Today Etsynews has learned of two successful Etsy shops that were deleted under seemingly strange circumstances. This is complete account deletion- the shop is a brick wall. It’s not the same as being muted in the forums. Etsy has warned users with bills over 3 months overdue that their shops will be deleted, but neither of these cases seems to be related to overdue bills. Both sellers have received emails from Etsy which state the reasons for their stores being closed, and they are not bill-related.
All of the information we have about these two cases comes from the sellers. Bear in mind that there are two sides to every story, but Etsy will never discuss the cases in public so we will never hear both sides. Certain facts can be verified using google’s cached pages and posts in public forums.
The first deletion we learned of was Thaidreams.
This is a cached page of her shop on January 12, 2008.
As of January 12, she had 100% positive feedback and had made 466 sales.
She wrote about Etsy closing her shop in her blog here, and she posted the email that Etsy sent her in her blog here.
The reason allegedly given was “a history of conflicts”.
The second deleted shop is still trying to get reinstated, so I cannot publish the shop name.
(update, January 22: Closedshop has posted her full story on page 14 of the comments on this article, and has revealed her shops to be heyprettycupcake and thepromoshop)
They did create a second account “closedshop” to post in the forums about their situation, and Etsy has since deleted that account as well. They (originally) did not publicly reveal their main shop name and UEN will not reveal it either, but I have verified by cached google pages that the shop had 100% positive feedback on January 16, two days ago.
This is their forum post.
They have multiple posts in the thread giving their version of events.
Other sellers in that thread (aorta, automaton, magicjelly) described having similar treatment from Etsy. (shops closed without warning for one lost package)
aorta says:
youstink, a buyer never got something so they filed a report to etsy. i never found out till my shop was closed- brick wall. i talked to admin who explained they send out 3 emails before they close a shop, but i never got those emails so i was shut down.
the admin i talked to did quickly reinstate my shop though.
magicjelly says:
Haven’t read the whole thread yet, but just wanted to add that this exact same thing happened to me last year - a former feature seller with 100% positive feedback, just like Aorta.I phoned NY & my shop was immediately reinstated. I was assured it was human error & that steps would be taken that this kind of thing wouldn’t happen again.
Both closedshop’s buyer and magicjelly’s buyer were told by Etsy to file cybercrime reports with the FBI.
The thread was locked with this admonishment:
RobWhite says:
We can’t discuss specific situations between Etsy admin and members of the Etsy community.For clarification, sellers who have bills that are 2 months overview will not be able to list, relist or renew items in their shops. Sellers who have bills that are 3 months overdue may be suspended. You can find that information in the Storque here: http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/etsyNews/article/billing-alert-a-reminder-about-the-new-policy-for-the-new-ye/858/ , which is also referenced in the most recent post about overdue bills here: http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/etsyNews/article/cant-post-new-listings-overdue-etsy-bill/1038/
We also ask that you do not make alternate accounts on Etsy for the sole purpose of posting in the Forums and/or chat rooms. The best and most expedient way to handle this situation is to contact Abuse at abuse (!at) etsy dot com.
Robwhite later in another thread explained he posted the overdue bill information to answer some general questions from the thread, but NOT to imply that the OP had been deleted for having overdue bills. (which would be a violation of their privacy if that was the case and he had discussed it in public)
previous UEN coverage of shop/account deletions
http://etsynews.com/73/unwarrantedaccidental-shop-suspensions-sellers-be-warned/
http://etsynews.com/75/another-case-of-erroneous-shop-suspension/
http://etsynews.com/80/how-does-admin-handle-shop-suspensions/
http://etsynews.com/312/etsy-says-no-double-billing-has-occurred/?cp=5
(see comments, not main article)
other users who have had shops deleted without warning, although most have been eventually reinstated:
moxierings
walkonthemoon
ScrapScrap
magicjelly
aorta/automaton
retroattic
thepromoshop
heyprettycupcake
Lesliejewelry
update, January 22:
Closedshop has posted her full story here:
Please note again, that this is the seller’s version of events, and UEN does not guarantee the accuracy of comments.
http://etsynews.com/?p=584&cp=14#comments
She has revealed her shop names: heyprettycupcake and thepromoshop. (both accounts are deleted/closed)
Etsy will not be reinstating either shop.
Update January 31:
another case of sudden shop closure: Lesliejewelry
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5444820
That shop has been reopened
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:17 am
Poompat, huh? I made a couple of comments about Americans usually being the ones who were trashing our shop and yes, other than two people, every problem we have had has been with an American seller. Not ‘trashing’ America, telling the truth.
And what people like you seem to forget is I’m also a US citizen, lived there most of my life, have the passport to prove it. I’ve as much right to say negative things about the US as anyone. I’ve NEVER said I hate America, or hate Americans. I’ve said a couple of times that we’ve had problems with American sellers on Etsy and yes, sad, but it’s true :(
You are also another one who asks me questions, I respond politely and then you attack me. There’s more than enough of those people on Etsy - maybe you would be more comfortable over there?
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:14 am
Aliciamae, we were on ecrater last year with VERY low sales so we closed it down, and our friend Fabletoo also has a shop on there, she says LOW sales too. (I think she might be closing hers?)
From research bigcartel looks like they are doing well with sales, and Dawanda definitely is for us - 4 sales in 3 days which is awesome because we only got most of our stuff up there on Sunday.
There’s definitely life after Etsy and there’ll have to be when it closes down LOL. We wouldn’t go back on there if they came on bended knee, and will make sure now of our friends shop there either.
Etsy has a habit of saying “we don’t discuss private issues with sellers”. I think that’s their excuse because there usually AREN’T any private issues, but when they say that it leaves other people thinking “oooh, there must be something else wrong” and that’s usually not true. Most of us that have been affected by Etsy’s callous attitude have emails from them to back up our stories and are happy to publish them.
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:09 am
It would be easier to support Thaidreams if she hasn’t been making anti-American comments on the forums (even in threads not related to her defending her store) since she showed up on Etsy. It’s offensive to me and my family who made the choice to live here. Things aren’t perfect here, but they aren’t perfect in Thailand either.
Maybe I can trash Thailand because I lived there for some years too? Do I get extra slam points if I have relatives who still live there? Nasty comments about countries can go both ways, yes? But it’s cool and hip to trash the USA and all the people in it because we’re all the same. Just like all the people in Asia are the same, including those running sweat shops.
Point made?
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:01 am
Vanessa I am so sorry for what you’re going through. I had both your shops hearted, though I hadn’t purchased anything yet. I have been checking out BigCartel per Thaidream’s suggestions and there’s also ecrater and blujay that offer free shops. As far as shop setup goes eCrater is probably better. HPC can rise again :)
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:51 am
Concerned Etsian Says:
Her husband was ill, AND they had just relocated, so he was ill in a new town!!! I can’t understand why this is so difficult for people to understand.
I am not tootin my own horn or saying that my lack of communication was right but I couldn’t understand that either. When I finally got into my account to message my customers people were saying things like “I KNOW YOUR NEW TOWN HAS EMAIL” and stuff like that. What they DON’T realize is that when you move to a new place, not everything is hooked up. It took several weeks for comcast to come out here and hook us up.
I put a shop announcement for a reason, saying I will be back mid january because I knew we weren’t going to get internet right away. Let alone the fact that it was Christmas AND new years and people probably wouldn’t have gotten back to me until after January.
The things that I had to go through while my husband was ill would make anyone want to make sure that their life is kosher before continuing back onto the drama. I had to drive him to the ER in a brand new town, while he is unconscious in the front seat, only to get lost and have to have the ambulance come to get him.
Even if Etsy decides to reinstate my shop, I am going to take a few to sit back and think if I want to even be there anymore. I know that 1 shop off of Etsy isn’t going to hurt their site, but I will sleep better at night knowing that I am not paying my hard earned money to someone who is going to walk all over me if something even more serious happens in my life.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:37 am
Someday, I hope I quit being shocked by the apparent disconnect between what Etsy Corp proports to support and believe and their actual actions.
To think, that a small business person, such as closedshop could have their means of making a living taken away so abruptly, given that a shop announcement was posted and the seller was making efforts to refund monies to customers, is beyond me.
It is obvious this all took place over a certain period of time, why can’t the person(s) reviewing cases at Etsy see this and work with the seller, be patient.. perhaps removing items from sale until all refunds have been issued and all buyers satisfied.
Her husband was ill, AND they had just relocated, so he was ill in a new town!!! I can’t understand why this is so difficult for people to understand.
Sure, I too have had transactions online that seemed to take forever or that communication with the seller was non-existent… but people, we are not talking about *LIVE-GIVING MEDICATIONS HERE* or things that people can’t live without. And, from what I can determine, they were not even large $$$ transactions, so, let’s keep our heads about us and try to show a bit of compassion.
I would hope that Etsy Corp would reconsider their refusal to provide service to Closed Shop and allow her to re-establish her shop once all refunds have been received by her past buyers.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:32 am
The thing that astounds me the most about this is that Etsy claims to be all about helping individual designers/craftspeople to earn a living from the things they make. But this means they should be understanding and supportive of the inherent risks involved in running an extremely small business.
I’m sure almost all of us operate with ourselves doing everything and having little or no external help. So if something goes wrong in our lives it can easily be catastrophic in a business sense, even if only in the short term.
Provided you show good faith, work to resolve problems with customers and act responsibly in the face of these sorts issues as soon as you can, Etsy should be as supportive as they can be if they are serious about what is supposed to be the core aim of their business.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:03 am
Thank you for telling the rest of your story, Vanessa. I hadn’t heard the full details about your husband’s illness or the second shop name, but I am glad you’re revealing them now.
Some pages from google’s cache to back up your story.
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:etdd0b0VO3UJ:www.etsy.com/shop.php%3Fuser_id%3D5175178+thepromoshop+etsy&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
this was The promo shop on Jan 17
You can see the message to buyers promising refunds and explanation of the late orders.
Feedback 275, 92% positive
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:Un-FmMZ6EqAJ:heyprettycupcake.etsy.com/+heyprettycupcake+etsy&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
this was heyprettycupcake on Jan 18
Feedback 200, 100% positive
So, to be fair to Etsy, this closure was over more than the single lost item from heyprettycupcake. (although they didn’t make that clear to you at first, which is their typical communication style)
There were multiple non-received orders from the promoshop and the feedback there is less than 100%.
But in your defense, I can see that you did remove all items from the promoshop, to prevent any new sales that you could not fulfill. And you showed a good faith announcement to make restitution on all outstanding orders.
And as Etsy is is fond of saying, behind every avatar is a human being. Behind your avatar was a human being with critical real-life issues which unfortunately impacted your ability to meet your obligations. I think a bit of empathy and compassion is not too much to ask from a company which continually trumpets how human and caring and “nice” they are. People make mistakes. You were trying to fix yours. (although, I am not sure that caring for an ill husband is really a “mistake”, it’s part of the marriage vows!)You got coldly shut down before you had any chance to do that.
Etsy should be ashamed. I hope none of them ever have a seriously ill spouse or child and have to go through what you did.
I hope your husband is recovering.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Three words for you-
Better Business Bureau.
File a complaint against them. Might not get you anywhere, but at least there will be something on file for when it happens again, because it most likely will.
Them refusing to deal with you in any way is very unprofessional.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:44 pm
isn’t crossing etsy’s mind.. sorry