Well it happened again, another shop suspended. Etsy did one of their sneak attacks Friday at the end of the Day and suspended the shop of a seller, without any warning. This is a seller whose sole income is that of her Etsy shop. These are the cruel people you work under and support. Etsy shuts down shops on Friday at the end of the day, because no one is there on the weekend to answer your emails or calls. I know because it happened to me.
Type in my old address and this is what you get akacinders.etsy.com
So how is life without Etsy? I just had to compile my finances for the past 5 months. I was on Etsy in January, sales very good, then I was booted off on February 11th. It was very hard for me to look at that month. While I was trying to negotiate with Etsy, and trying to figure out what to do, I had NO sales for 2 weeks. I was misty eyed as I filled out the financial statements.
Then in March when I decided to get back on the horse and fight, I started making sales again. I really love Artfire, and my shops had sales, but the traffic is still not as good as Etsy. Although I didn't want to, I went back to eBay too. I spent weeks trying to figure out my niche there. I made some sales, but it was 1/4 of what I made in January.
April got a little better, some Artfire Sales and a new Product on eBay that was selling. Still not as much as I was making last year on Etsy.
May, now there was a month. But mostly it was due to hours of blogging work and exposure from a blogged item. Now if only I can get more people to blog my work, life could be rosy. My sales in May were actually higher than my Sales at Etsy last year. But we will see how that goes when I'm not freshly blogged.
By the way, I am selling my Genre Aprons and Clutches. My Jewelry suffered terribly and I was just getting off the ground with it on Etsy. Very disheartening, as it was to My daughter Poppy when she got her shops shut down too.
So even though it was a struggle, there is life without Etsy. If you ever get yourself into the same predicament, please feel free to contact me HERE and I'll help you get through it.
18 comments:
I'm hoping your shop will be picking up more with time on Artfire!
Just out of curiosity... how do you get your shop suspended? I've heard talk of it happening and the injustice of it, but what is it that people are doing that Etsy doesn't like?
Aw, Crusty... I miss you being on Etsy :( but I wish you all the best with your other ventures! :)
Today is Saturday,July 9, 2011.
Due to my surprise my shop was closed yesterday (a friday) and I was shocked. Evidentally I had two items in my shop that were not over 20 years old. I am new to Etsy and only was a member for a month. I know who filed the complaint because this person sent me a rude email. I'll admit, I didn't know I was making an error and truly feel bad and would like to make right by it and continue my shop. I have not gotten any cooperation by Etsy. This seems very harsh! A warning ahead of time from Etsy for me to pull my two items would have been really nice. Business was going great. I was enjoying what I'm doing. Now what happens? Do I get my shop back or not? Please help!
~ PeriwinkleCourt on Etsy
You may be able to reopen your shop, but it will take time. Be persistent. They really don't care about you though. Your stint with Ety may be over.
I will post your thread into my facebook and hope people go visit you in Artfire and BUY from you. No ONE should be left behind and be abused by the company that we all helped to build.
I am an etsy seller with over 1000 sales, a 100 percent positive rating and my shop was suspended on Sunday without notice or an email to explain why. I am still trying to contact them, but I have been muted so I cant post through the convo system, and they haven't responded to the 11 messages sent to them through help or their facebook page. I am thouroughly discusted right now and I am losing sales as I type. What the heck is Etsy doing???
I wish there was a way to contact you Howard Avenue. I can't convo because not only have my shops been closed, Etsy has blocked my IP address. I can't even BUY on Etsy. There could be several reasons your shop is closed. Etsy recently mistakenly closed several shops, and issued an apology to them, even though they lost sales. It is my understanding that speaking out in the forums is reason to not only be permamuted, but to have your shops closed. As I am no longer a member I get my information from etsybitch.com. You should check them out. You should get an answer from Etsy eventually, but in a good long time. Other reasons for shop closings are money owed or false reporting of violations by another member. Who knows, they might be closing shops that don't have updated credit card info now, or don't have a shop banner they like.
Good luck, and there are other places out there to sell.
Hello I also today I found the store suspended without notice - over 160 positive feedback at 100% - 800 pieces and vintage things for sale made by me - never any problems and now I write an automated email to tell me that the site is suspended forever, for no reason ......
I thought Etsy was a serious site, I wrote 2 emails to get news, I can not access in any way. I paid transactions and I can not contact you. I do not understand ..... I think I will send 2 emails to Etsy Support every day until they respond.
Thanks, themycia
I am another who has been attacked by Etsy. they demanded to see how my postcards were made by me. in an email so I supplied over 20 photos of the relatively simple process of printing them , including screen shots of the photos and the print screens all of that. The reply I have gotten back three times for supension of my store now is "You did not give us enough for us to see the products are made by you" I asked what else they needed and got the "You did not supply enough information" so who knows with them. Dissapointing but not much I can do.
Happen to me and my sister
I made over 3000sales and be with etsy since 2007. No warning, no reason, no reply
Just plain suspension. I sold japanese craft book, my handmade felt balls and accessories, plus some finding and stickers. So upset, I emailed them literally for three months and absolutely no feedback. What a shame to work with them. I am happy I've been with artfire since the beginning and stay there. I will not return to etsy anymore. Would rather to have more control in my life than that.
My artfire is
Oceanblue.artfire.com
I received the same message from the Etsy Integrity team and actually submitted everything they asked for. I sent 40 pictures showing workspace, materials, step by step images, wrote step by step instructions...everything and still they suspended my shop. The item they contacted me about was actually a custom item but I went ahead and bought all the necessary materials and made it just to show them. It took me countless hours to create the item, take photos, organize everything, name the photos to correspond with each step of the process, respond to all their questions and write the step by step instructions. Despite that waste of effort and money, their response was "We do not have enough information to prove this item complies with our handmade policy".
Just to put things into perspective, I had hundreds of sales, 100% positive feedback, always shipped within 1 day, never had any problems with buyers and always paid my fees on time. ALL of my items were handmade by myself and I was the only one ever involved in anything relating to my shop. I did all of the work.
To top it all off, now, I see that some of my items are now being copied and are listed on Etsy for double the price by a seller who joined Etsy five days after my shop was suspended. Coincidence? I think not. I reported the offending listings for copyright infringement and unsurprisingly got no reply. My guess is that someone from the "Integrity Team" wanted to make some extra cash by using people's trade secrets to start their own shop.
Etsy treats sellers like crap. You are never allowed to speak out against injustice by Etsy in the forums or they'll delete your posts and even your account. And I heard that just last week, they sent out promotional e-mails showing the sellers' full names instead of their shop names so no respect for anyone's privacy there.
If I can offer any piece of advice to anyone, it's that you should never create an Etsy account. They will suspend your account at will, steal your listing fees and your trade secrets if you give them the photos. It sickens me to think that the hundreds of dollars I paid in fees went towards supporting these horrible people.
Watch this video and pass it on explains the monster Etsy has become. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Hwl6Y9UWs
This is the same story I keep on hearing. Etsy has been getting away with this for years. Now this has to stop and the only way to hurt them is make the Attorney General in their state make them comply to have a real telephone customer service team. Bombard the internet and get the Attorney General in New York to make Etsy comply or shut them down. This company has no telephone service they have thousands of sellers who my law have have the rights to speak to a real person about their livelihood. This company is even acting like a bank where they have their own payment processing and still no telephone customer team where you can ask a question about YOUR business the business you grew. Something sounds very fishy all the stories from sellers Etsy has damaged without a moments thought the so called integrity team asking for the in's and out's of a sellers business and then still giving them the big heave ho when all the information has been given.
I have had the unfortunate dealings with Eliza on Etsy and I totally understand that this person is incompetent she was rude, arrogant and ignorant however the lack of customer service must be coming from the top otherwise this person would not have been allowed to address me the way she did without being reprimanded. I have a right as a customer to speak to a real person and for them to explain what is happening and how to resolve it. But all you get is a email answered whenever they feel like it and a person who is demeaning and not their to help you in any shape or form and not only that puts barriers in the way and makes it hard as possible for you.
Bombard the Attorney General and ask him why he is letting this Multi Million company in his jurisdiction get away with such bad business practices. Name and shame that is the only way these faceless corporations ever learn by denting their pockets. Etsy your time is coming and I will laugh my arse off when you cowards have to face your customers with no more hiding behind your computer screens.
File reports and ask others to do the same: http://www.ag.ny.gov/internet-bureau-online-complaint-form
I can describe building a business on Etsy like building a house on sand it will eventually collapse because it's build on a weak foundation.
Helen
I can't believe how deep this goes with Etsy closing shop after shop for no good reason. Happened to me as well and another I set up with all new info. Guess it's true they are tracking IP addresses. I fear nothing can be done at all about how they treat people. Then they have the balls to tell you in the ONLY email you get- it's confidential and not to speak to anyone about it.
Can a petition be started toward them- lawsuit- anything?
This was my whole means of supporting my family. Gone in one second! They don't care!
Knowing that Etsy has closed other shops without reason and without prior communication is somewhat comforting. My 2 shops have been closed for over 1 year. I have sent Etsy numerous emails and not once did I ever receive a reply or a reason for closing me down as a seller. I am still in shock over it and am embarrassed when people doubt that I have done nothing wrong. To date I know of nothing that can be done to reopen a shop as Etsy implements tracking of IP addresses. Etsy, the way you handle yourself sucks!!!!
Okay people all you have to do is open a BBB complaint. Etsy can not keep closing shops without answering to someone. BBB is where a lot of Etsy seller are going to stop Etsy from closing shops. You have to fight back.
Write to the BBB file a complaint. You can do this and I know of shops that have been reinstated. Stand up and fight people!
Hi, I started a petition on change.org asking some changes in their policies, sign and share please, you could be the next: http://www.change.org/es/peticiones/etsy-stop-suspending-accounts-by-ip-an-ip-doesn-t-identify-a-person#
Etsy EtsyUKEtsyAU EtsyFR EtsyDE #etsy
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