Etsy ban! Stealth Account, alternative?

Ok so I joined Etsy a few weeks ago and week one sales were very slow and I did a bit of basic marketing and it started making good money.

I was making an extra 200 a week for the last two, that combined with my eBay earnings was leaving me with a nice account of cash per week. I was very happy was even thinking of getting a new place.

Anyway a few days ago I got an email saying I had been banned.
I talk to support and explained how my products are handmade.
But support still say my products are not handmade, which is nonsense!
Also, there is 100's of vendors on Etsy selling similar and in some cases the same products so I am really confused and pi**ed!

So is there any way to make an Etsy stealth accounts?
Or are there any good alternatives?

Come on guys where are the black hats when you need them need to know the best way to make a stealth account?

Are you from the US ?

Why does it matter if your product is handmade ? you can sell non handmade products on etsy just don't claim they're handmade and nobody will bother you. Or was that the whole point of your products ?

whiteogreguy said:

Why does it matter if your product is handmade ? you can sell non handmade products on etsy just don't claim they're handmade and nobody will bother you. Or was that the whole point of your products ?

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I'm not sure what the problem really it was not outlined to me. My products are vintage not handmade.

one of your competitor is reported you probaly

jake3340 said:

Are you from the US ?

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No EU.

Xsesonit said:

one of your competitor is reported you probaly

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Must have been as I have no idea why my account was pulled, I getting places with support. I think there may be a chance I can get the account back but what then. I can't have my account randomly pulled again for some unknown reason.

I stopped relying on Etsy a long time ago because of this same reasons (competitors getting my account banned). It seems as though this is a very common problem for sellers, as the number of sales/reviews are visible for all to see and once you hit first page for some keywords, you start getting a lot more 'attention'.

What I done instead was, setup my own store and sold direct to customers. This took a lot more effort to market and sales dropped significantly for a while, but I think it was well worth it in the end, as I now have full control over my sales/listings.

If you do manage to get back onto the site and have many different products for sale, I would recommend creating multiple accounts for each niche product range (as Etsy allows this as long as you mention your other usernames in each account profile), as you may limit such bans in the future to only one account - as I had 3 running at the time and the other 2 are still fine.

VM, clean residential IP from some sort of rdsl seller, different bank/card details..

Raz1 said:

I stopped relying on Etsy a long time ago because of this same reasons (competitors getting my account banned). It seems as though this is a very common problem for sellers, as the number of sales/reviews are visible for all to see and once you hit first page for some keywords, you start getting a lot more 'attention'.

What I done instead was, setup my own store and sold direct to customers. This took a lot more effort to market and sales dropped significantly for a while, but I think it was well worth it in the end, as I now have full control over my sales/listings.

If you do manage to get back onto the site and have many different products for sale, I would recommend creating multiple accounts for each niche product range (as Etsy allows this as long as you mention your other usernames in each account profile), as you may limit such bans in the future to only one account - as I had 3 running at the time and the other 2 are still fine.

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Hhh, interesting. I was only really starting on Etay I am surprised that someone reported me but that must have been the case as I can see no other reason for the ban.
I am close to regaining my shop after a lot of email with Etsy, but I really don't see the point in building a name for myself just to be reported again.

Right now I need my income to be consistent (currently only doing IM) and if I get a random ban it could set me back a huge amount.

I have my own site but it have not been focusing on it as the nitch I am in is pretty competitive. I think I am currently on page four of Google.
I have been marketing it by adding leaflets to each sale I make offering a sizable discount on there next order with a coupon code. This has how ever only worked to a small degree.
I have done SEO and made the site as google friendly as possible (seo is not my best skill) but I need more backlinks and I am finding them very hard to build.

Do you have any other advice to help me drive traffic from sales on markets to my own site?

Kind of off-on topic but: have any of you tried the fiverr etsy promotion gigs ? results ?

Have you been able to regain your shop? I have 9 Etsy shops and im afraid to lose them. What did you do if you got it back?

Are you drop shipping? That might be one reason why you are banned.

Dont make your own account just buy a quality one

Black Hat Pivot said:

I talk to support and explained how my products are handmade

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Black Hat Pivot said:

I'm not sure what the problem really it was not outlined to me. My products are vintage not handmade.

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Which one is it, are they handmade? Are they vintage? Are you shipping them yourself from the address on the account? Are they drop-shipped? Are the photos you are using your own? There are a bunch of questions I could ask as well as these so there are many reasons why they do this. Your account being stealth is neither here nor there, it's the listings that drew attention to you. The fact that you are in the EU has nothing to do with it. If you keep listing the same thing the same thing will keep happening. Feel free to PM me with the examples of your product and the examples you have seen of other people selling this product and I will be happy to look over it and let you know if I see any red flags.

hippo123 said:

Are you drop shipping? That might be one reason why you are banned.

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etsy is full of dropshippers

Mike Hill said:

Dont make your own account just buy a quality one

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hard to find sellers for etsy stealth as the marketplace doesn't have a lot of traction thus interest is low

CreativeNothing said:

Have you been able to regain your shop? I have 9 Etsy shops and im afraid to lose them. What did you do if you got it back?

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he didn't get it back yet although he should because by etsy standards he's exactly in their niche.

whiteogreguy said:

the marketplace doesn't have a lot of traction thus interest is low

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Not sure if I could agree with that. Its a pretty big marketplace and even Amazon has taken notice and taken on aspects of etsy itself. Granted the IPO was a huge flop and the share price is still down but with a market cap in the billions you could hardly say that it does not have a lot of traction in my opinion

William702 said:

Which one is it, are they handmade? Are they vintage? Are you shipping them yourself from the address on the account? Are they drop-shipped? Are the photos you are using your own? There are a bunch of questions I could ask as well as these so there are many reasons why they do this. Your account being stealth is neither here nor there, it's the listings that drew attention to you. The fact that you are in the EU has nothing to do with it. If you keep listing the same thing the same thing will keep happening. Feel free to PM me with the examples of your product and the examples you have seen of other people selling this product and I will be happy to look over it and let you know if I see any red flags.

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Well both, I restore vintage video game consoles and arcade machines. I also sell mod kits that are handmade for people to easily install.

I ship everything myself from the address on the account which is my business address.

The photos are all my own.

I have nothing but good feedback.

This account is not black hat it's 100% legit, this is why I am finding the whole thing very confusing.

CreativeNothing said:

Have you been able to regain your shop? I have 9 Etsy shops and im afraid to lose them. What did you do if you got it back?

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Not yet, Etsy is looking for photos of what I do step by step with what tools I use and so on.
Right now I simply don't have the time as I am working on a much bigger project but I will make some time in the next day or so.

I will keep you updated.

Any ideas for the ban??

Black Hat Pivot said:

Well both, I restore vintage video game consoles and arcade machines. I also sell mod kits that are handmade for people to easily install.I ship everything myself from the address on the account which is my business address.The photos are all my own.I have nothing but good feedback.This account is not black hat it's 100% legit, this is why I am finding the whole thing very confusing.Not yet, Etsy is looking for photos of what I do step by step with what tools I use and so on.Right now I simply don't have the time as I am working on a much bigger project but I will make some time in the next day or so.I will keep you updated.

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OK well there is your answer. repairing restoring video games is a service and is not a vintage item nor a handmade item. I can 100% say with certainty that you are not allowed to sell that service on Etsy.

And then the other thing you do selling a mod, that is not vintage nor a physical tangible handmade good. again not allowed on Etsy and you can say that others sell it all you want but that does not mean that it is OK. if you feel strongly about it report the other shops or the person that reported you will probably find them over time. an item or shop will only get taken down or found if it is reported so that's what happened to you because you are selling a product/service that is not allowed on Etsy. now that the tags, descriptions are on file they will come down and find it every time. Believe me I have spoken to an etsy admin in this department at length and helped her with her own shop so trust me I know what I'm talking about.

It does not matter how professional or how you good you had been at it or how much good feedback and sales you have, its still against the rules of etsy. If what you sold was a digital PDF guide on how to do what you are saying then that's different but selling an actual mod that's not allowed so unless you can sell a guide telling people how to make this mod you are shit out of luck.

Of course this all based on how you described what you do, if you have changed that around and have been able to speak to Etsy to find out a work around then great but from what you have said those products are not allowed.