Etsy Updates Services Policy; Allows Tailoring, Repairs & Modifications Previously Prohibited
Sellers are discovering more unannounced changes to Etsy's House Rules with a major overhaul of the Services policies now allowing certain tailoring, repair and modification offerings which had previously been expressly prohibited.
The changes went into effect June 10, the same day as Creativity Standards updates, raising eyebrows about what new announcements Etsy may be rolling out soon.
As always, sellers are encouraged to read the entire updated policy carefully, but here's a side by side comparison highlighting some key changes.
Disclaimer: comparisons are made using both automated and manual methods and are provided for informational purposes only - no warranty of completeness or accuracy is expressed or implied and users are advised to do their own due diligence.
Modification Services
By far the biggest change in this update is the fact that Etsy is now allowing certain modification services which had previously be explicitly prohibited.
Old Version (listing Modification Services under Prohibited Services):
Prohibited Services
Modification Services
Modification services that alter a buyer’s pre-existing item are prohibited on Etsy. Examples of prohibited 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
New Version (listing Modification Services under Allowed Services):
Allowed Services...
...Modification Services
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
The item supplied by the buyer must comply with all other Etsy policies (e.g., Prohibited Items Policy, Adult Nudity and Sexual Content Policy, Discrimination and Hateful Content Policy.
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.
Both the Buyer and Seller purchase protection program policies have also been updated to include that language about the buyer assuming the risk for items sent to sellers for modification.
Digital Services
Several new digital services have been explicitly added to the list of services allowed to be sold through the platform.
Old version:
Custom Writing and Design
In general, custom writing and design may be sold on Etsy. The final item should be sent to your buyer as an attachment via email or Etsy Messages.
New version:
Digital Creative Services
In general, custom writing and design, logo/brand design, music/audio production, video editing, and illustration/artwork sold as digital files may be sold on Etsy. The final item should be sent to your buyer as an attachment via email or Etsy Messages.
Divination Readings & Metaphysical Supplies
Etsy is expanding on language in the policy to make it even more clear that you cannot sell divinations, spells or items which claim certain outcomes and is narrowing the scope of metaphysical supplies allowed to be sold.
Old version:
Divination
Divination-related items are allowed on Etsy if they meet our Seller Policy. Tarot, psychic, or other divination readings must include a tangible good, such as photos of the tarot spread, audio/video of a reading, or text of the reading. The tangible good may be delivered through Etsy Messages or email.
Supplies related to spell work, such as herbs, crystals, and spell books, may be sold in their appropriate categories. However, spell supplies may not offer metaphysical outcomes, which we consider prohibited services (see below).
New version:
Divination Readings that Do Not Advertise Metaphysical Outcomes
Divination-related items are allowed on Etsy if they meet our Seller Policy.
Tarot, psychic, or other divination readings must include a tangible good, such as photos of the tarot spread, audio/video of a reading, or text of the reading. The tangible good may be delivered through Etsy Messages or email.
Items related to spell work, such as herbs, crystals, and spell books, may only be sold if they qualify per another category (e.g., a vintage spell book or a crystal that a seller handpicked from nature). Resold commercial spell work items do not qualify as ‘Seller Sourced’ craft supplies on Etsy.
And under Prohibited Services, Etsy has added additional language stating that "spellcasting, including attunement, binding, activation and similar services" are also not allowed.
Prohibited Services
This update also includes a new section with a more explicit list of services which are not allowed to be sold through Etsy:
Prohibited Services
Certain Curated Lists
- Lists that aggregate personal information (e.g., contact details, emails, or websites)
- Wholesale vendor lists or customer lists
- Lists of prompts that can be used to create content with generative AI
Professional Services
- Personal therapy, tutoring, training, coaching, and similar services
Membership Subscriptions
- Access to streaming platform subscriptions (e.g., Netflix or Spotify)
- Access to software or app membership subscriptions (e.g., Adobe)
- Access to gaming subscriptions (e.g., Xbox game pass)
Virtual Gaming Assets
- In-game virtual items, accounts, characters, power-leveling or boosting services, access codes or licenses
Social Media Services
- Followers, likes, reviews
Etsy also added a list of prohibited listings created only for the purpose of transferring money such as:
- Collecting tips or gratuities
- Donations, raffles, or other types of “crowdfunding”
- Charitable donation listings where the only item for sale is a digital download
- Add-ons with no physical item associated (e.g., express shipping)
- Gift cards
- Referral codes
That part about prohibiting add-ons for Express Shipping could be particularly problematic for non-US sellers, as Etsy seller and ecommerce consultant Cindy Baldassi points out in her in-depth breakdown of these new policy changes:
Cindy Lou Who 2
This is a big one: under “Listings Created for the Purpose of Transferring Money”, Etsy includes “[a]dd-ons with no physical item associated (e.g., express shipping)” as no longer acceptable. There are a lot of these listings on Etsy, because Etsy’s options for shipping upgrades are minimal at best.
Shops can have unlimited types of upgrades in the cart for domestic shipping, and also for “international”, but that is it. You cannot charge different rates for different international countries. Most buyers on Etsy are in the US - totalling 75% at the end of 2024 - so non-US sellers are most disadvantaged by this new rule.
We can only effectively offer shipping upgrades to the US if we don’t sell to other international destinations. You can put “USA” in the upgrade name, but people in other countries can still select it, and some definitely select it. (Ask me how I know!)
This is also a problem for any business offering shipping upgrades in the cart on Etsy, because many customers miss the option entirely. They then ask you to let them pay for faster shipping after they have already placed an order. (Again, ask me how I know.) Etsy has now eliminated the only way its merchants can charge a buyer more for shipping after the sale.
Our only alternative would be to send the buyer an offsite invoice for the upgrade amount, but Etsy has a rule against taking orders offsite. Would shipping upgrades count? It is hard to say.
These changes come at the same time as updates to Etsy's Creativity Standards also went into effect, with some major impacts in certain categories like 3D printed or digital items and generic supplies.
Liz Morton
Baldassi lamented the fact that sellers were not given advance notice before the new policies went into effect and started being enforced and wondered if perhaps it's a sign that Etsy has some major new feature announcements planned that may have been delayed for some reason, saying:
I really am not sure what to think, given that it seems millions of listings were banned on June 10, between this update and the Creativity Standards revisions. It’s very sad that no one was given any warnings first, but there do not seem to be a lot of removals just yet.
Probably Etsy is going to announce these major policy changes at some point, potentially along with explanations or new features that will help shops adapt. It’s possible those explanations and/or software changes have been delayed for some reason, and the new Policies went live on schedule anyway. So keep your eyes peeled for something new soon.
What do you think Etsy has planned with these new changes and how will they impact your business? Let us know in the comments below!
