Why We Decided to Stop Selling on Etsy

As a small business owner, selling on online marketplaces is a great way to reach a wider audience and increase sales. One of the most popular platforms for handmade goods is Etsy. However, our experience with Etsy's bots has left us with no choice but to stop selling our products on the platform.

The problem started when our product listings were being removed from Etsy's page without any clear reason. The determinations that we received were vague and general, and did not apply to our situation. We reached out to Etsy support, and while they were able to reinstate our listings upon our reaction, it was a time-consuming and frustrating process. During this off time, we lost potential customers, and our sales suffered.

We understand the importance of keeping online marketplaces safe and free from fraudulent activity. However, Etsy's bots seem to be removing legitimate product listings without proper explanation or reason. This has caused a great deal of stress and uncertainty for us as small business owners.

We believe that as a marketplace, Etsy should do better to ensure that their bots are properly identifying fraudulent activity while leaving legitimate product listings untouched. The lack of transparency and clear communication from Etsy's support team has made it difficult for us to continue selling on the platform.

As a result, we have decided to stop selling our products on Etsy altogether. We value our time and energy and believe that it is better spent on other e-commerce platforms where we can focus on growing our business instead of constantly worrying about our product listings being removed without proper explanation.

We hope that Etsy takes the necessary steps to improve their bot system and support team communication in the future so that small business owners like us can continue to thrive on their platform. Until then, we will be focusing on other online marketplaces that offer a more transparent and reliable experience for both sellers and buyers.

While we appreciate the opportunities that online marketplaces provide for small businesses, our experience with Etsy's bots has left us with no choice but to reduce and eventually stop selling our products on the platform. We hope that our decision will serve as a cautionary tale for other small business owners and that Etsy takes the necessary steps to improve their system.