. How can they even help in these matters? 

I have to add that I really had great faith in Etsy previously, and that this all came very unexpected. I have never dealt with such a situation before, and have never been through such a serious issue with not a single human being who you can work things out with. 

This has become such a huge stress that I am seriously thinking about closing my own shop before they suspend it due to health reasons.

[CottonFoxApparel]

First of all, it’s unfair, but you should stay calm. What helped me:

1. I filed reports for all listings on AliExpress and Amazon (you can google specific websites where you can file a complaint).
2. Be patient and wait for AliExpress and Amazon to delete the listings with stolen photos. It took me 5-7 days.
3. Write to Etsy calmly and factually. Describe what materials you use and how you produce your product. Include photos of the process and screenshots of the stolen listings.
4. If you don’t get a response after 2 days, follow up via chat and Instagram.

I managed to get my listing back. It took 5-7 days to get the photos removed from AliExpress and Amazon, and around 10-14 days to resolve the issue with Etsy.

I hope you will get your listings back.

[MonteroNails]

'm feeling really down right now. I just found out my Etsy shop has been permanently closed. I had everything planned out to provide the best service to every buyer on Etsy. I treated every customer with care, going above and beyond their expectations, and everyone was super happy with my products. I even sent anniversary gifts to my customers!

I’ve been at this for three months, constantly improving my products to make sure they’re top-notch. I quit my old job to focus 100% on my Etsy business. I gave it my all, but then out of nowhere, my shop got shut down. I was working on a customer’s order at 4pm on July 10th, guiding them on how to measure their nails, making sure everything was perfect. But by 6pm, I couldn’t log into my shop anymore! Customers started getting refund emails from Etsy, but I had already shipped out most of the orders! Now I can't log in to see who’s been refunded or track any shipments. This is a nightmare!

All my products are original designs, and I took great care with photos and videos. I made sure everything was perfect so that customers would be thrilled when they received their orders. The only thing I can think of is that I reported a shop that was copying my pictures and videos, but that shop is still up and running. It feels so unfair.

I’m confident I didn’t break any rules. I’ve followed all of Etsy’s guidelines. If I did something wrong, I’d really appreciate knowing what it was and getting a chance to make things right. I hope this is just a mistake on Etsy’s part. I’ve always aimed to improve my product quality and customer satisfaction.

Please, Etsy, look into my shop and my history. I’ve put my heart into every customer interaction and every product. I just want a fair response and a chance to keep my shop running. Thank you!