How to Avoid Etsy Shop Account Suspension
The Etsy Marketplace is a highly competitive environment where customers expect great personalized service with fast turn around times for low prices. In such a competitive arena, stores cannot afford to lose customers to anything other than their direct competition. One of the most frustrating setbacks that new and experienced Etsy store owners can face is delisting on the marketplace. Products from delisted accounts will not be searchable by potential customers on the Etsy platform. Needless to say, this is not something that any Etsy Shop owner wants to see! This article will go over some of the most common reasons why Etsy accounts get delisted or banned and how to avoid these issues for your own business.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2: Solicitation Through Direct Messaging
3: Violation of Anti-Discrimination and Hate Speech Policy
4: Listing Prohibited Items for Sale
5: Missing Fulfillment Deadlines
6: Infringing on Intellectual Property
1. A Word On Uncertainty
While a careful review of the Etsy Seller Policy is a great way for business owners to start understanding the types of business activities that they should avoid partaking in on the Etsy platform, it is by no means a clear or comprehensive list. A visit to the Etsy community forum will confirm that many Sellers experience disruptions to their business despite making their best efforts to carefully review and follow the Etsy Seller Policy. Keep in mind that Etsy does employ automated algorithms to sweep for content that violates their platform policies, meaning that it is possible that a bot has or will erroneously flagged your product listing or store.
If you do end up in a situation where you believe that your shop has been unfairly penalized the fastest way to reach a resolution is by contacting Etsy’s customer service support directly. In some cases the delisting is a temporary measure, such as cases where the Etsy algorithm thinks a store may not be able to handle an unprecedented order volume. In permanent suspension cases, phone contact with Etsy customer support will often not be able to resolve an issue related to account suspension. When following up on a suspension or delisting case many users report having been told that their case has been escalated but requires a specialist to review. At this point it is very rare that a store owner will receive another direct contact from Etsy except by email. Users report having been told they will have a response in 48 hours, but generally end up waiting a couple weeks to hear a response. Etsy is a large platform with over 4 million stores and 80 million active buyers. Unfortunately, this means that there is a small chance that an Etsy account can be erroneously suspended or delisted without the store owner having a chance to properly dispute the decision.
2. Solicitation Through Direct Messaging
One of the common ways that Etsy shops can get delisted or suspended from the Etsy marketplace is by sending solicitation through Etsy's direct messaging platform. The Etsy seller policy makes it clear that advertising or marketing through the direct messaging platform is against the seller policy and is not a correct channel for marketing initiatives. Direct messaging may seem like an appealing fast and easy way to contact customers, but most customers will find it intrusive to have direct message requests from multiple shops. If all shops tried to market through the direct messaging platform, then no one would be able to use it for its intended purposes. This is why the Etsy platform prevents users from using the direct messaging platform as a marketing and advertising space.
You may be wondering: if it's not a place where you can get in touch with customers to market your products, then what is the Etsy direct messaging platform for? Correct uses of the direct messaging platform include activities like following up to confirm a customer's customization preferences, informing a customer that a package may arrive late, or responding to prospective customer questions about your product offerings. It is important to make sure that you follow this rule very closely because Etsy does use algorithms to sweep for activity that does not follow the seller policy. This means that you should ensure that any messages you send to customers, intentional or not, should not have a sales or marketing angle. While this may seem like an extreme approach, we advocate a better safe than sorry approach to online marketplace policy because of the difficulty store owners face if they need to dispute a erroneous suspension.
3. Violation of Anti-Discrimination and Hate Speech Policy
Like all modern selling marketplaces, the Etsy shop platform has strict guidelines with relation to discrimination and hate speech. on their platform. These days, it may seem like an easy way to make money by creating products that feed into. Prejudice, prejudices and opinions captured by potential customers remember that Etsy is first and foremost a community of buyers and sellers that wish to get handmade quality goods for great prices. Most people will agree on moral grounds that discrimination and hate speech are not things that should be welcome on a selling platform, but if you need more convincing, remember that Etsy uses algorithms that can sweep for activity that is contrary to the seller policy. If you are selling products or creating listing data with hate or discrimination speech included, expect that the suspension or delisting will be a permanent measure by Etsy that likely will not be able to be reversed. If you have instances of things that might be considered discrimination or hate speech on your shop, we strongly recommend that you remove it as quickly as possible. When removing the data. Remember that this type of content is not acceptable on the platform in any areas, including meta tags, product descriptions product titles, product photos, and any other content forms.
4. Listing Prohibited Items for Sale
In order to ensure that your Etsy shop can continue operating without any red flags from the Etsy platform moderator algorithm ensure that you are not listing any of the prohibited items in the Etsy seller policy for sale on the marketplace. Etsy prohibits items for sale on the platform for a number of reasons. In some cases it may be related to legal restrictions with selling certain types of products online. In other cases, it may be a result of ethical or moral standards that Etsy puts in place as a bare minimum for all of its sellers and consumers on the platform. Here are a couple examples of items that are prohibited on the Etsy platform:
1. Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs, Drug Paraphernalia, and Medical Drugs
2. Animal Products and Human Remains
3. Dangerous Items: Hazardous Materials, Recalled Items, and Weapons
4. Hate Items: Items that Promote, Support, or Glorify Hatred
5. Illegal Items, Items Promoting Illegal Activity, and Highly Regulated Items
6. Internationally Regulated Items
7. Nudity and Mature Content
8. Violent Items: Items that Promote, Support, or Glorify Violence
5. Missing Fulfillment Deadlines
Another issue that some Etsy shop owners will encounter that leads to a delisting or suspension of their account is missing fulfillment deadlines on the platform. Etsy has a very strict policy that all orders must be shipped within 30 days of the initial order placement. Stores are allowed to change their own policies however Etsy will monitor based on your own store policies whether customers are getting their orders shipped on time. It's important to keep in mind that Etsy follows the dispatch time that's reported on the platform when calculating whether an order has been fulfilled on time by the customer. The customer may also place a complaint directly to Etsy however, the algorithm will only be able to check whether the dispatch has been issued and whether the provided tracking number shows that the package has been delivered to the destination address.
Another thing to note is that the destination address submitted at the time of order placement is the only address that is considered acceptable for Etsy to receive a delivery confirmation on the platform. Unfortunately, this means that even if a customer messages you directly to request that the product be delivered to another address, you will still end up in trouble with Etsy for delivering to an address other than what was specified in the order. In these cases, it is best that you refund the item for the consumer and ask them to place their order again with the correct delivery address. You can explain that the reason is because Etsy will penalize stores that do not deliver directly to the address submitted on the online platform by the end consumer.
In some cases consumers will request additional modifications or need to submit further details through messaging for a highly customized product. In these cases, delays can sometimes come from customers having troublemaking decisions and requiring more time to provide their own personalization details. Unfortunately these orders, despite having a reasonable explanation for the dispatch delay, will often still be flagged by the Etsy algorithm as it sweeps for stores that are having trouble keeping up with their fulfillment deadline promise. Ensure that if an order is going to go past the delivery and fulfillment timeline in your Etsy shop policy, you should consider refunding the item and asking the customer to replace the order once they have figured out all of the details that you need for you to customize the item properly.
For some shops, there really are just too many order to keep up with at the store. If you are having trouble keeping up with open orders that just seem to never end then it may be time to consider upgrading your fulfillment capacity or beginning to work with a fulfillment partner.
If you are interested to give the outsource model a non-committal test, sign up for a CM Offer account and get your first sample shipped for as little as $5! If you are looking for a personalized jewelry and gift drop shipper, we are confident you won’t find a better company to partner with than CM Offer (but we are a little biased!)
6. Infringing on Intellectual Property
One last tip for minimizing the chances of getting your Etsy shop delisted or suspended from the Etsy marketplace is to ensure that your store does not infringe on the intellectual property of other companies or people. It may seem like there are many unlicensed products on the Etsy marketplace that sell pieces that infringe on intellectual property of famous companies and franchises. While it may seem that these stores are able to list their products with no repercussions remember that others who breach the Etsy seller policies will not be a valid excuse when the Etsy platform receives a complaint about your specific store or product.
Using brand names in titles and data can be an easy way for the Etsy algorithm to find IP infringement cases. In some cases, even without using direct keywords related to guarded intellectual property stores can still be delisted or suspended. One reason for this is because some companies actively monitor the Etsy and other marketplace platforms to ensure that no one is infringing on their intellectual property online. In these cases, they may directly contact Etsy to get the content removed from the store. This can result in delisting specific products on your store that infringe on the intellectual property. In more serious cases, this may lead to a permanent ban of your entire shop account, as well as a personal ban for creating future seller accounts on the platform.
Conclusion
In summary, there are many ways that Etsy shop owners have had their accounts temporarily or permanently, suspended or delisted from the Etsy marketplace platform. Etsy is a highly competitive environment where shop owners vie for the attention of customers and you do not want to put yourself at a disadvantage by breaching any of Etsy's Seller policies. If you can implement all of the recommendations here, it would be a great first step towards keeping your store up and running smoothly on the Etsy platform. If you have time, we recommend that store owners carefully review the entire official Etsy seller policy available on their website. It's good to note that these policies are updated by Etsy from time to time and it is the responsibility of sellers on the platform to ensure that they are up to date with any policy changes that are made.
