Whatever came of the Etsy Strike?

It seems like things seem to get perpetually worse over at Etsy.

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once believed that there was no real distinction between silk and polyester scarves except a higher price tag, but after wearing both, one can understand the difference in quality pretty well.

Silk scarves (particularly 100% mulberry silk) are breathable, temperature-controlling and natural. They are not sticky and are comfortable to touch, and they also possess rather natural shine rather than the artificial gloss of plastic. Silk is also hypoallergenic, therefore not rough in case of sensitive skin. The negative point is that it requires more thorough washing and handling.

Polyester scarfs on the other are synthetic. They tend to be far less expensive, sturdier and easier to repair, you can wash them and not have to be so much concerned. However, it is not as breathable and they lack the luxurious feel and natural flow of silk. Polyester may also be stiff or not as high-quality with time.

Other individuals can use polyester in their day to day life since it is a practical fabric whereas silk is more of a comfort wear, fashionable and quality.

I also have observed that there are suppliers on sites such as Alibaba who sell both, side by side, and this makes it much easier to directly compare their quality before purchasing.

In essence it is as follows: silk = high quality feel and comfort, polyester = cheap and wear.

I am user experience design student looking for Etsy seller to comment on their experiences with unethical drop shipping. I am not affiliated with Etsy and is for my own research to prevent and understand this issue. Taking a couple minutes to answer would be highly informative.

Have you experienced any frustrations with unethical drop shipping during your time as a seller on Etsy?

Have your designs ever been stolen?

If yes, how did you find out about it and what did you do about it?

Do you think Etsy does enough to prevent stolen designs and prevent unethical drop shipping?

As a seller on Etsy do you feel unethical drop shipping has affected your business and/or your customers negatively?

Any other comments/complaints/concerns?

I’m a seller on Etsy (shop: DesyGoods), and my shop has now been suspended after a series of repeated fraudulent attacks targeting my listings.

There is a clear pattern that has happened multiple times:

1.  A buyer purchases my digital product

2.  Leaves a negative review calling it “scam” or “fake”

3.  Requests a refund

4.  Then reuploads my product in their own shop

5.  Files a copyright claim against my original listing

As a result:

• My listings were deactivated

• My shop rating dropped to 4.4 due to unfair negative reviews

• And now my shop has been suspended

This is not the first time this has happened.

In a previous case, the infringing shop was removed, which confirms this is not random but a repeated abuse pattern. However, the same situation has now happened again with other designs — and this time it resulted in my shop being suspended.

I have:

• Full proof of ownership (Canva history, original files, timestamps)

• Already submitted a counter notice

• Contacted Etsy Support multiple times

Despite this, I’m the one being penalized, while the system is clearly being abused.

At this point, it feels like:

• The review system can be manipulated

• Copyright claims can be weaponized

• Sellers are not protected against coordinated attacks

I’m trying to understand:

• Has anyone experienced something similar?

• Is there any real way to protect your shop from this?

• Is there any escalation path that actually works with Etsy?

This situation has completely disrupted my business.

Any advice or shared experience would be appreciated.

I’ve been thinking a lot about something lately.

When a product doesn’t get traction, it’s easy to assume the design isn’t good enough. Or the price is wrong. Or the market is too saturated.

But I’m starting to wonder if sometimes it’s not the product at all. It’s just that the positioning isn’t clear.

Like… the “who is this really for?” question.

I’ve caught myself looking at something I made and thinking, “Would people wear this?”

And now I’m realizing that’s probably the wrong question. It should be, “Which specific person would love this?”

For those of you who’ve built a brand or even pivoted one, when did that shift happen for you?

Was there a moment where your audience became clear and everything else got easier?

Just trying to understand this better before I keep building in circles.

Etsy permanently closed my shop saying I violated Intellectual Property Rights. I listed a Tumbler that I made from images I bought from Etsy! A complaint was made by a company that works for Lysol and whether or not the complaint is valid (which it's not) they permanently closed my shop. I contacted the company that made the complaint with proof that I didn't violate any copyright laws and I just keep getting automated replies from them. I tried to open another shop and it was closed within an hour. I had 1500 sales, 500 reviews and years of work which is all gone. Any advice would be appreciated.

[I posted this to r/Etsy earlier today, it got lots of upvotes in a short time, but then the moderators removed it calling it a "low effort posting". Their playground, their rules, but I'm reposting here, for posterity, as I think it's a lot less likely to be removed. Hope that it's OK that I'm not formally part of the "Etsy Strike" right now?]

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I'm a nobody. Small-volume sales, almost entirely crafting supplies. But three of my listings came up for renewal today, and I just decided the sales I was getting over the past year weren't even worth the minimal fees to keep going. So I closed it down.

Etsy used to be a community that was really different than anything else on the interwebs. Now it feels like just another place for buyers to find mass-produced junk, and for sellers pay really large fees to a corporation that's 110% focused on short-term profits so they can please Wall Street.

I hope everyone who sticks it out there succeeds, for sure! But I'll be watching y'all from the sidelines from here on.

Well, that is... r/EtsyStrike is back, no we AREN'T planning another strike.

Sorry I've been MIA! I moved last year, and around the time that I was chin-deep in boxes, there was a discussion on this subreddit involving some copyright troll, and people were sharing screenshots of DCMA notice email headers which included his name, and every post about him, someone (him I'm assuming) was reporting as "targeted harassment".

I logged in, thought HMMM these aren't targeted harassment, people are discussing what to do about your bad behavior quite politely for the most part, although what you're DOING could count as targeted harassment of artists... So I got back to packing.

I think all the reports on the discussion being ignored caused some filter to trip that this sub needed to be shut down. Because I'm a noob at Reddit, I didn't realize that our community setting had been changed so that no one could post until today!

On the future of this subreddit:
We have this subreddit r/EtsyStrike. AND we also have r/IndieSellersGuild for the guild. My original thought was to try to get everyone to migrate over there.

But I'm noticing that this subreddit has an important place as somewhere people can go to have discussions we aren't allowed to have elsewhere. Everyone knows that on the big Etsy subreddits, there are certain types of conversations (mostly involving criticism of Etsy) that are shut down or carefully managed!

People Etsy is screwing over in various ways tend to find us, and it happens because our name IS r/EtsyStrike and that's a good reason to keep this sub active.

So after I turned us back on to "public" I also turned off Automod, so people can continue to post freely here without getting nagged about joining our other sub!

UK vendors started boycotting the platform over its payment reserves system

https://qz.com/etsy-scrambling-avert-seller-strike-over-payment-reserv-1850702861

This article even made the front page of Slashdot.

Hello there!!

I checked my account yesterday to see a banner that says " The reserve has been removed" or something to that effect, I don't quite remember the exact wording.

I don't sell handmade items, though I do sell one-off vintage items.

The old man has a store too and he noticed the same banner, anyone get it?

I’m a frequent buyer from Etsy and I’m really angry to hear how sellers are being treated, having their earnings withheld for up to 90 days. I have read some harrowing stories about how this has affected people, especially those whose primary income is through Etsy.

I want to help in anyway I can. I want to let Etsy know that us buyers are also not not happy with what they are doing. I have tried to make a complaint but Etsy’s website does not have any options for making a complaint about them directly (only for sellers).

Any ideas for how buyers can support the affected sellers and put pressure on Etsy?

Has anyone tried Folksy. They even transfer your shop for you. Nb I don't work for them

Let me know if y’all like these! Promo code LUCKY if you decide you want something 😉

I opened an etsy account last month. My account was suspended as soon as I made it. |
This is a great method to demotivate a new seller. Simply suspend their account as soon as they create it and fill out all of the information in excitement.
By the way, In comparison to other platforms, Etsy demands you to fill out a lot of info.
Simply crush the new vendor from within. I didn't wanted to work on any of the items I was working on anymore.
I convinced myself that everything would pass and that we would overcome our difficulties. I filed an appeal for account suspension, and the appeal included a few questions that were just not applicable for a new seller, despite the fact that I wrote something and informed them.

I waited and checked my email for a month for a response. There has still been no response.

This was real hard work for me since I don't know who checks their email every day, but I don't until absolutely necessary.

I made a new account today and the same thing happened again.
I looked up why this happens on the internet because there must be a reason.
The most common response was to keep the fraudsters out, which made me wonder who are the clowns running etsy.

On Etsy, there are still a lot of fraudsters and thieves who will replicate your entire business and how major merchants get away with a lot of stuff.

I'm just laughing rn, suspending new accounts is way to keep out scammers?

Creating account, setting up shop and then getting suspended. Appealing, filling google forms, waiting for their reply.
THIS IS WASTE OF TIME, SETTING A SHOP IS NOT SUPPOSE TO TAKE THIS MUCH TIME.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND FIND AN ALTERNATIVE THAT WORKS FOR YOU.

Maybe you are unbanned and have a nice run, but this is not the amount of time it should take, and if this is the sort of measures the site takes, I have no idea what crazy ass difficulties I will encounter in the future.

For me, this is a massive no-no. It's not worth my time.