Update to Etsy DOs and DON’Ts - Effective as of October 27, 2009
Editorial Notice:
After a long and unplanned hiatus during which UEN experienced a serious loss of data going back about 7 months, I am attempting an update with a fresh article (and hoping it stays put).
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On October 20, 2009, Etsy announced a change to its DOs & DON’Ts (D&Ds), which are an extension of the Etsy TOU. In addition to a Storque article (authored by Etsy CustomerCare, stellaloella, and TechUpdates) highlighting major changes or clarifications, it also opened a dedicated forum thread in which community members were given a sneak peek at the new version, and invited to discuss and/or make suggestions, in advance of it going into effect.
Excerpted from the Storque:
As you will see, most policies remain the same. In many areas, we’ve just clarified existing information or elaborated upon current practices to include these items formally in the DOs & DON’Ts document. Below I’ll highlight the changes, but be sure you preview the updated DOs & DON’Ts in their entirety.
Membership: A few notable policies that apply to all members have been moved up to the Membership section, like our policy for linking from a shop or profile to another selling venue. Collectives (seller accounts involving multiple people) have been further defined with the categories of Collaboration, Sharing a Shop and Shop Management Help. We clarified our rules for younger Etsians; collectives that include minors under the age of 18 may not utilize community features unless otherwise stated.
Conversations: You may not use Conversations to interfere with a transaction (with details on this in the Transactions section, too). We’ve also elaborated on the definition of “spam” as it relates to Etsy Convos.
Transactions: We’ve added information to the Transactions section, describing the roles of the seller, the buyer and Etsy in a transaction. Additionally, we’ve detailed various concerns or scenarios in which a transaction may be disputed, including: non-payment, non-delivery, refusal of service, dissatisfaction and interference. We’ve also clarified the circumstances in which a transaction may be canceled. In general, the additions to this section outline in greater detail the processes and policies already in place for transactions.
Feedback: To better accommodate custom orders and international transactions, we will be increasing the timeframe for submitting feedback from 90 days to 120 days. (This will go into effect when the policies are “live.”) Additionally, we’ve clarified the circumstances in which Etsy will review feedback for removal, and we’ve lifted the 30-day limitation to requesting a feedback review for policy violation.
Shops and Listings: Formerly called “Selling,” this section has been expanded to include detailed policies about shop set-up, listing items, tagging and specific rules for handmade items, vintage goods and supplies. The section on Tagging is entirely new to the DOs & DON’Ts, but most of this information was available in Etsy’s Help section or through guides posted on Etsy’s blog, The Storque. Expanded sections on rules for handmade, vintage and supplies items should help sellers understand what can be sold on Etsy and how to list items for sale.
Charitable Shops and Listings: Etsy appreciates the spirit of giving back. Due to some laws and the existence of unsavory individuals who may try to take advantage of this spirit, we have added a section for charitable shops and listings.
Prohibited Items: In response to a variety of community concerns, we have clarified our prohibited items list. These items — though they may be handmade, vintage or a crafting supply — are not allowed to be listed for sale on Etsy.
Showcase and Treasury: Making a first time appearance in the DOs & DON’Ts are specific sections for participation in the Showcase and the Treasury. We have gathered information from other areas of the site about these interactive features to formalize as policies in the DOs & DON’Ts.
The DOs & DON’Ts of Etsy, Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy and the Help site all will be updated for consistency. Once we gather your feedback and make any changes, we will launch the final versions of everything together. At that time, we will send an email notice to all members. As stated above, we will also allow a grace period for all members to edit their existing content to comply with any changed policies.
One week later, on October 27, 2009, Etsy announced its fully revised and final version of the D&Ds, and started a fresh discussion thread:
stellaloella says: Today Etsy has put into effect updated policies for the site in the DOs & DON’Ts of Etsy, the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy. You can read more about this annual policy update - including an overview of the changes - on Etsy’s blog, The Storque: http://www.etsy.com/storque/article/4974/
These are important changes that every Etsy member should review, so we’re sending out an email notification to all members (with millions of members in our community, it may take a few weeks for the emails to reach everyone).
You can view Etsy’s policies in their entirety at these locations:
* DOs & DON’Ts of Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/dosdonts.php
* Terms of Use: http://www.etsy.com/terms_of_use.php
* Privacy Policy: http://www.etsy.com/privacy_policy.php
* Copyright & IP Policy: http://www.etsy.com/copyright_policy.phpThe policies are live and in effect as of today, October 27, 2009; therefore, all your activities or content on Etsy from today forward must be in line with these new policies. We are allowing all members a grace period to bring their existing content (for example: account information, shops, listings) up to speed with any changes in the policies. We also wanted to take into account the timing with the busy holiday season. All members have until the end of the day on December 31, 2009 to edit their content created prior to today’s date (October 27, 2009).
Some of you may recall last week that we provided a preview of the proposed changes to the DOs & DON’Ts of Etsy, one of the main policy documents containing rules for using the site. A big sincere THANK YOU goes out to everyone who read the preview and participated in the resulting discussions in the Forums, email and Conversations. Your feedback was very helpful, and we even made a few tweaks based on your insights.
If you have questions or comments, please join us in the related discussion thread or send email to support [!at] etsy.com.
Discussion thread: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6330324
Posted at 6:51 pm, October 27 2009 EST
Since that time, a number of questions have been raised and some answers given, though several material changes to the policies have continued to generate a great deal of concern. In addition to the official discussion threads linked above, a sampling of threads by community members seeking clarification on two key issues – no more sale cancellations when there has been a return and refund; finished commercial chains being disallowed as a supply – can be found here:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6338766
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6339177
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6340010
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6330730
