Listings deactivated with no email or reason given

[jaffic]

Hi all,

Etsy recently deactivated half my listings and no emails were received detailing the reason behind it. I have sold the same thing for 10 years now and designed it myself. The products are also all handmade. 

I actually only sell 2 types of products (scarves and leg warmers), and identical listings (in terms of tags, product and description) were left up. 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/jaffic

Amongst the listings were many of my top ranking ones... which is very suspicious indeed. 

Do my competition need to provide any evidence when they report a listing?... or can they just report it for ip or something and get it taken down? 

- I am very familiar with ip infringement and I'm very careful not to use anything but generic terms for the products. 

- I haven't violated any of Etsy's policies. 

Any advice would be great - ESPECIALLY how to get in touch with Etsy. 

[ChristmasIsLove]

Dashboard, Community & Help, Contact Us.

[howtobooksandmore]

I am very familiar with ip infringement and I'm very careful not to use anything but generic terms for the products.

This is only part of IP infringement.  It includes images and other things used on the fabric you make these scarves and leg warmers from.  Not using protected words does not protect you from IP charges if you use protected fabric.  Only etsy can tell you what the specific reason is for any listings being taken down.  I'm not surprised they are your best selling items.  IP infringement sells very well and those are usually the top sellers on here.  If I were cracking down on infringement, that is were I would start.  But you need to ask etsy as no one here will know what these items are and if it was infringement.

[jaffic]

I have asked them. They only send automated replies with vague answers. They don't ever explain what the infringement is.

Edit: I don't even know if it's an infringement by the way. I have checked my spam folder. No notification was given at all.

Edit 2: I recently did an experiment where I copied the content of one of the deactivated listings and reuploaded it. The listing was immediately deactivated by Etsy. I checked every part of my email inbox, including spam, for a notification - nothing.

[howtobooksandmore]

You need to ask the person or company that owns the IP rights, not etsy.  Etsy can only tell you who made the complaint and that there was an IP infringement complaint.  And etsy may not know what the specific legal complaint is because they are not the ones making it.  You need to contact the rights holder.

[SugarTaffySoap]

It may just be an "automated" system error but only the Etsy team can tell you for sure. We can't see the items so it's hard to accurately help you. Also did you check your spam folder for an email from them? Try chat support who can convey the problem to the appropriate department. Dashboard > Community & Help > Contact Us >Selling on Etsy >Manage Listings, if none of those topics apply, go to the bottom and click  "I Still Need Help".  It may take days before you receive a response and if they see fit your items will be reactivated. Hope this helps.

[jaffic]

I checked the spam folder. There's nothing there. As yet I have been given absolutely no concrete reason as to why they've been deactivated. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

have you checked your spam folder?

Etsy Ip infringement comes from etsy legal, some e-mail providers don't even pass those through to spam, check with your e-mail provider what they do with "legal" in the sender address

If it's copyright infringement, you can issue a dcma counterclaim,

if it's design/trademark infringement, they have to provide information, including the registration number

....

it could be bots, taking down things with "amber" or "baby swaddling" - your things are warm wraps, maybe a word triggered the baby stuff removal

[ColorfulCastAndCrew]

I just spoke with Etsy on Monday concerning an issue I had, I asked for a call back. Go to the Help Center > Contact Etsy Support, (it's at the bottom of the page) > Selling On Etsy, then go through all the prompts concerning your issue. At the end click on, "I still need help". You can use chat or request a call back. Good luck, I hope you get it sorted out.

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us?segment=selling

[jaffic]

Callbacks don't seem to be an option as I'm not in the US sadly. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

sometimes there are callbacks, and sometimes there is online chat,

it has to be east coast USA working times, and they are not to busy, so you don't always see them

but it is available to those of us outside the USA - sometimes - it's a bit hit-and-miss

If it was IP infringement, they would hang up anyway, as they will not discuss it with you, there are legal proceedings that have to be followed.

[CoquetteBath]

I see  a lot of items in your shop. Your photos of making, by the way, are very good and I appreciate the inclusion of the material & equipment. So many new makers could take a page from you and your shop info.

I 'get' the neckwarmers as being yours. But I don't see the leg warmers in that same light. I don't see any knitting machines, for example. Or, are you buying already knit and seaming it? There's the top & bottom in the photos that does look like mass produced. To me. Not an expert.

One thing that caught me is the use of 'we' in your commentary. Yet you are a solo person. You have a person listed as a production partner, who you say you share space with. Not sure if that's what Etsy means...

all of these are just my suppositions, and may have no bearing on anything, but since you asked, thought I'd share. Good luck. Doesn't get cold enough in Texas for your items, but they are still very cool.

[jaffic]

Thanks for your kind words. I used to collaborate with a person in my studio, Lauren, but she's doing something else now and neither of us work in that studio anymore due to rising costs. I have no production partners, I stitch everything at home with a Juki overlocker and a Bernina straight stitch. I cut all the leather pieces myself, apply every eyelet with my own hands. I'm probably one of the last few sellers on Etsy actually genuinely making every piece by myself.

And the legwarmers are not knitted, they are made of cotton with cotton rib at each end, I buy the material but I make them all myself. They aren't mass produced.

Edit: I'm not saying people replying on here don't make their own items. But Etsy is now absolutely flooded with mass-produced goods from China that Etsy seems to allow and so it feels really unfair that my listings have been taken down when I'm genuinely working day and night to make everything myself. No disrespect to anyone else who is making things by hand. We are on the same team.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

 I'm probably one of the last few sellers on Etsy actually genuinely making every piece by myself.

ouch!

at least I knit my knitted and crocheted items from a ball of wool,

so it's not you, it's me that must be one of the last few sellers on Etsy genuinely making every piece by myself..... along with all the other knitters and crocheters that you seem to have ignored   ...  and huge numbers of other crafters.

pedestals are never a good idea

[CoquetteBath]

@jaffic 

Ouch indeed on the comment about being one of the last...

I assure you that in both of my shops, I make everything myself. I don't mold the glass jars, but I make the candles. I don't cut the cork, but I do the decoration and assembly. ETC.

the one thing that always has torqued me is the idea that 'my handmade is more handmade than your handmade' attitude. While I get the angst over the mass imports flooding (the world, let's be honest...) there are still a lot of quality handmade artisans.

I'm just one of them. Be well.

[CuriousityShop]

Your "Production Partner " would have to specifically be making YOUR designs for YOU not making her own designs and having you sell them.

[jaffic]

She's no longer my production partner any more and hasn't been for years. I haven't worked out to delete her. It doesn't seem possible. How do I do it?

Edit: I finally worked it out! she's deleted.

[SimplyInvitingLLC]

I had this happen to my best seller, I had over $10k in sales with this one item, all of my traffic was driven from this one item, and suddenly it was removed with NO email from them and no explanation. It was not a copyrighted or trademarked item. I had it up for over 4 years. I reached out more than three times to them and NO ONE ever returned my phone calls, they were always "looking into it". It never got resolved and it never got activated again. I gave up trying to contact them. My shop stats completely tanked. I basically had to start from scratch with that one item again. It just really falls in line with the optics that Etsy does not care about their sellers.

[ailesdiaphanes]

I had the same thing happen to me. Best selling item up for 9 years and recently just sold one.  I entered into a live chat with someone not their help section and they assured me that they would escalate it to be looked at. We shall see. 

[hopeandjoystudios]

Is there any common word between the listings removed that could have set off a bot? I would keep replying back to the emails that your problem is not solved.  It doesn't appear to be IP or a handmade issue  but one word like amber or ivory or Havana/Cuba and your listing disappears. If they were all neckwear for children it may have to do with the new baby restrictions?  I am leaning towards a glitch. Keep at it with Etsy. 

[CryzalisDesigns]

Hi, by the way love your products.

No they do not need to provide evidence it seems, They just need to agree that all information given is correct (even if it isn't)

I have had a listing removed because it infringed on Christmas tree ornaments, fishing equipment and office supplies even though I have nothing to do with any of the before mentioned as I make and design Leather masks!

It is easier to contact Elon musk than trying to get a real person to actually assist you on Etsy, especially if you are based outside of the US. but if you wish to receive numerous copy and paste replies from the hand seller book, just click on support and open a ticket, they may never reply with an actual answer but you never know some people get lucky.

Good luck!

[SimplyInvitingLLC]

Did you happen to have any issues with your Tax ID number at the same time this happened? Did they sent you a message saying that your info didn't match in their system and you needed to update it? This happened to me at the time they deactivated mine so I chalked it up to a technical glitch that they wouldn't admit to. I have left them feedback about this in the last survey in case any one there actually looks at those things.

[ailesdiaphanes]

I'm on this forum right now because this just happened to me. They took down a listing that has been up there for 10 years as well. I'm a one woman show and make everything by myself. I can't for the life of me figure out why it was taken down. It almost seems like someone reported it and they automatically took it down without even seeing what the listing is. Mine was a little red riding hood cape that was actually featured in Parent's Magazine in 2013. I got on a live chat with a person that assured me that they would take a look at it and email me back. This is when I sell this cape! So very odd ...maybe someone wanted the competition removed and reported me. Who knows, but man what a soulless company to not even send an email. I too looked in all my spam, junk, etc. NOTHING. 

[TheVintagePineapple]

@ailesdiaphanes  There are new safety rules for children's clothing, nursery bedding, etc., and Etsy has been removing them from many shops.  Your hood was removed because it has ties.

You can find a few explanations and links in this OP:

Solved: Etsy Removed my item - Welcome to the Etsy Community

[BagmakerSupply]

It is hard to speculate on why a particular listing was deactivated, but as mentioned before Etsy is cracking down on what they feel inappropriate. Copyright and trademark infringements is a large factor, but it also seems that the bots are looking for trigger words with no consideration for context. Just as an example that may or may not apply to you, if you say an item is ivory colored the listing may get flagged because ivory is not allowed to be sold on Etsy. Since Etsy is now also factoring descriptions in search, they along with titles, tags, and materials (and possibly even alt tags if you are using them) are all probably being checked. And the bots are also "reading" images.  The problem is that none of us know will ever know what the trigger is that flagged your listing(s).

Without getting into a discussion of what is fair or right or if a listing should be deactivated, the fact that you have been selling something for years only means that the bots have been updated. If there are other shops selling similar items it only means that they have not been caught yet or their listings do not contain the trigger that caused your deactivation. The bots seem to check when a listing is created, renewed and / or edited.

Hopefully you have / will receive an eMail from Etsy explaining the reason.