Etsy’s ban on sex products has sparked outrage from sellers

Sex toys and many other erotic items are to be banned from online marketplace Etsy, sparking backlash from sellers.

From July 29, items that reveal body parts such as female nipples or the cleavage between the buttocks after modeling will also be banned.

Etsy – which focuses on handmade, vintage and artisan items – said the new selling rules were introduced due to “evolving industry standards”.

Affected retailers have told the BBC they feel disappointed by the policy change, which they say will cause their income to drop.

“As creators who helped make Etsy what it is and who have remained loyal to their platform for years, we feel betrayed,” said Anna (who preferred not to use her last name), founder of sex toy company Simply Elegant Glass.

Etsy says the ban is about keeping users safe and reflects industry-wide trends.

“We’ve carefully crafted this policy to continue to allow for creative expression and the spirit of our marketplace while taking into account evolving industry standards,” Etsy’s Alice Wu Paulus wrote in announcing the changes.

Platforms are under pressure in many countries, sometimes supported by new legislation, to do more to ensure that under-18s are exposed to explicit content and to remove illegal or “harmful” content from their platforms.

Payment processors are also increasingly wary of working with platforms that allow sex-based commerce.

However, Anna suggested that these concerns could be addressed by clearer labeling and separation of adult product listings on Esty’s website, which she accused of “abandoning content filtering tools in favor of blanket bans”.

She has also defended the products she has made, saying that since 2015 she has focused on making glass products for adults – having learned to blow glass 18 years ago – “as a means of artistic expression”.

Anna said that a significant portion of Simply Elegant Glass’ orders were generated through Etsy, and migrating to another platform such as Shopify was like “starting over.”

The company posted an open letter to Etsy on X (formerly Twitter).

A seller of premium silicone sex toys from the Czech Republic – who did not give his name – said many businesses that relied on Etsy would see a “significant drop in revenue”.

“This means many people have as little as 30 days to find a new job because the traffic to the standalone website may not be enough,” the retailer told the BBC.

For those forced to look for work, finding alternative employment would be difficult because “putting ‘sex toy shop’ on your resume when looking for a job can close the door to many employers,” the retailer said.

Mike Stabile of the Free Speech Coalition — a campaign group that defends the rights of the adult industry — accused Etsy of “widespread censorship of the entire web” in a post on X.

But some sellers were happy to see the changes — voiced in support on Etsy forums — though they also had questions about how the new rules would be enforced.

The enhanced policy sets out the types of products that are prohibited and how allowed “mature” products should be displayed.

It also provides examples of adult toys and sex accessories that are acceptable, such as restraints, handcuffs and “sex furniture”.

The rules prohibit:

This isn’t the first time Etsy’s policy updates have sparked backlash.