Etsy bans Duplicate Shops

Crafts and vintage marketplace Etsy has put a new policy in place that bans duplicate shops being opened by sellers.

It seems that merchants have been opening multiple, near identical shops on the site in an attempt to game search and draw in more buyers. Etsy have banned the opening of duplicate shops but that doesn’t mean you can’t have multiple shops if they’re selling distinct items. Sounds a bit confusing to me.

Here’s the policy and the salient paragraph copied below:

“Although you may have more than one shop on Etsy, you may not have duplicate shops on Etsy. Duplicate shops list the same or similar types of items in more than one shop, often using the same or similar photographs, descriptions, pricing, and branding (including shop banner, avatar, about page, and shop policies).

Duplicate shops create confusion for our buyers and do not promote transparency about your business and the items you make. In addition, duplicate shops distort search results, which can create an unfair advantage over other sellers and an unfavorable experience for buyers.”