Uk cooking/craft knives

[GullsNestForge]

So yesterday i posted up a collection of items to my shop. 

A few of these were kitchen, cooking and utility/craft knives.

Subsiquently i have had almost all the knives in my shop blocked from viewing in the UK. 

None of my items were advertised as anything but tools for there respective enviroments. Im sure im 100% inkeeping with etsys and the UK policy on such items.

When iv gone to the help center to try and ask they look at this its obvious the agent at the other end hasent read my post or taken a look at the policys..(ones they link at the bottem of each reply) Iv been given copy/paste messages about how some regions lock certian items and assured me that America can still see my posts (many many reasons why selling to america isnt a option)

Can anyone recommend what i can do now... Or show me if there is somewhere with guidlines im missing?

From other forum posts it could just be the algorithm reflex blocking me but if the help center wont read my messages or give me a clear answer im left with a shop that wont work for me and alot of redusndant bisuness cards. 

[CuriosAnCollectibles]

Knives, of any kind are now prohibited within the UK. Even a butter knife, which would do no damage whatsoever, unless you poked someone in the eye with it. Lol. 

[OwlAlwaysKnit]

I found this post about the sale of knives in the UK

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Managing-Your-Shop/Sale-region-changed-in-July/m-p/139302092

[CraftyCornishMaids]

You can't sell knives to the UK on Etsy

the knives need over 18 verification software, on purchase, which etsy doesn't have

and over 18 age verification postage bought, which etsy can't force.

There was a UK TV programme that slated etsy for selling knives without age verification software and postage, so they've stopped them being purchased by people from the UK, as it can't be legally done without both of these

[CatsWhiskersCurios]

Etsy have gone completely overboard on this.  There is a UK requirement for an age check on anyone purchasing knives, but rather than let sellers implement this responsibly, Etsy has decided it's easier to simply block them from view.  I'm in the same boat with a few vintage cutlery sets. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@CatsWhiskersCurios 

you need age verification before they can buy

it's not something sellers can verify

it needs software that checks things like electoral roll etc, it has to be proper verification, not a check box, or just a question.

Ebay uses "verifymyage" - a third party age verification system

and even then, on e-bay, you can't sell cake knives, or craft knives , or folding pocket knives etc.... all you can sell is dining cutlery, letter openers and things like chisels

...

and for delivery, you need age verification postage

amazon doesn't let knives be sold, except through their FBA, I can't sell knives on Amazon, as I post things myself, and Amazon don't trust sellers to buy the correct age verification postage

so basically, unless you use Amazons expensive ASIN and warehousing system, you can't sell any knives there either

[CatsWhiskersCurios]

Oh absolutely - I realise all this.  But it isn't impossible for Etsy to set most of this up - including the appropriate postage option.

[CuriosAnCollectibles]

@CatsWhiskersCurios

Etsy only implement anything if it benefits Etsy, if it doesn't you can forget it. 

[CatsWhiskersCurios]

@CuriosAnCollectibles

Well quite

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@CatsWhiskersCurios 

in most countries, you can't even buy 18 age checking postage

so you couldn't sell from the USA to the UK etc etc

with the amount of investment and time, It's probably not worth it, for the limited amount of sales that would happen - and don't forget, that investment would come from our pockets

.... and if sites like amazon UK won't even invest in it, then it would be way down the list for etsy

[GullsNestForge]

Ahh so thats basicly my shop shut down... i was of the impression that buyers accounts requited you to be over the age of 18.  Very frustrating considering i had no notice of this and there uk statment on what can and cant be sold makes no mention of this.. Not to mention iv had to get the community to reply and the help center wont even talk to be about it... 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Etsy says buyers have to be, but people can have guest accounts too, and I think etsy just makes you tick a box, which is not good enough for UK Knife regulations.

and the age verification, by UK law, has to be done real time, at purchase, which requires specialised software - as it checks things like electoral roll etc.

and, there has to be age verification postage too, which etsy is not set up for.

You can sell them everywhere else on etsy, just not to the UK.

[GullsNestForge]

Yeah problem with that is uk mail laws make postage of bladed items outside the uk punativly expencive.. Guess thats the death of my shop and a wasted of alot of time marketing.. Again pritty insulted etsy has just left me to find this out

[CraftyCornishMaids]

about the only pace you can sell them online, would be Amazon, with asins, and using fulfilled by amazon warehouses

you can't sell them on e-bay

you can't sell them on - notonthehighst. either

not sure if there is a specialist platform that sells knives

[LizParkerKnives]

I'm (was?) a custom knife maker and Etsy has effectively shut me down as too, with no explanation. £1000s of business down the drain, not impressed.

Liz

Liz Parker Knives

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@LizParkerKnives 

you can sell knives to other countries, from etsy

you just can't sell to the UK

UK law is very strict, Etsy isn't the only platform you can't sell knives to the UK from

[GullsNestForge]

Well better get on for a refund on all my posting fees... I assume thos will be with the robots in the help center

[GullsNestForge]

Uk postage laws band sending bladed items abroard... So etsy still marketing our knifes abroard is just a underhand way of claiminh they are still providing a service and so they wont refund... Iv worked this out as the help/coustomer servcie reps wont even explain the situation... I keep getting extracts from a script when im asking for solid explinations so i can plan my bisuness..

Overall my advice is to stop using etsy.. Should any other bisuness partner behave like this id be taking them to court but its etsy.... 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

You set up your shipping profile, if you know you can't sell abroad, then remove that from your shipping profile,

from what I understand, courier companies will courier certain bladed items, depending what they are, and the country you are selling to, but none of that has changed recently

you can't sell your bladed items on Amazon unless you do FBA, and that's a limited range,
and you can only sell cutlery , letter openers, and things like chisels, on e-bay

etsy is just catching up

[GullsNestForge]

What are you on about? It was never on my shipping profile. I always was selling only in the uk

My issue is with etsy not giving a clear explination on this and there awful coustomer service. According to there policys as written the sale of cooking and crafting knives is permitted and when asked none of therw coustomer servive agents will even answer a question straight, as somone trying to run a bisuness this is unacceptable. 

Im unsure why you keep comparing them to amazon. My point isnt about comparison to other online services its to decent respevtful behaviour

[CraftyCornishMaids]

you said

So etsy still marketing our knifes abroard

etsy only do that, if your shipping profile is set to ship abroad

[GullsNestForge]

No etsy have claimed that my knives were still listed abroad and wont refund my listing fees because they are still up in america and other regions, despite 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

you have no knives listed at all, just 4 items that are not knives,

however, when you do list, you have to click to say listing fees are non-refundable, whatever

[LizParkerKnives]

There are plenty of UK online shops that still manage to sell knives here, within the new laws. Problem is that Etsy isn't interested in being one, or communicating with us sellers that are being disadvantaged. Pretty shoddy really. It wouldn't have cost them much to explain what they were doing.

[GullsNestForge]

@CraftyCornishMaids 
iv taken down the knives as they wont be seen by anyone im looking to sell them too.
as a UK consumer you have a right to a refund on any online transactions withing a week of making them as a cooling off period. etsy not interacting with that is something for the ombisman.

my knives were only ever listed as being saleable in the UK so trying to argue that the fact they were visible in other regions wasn't fair and did stink of not only etsy not being willing to communicate clearly or fairly on this matter.