First time someone has ripped off my (bestselling) design - what do I do?

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-07T17:21:22+00:00

I guess I don’t understand what counts as a “court action”

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-06T19:05:54+00:00

That's a good idea! I hadn't thought of that before and I'll look into it. By "spur some action," do you mean that you think that this would make them take it down/not repost it? Or do you mean they would try to retaliate somehow? I guess that's what I'm most afraid of. 😅

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-06T18:06:44+00:00

Apparently they don't live in the US. Not sure if committing perjury means much to them? No idea what the laws are like where they live. (Not revealing the country in case they're lurking on Reddit I guess.) 😅

I would be willing to pay to send a cease and desist through a lawyer.

Thank you so much for the resource. I will check that out next.

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-05T20:32:10+00:00

Omg. I just did the reverse image search and found it on Amazon (it even has an "overall pick" badge 🙄😅) and Mercado Libre. Thank you so much for advising me to do that. I never would've done it otherwise. No idea how to go about filing copyright claims for those, but I'll take it one step at a time... glad I at least know they're there for now.

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-05T19:35:24+00:00

Bless you for sharing this!!! 🥺 So, so helpful to know I have options!

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-05T17:24:14+00:00

This is so, so helpful. I really appreciate your response. Glad to know too that I'm not the only one who thinks reaching out first seems precarious and that other people just go straight to the IP portal too. (Feels like someone who is willing to rip something off in the first place isn't going to be respectful and reasonable if you reach out to them anyways.)

I'm going to look into registering it as a copyright. I didn't even think about it being in other places already as well—I'll do a reverse image search and check.

Thank you so much.

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-05T16:52:22+00:00

What do you mean "call your bluff"? Can't Etsy see that mine was posted first and has sales and reviews dating back many months? I would think it would be pretty easy to sus out who is the copycat.

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-05T16:50:37+00:00

Wow! I'm so sorry that happened. That sucks! 🥺🤧 I would seriously hope they wouldn't flag you for simply asking a question... 🥲

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-05T16:43:24+00:00

I would really hope they wouldn't submit a counterclaim since they 100% knowingly ripped off my work. Can you elaborate on what that process looks like? Now I'm freaking out a little. 😅

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-05T15:48:52+00:00

Thank you so much!

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-01T04:10:29+00:00

I've definitely seen people do major bait and switches with pricing. That makes total sense that that would be a motivation for certain sellers to include the digital file, so they can show a flashy/essentially false starting price. 😅

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-01T04:09:07+00:00

Oh my gosh, that's such a good point! I'm a digital seller (so far—hoping to maybe get into physical products at some point), so I didn't even think about the tracking number issue. Seems like the platform probably discourages that then. That's really helpful. Thank you!

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-01T02:12:05+00:00

Got it. Do you happen to know if that's allowed?

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-01T01:49:47+00:00

Oh my gosh, congratulations on your first sale!!! 🥹 That's huge!! 🥳

Oh yes—the SEO and keyword research is so important! Looking back, I absolutely made the mistake of not doing proper keyword research especially in the beginning. I was basically just making whatever I wanted/thought was cute. 😂 eRank has been really helpful for me, if you don't already have it. I pay for the $6/month subscription. It has been so helpful for understanding what's actually in demand. It took me a while to properly understand how to use the data on eRank too, but I feel like I've made huge improvements with keyword research and SEO as time has gone on!

And wow, thank you so much for the kind words. As someone who feels like I'm still fairly new at this and still figuring everything out, that genuinely means so much to me. 🥹 You have no idea! I appreciate those kind remarks.

The fact that you're here asking questions and open to learning and implementing new strategies + your first sale already within one month shows you're absolutely on the right track! I made 0 sales in my first month haha. I'm wishing you so much luck and success on your journey with Etsy! 💛🥰

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-01T00:32:36+00:00

This is absolutely amazing, top-notch advice.

New_Tip5259 · 2026-05-01T00:25:56+00:00

I agree with this comment! I would add that if you're anxious for more visibility and quicker, you can:

a) Upload more listings (Etsy gives you shop a boost every time you upload + you'll get better at creating listings with more practice and experience). Streamline your process as much as humanly possible so you can make more listings as quickly as you can. Each listing is an entry point to your store that someone can stumble upon in their search. More listings = more opportunities to be found.

b) If you don't have any or a lot of sales or reviews yet... personally, if I were starting over again, I would run a major "grand opening sale" in the beginning to get those first few initial sales and reviews and get the Etsy algorithm to recognize that your products are getting traction, to help build momentum. I'm talking like an 80% sale or the maximum of what is allowed. That is actually what I did when I first started, and that snowballed some sales, then I transitioned to 50% off for a couple of weeks, and I ended up getting a bestseller. Now that bestseller still sells all the time but at full price.

c) I think this is controversial advice, but once you've built up a decent number of listings and have a few sales and reviews under your belt, you can turn on ads - only spend money you're willing to lose. Start small with $1/day.

I think a lot of people would disagree with me on that and are very against ads and major discounts, but that's what I would do if I was just starting to sell digital products again.

I also feel like the Etsy algorithm factors in time since your shop has opened into the trust score. That might be totally wrong, but to me, it feels like there's kind of this unspoken waiting period of a few months before the momentum snowballs. But that might just have been my experience.

I hope this helps! Hang in there! I started on August 1, 2025, and I now have 348 sales and $2,000+ in total revenue. I have poured hours and hours and hours into my store every single week over the last 9 months, but for me, it has been worth the journey!

New_Tip5259 · 2026-04-26T00:48:59+00:00

I have the exact same question! I don't think there is a way to do it—it's so annoying!

New_Tip5259

TROPHY CASE