No response to unjust permanent suspension

[TheSaltCave]

Hi there,

My shop i have had since 2015 was suddenly permanently suspended, i suspect due to logging in when i had a different IP. It's the only possible thing that could of flagged this, since my account is probably on higher security alert due to a hacking incident around june last year, which was extremely stressful - someone was able to bypass Etsy and hack in about 3 times all through support chat by getting them to change emails etc.

Anyway, that is another story. So i was moving out of my home for a few weeks due to renovations and put my shop in holiday mode, the last email i got was July 3rd "Did you just sign into Etsy from the following device and/or browser?", yes it was me..possibly in the new location with a different IP. Not that that should be strange as it was somewhere i frequent all the time and could of logged in on that IP in the past.

So i sent an appeal in after realizing my shop had disappeared (about a month after) because i didnt even have any emails about my account being suspended, that appeal was totally ignored - 2 weeks passed, no email, no confirmation of my appeal being submitted. So that appeal lapsed and i put another one through, its about to be 2 weeks again and still no response, i contacted support about it and have recieved no response. 

This is pretty crazy to me, and im desperate to have my shop back, i sell crystals and minerals..hardly anything to break etsys guidelines over.

How do i get in contact with someone on Etsy? Can anybody help with advice, or look into my appeal? Please, this shop is my livelihood and i was just working on an out this year to make it become fulltime and leave my day job. Starting over is an unnecessary unfair option

[TheSaltCave]

Just to add, the shop attached to this account is not my shop. I have had to login to an old account for an old business idea, because i am unable to login to my original business account due to the suspension and post anything.

[sharonjenkins1]

Sorry this happened to you.  With your crystals and minerals, were  you making any sort of medical claims?

[NerdyLiving]

I also wonder what category they were selling crystals under. Handmade? Gift baskets don't count as handmade, so a single crystal or collection of crystals don't seem like they would count as handmade unless the OP actually tumbled them or cut them somehow. 

[TheSaltCave]

No not at all, only spiritual, certainly not medical

[TheSaltCave]

Crystals were accounted for under vintage, which they are. But there are thousands of crystal stores on Etsy, so i dont know what the problem is there if ive gone 8 years using the same criteria to suddenly being banned over something like that

[AnniebelloPaper]

Logging in using another IP address in itself would not cause Etsy to suspend your shop. If that IP address is a private one (not a public like at a library/coffee shop) and has been used previously by a shop that was suspended for breaking the rules, it's possible Etsy has 'connected' your shop to that suspende one and closed yours down ... thinking it was the other person.

You mention spiritual claims (not medical ones). Depending on how these are worded, they could have contributed to the problem. Check your emails (spam folder too). Hopefully Etsy has messaged you. Without knowing the name of the suspended shop, we aren't able to look for a cached version and possibly help further. 

[TheSaltCave]

the shop name is TheHiddenMinerals

[TheSaltCave]

I strongly feel it has to do with the hacking incident last year, because this person did it through support chat twice and even made emails with my personal name, changed banking information. And each time they would get back in, theyd put my shop in holiday mode

[AnniebelloPaper]

@TheSaltCave I wasn't aware of your earlier hacking problem, so obviously my earlier comment is not relevant.

I would agree that the hack could be a reason. If this person has attempted to hack you again, Etsy might have detected 'suspicious activity' and suspended the shop. There are other threads mentioning this problem. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

My shop has been hacked twice. 

My IP address changes at least weekly, as we have dynamic IP addressing.

and that also means I am probably "linked" through IP address, to millions and millions of other people in the UK.

Look elsewhere, as I doubt it is that.

[TheSaltCave]

Yes it does seem far fetched, nothing i can do really apart from wait for support to get back to me. Even though it has been 2 months of not being able to login or speak to anybody at all let alone an email of acknowledgement