Etsy Updates Trust & Safety Practices To Improve Enforcement of Handmade Policy

Etsy has announced a series of significant updates to its Trust & Safety practices. The company is taking proactive steps to reinforce the authenticity and integrity of its platform, ensuring that sellers and buyers continue to enjoy a unique shopping experience.

Enforcement of Handmade Policy: One of the most significant changes involves a doubled-down focus on enforcing Etsy’s Handmade Policy. So far this year, the company has reported a 112% increase in the removal of listings that violated this policy. Etsy plans to further intensify its enforcement efforts in the coming months.

The Handmade Policy violations will now also prevent sellers from earning the coveted Star Seller and Etsy’s Picks badges, ensuring that only sellers whose items align with the essence of Etsy receive recognition.

Human Reviews: To ensure accuracy in enforcement, Etsy is incorporating more human reviews into its processes. When a listing is flagged for potential Handmade Policy violations by automated controls, it will remain active but not appear in search results and recommendations.

This allows Etsy’s specialists time to conduct a thorough review, which typically takes less than 24 hours. This approach aims to reduce the chances of erroneous listing removals while maintaining the marketplace’s standards.

Etsy acknowledges the inconvenience that listing removals can cause to sellers’ businesses and aims to minimize such disruptions. As part of this initiative, the company plans to enhance transparency by informing sellers if their listings have been temporarily removed from search results for review.

Improving Integrity: In addition to its commitment to address existing policy violations, Etsy is also taking steps to prevent non-handmade items from infiltrating the platform. For sellers, the company is emphasizing its policies during the listing process, providing clearer guidance on acceptable item types and listing images.

Additionally, Etsy is scrutinizing third-party companies that integrate with its platform through the public API to prevent the listing and selling of mass-produced, policy-violating items. Affected sellers will receive direct communication with transparent information about any changes.

Etsy – Building A Trustworthy Marketplace

Etsy’s announcements regarding its Trust & Safety practices signify a strong commitment to upholding the authenticity and integrity of its marketplace.

The reinforced enforcement of the Handmade Policy, increased human reviews, and efforts to prevent non-handmade items from entering the platform all contribute to creating a more secure and trustworthy shopping environment for both buyers and sellers.