I had a strange experience with Etsy. I opened two shops there recently, CuteStrangeCreatures and TrippyArtShirts. I’m still trying to catch the hand with selling there an dI’m constantly learning.

One day something happened with TrippyArtShirts.

I tried to tinker with the titles and descriptions of my products. I did it. I tried to see them on the store side, as customers would view them. I couldn’t. Tried to see the store. “This seller is not currently selling on Etsy” or something like that. Well, I was selling on Etsy, apparently, but neither my store neither my products were visible. Then a text in red rectangle appeared in the lower left corner of my Etsy seller interface. It said “Your store is suspended. Check your email”. Well, weird. I sell products with my original art. Why? Let’s see. And I checked my email and there was nothing from Etsy. Checked the Spam folder, too. Nope. Spent the next day compulsively checking my email and guess what? Still nothing. Started thinking. 

Two days before I had made an experiment. I paid a small sum for promotion on Facebook. On the first day I had about 300 views in the shop and on the second day - about 250. And in the days before the promotion I had around 15-20 views per day. And on the third day, when promotion ended, this happened. 

The other thing that I could think about was a design of mine. I have a shirt in the first store and I made it available as a printable artwork in the other store. Maybe the duplication of artwork in different stores. But then it was me who was the owner of both stores, same ID, etc. Moreover, there are many shops on Etsy who use royalty free images - same picture in absolutely different shops on similar and different products. What should this be a problem for my original artwork then? 

It could be one of these. But no one tells me.

Then I waited a day. Nothing changed. Then I started reading through Facebook groups and articles on the Internet. It seems this happens  quite more often then I imagined. 

After a day had passed and nothing changed, I wrote them an email through the pages with their help resources. And received no answer in about a week. Yet it was written that I should receive an answer in 3 -7 ??? Days so it was okay. Maybe I would receive an answer. But I didn’t in 4-5 days. Then I moved my mind from the issue, almost forgot for some days.

One morning I woke up and I had just received a notification that someone had favourited one of my products. And it was a product from the suspended store. Checked the store and it was back up. And I had views from the day before, too. Wow. So they had unsuspended it at some moment and I didn’t even know. I guess their team is very busy answering emails and they do what they can do with the time they have. Or maybe robots do some of the stuff? I have not the slightest idea. Glad things sorted out anyway. 

Update

Today, two days after, Etsy sent me an email in which they apologised and told me they had reinstated my store. But I knew that already. Which is fine. :)