For some reason, Etsy loves banning seller accounts.
Seriously though - they do.
Years ago I had a single product listing for sale on Etsy, geared towards a college-age audience. It wasn't anything over the top, was not sexual, and was within the Etsy TOS. Plus, it was hand made!
For some reason, they decided to close my account down.... permanently.
This is the letter I received when Etsy closed my account:
Hello,
My name is [OMITTED] and I'm writing on behalf of Etsy's Marketplace Integrity team regarding your account. It appears that the items you've listed in your shop do not qualify for sale on Etsy. As a result, your shop has been closed.
You may continue to participate in the Etsy community as a buyer only going forward.
Please do not open any additional accounts for buying or selling, as they will be closed without notice.
We thank you for your attention to this and wish you the best in finding the appropriate venue for selling your items.
Best,
[OMITTED]
Etsy Marketplace Integrity
https://www.etsy.com/legal/section/sellers
Reading it back, you'd think I'm lying about selling a product that didn't break the TOS.
Sadly, I TRULY DID NOTHING WRONG.
Screw it, I'll even tell you the product... it was a "party pack" that contained Solo cups, dice, coins, & ping-pong balls.
To be honest, it was a complete failure trying to sell them, & I'm actually kind of happy that it was because assembling them was a pain in the butt & I lost money on the few sales I made... :(
A year or two later when I wanted to list POD items for sale on Etsy, I realized I was going to have to figure something out because Etsy literally permanently banned me for listing a hand made product on their marketplace that well within their terms of service.
Attempting To Get My Account Restored
Before attempting to open a new account, I figured I'd try once more to get my initial account restored.
I reached out to them asking to have my account reinstated, this was the response I received:
Hello Ryan,
Thank you for your interest in selling on Etsy again.
Can you tell me what you'd like to sell going forward and how it meets Etsy's Seller Policy? In your reply, please also provide some pictures of the types of items that you're intending to sell including any design ideas to be used with Printful.
The more detailed information you can provide, the quicker and easier it will be for me to determine if we will be able to accommodate these items in our marketplace.
For your reference, here is a link to our Seller Policy: https://www.etsy.com/legal/section/sellers
I look forward to hearing back from you. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Best regards,
[OMITTED]
Etsy Marketplace Integrity
https://www.etsy.com/help
At least I received a response from a human! OK, so I figured at this point they would admit their mistake & restore my account.
This was my response to the Etsy integrity team:
Sure-
I'd like to sell custom designed mugs & shot glasses from the GearBubble & Printful print on demand services. I read through the Etsy seller policy to ensure I don't break it.
Mugs:
[OMITTED, but I linked to simple Halloween themed mugs]
Shots:
[OMITTED, but I linked to simple Halloween themed shot glasses]
T-Shirts:
[OMITTED, but I linked to simple Halloween themed shirts]
I have ~800 t-shirt designs and about 400 mug/shot glass designs, so let me know if you need to see more.
The item that I tried to sell on Etsy from ~2 years ago will not be re-listed.
Thanks!
Ryan Hogue
I sent them links to VERY tame, boring products... just to test the waters.
Unfortunately, I can't find their response in my inbox, but they either
- A) Ignored me
- B) Rejected my request
Obviously I still sell on Etsy, because I was able to find a way of opening a new seller account & avoid their automated detection :)
How To Open A Second Etsy Account
* click to expand
Here's was to do to avoid detection when opening your second Etsy account:
- If you opened your first account under your first name + last name, open the second account under your middle name + last name
- Use a different address (PO Boxes work)
- DO NOT USE THE SAME CREDIT CARD AS A PAYMENT METHOD
You can guess that I learned some of those the hard way. My first attempt at opening a new Etsy account was "sniffed out" by the automated detection, but I got smarter with the 2nd attempt.
To this day, I'm still selling on it!
My first account was opened in my Business/LLC name, address, & business credit card. My second account used all personal information.
That's pretty much it.
If you get your account closed, my first recommendation is to reach out to Etsy to get it reinstated.
A buddy of mine had his Etsy account closed down for absolutely no reason at all (like I told him he would), but had it reinstated within a day or two after they realized their error.
Anyways, good luck - I hope this helps! Check out the free Printful + Etsy mini course below to get you setup & start driving sales!
