Dear Etsy,

We are writing this petition to express our concern about the poor bot algorithms that are being used to detect prohibited items or drug paraphernalia on your platform. We understand that it is important to keep your platform safe for buyers and sellers alike, but we believe that innocent sellers should not be penalized for using common words such as “clip” in their listings; including but not limited to "hair clip", "carabiner clip", etc.

When a listing is deactivated by a bot algorithm, it means that it is no longer visible or searchable on Etsy, and buyers cannot purchase it. This can result in a loss of potential customers, revenue, and reputation for the seller, especially if the listing was popular or had many positive reviews. Moreover, the seller may not be aware of the deactivation or the reason behind it, and Etsy makes it impossible for a seller to contact customer service to appeal the decision, only allowing 10 days or more for it to manually be reviewed at their convenience. In some cases, the seller may even face penalties or suspension from Etsy if they have multiple deactivated listings.

We urge you to take immediate action to improve your bot algorithms so that innocent sellers are not unfairly penalized. We also request that you provide more information about how your bot algorithms work so that sellers can avoid using words that may trigger the bots.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.