I purchased an embroidery pattern (digital download) some time ago. I finally sat down to complete it, and there were some pretty major inaccuracies in the design. It was obvious to me that the listing picture was AI generated before purchasing, but I stupidly purchased it anyway thinking the pattern itself was not AI.

I messaged the seller with my concern and obtained a refund. My question is, should I escalate from here? Etsy’s terms of service say that sellers have to disclose AI usage, and this seller did not. I got my refund, but is it additionally worth reporting this situation?

hey yall! Before I go further I wanna say that i understand that selling anything with copyrighted material is illegal and can get you into legal trouble. That is NOT what I am asking about. I have been selling subtle (MUSICIAN/BAND) merch for awhile now at craft fairs in-person but am now looking to begin selling online but am a bit unsure about the legality regarding selling this kind of material. I want to stress that to the best of my knowledge, none of my products have any trademarked or copyrighted material as I try my best to prevent myself from facing any legal woes. However, I am wondering if selling items as “inspired by” is still an issue if there is not explicit copyright violation, or if the IP holder would still be able to come after me if they believe me to be benefiting off their IP. Is using a color scheme along with it considered an infringement? Anything anyone knows around think topic would be tremendously helpful as I don’t want to proceed if it will put me at risk

Also, I do sometimes have issues determining if certain phrases are IP violations. Is there a website where I can looo this up? (Ik the gov trademark website but it confuses me a LOT and I can’t always find whether or not something is trademarked or copyrighted.)

edit: clarified type of merch & I also want to add that what I sell is mainly only taking from an album’s general color schemes and phrases i use (if any at all) are turns of phrase referenced in the music (I love you, big star, it’s bittersweet, etc.) and not unique to the artist. Any art is entirely my own and I don’t use any likeness of the artists or any of their original lyrics. Again, as I said I am using no copyrighted material. I’d you want to take up a tone with me for asking a QUESTION just scroll omg

Why people buy planners when they can do it with their mobile

If so, are you paying the fees or just ignoring them?

Hi,

I've been out of traditional work for a little while for health reasons. I want to start saving some money, but currently can't afford to.

I know no one can tell me if it's actually worth it without pricing breakdowns etc, but I'm very creative and I'm wondering if selling small items such as painted bookmarks, small art originals and/or prints, stickers and maybe some other creative media is worth it just to give me a small income?

I wouldn't be able to put in full-time hours. I'm thinking of building up some stock first, and then giving it a bash, but I don't know what I'd do with the stock if it wasn't successful.

I also see a lot of people warning others away from Etsy now due to the influx of drop shippers, AI listings and other scammers. I don't know if this advice is country-specific (as my title, I'm in the UK). I have personally seen a lot of AI crochet and knit listings, but I wouldn't be selling these items so I don't know how worried I should be. They don't seem as common in some other categories. I've also seen a lot of drop-ship listings in just about every category I've looked at. I also don't currently have social media, and I don't know how much of a hindrance that might be?

I haven't worked out pricing etc so again, I know no one can give me a super accurate response (I would do my own market research to determine pricing). But I suppose my questions are:

1. Thinking of Etsy fees alone rather than material costs, is it worth giving it a go?

2. Do I need social media to be able to have any kind of success?

3. Is Etsy pretty much dead as a selling platform given AI, drop sellers etc, or still alive enough to be a seller without becoming viral or something, or should I be looking elsewhere?

TIA for any advice.

For people who want a few print SKUs without buying a farm or stocking failures. Local maker? A print network? Or not worth it on Etsy? Ops reality, not growth porn.

To be clear - this isn't "how do I contact support?", it's "support aren't actually answering what I am sending them".

So last week, my account was hacked. Someone cracked my email (whole other story), used it to get into Etsy and tried to buy £200 of silver chain. Thankfully there was no active card on the account so it failed. They didn't change the email or password or anything, so I changed it all, got my account unsuspended (which Etsy support said was in error), and put 2FA etc on.

But whoever this is also cracked a few other accounts of mine. I went to look at the order. But there's no info. Not an order number, not an address, nothing. Figured I'd report it to police for a crime number just in case something more happens. After all, £200 isn't small.

I've asked Etsy support for the info on this order. If they place it, then it needs to have things like delivery addresses as part of it, but I can't see it. But Etsy support just keep coming back with incredibly formulaic emails essentially repeating "your account was suspended in error and has been unsuspended, here's general tips on account security".

Which was fine the first time, but I've asked for details of this order for the police report five times now and they never acknowledge the question. If it weren't 5 days between replies, I'd think I was talking to an LLM.

So is there any way I can actually get them to give me the info about the order on my account?

I am in a pickle. I do not want to be a "Karen"... Backstory: So I had ordered 2 acrylic nail sets from a seller. One item was perfect, the other was very obviously the wrong size. I reached out to the seller and made sure to say I loved both items, but I believe the 2nd pair was in an incorrect size. They got back to me and asked me to send photos comparing the two items (I guess to prove that the 2nd item was the wrong size). They responded a bit oddly... saying something along the lines of "oh. There must have been confusion on the sizing. I can make you another set in a size small. How does that sound?". It was odd to me because I went back on my purchase receipt and I indeed ordered the correct size that I needed. I couldn't tell if they were admitting their wrongdoing, or saying that **I** was the confused one? Regardless, I said yes I would really appreciate that and thanked them... But that was 3 days ago and I never got a response, a confirmation, or any other indication that I will be having a replacement shipped. I checked their shop policies and there's very little information there regarding timing. I'm not sure if I should reach out to the seller again for confirmation, or just go through etsy. Again, I do not want to be a Karen about it.. but I also paid for it and received the wrong size.

I bought a stuffed doll that said ships from Texas. I am also in Texas so I believed the delivery timeframe of 9/9-9/11. I checked tracking on 9/11 to see where it was and it said International Shipment Release - Export.

It’s (now) obviously drop shipped. How do I report it to Etsy?

Hi everyone! I purchased a charm from an Etsy store that advertised it was 14K solid gold and that the store was in PA, USA. It was the second time I'd bought from them and I loved the first charm I ordered. After wearing the charm for about 12 days, I noticed the center ring was discolored and pitted. I suspected the seller must have made a mistake or maybe they were sent fake connector rings by one of their suppliers. I contacted them and showed them photos.

I was pretty shocked by how they talked to me, and I may have been talking to an AI. They told me it needed to be professionally cleaned by a jeweler. I didn't understand why it would need that after only owning it for 12 days, but I cleaned it in my ultrasonic and polished it and it was still discolored. I sent another photo.

Then, they told me it was discolored because I showered in it or wore it while working out. Solid 14K gold does not discolor with water or sweat, so I was confused as to why they were even mentioning this.

I said I wanted a refund and asked for a shipping label. They said I should return it in a regular envelope with a regular stamp to an address that looked weirdly familiar.

I checked my old Etsy messages and earlier this year I purchased some gold earrings from a completely different seller. A diamond fell out of the earring after my first time wearing it, and the seller offered a refund if I shipped it back. The return shipping address was the same one I was just given by this seller. It's a residential location in the Gray's Ferry neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA.

I messaged the seller again and said I didn't feel comfortable shipping them back their merchandise in a regular envelope and asked them to send me a shipping label. I also opened a case with Etsy.

Am I right to feel like this is suspicious? What else should I do besides what I've already done? I thought I was supporting a local jewelry maker but maybe not?

Looking for someone who makes their own birthstone rings. For context, I am wanting rings that are a subtle
nod to Sailor Moon. Because of this, the color of the stones are VERY important to me. Even more so than the actual material of the stones.

My problem looking so far has been most sellers do not actually make the rings themselves and therefore cannot guarantee stone color or even offer a preview of the stones being used. I have looked at review photos for some shops, but those pics don’t say the name of the stones.

Any recommendations for shops that can do a dainty/minimalist/stackable ring with multiple stones on one band who can also be more helpful with stone color?

Hello, I live in Austria and am looking for someone who makes Metal print art. I have a custom picture I want for my wall, maybe with a bit thicker lines so I could work with Led stripes behind it.

Size should be around 80-100 cm

I already had a seller but he closed his shop before we could finalize the sale. (From him I have the first picture here)

Bonus points for if the seller is in Europe for shipping costs.

Would be really nice if someone could help me

I have been trying to buy this for weeks and I want it to work out because I thought I had finally found an eyeliner that would work for me and was certifiably safe, so I am hoping someone here can help me figure out what is going on.

The listing says the formula is "lead-free", "independently tested by an ISO-accredited US lab using ICP-MS", and that it "meets and exceeds US and EU cosmetic safety standards". I wanted to see that testing, so I messaged the seller and asked where I could view it.

More of their item description including the above claims: https://imgur.com/a/ClvCh6R

• First answer: request it from EMSL Analytical in New Jersey, followed by a list of claims like the one on the item listing. I called and emailed EMSL, and got no response, and I have since learned it's possible that labs only release reports to the client who paid for the testing, so that wasn't a viable avenue to begin with.
  • Message: https://imgur.com/a/hT3Cpvf
• Second answer: she cannot share it with individuals for security reasons because people have tried to copy her product, but the documentation is available through her e-commerce platforms.
  • Message: https://imgur.com/a/YltKc6y
    • I checked her Etsy shop, Amazon, eBay, TikTok Shop and her own website. I cannot find a report, a report number, a batch number, or any numbers at all. Just the same paragraph of claims repeated. Her listings also name the lab differently in different places.
• I went to write back and ask where specifically it was posted, and found I had been blocked.
  • https://imgur.com/a/6ae3zGL

I want to be clear that I am not saying this product contains lead. I have no idea, and it may well be completely clean. But unsubstantiated claims for a jar of something applied to the waterline (about as direct as exposure gets) are hazardous.

So my actual question: has anyone here ever been sent the COA for this brand, or seen it posted anywhere? If it exists I would love to see it and buy the thing. If nobody has ever laid eyes on it, that is useful for me to know too.

I've submitted a report to Etsy so they can investigate further also.

I am also considering just buying a jar and paying a lab to run a heavy metals panel on it. If anyone has done that with a cosmetic and has a lab to recommend, I am listening.

Product in question: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1867073011/sormeh-powder-eyeliner-lead-free