Those affected by the This Item Not Available in your Region -

[#1]

Many posts about this glitch - I haven't seen this in my shop yet, but in doing a bit of research on shops with listings affected, I've found the following -

* These listings show in shop search, as well as Etsy search - so they are not "deindexed" in the the usual sense.

*Once clicked on the thumbnail, it shows the error message "Sorry, this item is unavailable in your region"

* All the ones affected that I checked still show in the mobile Buyer App (the orange icon) - and you can click to view, add to cart, and (presumably) purchase.

* The glitch / bug applies to the mobile browser / desktop site - still shows "not available" when trying to view.

There doesn't seem to be anything Sellers can do, but if you happen to get a message from a Customer who intends to purchase, ask them to fave the item, and try viewing it on the mobile Buyer app.

Any other observations, comments from chat or support?

[BagmakerSupply]

@ChillwolfArt: "I wonder if it's because Chat just isn't aware there is a problem." Chat can only reply with what they have been told to say - would anyone be surprised if an official answer has not been provided by Etsy for them to use?

[ChillwolfArt]

@BagmakerSupply  This is true.  And it seems like Chat people are saying different things. Some aren't aware this problem exists, while others say it's being looked into.

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

Just checking in to say this bug is not region specific. I am in Australia and I only sell within Australia but it is happening to me with two Marilyn Monroe listings. I found out about it from the Swiss OP in this thread.
https://community.etsy.com/t5/Technical-Issues/The-quot-not-available-in-your-region-quot-problem-is...

[APrints]

I'm in the USA, they are blocked. TV Guides with Marilyn's photos on them. If they are blocking them, how can you sell dresses and other items with photos of people wearing them?

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

@APrints Thank you for checking! Etsy is still showing these listings in Search too but anybody who clicks on them gets the same error.

Imagine what that is doing for the conversion rates of the affected shops, and for Etsy overall.

[APrints]

@DaysofYoreTreasures I made changes to my thumbnail images. I have acupuncture posters with nude illustrations. Instead of showing the whole poster as the thumbnail, I cropped a small section just showing the head or hand. Then added a description of what I was selling. It worked, my listings are showing. It is not the best way to show what I am selling, you can try the same. Or, I think if you use a heavy gaussian blur of your thumbnail image, leaving Marilyn's face clear. That may also work.

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

Thank you, dear @APrints but I choose not to use a workaround.

Those Marilyn TV Guides were displayed on news stands across America in 2001 without a problem. There is no suggestion of mature content about them. Etsy needs to fix the problem, pronto.

[Somethinks2Design]

Other websites put a blurred layer over the photo "Mature content 18+" or similar. You can click on the image and see it properly and buy the item.

But Etsy goes the wrong way again: You can still see the picture clearly - so no minor protection - but the item is not buyable with a completely unclear statement "not in your area...".

This is really ridiculous: this protects neither children nor teenagers. But it leaves regular customers puzzled and confused, so they buy elsewhere.

[CostumeCoutureNaomi]

Honestly, I would prefer this situation over having my perfectly innocent skating dress images blocked with a trigger warning.

I hope Etsy fixes this bot.  As I pointed out earlier, it is completely missing listings with live child models, even within the same shop, while blocking innocuous photos of clothing on simple dress forms.

[SaraBPhotoDesign]

I can confirm that it's most likely the "mature content" bots recognizing photos as maybe being nude! I had two photos of people in tank tops in my listing (not mature at all). I chatted with Etsy support and they told me the listing was flagged as "mature content." Once I removed those photos, it's back to being available! 

[APrints]

Is it just the thumbnail images you see in the search results that need to be changed?

[APrints]

I changed the thumbnail images on all of my affected items. Immediately they all are showing now. 

[LastCentury]

@APrints yes, I tried that in my other shop, and it did show again for a while, but the bots came back and now they don't show. Ugh!

classical art books! Michelangelo, Chagall, Freud, so ridiculous.

[APrints]

@LastCentury What I did was crop my poster image, only showing a small part of it. Another option is using a heavy gaussian blur of your thumbnail image, leaving just a small part of it clear. The part that still shows what you are selling. That may work?

[KookiStudios]

@LastCentury 

I had 7 affected listings, when I changed the thumbnail on some it fixed instantly, for others I changed it wouldn't work. 

For the ones that didn't work, I would try the other images I had on the listing to see if that would fix it. Some did work others didn't. 

For the ones that didn't work I would go on google and find a semi-related image and use that on my listing thumbnail just to test and see if it would fix the listing. And when I uploaded the google image, it would work. Now I am not going to leave the listing with some random image on the listing, so I happen to know how to Photoshop/edit so I readjusted some of my images by cropping and rotating. And after testing a lot of different variations, I got some to work. 

Weirdly enough, I was able to switch back some of my thumbnails that triggered the error in the first place after about an hour or so of replacing them. They've been good so far for 24 hours and I am not going to touch them, just check them periodically on PC, as this particular issue is only affecting PC/mobile internet users, not app users. 

[LastCentury]

@KookiStudios @APrints 

Thanks, I may adjust the thumbnails again but I don't feel I should have to be touching them at all. Mine are classical art.

The etsy guidebook on Nudity & Mature Content - No7:

https://www.etsy.com/legal/prohibited/#Q5

[HauntCoutureAtelier]

I don't think we should have to edit our images if there is nothing wrong. Etsy should be fixing this. 

[TheHomeEcLady]

I did this just now and it worked. So happy for other vendors to help sort this out. CS still hasn't replied.

[hhjewelrydesigns]

i am trying to purchase cherub brass charms like I purchased last week but now they are not available in my region - they are nude somewhat but they are cherubs??

[PillowDetails]

@hhjewelrydesigns 

Have you tried the mobile Buyer app -with the orange icon?  This issue doesn't seem to be in effect on that app.  Yet.

[LastCentury]

@hhjewelrydesigns if you see the item you want in search, is the Add to Cart button there to use? I tried that to test, it works, but you still can't click on the item in your cart, it is still blocked from view.

[DecorAntiquaire]

I have a cherub embroidery which is now not available in my region??

[WitticismsRus]

@PillowDetails 

I'm getting the message on the shopping app this morning. 

[HauntCoutureAtelier]

I sure hope this gets fixed. I just sell doll clothes and a lot of my listings are affected and are pretty harmless. The chat was not helpful. Feeling frustrated. 

[KookiStudios]

See my reply here:

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Those-affected-by-the-This-Item-Not-Available-in-your...