Etsy's new update: I wish I'd known this before starting Etsy | Strategies for Etsy Success in 2023

[@tallisholowka3946]

For those that remember Etsy when it was new, it was geared towards providing an online marketplace for artisans and their handmade items, i.e., little sculptures or ornaments or hand knitted hats and scarves, etc. They allowed prints of original artwork, so naturally, when the print on demand (POD) service industry developed, it seemed to continue to fit within their guidelines. The problem was that anybody could now easily "design" and sell damn near anything with very little creative skills or effort AND populate their shops with 100's of items for sale. Etsy probably knew it could be a problem, but also saw $$$ and the predictable happened... the people in their home studios making actual handmade items are being pushed to the side-lines of the marketplace. So now Etsy is trying to not blow their reputation as a marketplace for handmade items by removing any POD accounts for the smallest slip-ups (or whatever criteria their bots are looking for) but still reap some extra $$$ by leaving some POD accounts. If Etsy were a business of integrity, they would figure out and define more clearly the rules for the sellers on their marketplace.

[@queenofswordspodcast]

One of the things that is the biggest problem is that people think it is OK to use images that infringe on copyright. People want to set up a side hustle, look and see hundreds of people selling Disney designs and think that it is ok. Other problems include people who try to open shops in prohibited countries, not disclosing production partners, etc... 90% of the issues that are going to get you shut down are going to be in the seller handbook. But I agree that Etsy needs to be a little clearer with WHAT policy was broken.

[@Isabel-Maria]

Exactly. If we broke rules we broke rules, is what it is, but it’s kind of demoralizing to have all your hard work down the drain without even a reason

[@goilo888]

When I last typed in “Disney” in the search I got over 1.3 million hits. Etsy - clean up your act. I have already greatly downsized my stores that are now basically acting as a check out platform for business I send to myself.

[@bmwsweetie5688]

Totally agreed that happened to me. I had my shop for over 5 years made everything by hand did nothing that was copyrighted and boom they just shut me down 2 days ago

[@MrMick560]

a lot clearer !

[@BeachMum]

and if this IS the case, the user can’t be all that mad!

[@CosmicExplorersClub]

100% agree and not enough people talking about this. The contempt that Etsy show for their sellers is beyond frustrating. I had this experience with a new shop and have never figured out what the problem was. Decided at that point I would never use Etsy again. This is what all the Sidehustle KZbinrs are not telling you

[@Isabel-Maria]

Totally. I did a bunch of research into etsy before starting the shop and nobody is talking about it but it’s a big issue that’s affecting a lot of people

[@meggggg]

The exact same thing happened to me. I opened up a merch store, I ONLY used my own photography on my products and after about 2 months and maybe 15 sales, my store was gone. I received the same emails telling me not to try to reopen it or make a new one - they refused to look into it and never even replied to me. About 8 months later I got an alert that I had made a sale... I had NO clue they randomly reactivated my store, I had received no communication from them whatsoever. I sold maybe 5 more items and then basically gave up, the fees and stress just weren't worth it...😔 Good luck on Shopify! I've never had an issue with them 🙂

[@Isabel-Maria]

Really! Wow, that‘s insane. Can’t believe they re-opened your store. Did you also jump ship for Shopify?

[@sheahardy1653]

Same thing happened to me back in 2014. Just randomly reopened my shop months later

[@Bekind95]

@@Isabel-Maria I have heard of this often enough in the last several months, so don't be surprised if you see that your shop has been reopened with no notice at all.

[@JohnLauerGplus]

Can you show us a picture of the t-shirts so we can understand why they cancelled you? I'm really confused?

[@thecriticalobserver7585]

I remember selling on Etsy back in 2012 when it was just a quiet little cow pasture. I just finished posting this on another UT site, only in reference to Ebay and their promotional sales which are making Ebay money but killing sellers. "I think the age of the corporate seller platforms and the small seller is coming to an end. These greedy suits are only concerned with squeezing out the most profit they can, blind to the fact that they are strangling the goose that laid the golden egg."

[@Isabel-Maria]

That’s the etsy I remember growing up with! So this experience was very surprising and disappointing. Good quote, very accurate

[@Charles-Sweeney]

The exact same thing happened to me. It was a new shop, it was up one day, then they shut it down. I appealed and got the same reply you got. Like you, the most annoying thing was they didn't tell me what was wrong with it. There was nothing wrong with it that I could see. Best part is, I've got two other shops on Etsy and never had a problem with them (over two years). One thing is certain, I will never open a new shop on Etsy again, and the two I have (which are very quiet) I will run down or host myself on something like shopify.

[@mt72137]

#same thing

[@Isabel-Maria]

Ugh that’s so annoying. Hope shopify works out for you!

[@HelmetVanga]

8 out of 10 sellers whose shops were closed never come out clean. On seller used lyrics on her shirts and business was booming, her mistake was she printed the famous singer's initials, her shop was permanently closed. Etsy could be liable and be sued by litigants. Etsy has lawyers and this is how they protect Etsy. Another seller used mag and trademark that is no hers, her shop closed for infringing trademarks and copyrighted property. The End.

[@susanravella6261]

Thanks!

[@awesomebraids23]

I have the same issue with one of my new shops. I have all my Christmas Collection set. I'm still appealing for them to reconsider.

[@Isabel-Maria]

Sorry to hear that 🥲 hopefully you have better luck with it than I did!

[@JS-jj1vg]

Do you need a vat number to sell if you don't have a business or a national insurance number for UK citizens

[@pubgiant24]

I have had an etsy shop for 5 months. Feel like I am walking on eggshells... Want to start Shopify or something else.. can you recommend and good channels or free courses to that end? Thanks.

[@AlahuSnackbar]

The issue, at the root of it, is the common public's low expectations for these companies. You are just a number on a very long spreadsheet. If you did something that even remotely gets in the way of their profit operation, it's a simple account closure for them. There isn't any money in it for them to use resources to deal with their sellers fairly and give them due process. The "appeal" is a meaningless gesture that nine times out of ten does nothing because its the same system. This is the narcissistic corporate world we live in.

[@Isabel-Maria]

Absolutely

[@cinsationaldesigns]

But then there’s hundreds of sellers with Disney IP available. I guess it’s making Etsy money

[@cinsationaldesigns]

But then there’s hundreds of sellers with Disney IP available. I guess it’s making Etsy money

[@NormLanier]

If it makes you feel better they treat big sellers just as bad. I have over 95,000 sales and almost 22,000 5-star reviews. I had 11 items flagged as non-handmade. We make everything we sell. I also got a final warning. I opened a case which was immediately closed without a reply. I then chatted with CS and she said she would have that department email me. Yeah right. So I opened another case. Nothing. I then uploaded a video showing our production. That was two months ago. It's not if you will get shut down, but when.

[@AlahuSnackbar]

@@NormLanier you're a number on a very long spreadsheet

[@katieserra6492]

I haven't finished your video yet but I have a few thoughts. Firstly, you are right. A lot of people are sharing their amazing success stories and promising the same for everyone. Not as many are showing the more negative side. It also must be said that listings don't get shut down for no reason. If your shop is permanently closed you are breaking Etsy's policies such as no drop shipping and no copyright/ trademark infringement or you are not setting up your listings correctly making it appear like you are not compliant.

[@Isabel-Maria]

Yeah as I said it’s totally possible that I broke a rule, but they should tell me the rule I broke instead of just shutting me down

[@nftcryptodev]

You got banned 100% because you are working remotely and used VPN. That literally is the reason. The work around is simple, USE Teamviewer to log into a local computer you have at a friends or families house in the USA and then use that computer to run the shop from. Very easy to get around.....@@Isabel-Maria

[@ValentinesCreatives]

Yeah, I had recently just opened an Etsy shop and less than three days later my shop was suspended and they also denied my appeal. The only thing I could think of was because I had a funny T-shirt on there with a guy with antlers and a silly grin holding a beer saying "Hello deer (spelled like the animal), let's have a beer" or something. If having beer and other things go against their policies, fine, but you would think they would at least give a warning, violation strike, temporary suspension, or something, and at least not deny people's appeals when they were obviously new to the platform.

[@Isabel-Maria]

That’s exactly it. Breaking rules happens, and if you wanna shut down my shop then fine, but at least tell me why and pay me the money I earned while I was open 🙃

[@nftcryptodev]

She 100% stated why they were banned. She is in another country and they use VPN. Etsy doesnt allow non-us Customers using VPN to sell on their platform. End of story that is why they were banned. It's simple....

[@nftcryptodev]

You got banned 100% because you are working remotely and used VPN. That literally is the reason. The work around is simple, USE Teamviewer to log into a local computer you have at a friends or families house in the USA and then use that computer to run the shop from. Very easy to get around..... @Isabel-Maria

[@zolhouseent]

Makes sense

[@Isabel-Maria]

I appreciate the tip! After doing more research into etsy after the suspension I won’t be using their platform again though. Too risky

[@cosmiccarp5030]

I just sold my first sticker on Redbubble and made .22 c! It only took like 3 months. LOL, still cool though to have someone like your art.

[@Isabel-Maria]

There’s no better feeling than selling your own product! Even if it’s only 22 cents 😂😂

[@Privatestock10]

There are so many people posting about this happening to them, how is there not a lawsuit?

[@Isabel-Maria]

I actually have no idea. There’s thousands of people complaining about getting their accounts shut down so I feel like it’s only a matter of time before etsy is no more, but I guess we’ll see

[@lenna6013]

Thank you Maria, your videos are always incightful even if I never really gone that path or know much about it. 😔❤ But love hearing about it)) I do kinda work in marketing but it's a company office job for pay amd requires phisical presence, sold girls gym clothes for little while as side thing and that's about it.

[@Isabel-Maria]

Would you like to escape working in an office?

[@lenna6013]

@@Isabel-Maria I'm not sure honestly, thinking about it from time to time. It would be nice to have more time for myself and work but also can't really complain about my job because it's something I can fall back to and I'm permanently employed. Had one adventure when I took some unpaid leave and lived in Austria for few months working in some winter resort but when I came back I continued to work normally here.

[@Isabel-Maria]

That’s totally fair. The freelancer life isn’t for everyone, I can see it being nice to head to the office to work n hang with your coworkers each day

[@biancamorton4764]

Unfortunately i dont think youll get your money or a reply from them but good luck. Similar thing happened to me. I. Had some ads running so had a balance to pay for that and then had a balance for them to pay me for the orders i had. They took the full amount for the ads and never gave me the credit for the sales i made. Totally scam now :(

[@Isabel-Maria]

No way! That actually pisses me off so much.

[@happybunny1329]

I think Etsy do not allow multiple users on their accounts, so if both you and your boyfriend were logging in to the account, this was probably breaking their terms. Maybe try opening the shop again from fresh, with a new shop name, but this time, only one of you set up and run the account from one computer. Unless they said you are permanently banned, you should be able to try again. :)

[@Isabel-Maria]

He was the only person to access the shop and we only used his computer! So I don’t think that was it. Honestly, I’ll never use etsy again for anything 😂

[@natchaatitaya-ankura7165]

Today I saw the same digital design which is sold by 4 shops. Etsy is not the place for creativity and originality. It is the thelfs' heaven. They shut the new shop because of the lack of auditing infringement but leave the thelfs there for decades.

[@AlessandraLampertico]

I left Etsy for Shopify (I had both for a couple of years) months ago and I’m never going back! The main reason for me was that they wouldn’t let me change the name of my shop because I already did that “too many” times according to them and the insane fees

[@Isabel-Maria]

And how are you finding that Shopify compares to etsy?

[@Iamtorzell]

I thinking about using Shopify. Does Shopify rank in keyword searches, or do you have to drive your own traffic to your shop?

[@YagirlM]

If your gonna have to pay ads anyway you may as well have google ads send traffic to your own site.

[@Mialovesphoto]

😮Yikes.

[@cinsationaldesigns]

I opened my Etsy store on 11/28 and it was shut down last week. No idea why.

[@Isabel-Maria]

Your guess is as good as mine 🙃

[@heatherweber531]

thank you for letting us know about this. I was looking into doing this along with another line of income. you mentioned amazon handmade, this is a new part of amazon to me,can you use this part if you are selling digital product or print-on-demand items? technically they aren't handmade.

[@Isabel-Maria]

From my research, you are able to integrate Amazon handmade with popular print on demand companies. You’re not able to fulfill orders through Amazon prime though and apparently the interface is pretty outdated. Not sure if that or shopify is the better option

[@heatherweber531]

@Isabel-Maria thank you for the info. Recently I found out about a site call minted. Have you used this site or know anything about it? It sounds like it's the new etsy. Thoughts?

[@IvansBikesBmws]

Isn't ebay good alternative? Also, do uou mind me asking what were ya selling on etsy? Thnx

[@Isabel-Maria]

I’m not sure! I’ve never used eBay before. I was selling print-on-demand t-shirts

[@WonderfulMeals4You]

What is a VPN?

[@Isabel-Maria]

Something you use to mask your IP address/change it to a different country

[@BeachMum]

If one of their rules is not using a specific think to sell from, like a different VPN, and you break that rule, then you can’t be all that mad that you got caught and they banned you from their platform. I feel like if this was the case, it’s not an unfair thing that happened if you agree to their terms of agreement but don’t want to follow them on your end. That’s a user error or fault not a platform one!

[@Isabel-Maria]

I had no idea that’s a rule, they never said. I only found that out as a possibility after doing a deep-dive into why other people got banned. Also, ban me all you want but sending a generic message that doesn’t say why you’re banned and then keeping all the money we made is not a good business practice 😂

[@jeannepaglio5582]

That's shitty business on Etsy's part. Call your attorney general's office and the Better Business Bureau in your area and file a complaint. So sorry you're going thru this. I've decided to close my shop there and move to another platform.

[@clintmonroe9143]

File a class action. Take the power back

[@xXDeathMelodyXx]

Why did I get an Etsy ad before this? 🙃

[@Isabel-Maria]

Lol at least they’re hooking up some ad money 💰

[@stedawn89]

Agree. Esty is sucked. There are not clear reason. They think people need them to make money more than they want it.

[@joeblaque80]

Oh... This was serious. 😮

[@Isabel-Maria]

Seriously annoying haha

[@stormk-1130]

i couldnt sell a single shit in etsy xD. Whats another good alternative?

[@Isabel-Maria]

😂😂😂 I think shopify is a good alternative, but you need to find some way to drive traffic to your store

[@AngelaWells-v1s]

They never paid me my money ever and never responded it's been like 6 months they still have my money

[@YagirlM]

Maybe have an attorney send them a letter, usually they would rather not litigate if they can avoid it.

[@Isabel-Maria]

No way! I think that’s exactly what’s gonna happen to use too. It’s been over 30 days

[@clintmonroe9143]

File a class action

[@banjoni5938]

Please ad Serbian titles for all videos,🙂

[@Isabel-Maria]

It takes too long 🥲

[@Isabel-Maria]

I’ll only add Serbian subs for videos about Serbia

[@dandee28]

Its usually the idiot sellers that use copyright stuff and cant come up with anything original of their own. They deserve what happens. Big companies dont just shut down for no reason. If people follow the rules and agreements then theyd know exactly what to watch out for. So many ppl using disney names on their products. If they get sued theyre gonna have all that money they made taken away

[@Isabel-Maria]

I’ve read literally hundreds of etsy reviews and they’re not all ‘idiots’ selling copyrighted images, myself included. Thanks though

[@4_vaccuum_salesman_of_marr944]

Ebay also went in this direction, at least with their payment system. The adult category was canned and countless sellers lost their livelihoods overnight.

[@Isabel-Maria]

Yeah it’s sad. A lot of these companies are pretty cold-blooded when it comes to their customers