In recent months many sellers on Etsy have experienced deactivated listings under "Violated Etsy's Creativity Standards". Many of them wonder what this means and how to approach such situation, and above all, what is the reason for their products to be deactivated under this new policy.
Before we get into the specifics, we need to understand what exactly means?
Etsy's recent introduction of Creativity Standards has sparked a wave of concern among sellers, with many experiencing unexpected deactivations of their listings. This new policy, designed to replace the outdated Handmade Policies, aims to tackle the growing issue of re-sellers and mass-produced goods overtaking the platform. You can check the full Creativity Standards policy page here and it's surprisingly concise.
Тhis is also an excerpt from our blog article about Etsy's New Creativity Standards and what are our observations so far.
However, the automated system behind these deactivations, driven by algorithms comparing visual similarities in product photos, has led to confusion and frustration for many Etsy sellers.
But first
How to know if your listing is deactivated under Etsy's Creativity Standards?
If Etsy deactivates your listing due to a policy or copyright violation, it will appear in the "Inactive" section of the listing status within your Listing Manager.
At the bottom of the deactivated listing, you'll find a message indicating the reason for the action
These situations have been going on Etsy at the moment, and to a large extent, the algorithms that use this do a good job, but there are also quite a few issues.
What is the reason?
Etsy is trying to clear the platform of re-sellers, as at one point too many Chinese goods flooded the platform. The way they try to figure out which product is which is based on algorithms for visual similarity of photos - if the algorithm detects visually similar photos on other platforms, it automatically judges that it is a re-sale. It makes a lot of sense and it really cleared out a lot of Chinese goods, so overall it's a step in the right direction, but it will take months to clear out all the issues with the system. To get an idea of what the algorithm "sees", you can use a search for visually similar images with Google Lens
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Etsy's algorithms do something similar and then look at what the percentage of visual similarity is - in the case below 100% the same photo - and the sites that this photo is on - in this case stock photography sites and Amazon.
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They haven't published clear information about these algorithms, but as far as we can tell from our experience so far, they scan mainly on the first photo - that is, even if the other 9 photos in the product do not have a potential case, the first photo is the problematic one.
According to Creative Standards, stock photos can't be used in products, and in the case of sticks, you as a seller can hardly convince Etsy that the product is yours, so they're unlikely to return the product. Our recommendation is not to use stock photos at all.
The other case is if the product comes out as a link to other platforms or online stores - in fact, this is the main thing that Etsy wants to fight.
From Etsy's point of view, it is very difficult to judge where the original product is from - are these pictures taken from TaoBao / Amazon, or are they originally from Etsy or the Indians stole them. We had a similar case last month where Etsy photos were copied on Chinese sites and the brand owner had to convince Etsy that these were his photos, send behind-the-scenes photos, photos of the production process, etc.
What to do?
What we recommend is to write to Etsy in the chat form and by email (we have indicated the links below) until you get a response from a real person, not from a bot. You can find the chat form in the lower right corner in the Dashboard field.
Regarding the way of communication, what we recommend is to be persistent and clear and point out the negative impact of the disabled product on the store's performance, such as loss of sales or reputation, in order to you emphasize the urgency of resolving the matter. While maintaining a polite tone, you can use specific keywords related to the issue, such as "urgent" or "critical issue." This can signal the importance of your request and can prioritize the problem in their system.
Another method is to visit these links below several times during the day and check for the availability of the call option. We had a similar situation with another partner store where they encountered payment issues related to changes to their payment account. Surprisingly, the call option was available to them during this time. In this way of periodic checking you can increase the probability of finding a telephone conversation with Etsy support.
There are all kinds of problems with these algorithms at the moment and a lot of people are writing to them, so they are really busy and about every 7-10 days they manage to look at the case and return an answer. Usually they return templates and the goal is really to escalate for comments from their most senior teams and it really helps to clarify the issue for them. The lower levels of support have a hard time understanding what your case is in depth and are very cluttered.
When you get the response from the Etsy support
Our advice is to keep writing with them and keep the communication active. More specifically telling them that you see there are Chinese / Indian sites, if that is the case have stolen your photos and using them without your consent, but yours are the original products, etc.
If you also sell on Amazon, but in the Handmade part that these are the products of your brand, which you develop and produce personally.
Remember to be specific in this direction to clarify all the information about your products and what the problem is.
We had similar case where the owner managed to get along with them. At the high levels of Trust & Safety, the team is aware to some extent that the algorithm, while detecting similarity, is not quite enough to understand the original origin of the photos.
The Etsy support is relatively slow, it certainly doesn't happen all at once and the process can take weeks. He had a lot of photos stolen so a lot of products were disabled and it wasn't a piece of cake to clear things, but when you clear it they somehow add it as information to the store account so the algorithm doesn't trouble you in the future.
The main thing is, after clarifying the topic in a more detailed message, to continue to enter the Support Case every day and write something short if they still not respond to your message. You can write to them messages like this for example:
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Etsy requires extensive proof to reactivate the listing. This proof may include behind-the-scenes photos of the production process or other documentation to show that the product is genuinely handmade.
What not to do
When you open an ticket on Etsy regarding the deactivation of the product keep replying on that one ticket that you opened that you still need help if the issue is not resolved yet.
If you open a second ticket, the first one will get closed and the new ones will go at the bottom of a pile.
DO NOT RELIST - Etsy has flagged it as a takedown, if you edit and relist, they still know it's the problem listing, and take it down again, with a black mark against your account - the e-mail that you receive from Etsy should have said not to relist it.
Conclusion
Etsy’s new Creativity Standards aim to maintain the integrity of handmade products on the platform by targeting re-sellers and mass-produced goods. However, the algorithm-driven deactivation process has caused confusion among many sellers. These deactivations often stem from visual similarity detection in product photos, making it difficult for some sellers to prove their listings are original. To address deactivations, you should contact Etsy support, provide detailed proof of their handmade process, and avoid relisting flagged items. Persistence, clarity, and ongoing communication with Etsy support are key to resolving these issues and restoring your listings.
