Etsy sends a mass "warning" email. Are listings with this keyword dangerous?

It is learned that according to EcommerceBytes, on March 29, many Etsy sellers reported receiving warning emails from the platform. The email stated that the platform prohibits the sale of any products that may mislead consumers, including falsely advertised cashmere products. This sudden email caused panic among many sellers.

Etsy suddenly received a "warning" email, and sellers were in a panic

According to the email content published by the seller in the forum, Etsy wrote in the email:

This is a message from the Trust & Safety team at Etsy. We are providing you with information about our policies that may apply to one or more listings in your store.

Our Terms of Use prohibit sellers from posting any false and misleading content, or using sales in a way that could defraud or deceive buyers. Etsy prohibits the sale of products that may mislead buyers, including any cashmere products that are mislabeled. For example, a product listing that is not made of cashmere cannot be promoted as containing cashmere ingredients.

Although the platform has not taken any action against your store or listing at this time, we reserve the right to remove any listing that violates the platform policy. Please ensure that your listing does not contain misleading statements and delete any listing that does not comply with our policies.

As a marketplace, Etsy cannot provide any form of legal advice. Additionally, if you are unsure about the cashmere content of a product, you can choose to have the product tested.

Many sellers thought that this email from Etsy came out of nowhere, and they were not sure whether it was sent to a specific seller or to all sellers. If it was sent to a specific seller, the email did not specify which listing triggered the warning, so sellers panicked, fearing that the platform would suddenly remove their store listings.

The email specifically emphasized cashmere products, but some sellers who received the email said that they had never used the word "cashmere" in their stores or listings, so there were endless discussions among sellers about why they received such emails.

One seller said that some of the products they sell use cashmere as a descriptive term, such as "Cashmere Musk" and "Cashmere Blue". Another seller speculated that the word "Camel" might also be a factor that triggered the warning. Another seller said that it might be a competitor who filed a complaint about a product in his store.

But in general, sellers expressed dissatisfaction with Etsy's confusing email, believing that Etsy's email starting with "Etsy's Trust and Safety Team" was threatening and condescending, while the information in the email did not specify where the specific problems were.

Cashmere products are constantly being cracked down on, and Etsy and Amazon have both been complained about

It is learned that the problem of false advertising of cashmere and camel hair products on e-commerce platforms has always attracted attention, and Etsy and Amazon have been complained about this issue. Therefore, the platform will be relatively stricter in supervising such products.

In February this year, the Cashmere and Camel Wool Manufacturers Association (CCMI) filed a lawsuit against Etsy, accusing the platform of false advertising of advertising products claiming to be 100% cashmere and that the actual purchased products were not 100% cashmere.

The association tested five items purchased on Etsy that claimed to be 100% cashmere and found that none contained cashmere, but were made of acrylic fibers and materials such as polyester, nylon or rayon.

In December 2021, CCMI initiated similar litigation against Amazon and CS Accessories, and as part of the settlement of the litigation, CS Accessories (the supplier of many of the disputed garments) agreed to a final judgment permanently prohibiting it from promoting or selling any type of garment that was falsely labeled as cashmere.

These complaints have prompted the platform to tighten supervision on products containing keywords such as "cashmere" and "camel hair". Therefore, after receiving the warning email, Etsy sellers are naturally worried about whether their store listings violate the platform regulations. But more importantly, sellers need to review and modify the listings in a timely manner to avoid being suddenly removed from the shelves and affecting traffic.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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