I accidentally clicked "Accept as Solution" on my post last night. I’m not a frequent user of the Etsy forums, so I’m unsure how this affects the visibility of the thread. However, many other established Etsy shop owners were also posting there, asking Etsy staff to step in and help with the sudden widespread deactivation of listings in established shops, along with the generic threats of account suspension.
This isn’t an attempt to spam the forums, but rather to ensure someone at Etsy sees these pleas for help and understands the irreversible damage being done to long-standing Etsy shops—and to Etsy itself.
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I have been selling on Etsy since 2012 and have over 30,000 sales on the platform. My issues began a few months ago when, out of the blue, a couple of my long-standing listings were deactivated for "Violating Etsy's Creativity Standards." I contacted Etsy Support, and after many weeks, I finally heard back that there was an error with their system. They apologized and reinstated the listings. To this day, I’m not sure what was wrong with those listings—they are just like nearly 700 others I have, showcasing similar products in different colors (as I offer dozens of color options).
A few weeks later, other random listings were deactivated, so I opened another case. Unfortunately, Etsy never responded, and the case was closed. Over the past week or so, four more listings were taken down. Today, my Star Seller Badge, which I’ve worked so hard to maintain, was removed. I'm now receiving generic, threatening messages indicating that my shop will be closed if I incur more listing violations.
I honestly have no idea what is happening, and I’m extremely stressed. I cannot fix something if I don’t understand what is wrong. With Etsy Support rarely responding to cases, I’m left in the dark about why my listings—most of which have been established for 10+ years—are suddenly causing the potential collapse of my shop.
I did a Google reverse image search, and aside from one listing on an obscure overseas site, it doesn’t seem like my photos have been stolen, at least not to my knowledge. I’ve also been selling the same items on Amazon Handmade since 2015, and the search returns results from my own Amazon store. Could that be an issue? These items have been listed on both platforms since at least 2015, and Amazon has never removed my listings due to their presence on Etsy.
I have never felt so lost since joining Etsy in 2012. I tried contacting Etsy phone support, but I was advised via chat not to do so due to a high volume of calls. I am honestly shocked as I have been a full time Etsy seller for over 12 years now and have never seen anything like that!
