I debated for two days whether or not to post this on Zibbet. I figured I needed that time to clear my head before I fired off some heated words that were more emotion than fact. Here's what happened.
Saturday evening I was scheduled to moderate a forum trade event my team had organized. About fifteen minutes before I was scheduled to take over the trade event, I logged into Etsy and went directly to the forums to read a few of the pages so I'd be up to speed. I'm a team leader so it struck me as odd that at the top of each page it said, "You don't have permission to participate in this discussion." So I started clicking through my shop and when I clicked on the "listings" link I got the message:
Your account is currently suspended
Etsy has suspended your account privileges. Please check your email for more information about your account's status.A check of my email did indeed show an email from Etsy's Marketplace Integrity Team telling me my shop had been suspended because my items didn't appear to meet their criteria. I was so totally floored by this that it took a few minutes to sink in. Of course they offered me an option to prove that my items are indeed handmade and I'm currently doing that. But I wanted to point out a couple of things.
First, I was highly upset that Etsy suspended my shop BEFORE they contacted me. I had heard other sellers say that Etsy shut them down without warning but I thought surely a site as huge as Etsy would exercise due process first. Boy, was I wrong!
Second, the item that has been flagged is clearly described as a pair of vintage earrings. I never claimed to make them. (As a matter of fact, those earrings are listed right here on Zibbet with the EXACT same description I had on Etsy). You can see them here: http://www.zibbet.com/UnexpectedTreasure/artwork?artworkId=830233
When I sent Etsy an email asking them how I could possibly submit step by step photos of me producing that item when it's a vintage item and there was no production process involved, they replied within a couple of hours and sent a photo of another item from my shop that they wanted me to reproduce with step by step photos. (I have done so.)
The inquiry process is very involved. There's a 3 part questionaire to complete and return with TONS of photographic evidence. Oh yeah, and each photo must include a piece of paper showing my username and the date. This will show Etsy that the photographs are current and taken by me.
I guess I'll wrap this up by saying that I thought my shop was my own but have since discovered that Etsy can do whatever they want with it. I'm not upset that I have to prove my stuff is handmade by me. In fact, that was the part that least concerned me. What I am upset about is that I feel Etsy should not have shut me down until AFTER I submitted whatever evidence they required and only then if they were still not satisfied my items are handmade. I always thought in our society it was "innocent until proven guilty" but, again, I guess I was wrong.
So, AFTER I get my shop reinstated, I'm saying so long to Etsy for good. I never again want to be convicted and found guilty without a fair trial. But I want my shop, and my good name, reinstated first. I've had over 1,000 sales on Etsy and not a single negative feedback. And that's the image I want to leave people with when I leave that venue.
OK, I'm done venting. :)
