Overview
- Etsy announced the policy change Thursday and put it into effect immediately for new and existing listings, adding the rules to its Seller Handbook.
- The ban forbids AI-created “functional guides” such as knitting patterns, cooking recipes, and assembly instructions unless the seller can show a tested finished result and at least one unedited photo of the actual item.
- Etsy also bars listings generated entirely by bots, will show pop-up prompts when images look AI‑made, and holds sellers liable for refunds if delivered items are materially different from what was advertised.
- The company will still allow AI-assisted visual art when sellers play a clear creative role and disclose AI use, and it plans new reporting tools and detection tech to identify misleading AI imagery.
- The move responds to craft sellers’ complaints of steep sales drops from low‑quality AI listings and could push sellers to make and photograph physical results, shift to disclosed AI workflows, or leave the category, while testing enforcement at scale.