Listings deactivated with no email or reason given

[#1]

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. 

[ailesdiaphanes]

Do a search right now on etsy and you will see many little red riding hood capes on there with the same ties. I made this so it can easily be undone. I do not make it for babies. This was a known policy on ties for quite sometime, and this cape has been on this site forever and I just sold one late August. They claimed they sent me an email, and there was nothing sent to me. Should I now go on all the other listings and report them for their ties?

[TheVintagePineapple]

@ailesdiaphanes  It's only recently that Etsy has gotten more proactive when it comes to baby/children clothing and accessories.  They will most likely get around to deactivating the others you see in search.   It could be that the bot only catches a listing now, no matter how long they've been active, when the seller either renews or creates a new listing since the new safety guidelines have been in effect.  That renewing/creating action triggers the bot?

You say you don't make things for babies, but your titles mention 3-6 month, 12 month, 2T sizes.  Aren't those sizes for babies and toddlers?

[ArtDollsbyJD]

Check CPSIA for rulings on children's clothing.  There have been many changes recently.  Some things such as strings can only be a certain length and cannot have toggles.

Did you check spam email? 

Etsy will review and will allow the item to be listed if they deem it does not conflict with the new guidelines. 

With children's clothing it's necessary to keep up to date with the changes.  As well as have insurance and anything else that applies to children.  

[BagmakerSupply]

@ailesdiaphanes: I am not being nasty or anything, but if you have not heard from Etsy, how do you know for sure what triggered the deactivation? That is the biggest problem with these deactivations - we just don't know the exact and real reason, we can only speculate.

[ailesdiaphanes]

So go on Amazon and search little red riding hood capes. all their children's caps have ties. They are not in compliance either then? Sorry, this seems really dumb. So, should I help Etsy out and go and report every single seller with the same design as mine?

[ailesdiaphanes]

I don't know what triggered it. I'm answering Pineapple vintage saying it was because on the ties. I went on a chat with a live  person on Etsy that looked at my account, and if it was as simple as it being ties, they would have said that. The person I talked to said they will escalate it for review, and I would hear back via email. This was today, so I'm giving them a chance to email me before I go on etsy and report all the little red riding hood capes on there.

[TheVintagePineapple]

@ailesdiaphanes  You can report the listings, if you really want to use up your time.  But you can't tell how many other sellers have had their listings removed due to the same reason.  Keep an eye on the ones you've seen to see if they eventually get removed.

I wouldn't depend on what the help person told you or didn't tell you.  Their knowledge is somewhat limited.

FYI - Be careful.  Your shop announcement could be interpreted to mean you'll circumvent Etsy's rules about selling those hoods.  

[ailesdiaphanes]

In my original comment to this post I never mentioned the cape had ties. Curious how you jumped to that assumption? There are literally 100 of children's capes sold on amazon and other children's clothing shops that have to abide by the same safety standards as Etsy. This is ridiculous. 

[TheVintagePineapple]

I can see from the picture in the first review in your shop that it has a big bow tie.  No assumption necessary.

[ailesdiaphanes]

They all have ties

[ailesdiaphanes]

ok fair enough, so my question to you is. MANY shops have children's capes that have ties. I looked at all the updated policies and see nothing. Places like Amazon, Meri Meri, and other children's clothing stores sell capes like mine. They all should have to be in compliance or they will be in big trouble. How is Etsy so special that they decided to take my listing down that they profited on for 9 years and leave up a ton of other ones? I call nonsense on this. I feel like someone reported it unjustly and it's all so automated that they don't care.

[leinweberstudio]

It is very possible that another seller reported it, knowing full well about the no-ties regulation and trying to get you in trouble, in which case they did it just to cut out the competition.

Unfortunately you'll never know if this was the case, or if it was indeed caught up in a general sweep.

[ailesdiaphanes]

I'm sure that is what someone did since this policy in consumer safety was in place in 2013 after doing some reading on it. Just love how Etsy doesn't do a full sweep on just typing in children's capes if they really cared about their sellers.  A simple email telling me what the problem was, I could have redesigned it, which I will do and see how that goes.

[leinweberstudio]

Just don't use Velcro and call it Velcro anywhere in the listing.

Call it hook-and-loop tape.

[ailesdiaphanes]

I really loath velcro. My cape is made out of really beautiful viscose and wool. I have to really look at other options that were listed as ok on the safety compliance list. One thing you can use is elastic loop and button closure.  I have sold 105 of these capes....zero issues. I get the reasoning for the safety aspect, but the grosgrain ribbon I used dan easy come undone if need be. 

[ATPTextures]

Did the listings have any words that are a description of the pattern on the products? I had a listing deactivated by Etsy bots and the only thing I could think of was the word chevron. ( A patten which, btw, cannot be trademarked or copyrighted if used for that purpose. ) It was reinstated 4 days later, so the bots were obviously over zealous. Maybe your listings will pop back up in a few days. 

[ailesdiaphanes]

So far, I had a live chat with someone that assured me that they would look into it. I did a story on Instagram and tagged them. They responded on there and said they would look into it. No word yet. I reported one seller that sells mass produced capes with ties to experiment if they really care about children's safety, and it's still up. This seller has 20,000 sales and all their stuff looks like it's from China. 

[jaffic]

Hi everyone - I would just like to update what happened. 

All the listings were all reactivated with nothing changed and they are all still active now. I went through everything and I could find nothing that could possibly infringe on copyright or cause them to be flagged. Etsy never gave me the reason for the listings being taken down. 

I actually just last week had another random listing deactivated. But at least they said it would be dealt with within 10 days, which would be a huge improvement from the last time (at least 1 month). 

It is for sure "The Bots" and I'm sure they are trying to improve the process. 

Thanks for all the helpful messages! 

[ELEMEANTS]

We are a Himalayan Salt company and we are EVERYTHING Himalayan Salt. We even build entire rooms made from the salt. We are a classic Etsy "mom and pop" as it is my husband and I running the company. We do all the design work and make each and every item. We began our company using only natural materials UNLESS it was a reclaimed item as our mantra is reuse, repurpose, remake! Our name is even a portemanteau of elements and meant, as in it meant more to someone. Suffice to say, we MAKE our stuff. The least "handmade" of our items is when we sometimes buy salt in pre-made shapes and then make a lamp or other piece from it. When COVID hit, we shifted to making Himalayan Salt Panels instead of traveling to build these rooms. We hand cut the salt, sand it, lay it out and fit it all together, glue it up, then sand it all again for a luxury finish. Then it gets framed by wood we pick up an hour away, cut it, rout it, sand it and attach it to the salt pane. We then add PROPRIETARY lighting and components, HANDMAKE the shipping containers and schedule shipping from here! AND Etsy delisted our Himalayan Salt Panel listing for unknown reasons, only quoting policy. We have not violated these policies and have been in business on Etsy for 10 years. Yes, I have to go through the painful and laborious process of trying to find out what their bot found offensive all because I choose to compete amongst other makers. Yet we clearly not only see others using our pictures, but going to China to have them make copies. It is beyond frustrating to see the changes that have occurred in Etsy since they went public. Very, very sad. The greatest oxymoron is a handmade seller's platform going public! I wish you the best my friend. I feel your pain and frustration. I hope you get yours resolved. To read others stating that even a color can be mistaken for a material is disgusting. Yet I am assaulted by pornagraphic images on Etsy all the time, a clear policy violation!