We've heard all kinds of opinions on @Etsy ranging from it's the place to be to sell your POD and custom made crafts to stay away at all costs. As with most opinions you should take them with a grain of salt. So when it comes to this post containing my experience on Etsy, your mileage will vary.
Just 2 weeks ago I opened an Etsy store and started listing some of my POD and custom made stickers and coffee mugs. In total I had listed 13 products and was getting a few views but no sales which I expected. Then yesterday I logged on to add a few products and I was greeted with this wonderful message.
They didn't provide a reason though they did say to look for an email that would explain the reason/s and what I needed to do to fix whatever the issue was but like many have stated in the multitude of Youtube videos I have since seen on the subject, that email never came. Now I sit and wait for Etsy to respond to my email to them all while my store is offline.
In my case this isn't that big of a deal as I had just started but what about those that have been selling and making money for awhile? All of a sudden they have no store and no idea why. In my case I wasn't given any warnings or told to make changes, they just shut me down. Not good Etsy.
So what are my options? Well for me I have decide to kick Etsy to the curb and open up shop here. It will certainly take more work to get up and running and traffic will be much harder to get but at least I am not at the mercy of a 3rd party with little or no recourse if they get a wild hair up their butt about my ship.
Anyone else out there been shutdown by Etsy? If so were you able to fix whatever was the problem? Did Etsy work with you or did they just leave you hanging? Let me know in the comments.