1. Accepting These Terms
This document and the other documents that we reference below make up our house rules, or what we officially call our Terms of Use (the “Terms” for short).
The Terms are a legally binding contract between you and Etsy. If you live in North America or South America, the contract is between you and Etsy, Inc.; if you live elsewhere, the contract is between you and Etsy Ireland UC, a subsidiary of Etsy, Inc. We’ll just refer to Etsy, Inc. and all of its subsidiaries collectively as “Etsy”.
Please note that Section 11. Disputes with Etsy, contains an arbitration clause and class action waiver. By agreeing to the Terms, you agree to resolve all disputes through binding individual arbitration, which means that you waive any right to have those disputes decided by a judge or jury, and that you waive your right to participate in class actions, class arbitrations, or representative actions. *
This contract sets out your rights and responsibilities when you use Etsy.com, Pattern by Etsy, our mobile apps, and the other services provided by Etsy (we’ll refer to all of these collectively as our “Services”), so please read it carefully. By using any of our Services (even just browsing one of our websites), you’re agreeing to the Terms. If you don’t agree with the Terms, you may not use our Services. Agree with us? Great, read on!
2. Those Other Documents We Mentioned
Etsy’s Services connect people around the world, both online and offline, to make, sell, and buy unique goods. Here’s a handy guide to help you understand the specific rules that are relevant for you, depending on how you use the Services:
Our House Rules for Everyone. If you use any of our Services, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and our Anti-Discrimination Policy.
Our House Rules for Sellers. If you list any items for sale through our Services, these policies apply to you. You can read them here.
Our House Rules for Buyers. If you use our Services to browse or shop, these policies apply to you. You can read them here.
Our House Rules for Third Parties. These policies apply to intellectual property owners, Etsy API users, affiliates, and anyone requesting information from Etsy.
Search and Advertising Ranking Disclosures. This is a concise summary of how Etsy organises search results and advertising results that could include Your Content.
All of these policies are a part of our Terms, so be sure to read the ones that are relevant for you. Of course, you’ll still want to read the rest of this document because it applies to everyone!
2. Those Other Documents We Mentioned
Etsy’s Services connect people around the world, both online and offline, to make, sell, and buy unique goods. Here’s a handy guide to help you understand the specific rules that are relevant for you, depending on how you use the Services:
Our House Rules for Everyone. If you use any of our Services, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and our Anti-Discrimination Policy.
Our House Rules for Sellers. If you list any items for sale through our Services, these policies apply to you. You can read them here.
Our House Rules for Buyers. If you use our Services to browse or shop, these policies apply to you. You can read them here.
Our House Rules for Third Parties. These policies apply to intellectual property owners, Etsy API users, affiliates, and anyone requesting information from Etsy.
Search and Advertising Ranking Disclosures. This is a concise summary of how Etsy organises search results and advertising results that could include Your Content.
All of these policies are a part of our Terms, so be sure to read the ones that are relevant for you. Of course, you’ll still want to read the rest of this document because it applies to everyone!
3. Your Privacy
We know your personal information is important to you, so it’s important to us. Our Privacy Policy details how your information is collected, used and shared when you use our Services. By using our Services, you’re also agreeing that we can process your information in the ways set out in the Privacy Policy, so please read it here.
Both Etsy and sellers process members’ personal information (for example, buyer name, email address, and delivery address) and are therefore considered separate and independent data controllers of buyers’ personal information under EU law. That means that each party is responsible for the personal information it processes in providing the Services. For example, if a seller accidentally discloses a buyer’s name and email address when fulfilling another buyer’s order, the seller, not Etsy, will be responsible for that unauthorised disclosure.
If, however, Etsy and sellers are found to be joint data controllers of buyers’ personal information, and if Etsy is sued, fined, or otherwise incurs expenses because of something that you did as a joint data controller of buyer personal information, you agree to indemnify Etsy for the expenses it occurs in connection with your processing of buyer personal information. See Section 9. Indemnification (or What Happens If You Get Us Sued) below for more information about your indemnification obligations to Etsy.!
4. Your Account
You’ll need to create an account with Etsy to use some of our Services. Here are a few rules about accounts with Etsy:
A. You must be 18 years or older to use our Services. Minors under 18 and at least 13 years of age are only permitted to use our Services through an account owned by a parent or legal guardian with their appropriate permission and under their direct supervision. Children under 13 years are not permitted to use Etsy or the Services. You are responsible for any and all account activity conducted by a minor on your account, and there may be commercial products or services available that you may want to consider to limit a minor’s access to material online. For more information, see Etsy’s Minors Policy.
B. Be honest with us. Provide accurate information about yourself. It’s prohibited to use false information or impersonate another person or company through your account.
C. Choose an appropriate name. If you decide to not have your full name serve as the name associated with your account, you may not use language that is offensive, vulgar, infringes someone’s intellectual property rights, or otherwise violates the Terms.
D. You’re responsible for your account. You’re solely responsible for any activity on your account. If you’re sharing an account with other people, then the person whose financial information is on the account will ultimately be responsible for all activity. If you’re registering as a business entity, you personally guarantee that you have the authority to agree to the Terms on behalf of the business. Also, your accounts are not transferable.
E. Protect your password. As we mentioned above, you’re solely responsible for any activity on your account, so it’s important to keep your account password secure. Here’s a Help article on how to make your account more secure.
F. Let’s be clear about our relationship. These Terms don’t create any agency, partnership, joint venture, employment, or franchisee relationship between you and Etsy.
This detailed Help article should answer any questions you may have about registering an account with Etsy.
5. Your Content
Content that you post using our Services is your content (so let’s refer to it as “Your Content”). We don’t make any claim to it, which includes anything you post using our Services (like shop names, profile pictures, listing photos, listing descriptions, reviews, comments, videos, usernames, etc.).
A. Responsibility for Your Content. You understand that you are solely responsible for Your Content. You represent that you have all necessary rights to all parts of Your Content and that you’re not infringing or violating any third party’s rights by posting it.
B. Permission to Use Your Content. By posting Your Content through our Services, you grant Etsy a license to use it. We don’t claim any ownership to Your Content, but we have your permission to use it to help Etsy function and grow. That way, we won’t infringe any rights you have in Your Content and we can help promote it. For example, you acknowledge and agree Etsy may offer you or Etsy buyers promotions on the Site, from time to time, that may relate to your listings
C. Rights You Grant Etsy. (Here’s the legalese version of the last section). By posting Your Content, you grant Etsy a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, sub-licensable, perpetual license to use, display, edit, modify, reproduce, distribute, store, and prepare derivative works of Your Content. This allows us to provide the Services and to promote Etsy, your Etsy shop, or the Services in general, in any formats and through any channels, including across any Etsy Services, our partners, or third-party website or advertising medium. You agree not to assert any moral rights or rights of publicity against us for using Your Content. You also recognise our legitimate interest in using it, in accordance with the scope of this license, to the extent Your Content contains any personal information.
That sounds like a lot, but it’s necessary for us to keep Etsy going. Consider these examples: if you upload a photo or video of a listing on your Etsy shop, we have permission to display it to buyers, and we can resize or enhance it so it looks good to a buyer using our mobile app; if you post a description in English, we can translate it into French so a buyer in Paris can learn the story behind your item; and if you post a beautiful photo or video of your latest handmade necklace, we can feature it – often along with your shop name and shop picture – on our homepage, in one of our blogs or even on a billboard to help promote your business and Etsy’s.
D. Reporting Unauthorised Content. Etsy has great respect for intellectual property rights, and is committed to following appropriate legal procedures to remove infringing content from the Services. If content that you own or have rights to has been posted to the Services without your permission and you want it removed, please follow the steps listed in our Intellectual Property Policy. If Your Content is alleged to infringe another person’s intellectual property, we will take appropriate action, such as disabling it if we receive a report of infringement that complies with our policies, or terminating your account if you are found to be a repeat infringer. We’ll notify you if any of that happens.
E. Inappropriate, False, or Misleading Content. This should be common sense, but there are certain types of content we don’t want posted on Etsy’s Services (for legal reasons or otherwise). You agree that you will not post any content that is abusive, threatening, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, or otherwise offensive or in violation of our Prohibited Items Policy, Community Policy, or any part of our Terms. You also agree not to post any content that is false and misleading or uses the Services in a manner that is fraudulent or deceptive.