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I'm lost....kicked off Etsy
 

I was kicked off etsy in June for complaining about their ethics. Bam! Suspended. Begged, pleaded and yelled to let me back in. But, no way.
Designing is what I 'do'. I am so lost and depressed. Tried to open new stores before I found out about 'stealth' but have not tried to go stealth. I feel frozen with fear. Please, everyone, I need a rally here. Kick my butt and get me going in a direction before I loose everything!

Have you been reading a lot about Etsy? It is possible to get back on but you must follow ALL stealth methodology.

You must try - read and post your steps about how you are trying.

Also - important to know your niche competitors - those sellers can be vicious and destroy you if you aren`t ready

Doing that to etsy would be like hitting your head against a brick wall.

They are totally inflexible.

Right time for a deep breath.

Start to learn stealth methods.

Then go back and kick etsy butt.

It's a good feeling.

:mod:

Never bite the hand that helps you make money. You complaint till their eyes bleed then you beg them to take you back...

Well now you need to learn how to Etsy Stealth...which no actual book exist but if you follow the same principles for Ebay Stealth it should work.

Etsy members have not learned to do this yet rsot. At least not from what I have watched. Heck, I have had an etsy member contact me as they had a customer who needed a certain item and wanted to see if I had anything like it.

Etsy will take your account down in a heartbeat for breaking any rule of any kind.

Re: I'm lost....kicked off Etsy
 

I was banned from Etsy for "Copyright Infringement", I know how you feel. :|

Re: I'm lost....kicked off Etsy
 

So you copied someone elses work?

Re: I'm lost....kicked off Etsy
 

You need to research your items to avoid this happening again.

Re: I'm lost....kicked off Etsy
 

No, not at all. That was the reason behind my shop being closed but they never said specifically. My support tickets went unanswered.

My product was completely unique (I only sold 1 item with 3-4 variations) and hand-made by me. There was no text on it or slogans.

Re: I'm lost....kicked off Etsy
 

Need to use your own photos and do your own research on your item then

Re: I'm lost....kicked off Etsy
 

If you do a little research in the internet you will come across dozens of crafters whose shops were closed down for reasons which appear to be arbitary and childish.

On Etsy snitches are encouraged. If they get a tip that just one of your items may not be "handmade" they will oblige you to go through a process of re-creating the item in a series of detailed pictures. You have to buy all the materials at your expense and re-create an item in your own time. Hours of work.

I have seen some of these detailed sets of pictures posted in blogs and Etsy exposes by sellers who got kicked off. It was quite obvious that the item was designed and hand made by them (the artist) but Etsy said the proof was insufficient and still closed their shops.

I am playing devils advocate here. While its clear that there are many re-sellers and copywrite infringers whose shops are legitimately closed there are also many shops who lost their livelihood on the word of some spineless snitch.

Some folks get legitimately snitched again and again but their items/shops are never taken down. Others make one mistake and BAM they are out.

Re: I'm lost....kicked off Etsy
 

A good alternative would be ItemAuctions, we are very flexible with our terms.

Re: I'm lost....kicked off Etsy
 

On one hand etsy seems to be the smartest website going when it comes to looking directly at a certain niche market and growing like crazy.

Issue is it is not etsy who is the problem. I see it all of the time, dang people try as usual to screw the system and think they are going to get away with lying and scamming.

I was looking at a category for items I recently purchased and saw someone who copied pictures right off the net, called their items vintage when they are lying and listed stacks of these items.

Just another case where people who are greedy and liars are going to ruin a good thing.

If you cannot stay in the TRUE Esty niche then I hope they would can everyone who is trying to tell buyers something is vintage when it is new.

Someone has to ruin someone good all the time.

For me, it is a chance for someone like myself who deals in true antiques and vintage, has the knowledge of the market they are going after having to deal with scammers and liars to compete with when there items are total crap and not hand made nor vintage.

Re: I'm lost....kicked off Etsy
 

I cant emphasize too strongly that if selling online is your main or only income then you need to diversify. Sell on as many platforms as you can. I have 2 shops on Etsy, others on Ruby Lane, Ebay and DaWanda as well as my own website. So 6 shops in all.

There may be BIG money in brands and imitations but I have always steered clear of them except for true vintage items.

I too deal in antiques and vintage. 3 times I have had someone snitch that one of my items was not "vintage" and Etsy sent me a vague message that "one of more of the items in your shop" may not comply with our policies, leaving me to guestimate what the offending item was. Rather than simply specifying what the item was and asking me to remove it.

What way is that for a professional company to behave?

If you sell genuine antiques/vintage I recommend Ruby Lane. I opened a shop there just over a year ago and have done very well. I dont sell as much as I do on Etsy but the ticket prices are far higher and I keep it for my better class stock. There is quite a strict vetting process to get approved but once you do there is a real hands off attitude regarding the actual interaction between the buyer and seller. I once mistakenly listed an item someone reckoned was repo (havnt we all??) and they asked me very politely to remove it from my shop. We then had a very civilised exchange in which I was told "we are aware that many experienced merchants have been taken in by these items ...."

Etsy would just shut your shop and not allow for the fact that even highly experienced dealers can make mistakes. They assume its deliberate. Meantime the site is clogged with resellers and cheap tat from the orient.

If I said that on Etsy they would say I was being "racist" and denegrating oriental people.

Another time a prospective buyer tried to bargain in a very aggressive way that I wasnt comfortable with so I blocked her from my shop. She complained to Ruby Lane and they told her "This is a personal matter between you and the store owner and we cannot intervene. Merchants may refuse service with any member without giving a reason".

Etsy does not even have a "block a bad bidder" facility.

Best of all - Ruby Lane has no feedback system.