Etsy, Bitchin' and Batch Editin'

A customer since 2008.
More than 4,000 positive feedbacks. Over 6,000 sales.
Store shut down without warning.


Thurday, Apr 26, 2012


7:33 AM 
Hello, This is Sarah from Etsy's Marketplace Integrity Team. We have been in touch recently about a violation of Etsy's rules in your shop. Either we have not heard from you or it appears you have not made the changes needed to comply with our rules. Therefore, some of your account privileges have been suspended until further notice. Your items are not properly categorized at this time. All scanned vintage items must be listed in the Supplies category. All of your listings are currently inactive and can be found here: http://www.etsy.com/your/listings/inactive If you are interested in making these changes, go to the Inactive Listings section of your shop and either edit or remove any listings that do not meet our policies. Once you have done this, let us know. We will review the listings, and if they have been brought into compliance, we will be happy to reactivate them. In the mean time, your shop will remain closed. Additionally, you may not post in the Forums. You may read our policies here: Terms of Use: http://www.etsy.com/policy/terms DOs and DON'Ts: http://www.etsy.com/policy/dosdonts Let us know if you have any questions about this. Best, Sarah Etsy Marketplace Integrity http://www.etsy.com/policy/dosdonts ____ 
 This message is a private conversation between you and Etsy. Please respect this confidentiality and refrain from distributing this communication without permission from Etsy. If you feel this message was sent to you in error, please delete it and let us know. Thank you.


7:53 AM

Sarah,

I made the corrections you pointed out to me. Sorry if I did not reply. I broke my arm in January and I have been going through some excruciating physical therapy to get the use of my shoulder/arm back. I have been meaning to use the batch edit tool that another place offers. But again, it's been all I can do to keep up with adding a couple new items per day.

Trishia

7:58 AM
Sarah, with my items de-activated, I don't think I'm going to be able to use the batch edit program. Checking each individual listing, when I have over 500, will be quite a time-consuming task when there are only a handful that might possibly be mislabeled --- and I have indeed corrected the couple you pointed out to me.

Is there any way that you can reactivate my shop so I can go through that batch edit program. I really wish Etsy offered its own batch editing feature:(

Thanks in advance,

Trishia

1:13 PM 
Hello,

Have you reviewed all listings in your shop? The examples we gave were only suggestions, you must be sure that ALL scanned items are listed as supplies, not just the ones we linked in our communication.

Please confirm that you have adjusted all of your listings. 

Best,
Sarah
Etsy Marketplace Integrity

1:23 PM 

Sarah,

I started checking some of my listings manually and made a couple of clairificiations (old listings before the new formatting). I don't have time to open and check more than 500+ listings. IF you reactivate my shop, I will use a batch edit program and do it ASAP more productively:) Trishia

1:37 PM
Dear Mr. Wong,
Are you the same Julian Wong quoted in the Wall Street Journal article "Busted by the Craft Cops"?
The reason I am writing is because my shop (over 3 years and 4,000+ positive feedbacks) has been closed without warning by someone named Sarah.
I am appalled that Etsy would close a shop so arbitrarily. We are talking about someone's livelihood here.
I had received an email from Sarah a couple of weeks ago. One of my items was miscategorized. I fixed it. I received another email and likewise fixed that item. When the new formatting began, I was confused on a couple of points, which I have since then tried to correct. However, Etsy does not have a batch editing feature and I am going through horrendous physical therapy for a broken arm .... so .... going back and manually checking each of my 500+ listings was not top of my list for a simple thing like category or date.
Can you please re-activate my listings? I'll get the darn 3rd party app to batch edit and find the few miscategorized items.
Merci beaucoup,
Trishia Jacobs
FrenchKissed


2:16 PM
Hello,

Unfortunately Etsy does not have a batch edit tool at this time. We hope to have something like this in the future, but at this time you must edit your listings one by one.

Best,
Sarah
Etsy Marketplace Integrity

2:25 PM
Sarah,

I made the corrections you requested. What leads you to believe I have more incorrect listings? IF I do, it is a simple mistake and not like I am trying to deceive anyone. To ask me to manually edit 500+ listings is not reasonable.

I'm asking you once more to reactivate my shop and, based on my 3 years as as seller with 4,000+ positive feedback, accept my word that I will get the third party batch editing program and double check all my listings. Trishia

4:37 PM
Hello Trishia,
Thanks for writing me. Please note that accurate tags make for better search results, which helps the entire Etsy community. 
I've re-activated your listings. You should let me or the Marketplace Integrity team know when you've fixed your categories. If we don't hear from you, we may have to suspend your account.
-Julian


10:46 PM
Julian,
I'm having issues with the Blugrin Betsi batch editing site. So I've emailed them for support. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll get a reply and can get any errors taken care of. 
Trishia

11:28 PM
Julian,
All items have been updated via Betsi with category as "supplies, scrapbooking, digital college sheet."
Trishia

Friday, April 27, 2012

7:07 AM 

Julian Wong
re: Etsy Integrity Team

Thanks Trishia. I'm glad the editor worked for you and you were able to make the tag changes.-Julian 

In the meantime, there continues to be resellers of  Made in China clothing , resellers who have been named and called out on forums (most recently in February) who are STILL selling on Etsy, that renown "handmade marketplace." 

BUT worry not because the world is a safer and better place because Trishia got all her digital scans categorized accurately (thanks to Betsi, an Australian company with wonderful customer service, answering my desperate emails within 30 minutes of being sent).

Dear Etsy: Integrity runs both ways. Your replies to me were cold and threatening. And no, I'm not writing to you first to get your permission to share emails you wrote that show what jerks you are.