Etsy has made some major changes to its policies, including what sellers can sell and what services they can offer, according to online seller and consultant Cindy Baldassi (aka CindyLouWho2). She’s been breaking news over the past week as she pores over and analyzes the policy changes, which Etsy had yet to announce until this evening.
In a post on June 16, Baldassi highlighted a section of Etsy’s House Rules on Services called Modification Services, which has been moved from “prohibited services” to “allowed services.” She said that after 15 years of prohibiting modification services, “this is such a surprising move that I am struggling to believe there isn’t a catch.”
Etsy’s Services policy explained what’s now allowed:
Modification services that alter a buyer’s pre-existing item. Examples of modification services include:
Tailoring a buyer’s item
Restoring or repairing a buyer’s item
Photographic retouching or color correction of a buyer’s image
Altering a buyer’s jewelry
Etsy further explained the risk that buyers undertake:
When a buyer sends an item to a seller for modification, the buyer assumes risk for that item both during shipping and while in the seller’s possession. Under the Etsy Purchase Protection Program, Etsy may reimburse only the amount paid for the order if a qualifying issue arises—not the value of the buyer’s original item. See Etsy’s Purchase Protection Policy for more details.
But Baldassi noted that although the policy changed, the site lacks the infrastructure for sellers to offer the services. She further warned sellers to wait for Etsy to announce and explain the revisions.
On June 12, she had broken the news on her Patreon space that Etsy had changed its Creativity Standards on June 10, again without Etsy announcing the changes. She expanded on the changes to standards in a post on LinkedIn on June 14.
We asked Etsy today for confirmation and any additional information or commentary about the changes Baldassi reported on, and received the following reply:
“We shared an update with the seller community this evening to clarify the policy adjustments.”
The link provided went to a page with an “Access Denied” message, but sellers who are signed in to the site may be able to read it. Etsy’s spokesperson shared a screenshot of the announcement, which covered the changes to Creativity Standards, (but not to the Services house rules).
Basically, Etsy said it made a few adjustments to the language in its Creativity Standards and added new Help Center content. “We have not introduced new policy categories-we’ve added more detail to a few existing policy areas-like craft and party supplies-where we commonly see violations and confusion when listings are removed. For example, we wanted to make it clearer that you must use your own original designs, rather than reproducing designs that you did not create yourself…”
Stay tuned on the changes to Services house rules.