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

[#1]

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!

[CryzalisDesigns]

I do not know why they never asked proof when opening an account that you actually make the items like they do on Amazon handmade.

But if they are closing accounts or removing listings claiming not handmade without actually checking with the shop / seller then they are going to have some very serious issues going forward.

Can they not add an upload portal for sellers affected to upload a video with date & time showing them making the items for verification?

And 9 times out of 10 when these scam sites steal our listings and images, they are too lazy to remove our names or watermarks, surely this should tell Etsy something?

[audreytherese]

Maybe because Amazon handmade is only for handmade, and here is for handmade, vintage and supplies? Since we don't sign up for specific shop types and can sell vintage next to handmade, it wouldn't make sense to have people submit this information when creating their account. 

[DragonflyDreams1]

I wish Etsy would send those bots through the wind chime category. The first page of search results incognito still shows about 80% of them resale items. They are getting better at deceit though, some of them are taking their own pictures and not using the photos from Aliexpress etc. I would love to make handmade stained and fused glass wind chimes again, but I refuse until Etsy cleans up the site.

I am sad to hear real handmade shops are encountering difficulty. It might be that sellers who know their photos are stolen will have to start taking new pictures more frequently to stay out in front of the Etsy bots. That is what the resellers here have begun to do.

[CryzalisDesigns]

if the bots can not even locate those world popular edible items with the same packaging you see in the supermarket being sold as handmade then there is no hope 

[MoltenMagick]

There's a severe lack of support from Etsy on anything, the amount of scam messages etc

[SmallthingsbyAmanda]

That is what most of the problems on etsy come down to lack of support and communication to sort that out and most of the problems would be sorted.  

[nemeton]

It's appalling to hear of this happening to successful handmade shops right before the busiest season of the year - being suspended with no access to proper support and the only option an appeals process that takes two weeks. Etsy needs to re-think this latest policy so it weeds out the resellers without unfairly punishing genuine sellers who have done nothing wrong apart from having their photos stolen by crooks!

[KintsugiCoUK]

This is a real issue that Etsy need to re-evaluate immediately!!!

My friend is in this position and its ridiculous - she designs and manufactures her items from raw materials, she takes her own pictures that have her in them and she even takes these pictures in her home!

Etsy have suspended her shop - she has submitted proof of images being hers but who knows when someone will reply. I know they are her items and her - even her tattoos are in the images on Temu.

A loyal Etsy seller who even advocated Etsy selling, even helping people in lockdown to sell their wears. I’m pretty sure Etsy have featured her too. She engraves and prints her own graphics and illustrations.

I have known her for years, as a fellow Etsy seller but firstly as my friend, and accountability partner, and a mentor to me on etsy

She is absolutely devastated, scared and quick frankly petrified of what is going to happen - I too am worried about my own store now.

Why are Etsy using bots to crawl sites that are clearly known for stealing imagery - can we not have a system where even if we have to submit data to etsy on our processes to make the items at the point of listing to prove that we are the originator.

On top of all of this there are other Etsy sellers she has found to have stolen her imagery with her in and her designs and they are still on Etsy.

If anyone at Etsy is reading this please examine this case, her shop name is MantaMakesLtd and she is based in the UK in the New Forest and has nearly 200K sales!!!

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

[hopeandjoystudios]

That is awful.  I have heard of people having photos of their own children and pets modeling items being stolen.

[hopeandjoystudios]

On one hand it is awful that original creators are getting  caught up in this. On the other it is about d@mn time Etsy  did this. Yes they need a way for the original creator to be able to easily appeal.  You would think the person selling it the longest would be a clue but probably that isn't even always the case? Personally I am shocked they are doing anything. 

[DeerGirlDesigns]

I wouldn’t have any issue with this if appealingtheir mistakes was more efficient, even a week of lost revenue would be a sacrifice I would be willing to make on the altar of a greater good, but going on months with zero response from Etsy and letting Chinese resellers continue to make money from my stolen images and designs while small handmade businesses lose money is unacceptable. If they are implementing this solution, they need an active team to process appeals. 

[hopeandjoystudios]

@DeerGirlDesigns I agree

[DreamyTimesShop]

If enough sellers try out Bonanza they will see how easy and free it is to list and maybe start attracting buyers there.

[CryzalisDesigns]

Not familiar with it, just took a look. Seems to sell a lot of low quality items, which might benefit artisans to stand out

Trustpilot Bonanza 3.3 (over 60% 5 star) vs Etsy 1.6 (over 70% 1 star) might be worth look after all

[ThePurplePuppy]

@CryzalisDesigns 

I tried Bonanza years ago and in the first year I sold 22 items--second year nothing. That was when I closed my shop there.

Perhaps I should have just let it sit as the listing itself was free--but I got tired of trying to maintain it with no sales.

[DreamyTimesShop]

Etsy started with not much and took off...maybe another site can do the same.

[MetalRocks]

I’ve said since 2013 - why didn’t some big wig, for ALL the money they make, start an Etsy Manufacturing branch instead of mixing manufactured and handmade?  Could’ve kept what made Etsy unique AND simply added to it.  What an oversight!! Instead the site is all but saturated with dollar store offerings. I still shake my head.  Talk about a missed opportunity. Not a creative thought can enter nor compete with the bully machine of capitalism. 

[DeerGirlDesigns]

It’s extremely distressing to know I seem to have no recourse as this continues to happen. Opening help tickets seems to do nothing, tagging on Twitter and/or requesting a call back results in someone saying another team will get in touch with me, but they never do. Every single best seller of mine is vulnerable to this. It feels like I am being punished for being creative and taking excellent photos, which is exactly what Etsy encourages. I have maintained Star Seller status consistently for almost two years now, yet that means nothing in getting any benefit of doubt from the Etsy bots. I am working on a pitch for a news article about this issue since it is connected to an even bigger issue plaguing governments of several countries that understand that rampant intellectual property theft from other countries is damaging their own economies and businesses. This is a bigger story than meets the eye. 

[DeerGirlDesigns]

@BriarMoonBeads  the listings they deactivated of mine were the best sellers on Etsy. I constantly scan Etsy for knock offs of my items and take them down when I see them, but the real culprits are on Temu, Alibaba, and Aliexpress so your theory doesn’t make sense for my situation since I was the top seller of my own items. 

[BriarMoonBeads]

@DeerGirlDesigns  I didn't mean you specifically, just any one. It was more 'wild speculation' with a side order of nothing surprising me these days. I did say i need to go to bed..!

[DeerGirlDesigns]

@BriarMoonBeads lol we all need to go to bed!

[BobsWhiskers]

Thank you for this information. I would be interested in reading this news article you are working on.

After a lifetime of hard work to have it cut down in this way is terrifying.

What can we do?

[BriarMoonBeads]

Tin foil hat time maybe......................................but it's quite believable to me that Etsy would line up all the shops who are using the same photos and then knock out the lowest performers. After all, if the Artisan Shop makes 100 sales a month and doesn't advertise, but Reseller has 1000 sales a month and spends thousands on ads, who is Etsy more willing to keep? Resellers have more money, they can refund customers regularly and not bat an eye. They don't complain, they keep adding stock, they send coupons, have sales, ship free... they'll do whatever Etsy expects their sellers to do.

This image takedown is being done under the facade of keeping Etsy handmade. they don't gaf about handmade, they just want it 'special', even if it's as artificial as the bots they use to run the place.

UGH i need to go to bed...

[InTheDustApparel]

This happened to me with a headpiece on temu (they couldn’t even be bothered to crop out my hand and tattoo from the pic!) I’m just wondering, would watermarking our Etsy pics with our Etsy shop name and link prevent other sites from using our pictures (or would they have editing tools to remove watermarks?) 

[DeerGirlDesigns]

I’ve seen them easily remove watermarks so I don’t think it would help much, especially since the bots are automatically taking things down anyway and no human being is looking the watermark would just be seen by the bot as another matchingelement.