Ramina M.

Through various screen/store names I have been there from the beginning and I have watched the website decline from a handmade utopia to the 7th level of hell for handmade sellers.
Here is just an outline of some of the major problems (there have been dozens more than what is mentioned) that I have encountered as a seller on Etsy:
I had my *1st major* issue with them when they allowed another seller to replicate my products, to the T, sell them as her own and tell people on other websites I was the one stealing from her. I tried getting etsy to intervene since it was their selling platform that initiated the 1st attack and was being used to fraud my business and they refused. They sent me a message that basically read as "we encourage sellers to steal popular designs from others"
--My 2nd major issue was when a "front page seller" made the front page in October with an item that she stole the pictures and wording/description from me and they didnt change the item to link back to me, instead they just took it off the front page. I had to fight them for weeks to make that seller remove over 20 pictures and item descriptions stolen from my store.
--My 3rd major issue with them -and when I closed my etsy store the 1st time- is when a jewelry company stole one of my jewelry designs, copyrighted it and used etsy to send me a cease and desist. Etsy Legal team sent me a hostile and threatening email telling me not to relist the item. Etsy ALSO removed the item from my store and removed every single transaction of the item I sold in the past so I couldnt use Etsy to prove I was selling the item before "company x" stole the design.
--4th major issue. Only about 5% of what is currently offered on etsy as handmade is actually handmade. Etsy allows factory and/or slave labor products to be sold as handmade. These sellers know that certain buyer have caught onto them selling mass produced items so they set of fake locations in the united states as 'shipping from' address. Etsy support staff does nothing about this.
--5th Major Issue; My etsy store is now closed for good because I had a yet another customer try to use the feedback system to blackmail me for a refund on a product received. Etsy refused to interceded. Out of the 4,000+ positive feedback I have this ONE negative brought down my entire store rating. Not only did etsy refuse to remove the feedback they locked my account and sent me several threatening emails to remove what I have stated about them or they would not allow me to use their site to buy/sell. Once locked out of my account I could not respond to customer messages or send current open orders. Anyone whom purchased from me via Etsy checkout was not able to receive their orders. It has extended beyond etsy issue, now the company, by not allowing me to complete orders and contact customers, is giving my 16 year old business a bad name.
--6th major issue, I found out that for over a year after I closed my Etsy store, that Etsy was still using my business name, products, keywords, photos and item descriptions to lure search engine users to the site to purchase my products even though my store was closed against accepting orders. Once one of my items -no longer for sale on their platform- showed up in a search engine, Etsy website would redirect the buyer to 'similar' items

As seller who had been with etsy since week 1 of their launch and has tried to work with them and overlook their CS issues and refusal to side with sellers in the event of issues I can honestly say I will never use etsy again for buying or selling.
Etsy company is nothing but a bunch of misleading thieves. Abusing sellers and buyer alike.