Take Down Glitch

[ShirasGarden]

Hello,

On August 21st Etsy deactivated a listing that is 100% made by me and photographed by me. I received an email that didn't give me a way to dispute so I contacted chat. In a nutshell, I was told to rephoto and relist as a new listing. I wanted to keep my original listing because I have many repeat buyers of that item and hundreds of good reviews. That link and the associated reviews would be lost with a new listing. I asked to be sent to someone who could help me further and that request was ignored... twice. 

I did relist as a new listing. I responded to the original email that hasn't responded back to me so I opened a new request ticket. On August 27th, I got a response to the ticket that stated my item does not meet the criteria for what qualifies for sale on Etsy. I responded and asked him to please honestly look at the problem. I have other items exactly like it in other colors that weren't taken down. Only my best seller with hundreds of good reviews was taken down. I haven't heard back further.

My question is what do I do? Do I just cut my losses and move on?? Without real information I don't know what to do to prevent it from happening again.... or was it simply an unfair glitch and there's nothing I could have done to have prevented it?? Every time I look at my inactive listings it upsets me to see those big red words "deactivated by etsy". If there's no hope of ever getting anyone to seriously answer my questions or rectify this, I want to delete the listing just so it won't upset me every time I see it. But if they ever do really look into the matter, if I delete it, would it be said I couldn't get it back anyway??

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[ArtDollsbyJD]

If Etsy removes you were give incorrect information by chat.  They aren't Etsy employees per se.  You ought to have used Contact us to contact Etsy and use any reply email to talk with Etsy about this.

Did you check to see if your photos have been stolen elsewhere?  If so issue a takedown and then report to Etsy. 

Unfortunately you may be in an uphill battle with this.  A quick search of your photos show similar items on other sites.  The BOTs for this may not drill down to make side by side comparisons of photos.

Since you are in the US you could visit a notary public and have them sign off on a statement that you make your items from scratch.  

Do you sell on Amazon?  I just searched one of your photos and while the postion is not the same the items bear a striking resemblance to each other.  I can see why it may lead Etsy to believe your item is not handmade.

I wish I could offer more.  Perhaps someone else will have a better idea of how to handle this. 

[ModJose · Accepted solution]

Hello! We're sorry to hear you're having trouble! We've forwarded your concerns to a specialist team, and your case is being worked on as we speak - Moving forward, they will handle it directly with you so please stay tuned to your email for instructions on how to proceed. Thank you!

Per our Community Policies, we’re closing this thread so you can get the support you need from us directly.