Shop Soft Ban?

[LebenslaufVorlagen]

Hello everyone,

I've had a shop for several years and it's always done quite well. I sold about 100 items every month. Suddenly one of my items was deactivated by Etsy for no reason. I didn't bother with it at first because the item wasn't selling well anyway, but over the next few weeks and months I realized that my entire shop suddenly had a big drop in sales. This happens, I thought. Fluctuations are normal.

However, that was a few months ago now and my shop hasn't recovered at all. My sales are limited to about 4 per month, sometimes less.

Recently, ALL German shops had to confirm their address on Etsy due to a new legal regulation, otherwise Etsy will close these shops and no longer advertise them. My shop was not asked to do this.

In the meantime I had also connected to Etsy's support. It always took them 2 weeks for 1 single respond and at first they didn't want to help at all and brushed me off and claimed that my article probably violated guidelines, which it definitely didn't. It was only through my persistence that I managed to get an employee to look at the item and determine that the deactivation of the item was a technical error on Etsy's part. But he couldn't reactivate the article because I had deleted it allegedly (which I didn't do).

However, things didn't get any better with my shop. The last sale was 2 weeks ago. I've now also placed Etsy Ads as a test, and I don't get any further clicks or even purchases - but Etsy charges those few clicks (27^^) because the clicks supposedly came from my paid advertising (bullsh*t). The support does not respond to my question about a soft ban and has also ended the conversation.

I therefore suspect a kind of soft ban - my store is barely displayed and hidden. It's as if my store is on a blacklist.

Does anyone know the problem? Can anyone help me? It's so sad - my store was doing so well and now it's as good as dead.

[FallenAngelBrass]

Is your listing on your Inactive page?  If so, nobody deleted it.

I recommend that you follow up again on that deactivated item and don't do it through the chat.  Start another help ticket via the email.  Keep on it until the listing is re-activated by Etsy.  We don't know for sure what the effects of deactivations are on the whole shop's quality score, but we do have a lot of anecdotal evidence that deactivations do negatively impact shop visibility in the search for a time.  

[LebenslaufVorlagen]

Yes, it's still an the inactive page. Only the comment "deactivated by Etsy" was removed.

I already opened a new ticket, thank you! But if I'm honest, I have little hope. In any case, it will be a fight. Unfortunately, I think that the employees don't know what's happening automatically in the background and therefore can't intervene. And the programmers at Etsy don't care about my shop.

[GroundZeroCreations]

I noticed that you mentioned a new law in Germany.

"Recently, ALL German shops had to confirm their address on Etsy due to a new legal regulation, otherwise Etsy will close these shops and no longer advertise them. My shop was not asked to do this."

Could the reason you weren't contacted have something to do with you being a digital store and that you don't ship actual products? Just curiosity on my part.

I visited your site and noticed something I had never seen before. I clicked on the "Lukas Lucky" listing and it said in bold red letters right above the price, "5 views in the last 24 hours". So the good news is that you are getting some views. 

You are not alone though because the Etsy forum is full of threads where people aren't getting any sales. I think Etsy may be messing with the algorithm and who knows what effect it is going to have until and when they are finished with that. 

[LebenslaufVorlagen]

I'm 100% sure that all german shops were asked to enter this data. Also shops with only digital items. Except mine

"5 views in the last 24 hours" --> That could have been me. I'm currently editing my listings so that Google might now crawl them again. Yesterday I visited my own listings in incoglito several times.

Unfortunately, I know that I'm not alone with problems on Etsy. I also know shop owners who can't sell at all. E.g. because Etsy Payments offers almost no payment options for the shop - lots of strange stories.

It's very hard to find someone on etsy who can still help you. Etsy mostly blames the problems on others even though the problem is obviously with Etsy. I've been on Etsy for a few years and unfortunately I have to say that the quality of Etsy has declined significantly. Everything is about mass and maximum profit, no one is interested in the shops anymore and the supporters have no idea about their job. Hard words, I know. But that's just a side note.

[ArtDollsbyJD]

@GroundZeroCreations   This thing about views is a new thing or new test thingy that Etsy has been doing for the past few weeks.  I've seen all over Etsy as I browse.

[Elleandtribegifts]

Hello, 
I can’t add much value because I am going through the exact same thing as you but I just wanted to tell you that I definitely don’t think this is anything you have done. I’m a very successful shop. I was earning £1000+ per week! All of a sudden (starting in March) my shop went dead for no apparent reason. I kept contacting Etsy support who would tell me everything is fine when it clearly isn’t. I just want to clarify that I make 100% of my items. I hand stitch every single bear in my store and I sublimate and design ALL of my ornaments so I don’t believe I have done anything wrong. None of this makes sense. I too had a listing deactivated recently (it was a handmade mum bear gift) for no reason at all. I didn’t care because it wasn’t a best seller but since then things have gone from bad to worse. People will tell you it’s because of your images or some other random reason but for this to happen over night to a store that was earning both myself and Etsy thousands on genuine handmade products makes no sense. I will say that Temu and AliExpress have stolen alot of my products. I do have to keep changing the photos for those products. That probably isn’t helping but definitely isn’t the cause. I’m sorry this is happening. It’s very disheartening.

[LebenslaufVorlagen]

I'm so so sorry to hear about that

[PoochandTabby]

@Elleandtribegifts

While you say "People will tell you it’s because of your images or some other random reason but for this to happen over night to a store that was earning both myself and Etsy thousands on genuine handmade products makes no sense."

It absolutely makes sense. 

The CEO has been talking about the importance of pictures since last year and if you read the transcripts from the quarterly presentations and even look at the presentations themselves, you will see how Etsy values pictures because they are looking to curate "the best of the best."

It's what places you in search, as the AI bots need to see what exactly you're selling. It plays a huge factor in your ranking and the better your pictures are the higher you'll be placed than someone selling the same thing with photos and listings that aren't following the guidelines. And they're the reason for a lot of shops are getting creativity violations, because their images are getting stolen by other sites. The bots are looking for the same pictures on other sites and matches will get your listings deactivated by Etsy.

And then you say "I too had a listing deactivated recently (it was a handmade mum bear gift) for no reason at all. I didn’t care because it wasn’t a best seller but since then things have gone from bad to worse." 

While you don't care, that is a strike against your shop if it was deactivated by Etsy. 

And as you say that "I just want to clarify that I make 100% of my items. I hand stitch every single bear in my store and I sublimate and design ALL of my ornaments so I don’t believe I have done anything wrong"

For any listing you have that is "made by you" and has that designation, you MUST use an original photo. You cannot use a mock up. That can get you more violations because it's not just a recommendation, it's actually a requirement that is in Etsy's legal policies. It's in the House Rules. Not following any of the house rules can also get your rank lowered, Etsy can put limitations on your transactions, which is also in their legal policies and eventually close your shop if there are enough violations. 

From the creativity policy: Listings for items ‘made by a seller’ must use original photo or video content of the final product.

From the listing requirements policy: The Etsy marketplace is built on trust and transparency. That's why we require sellers to use original photos of the actual product buyers will receive, not renderings or stock photos, except in the situations outlined below.

Only sellers who use a POD partner can use mock ups or renderings. 

So while that is not the OP's issue, some sellers on here have done the research and know what they're talking about in regards to what is helping and hindering.  In my opinion, Etsy is being more transparent than ever in letting sellers know, especially in their policies, what they expect from sellers and what is going to affect you positively and negatively and images are a big deal. 

[MrNipples]

This may be your worst piece of advice to-date, but it worked for me.

My shop has had regular sales for years and they increased year on year.

For some reason I've never fathomed, my sales stopped over night.

After a prolonged dry period, I  tried the only thing left that I could think of.

I put my shop on holiday mode for half a day.

I switched it back on and after 24 hours, the sales started to roll in and after a few weeks, went back to normal.

Could be a complete coincidence, but its an easy thing to try.

I wish you good luck.

[ArtDollsbyJD]

If sales are drying up, it may not be the new law as buyers have no idea but the fact that much of what you are offering can now be found for free elsewhere. And I know that is very hard to hear.  I'm on the outskirts of this kind of thing but do run across what people have been saying.  Some are saying cover letters no longer needed.  Some are saying resumes are not as useful as they once were.  So maybe the time is now to research what job seekers are needing in today's market and then highlight what you are offering as  better deal than someone else's offering.  For example resumes that target certain areas. The resume for a professor at a University would be different than someone applying for a manager's job.  

Also maybe expand your offerings into other areas.  Maybe something that could help a user keep updated information for a resume as many people frequently change jobs,