Sellers Whose Original Photos Were Stolen by Alibaba Scammers Are Being Penalized by Etsy Bots

[DeerGirlDesigns]

Etsy bots are doing reverse image searches and taking down listings with photos that are also found on scammer sites.  We all know that Alibaba and Temu scammers scan Etsy daily for best sellers to steal designs and images from original artists.  These stolen photos and designs are then ripped off and sold on websites for pennies.  It's nearly impossible for independent makers to file DCMA take downs with these websites, but to add insult to injury- Etsy bots are now deactivating our original handmade listings because they are finding these photos and mistakingly assuming the scammers are the originals.  I've had it happen twice now and I fear all of my best sellers are vulnerable because my photos are beautiful and scammers steal them all the time.  Etsy needs more human beings dedicated to taking a closer look when we open help tickets.  I've had a best seller down for almost 3 weeks now. I am losing revenue every day. I have submitted many photos of my process from start to finish.  I work so hard on my photos and designs and shop. Etsy needs to rethink this method of determining what is or isn't handmade and to address this issue with adding more team members to whatever team it is that handles our help requests!

[UniqueGiftOrnaments]

You would think that a company worth about $8 billion dollars could do a better job. Unfortunately, sometimes Etsy's rethinking and constant changes are a detriment to sellers.

[MetalRocks]

Happened to me. I’m barely surviving on Etsy these days.  The manufacturer’s are thriving.  Knowing full well we artists don’t have their lawyers! 

[PanoramaCityUnique]

The exact same is now happening to me. i am ready to quit this site for good.

[audreytherese]

A few months ago everyone was getting hit with the bots removing listings for being drug paraphernalia. Now there's numerous posts about the bots removing items for not being handmade because they've been copied and found on the cheap sites. And of course the sites are only copying the best selling items, so those shops are getting hit extra hard. 

Etsy really needs to get their s.... together and hire better programmers for these bots if they're going to continue taking down listings this way. It's one thing to say they're trying to make the marketplace safer and get rid of the listings that don't follow the rules here, but they're going about this all wrong. Matching images from sites that are known to recreate and sell cheap knockoffs is not a great source to be relying on when doing these sweeps. 

[CryzalisDesigns]

Etsy must be aware there are several scam sites which just copy the exact listings from Etsy including photo's, text, artists name, not just 1 listing but thousands at a time. These are not sites like aliexpress & co who make cheap replicas but sites designed to steal your data, phishing sites or straight-out out scam sites where customers are sent a keyring for whichever piece they purchase from the hundreds of thousands of stolen & copied listings.

[BriarMoonBeads]

Resellers ruined this site by running about completely unchecked by Etsy. Trying to get the situation in hand by using bots to take down listings who's photos can be found in other places is an incredibly lazy solution from a corporation who gives no hecks for anyone but themselves.

In the last few weeks I've noticed my search results are much more 'unique'. Used to be especially in some searches that there would be at least 3 or 4 shops all with identical photos, now I rarely see the same photo more than once on a page. When I do it's cropped or flipped, which I guess is enough to fool an image-match AI.

If they're going to use bots, they should at least be sending warnings instead of take-downs. Maybe communicate (Etsy's weakest point) and give the seller 30 days to prove the photos are their own. It would be a hassle for the genuine maker but at least it prevents you losing revenue while you're guilty until proven innocent. I don't care if it's a hassle for resellers or Etsy, this is a monster of their own making.

OP your shop is divine, I can definitely see why you're targeted.

[SmallthingsbyAmanda]

Years ago etsy used to contact sellers  and you had to provide photos of supplies, your work space and different stages of your items being made  with proof of date. It was not fun for busy sellers to have to do it but better than just taking down the listings.

[hopeandjoystudios]

But then all the reseller needs to do is take their own photo of the item. 

[DeerGirlDesigns]

@hopeandjoystudios @ it’s not about taking photos of the item, but taking photos or even videos of the entire process of making them by hand.

[hopeandjoystudios]

Not sure how long you have been here (and I mean that with zero disrespect just to clarify) but back in the Bubble Necklace heyday , resellers of manufactured bubble necklaces if asked by Etsy for process photos would just take one apert then film themselves hooking it back together. But yes process photos may scare off a few who are less likely to stand on their lie.

[DeerGirlDesigns]

@hopeandjoystudios @ I’ve been on Etsy since 2008. I don’t make anything you can just take a part and string back together. What I make requires firing torches and rolling my own sheet metal, sawing, filing, working with raw ingots and gemstones. If a seller can provide photos from start to finish including their materials,they should be given a chance to have human eyes scrutinizethe process and make a decision. Etsy’s signatureline is “Keep Commerce Human.” Yes, let’s do that. 

[DeerGirlDesigns]

Thank you so much! 🥲

[hopeandjoystudios]

Your art would be an ideal candidate for that sort of "proof" then. I do feel for those making simpler things who get their photos stolen though. I mean Etsy themselves discourage using watermarks. I have seen them say it in more than one instance. A tattooed arm should be great proof!

[BriarMoonBeads]

@SmallthingsbyAmanda 

Yeah I remember that, many sellers didn't like it because they felt they were sharing 'trade secrets'. I don't know why Etsy stopped doing that - if I were feeling generous I'd say they just got overwhelmed. But I'm not feeling generous LOL it was no doubt because it slowed the influx of new sellers pumping in their 20c.

Also when production partners came in you had to submit the proper name/address of the company and have it be vetted; now you can literally write anything and no one's ever going to check it. Again that was probably because it stymied influx. Keeping the resellers at bay is something they should've always had priority for, but uh oh cha-chings mean more.

What Etsy's trying to do is have every seller using their own photos, but to me that circumvents the core issue of purging resellers. If the resellers do just replace the photos with their own, they're still reselling, just with their own pics. All it does it make the place *look* like everyone's making their own stuff, at least at first glance. Surely having 6 shops 'making' the exact same mushroom lamp is obvious no matter how different the photos are...

I just scratch my head at their methods for these things. The whole purpose of getting rid of resellers is to make the place more unique, more actual handmade. Etsy seems to have said 'oh well y'know what, as long as their pics are different, facade is good enough'. It's like they think if a reseller has to bother taking their own photos they'll give up LOL It stops dropshippers (at least if they did it properly it would) but only the laziest ones. Ugh the whole rodeo is nothin' but clowns.

[SmallthingsbyAmanda]

I don't think it stopped because it slowed the influx of new sellers pumping in their 20c. As it was not something all new sellers had to do it was only if you got reported or for some other reason etsy thought you where not making the items you listed as handmade. I do think as the site got bigger they did not have the staff to check all the photos and videos sellers provided. It was annoying and a bit stressful when it happened but i think better then getting your bestsellers removed  or your shop closed and not being able to actually contact a human at etsy to sort it. I have said many times in the forums be carful what you wish for when people complain about etsy not removing listings they think are reselling. There really is only 2 ways to do it using bots and we have seen how bad that works over the years with things like listings being removed for having Ivory or amber as a colour for example. Or have 1000s of extra staff to look at all the items and possibly contact sellers asking for more info/photos and that would mean a large increase in fees to pay for it. I am not saying they should just ignore it and not do anything, just that the more they do there will be a downside for sellers. 

[cindylouwho2]

@BriarMoonBeads "If they're going to use bots, they should at least be sending warnings instead of take-downs." they said a month ago that they weren't taking down handmade bot-caught listings anymore, but were instead deindexing them and reinstating them within 48 hours if a human couldn't review in that time. Guess that was another Etsy over-promise that they are underdelivering on: https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/An-update-on-how-we-re-keeping-Etsy-special/m-p/14345600...

[FruteJuce]

It seems that Etsy needs some education in communication. I have had some of my unique item photos and wording stolen in the past and I would be mighty peed off if my items were then removed from etsy!

[Carriegraphy]

This has happened to someone I know very well. She started her shop from home and has grown it to a store that has nearly 200k sales and was a star seller

They warned her by removing her star seller badge and then she reached out as she had no emails from Etsy and whilst she was collating evidence for Etsy they suspended her in a matter of hours.

She has submitted information to them but they have just said she is violating handmade policy. She has since found all her items on Temu. She’s shown evidence that she made the items by providing images but it’s not working.

I have known her for years - she is literally the last person that should be in this situation as she designs, produces and ships all her items.

How can this be fair?

Is there anything that can be done?

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

[KintsugiCoUK]

I saw this and just posted about the same shop before I saw your comment. it's absolutely disgusting, and totally terrifying that etsy would not actually send an actual human to look at such a large established store

[lazydazefarm]

It's a shame etsy is letting this happen to people that work hard to provide quality handmade items.  They are only out for the dollar these days.  It's all about money for etsy.  Taking down best sellers from peoples shops is costing them money too, but they don't care really since they are allowing all kinds of resell shops to flourish. They're making millions from those shops and at the same time ruining a lot of small businesses that made them what they are today.  They have so many flaws in their systems it's pathetic.  They continue to do all these weird test that harms our shops instead of helping and at the same time they don't seem to fix the things that need to be addressed.

[hopeandjoystudios]

I keep trying to type things that would be proof but I keep thinking how a reseller could do it too...

[DivineCrossings]

Maybe they should’ve started the reverse image searches within Etsy itself….there are too many shops selling the exact same things as handmade.

[hopeandjoystudios]

Maybe that's what they are doing?

[SmallthingsbyAmanda]

but how would help if the original seller  who dos handmake there item and who's photos where stolen and are being used to sell the cheep copy's