Etsy Account Deactivated? Here’s Why & What To Do About It

Sharing is caring!

Etsy seems like a safe space away from the niche-free wilderness that is Amazon. For artists, selling their crafts on Etsy is more appealing because it makes a like-minded audience more accessible. But as lovely as that is, it is quite annoying to find your Etsy account deactivated without an explanation.

If you’ve received an email from Etsy or just found yourself unable to log in, it’s possible that your Etsy account has been deactivated. But have no fear, all is not lost.

Your Etsy account is deactivated because Etsy cannot verify your identity, or the products on your store do not meet the company’s seller policy. Check your spam folder to see if Etsy has contacted you to help solve the issue.

In this article, you will discover what you can do to fix the Etsy store deactivation problem, but first, you must learn more about the possible reasons for the problem, including:

• You tried to sell something that isn’t allowed on Etsy 
• There was an attempt to hack your account
• A legal claim was made against your business
• You didn’t respond to Etsy’s ID verification request
• There were multiple chargebacks from your customers

Read the rest of this article to discover how you can pinpoint which of these could be the cause of your store’s deactivation.

Why Is My Etsy Account Deactivated?

An annoying trend with online platforms is banning you without an explanation. We’ve had it happen on both eBay and Mercari.

Oh, and then the platforms excel at providing little-to-no dedicated support to help you get up and running again.

Etsy is no different.

The best you can do is research the possible reasons, gather intel, and plead your case. I hope this list of Etsy account deactivation reasons helps you pinpoint the problem.

1. You Were Selling Items That Don’t Meet the Sellers’ Criteria

The #1 reason most Etsy sellers get their accounts deactivated without proper explanation is that their listings don’t meet the sellers’ criteria.

In most cases, this is done by an Artificial Intelligence algorithm. Because AI isn’t perfect, you may not have listed something problematic at all…but the AI error could have deactivated your account anyway.

Reselling handmade items or products received from a wholesaler is strictly prohibited on Etsy.

Big red flag: If you added a listing less than 24 hours ago and are waking up to a deactivated account, it is most likely the listing that is an issue.

Sometimes, nude-colored clothing is wrongly seen as pornographic and flagged by the system.

2. Your Account Might Have Been Breached

Etsy doesn’t deactivate accounts to protect the buyers only. Sometimes, your account can be deactivated for your own protection.

If your account has received a suspicious login or even a poor login attempt, Etsy can automatically deactivate your account temporarily.

Unfortunately, its recovery system is not convenient, making it harder to get back such an account. But an account that is lost because of no fault of your own can be recovered.

Big red flag: If you have used a free VPN or have visited untrustworthy links, your account might have been compromised or may be seen as compromised. A login from Japan (because of VPN) can be seen as a hacker in Japan trying to get into your US account.

3. There Was a Serious Claim Against Your Etsy Business

While Etsy doesn’t officially disclose this, our experience with Etsy sellers has confirmed the following: if your business leads to a legal claim, Etsy will opt to shut you down instead of getting involved in mediation.

Going by the company’s terms of service, you are not entitled to mediation. If someone makes a legal claim (with a lawyer’s letter) directly to Etsy, citing your business, your account might be shut down without investigation.

Big red flag: If you have been selling merchandise featuring TV and movie characters, there’s a high chance that the license-holder has approached Etsy. Companies like Disney and Sony have entire firms dedicated to filing such complaints on their behalf. Unfortunately, stores taken down, for this reason, cannot be recovered.

4. Etsy Can’t Verify Your Details

A rather benign reason for getting your Etsy deactivated is that the company cannot verify the details it requires. This scenario happens to relatively new accounts so creating a new account and filling in pertinent information is a better step than attempting to recover it.

New accounts with little history don’t get enough attention from seller support.

The biggest red flag: You can conclude that your account was shut because of contradicting details if you set up your account less than two weeks ago. That’s because the verification process takes half a month, even though you can start operating immediately.

5. Your Store Crossed the Etsy Chargeback Threshold

Again, this is one of the aspects of Etsy that isn’t publicly listed. We know this because we have found the ‘chargeback threshold’ to be present in all online transaction-facilitating platforms.

From Paypal to Stripe and Etsy to Amazon, each marketplace limits the number of chargeback attempts it can facilitate per account.

If your customers regularly dispute transactions with their credit card providers, your store becomes a liability for Etsy.

This policy often helps weed out businesses with poor shipping and handling. But sometimes, an account can be deactivated because it has been the subject of a dedicated chargeback attack.

In such an attack, an undisclosed number of Etsy customers band together to make purchases and instantly flag their transactions as suspicious or unauthorized. This signals that the seller somehow gets unauthorized access to different credit cards, and Etsy terminates the account or deactivates it for an unforeseen period.

While there are other issues that can cause problems with your Etsy account (such as taking too long to ship your Etsy orders) the above are the most likely culprits if you’ve lost access to your account.

What Can You Do About a Deactivated Etsy Account?

To get your account unsuspended from Etsy, you need to determine the cause on your end and present a strong case for why it won’t happen again.

A detailed document alongside screenshots and an explanation for the breach of the Etsy terms must be included in an email to the platform’s support team.

Will Etsy Unsuspend My Account?

Etsy would unsuspend your account if the suspension was Etsy’s mistake or due to an incomplete step that has since been completed. These steps are ID verification and outstanding balance management. In rare instances, Etsy reopens stores that erroneously breached its terms.

It is much smarter and quicker to start a new Etsy store. All you need is a new email address.

Still, you can try to file an appeal with Etsy and wait for a week to see how quickly its support team is willing to respond.

Conclusion: Why Etsy Accounts Get Deactivated (and How to Get Back Up And Running Again)

From reselling others’ handmade items to receiving a suspicious login attempt, your account can be suspended for several reasons on Etsy. But it is most likely deactivated for ID verification or outstanding balance.

Checking your email (spam folder) and replying to an email from Etsy is the first step in getting your shop reinstated.