Wrongful removal of listing in handmade

[SnugglyCat]

We have been selling on Etsy since i invented my product. It took years to build up traction and finally this year we had a good sales year, around $40k in sales in 2023 (more than previous 5 years combined on etsy). Our product has 243 5-star reviews, we have been a star seller, we have lots of reviews saying how awesome our product is and how great my customer service is. I was a star seller until this happened.

I self manufacture and handle all sales and distribution of our product. I am aware of every unit i have sold everywhere in the world as i control all shipping to all destinations. We have non-stop knock-offs all around the world, and especially on ETSY now.

In early November, just before the holiday sales period, Etsy wrongfully removed my listing without explanation. They simply put a note saying 'violated handmade policy' and no one will explain what that means. We are a 100% handmade product. I have contacted support and opened cases at least 10 times now. Every support person says 'trust and safety team' are working on it and will be in touch with you. No one has ever responded to our requests.  I keep being put off and feel this is an anti-competitive measure by someone trying to sell their fake product and block my real product

I have provided proof of my invention via my multi-patents and the countless articles on the web about the problems with knock-offs we face daily.

Etsy deactivated our REAL product and is selling patent infringing knock-offs and other mass produced in China goods that closely resemble our patented invention.

Etsy is FULL of knock-offs, Chock full of knock-offs, and our real US made, Recycled product is blocked from sales just before the holidays?

I have explained to support i felt it may be a competitive take down, no responses.

Etsy is selling multiple patent infringing items. The whole point of etsy is for us small businesses trying to get going, NOT mass produced goods overseas flooding the US with Fake goods.

We would have likely made nearly $10,000 in sales this holiday, instead we have ZERO sales due to etsy violating its own rules. No we are holding inventory that was prepared for the etsy holidays based on YOY sales.

I would love any guidance as etsy support has proven useless to help us in this matter or provide any information as to what is happening and why it is happening.

[SheWhoPlaysWithGlass]

Not sure what to tell you since everything is gone with your shop.  Some issues might be that Chewy is among other online stores are selling the same Ripple Rug for cats.  Not sure if you wholesale to them or not.  Did you list all of your production partners and team members?  Video's of the items being made? 

[mommawhazelsquilts]

Not everything is gone - 10 pages of reviews are still there and strangely enough, none of them have the "this item is no longer available" which almost always happens when a shop is closed like this!

That almost NEVER happens.

[JMOldeVintage]

@mommawhazelsquilts  - The OP's shop is still open since all the bot did (?) was deactivate the listing. Which is possibly the only item they do list.

Other threads on the bot issue often mention best-seller items being deactivated by bots. But the shops are almost always still active since they list many other items. 

[SnugglyCat]

indeed, i had provided etsy with a video making my product and production partner info last year to demonstrate how i make it myself.

Chewy is a wholesale customer, the only wholesale customer of this version of my invention. I strictly limit who is allowed to sell our product.

[VintageRescueSquad]

From what I've read here in the forums, this usually happens by bots using image recognition. Are the knock-off competitors (both on etsy and elsewhere online) using your photos? You'll need to file DMCA takedowns for each site.

If you are also selling your product on other sites (including your own), it's worth having different photos so as to avoid this.

[SnugglyCat]

I had figured it could be that. We have many people scrape our listings, copy our pictures and post fake offers as my invention is so popular with cats.

I file DMCA takedowns daily all over the web. currently Temu is using my pictures also, selling fake versions.

I make a point of having different pics on each site i sell on, and also we are the owners of all copyrights as we take all photos and write all our copy ourselves.

We are as small business as it gets, doing it all ourselves, and etsy shut us down out of no where.

[NancyQstudio]

@SnugglyCat  I bet the shop stealing your photos on Temu is the reason.  Etsy has developed apps for finding duplicates on this specific site to help with resellers on their site. Bots are handling this via deactivating items.  Unfortunately, legitimate sellers like yourself are becoming victims of it.  And since Etsy support in this area is poor it has become a real problem.  

Since your business is expanding it may be time to get legal support? If this works for you they can handle this issue with Etsy.  They can also start issuing mass take down notices.  If this is a direction you choose to go in,  talk to your accountant and see how much of this can be written off as a business expense or how it can be handled in this area?  

I'm so sorry this has happened to you.  It is very unfair.  

[JMOldeVintage]

@SnugglyCat  - First I have to say I love the video in your About section. 

If you received an email from Etsy mentioning violation of their handmade policy odds are one of their bots deactivated your listing. As mentioned the bots use image recognition & if you sell the item on other sites, well, the bots can't think or read your company name. So the listing is deactivated.

It is possible a competitor or other folks simply browsing here reported your items to Etsy as "not handmade". 
It is also possible a competitor filed a DMCA saying they are the owners of the images, the description & in your case hold the patent rights. But in this case Etsy would have sent you info. on the DMCA that was filed with them & how you could counter that filing.

It is suggested that shops use different photos for each marketplace they sell on so that Etsy's bots have to work a bit harder - maybe they won't deactivate the item if the images are different enough?

Too many shop owners are having to work a second job, unpaid at that, patrolling the internet looking for their stolen photos, descriptions, etc. and then filing DMCA's on those sites. 

As for Etsy's support to shop owners, it is in a continual state of back-log. Often all shops receive are generic replies. 

I don't know how many help requests you have opened with Etsy. While it's usually best to stick with the first one & reply to any generic emails that your issue is not resolved. However, the focus should be on your patent, a video of you creating the item & not mention 'competition' etc. 

Hopefully you will receive a reply sooner rather than later from Etsy.

Editing to Add this Announcement from Etsy:

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/An-update-on-how-we-re-keeping-Etsy-special/m-p/14345600...

It explains what Etsy is doing regarding their patrol bots & how listings are going to be handled. 

[digitaldoodlebug]

I'm betting etsy focuses on alibaba/aliexpress images. A lot of sellers have their own websites, sell other places, including amazon. Sellers aren't going to have different pictures for each place. Unless the bots are smart enough to match the shop name. 

[digitaldoodlebug]

Sorry to hear this. I actually bought your product years ago on amazon and remember later news articles about all the copy cats. Sadly that happens to anything and especially popular stuff. Now that etsy is using bots to remove items that look like they are resellers a lot of handmade sellers are getting caught up in it who have their photos stolen.

I would start with finding every item on etsy and filing DMCA on that. Perhaps it's time to get a lawyer to contact etsy's legal team as to your product being wrongly removed. You might also consider a law firm to go after the patent infringers. That's more than the regular copyright stuff and would likely be worth it. A law firm in IL might help with the overseas knockoffs... I've read articles how they can mass file lawsuits that get served to venues

[SnugglyCat]

I am happy to share our listing was reactivated.

I received this message "After reviewing your account, we’ve determined that your listing was suspended in error. Your listing has been reinstated and should be searchable on Etsy within the next 20 minutes."

Unfortunately I was deactivated from early November until the day our product would no longer arrive on time for Christmas. coincidence?

We lost all holiday sales as a result, and even with no growth in sales we lost thousands at a minimum.

Thought i would share the outcome with the community.

[nineteen27]

make sure you take down the images from the temu site.

temu is just...

the worst thing that has ever happened to e-commerce.

[CoquetteBath]

yes, I just checked before reading this thread and noticed that your product is showing.

but...while they there are always copycats, there is also a trend/lifecycle for every product. I'm sure a creative like yourself already has other products in the works. If not...maybe consider it.

while I think your product is inventive, I would never consider something that lies on the floor as it would be a potential trip hazard to folks who have mobility issues (like me). Food for thought for possible future product inventions.

and while I'm sorry that this happened so close to Christmas, I'm glad it was resolved.

ETA: @nineteen27 

I personally scold anyone in my family who I know is supporting that site. Fast fashion is causing ecological damage, not to mention giving a platform for situations like this one that the OP has experienced. Not a penny of my money going there...

[nineteen27]

@CoquetteBath 

cats do not care if you trip and fall down...

they care about.

eating.

napping.

sleeping.

napping.

eating.

[WagsMarket]

Can you share how you were able to get the listing reactivated?? There are many sellers like yourself going through similar experiences and any insight would be helpful. Thanks in advance. 

[JDTotesnDolls]

@WagsMarket   Check the listing to make sure you have no phrases that Etsy might interpret as healing or medical/

You can send an email to Etsy to ask about the listing if you did not receive one.  

[ColkikoArt]

Did you find a solution? I have the exact same problem. They stole my photos even with my shop name's on it. I've tried to write to the support with video and photos as proof that is handmade but they delisted 9 of my items. 

[FluffyPawStudio]

Found the answer to at least getting started. You can open a ticket under support requests! I found this information under the "Etsy Help Center".

[FallenAngelBrass]

@FluffyPawStudio 

Well, first thing is that your shop is full of IP violations.  I'd consider you lucky that you only got a listing deactivated.  Your shop is at risk for star seller removal, permanent closure and eventual legal action from the copyright and trademark owners of these anime characters. 

[naturapicta]

Same thing! Yesterday, suddenly, they removed more than 120 original items that we have been selling for over 10 years. The damage is enormous! We were not given specific explanations as to which rules of etsy's policy we would have violated. Obviously none! Our products were also copied by the Chinese. Even with a "copy and paste" of the images complete with a watermark. There seems to be some sort of desire to eliminate competition in an unfair way. We believe Etsy may receive reports from self-styled advocates of unfair competitors and removes reported items without manual review.
Real damage. The email also states that the "conversation is confidential." A "Class Action" of the sellers would be needed.
It could also be a more complex financial strategy. Because the removal often concerns starred and best-selling sellers and "star products". Etsy makes money through our creative work that takes years of work, our investments that bring customers to the platform. In short, there is something rotten, something wrong!

[BagmakerSupply]

@naturapicta: Sorry that this has happened to you. Perhaps it was because you do include your licensing information for all of the trademarked and copyrighted names and images in your shop in the listing, otherwise buyers (and Etsy) may conclude they are counterfeits. Including the licensing information will show that you are not selling those items illegally.

You say "© NATURA PICTA All Rights Reserved. All our designs are protected by copyright law. It's strictly prohibited to copy and reproduce this item in any support." but you do not include the attributions and disclaimers of other people's intellectual property that most licensing agreements require.

[Thirstforcolor]

I am sorry this also happened to you. I have had the same experience with Etsy. My listing, a dog toy designed to look like a Pan dulce concha (Mexican sweet bread) designed and handmade from scratch by me, has been selling for over 5 years was removed. The explanation they gave to the handmade violation removal was that " big box store companies are selling it". They did not provide evidence or any other information. It's like designing a specific birthday cake dog toy and it being removed because Petco sells dog toys shaped like a cake. They set in place these automated systems to protect handmade sellers, but those who truly designed the product or are handmade sellers get targeted by the computerized systems Etsy has put in place that favor copycats and corporations. I am worried my shop and all my listings will be removed for the same excuse. An option for appeal and a manual review should be in place. Etsy should make an effort to correct mistakes the bots have caused. At least put a real form of support for sellers, not customer service who use copy-and-paste replies and have no avenues to help in any meaningful way.

If anyone knows how to appeal this type of removal or has success in Etsy re-activating the listing please let me know.