Etsy requires real product photographs as it tightens AI listing rules
Etsy tightened its rules on AI in product listings, requiring an unedited photograph of the real item, with exceptions for certain product types. Additional images must still accurately represent what buyers receive. Patterns, recipes and instructions must be the seller’s own work. AI-generated artwork remains permitted with disclosure, while automatically generated listings are prohibited.
Artificial Intelligence··Evening
The listing must show the actual item
Etsy, the online marketplace for craft and design products, tightened its rules on AI use in listings. Under the updated policy, a listing must contain an unedited photograph of the real item against a real background, while allowing exceptions for some digital goods and products customized, made to order or printed on demand. Etsy recommends a clear, realistic first image. Supplementary pictures may use AI-assisted editing while accurately representing the item supplied.[1]
Etsy bars AI-generated functional instructions
Functional content faces an authorship requirement: sellers must create their own patterns, recipes and instructions instead of using AI-generated versions. They must also display the actual result obtained from that material. A generated example picture cannot replace the result of following the instructions or pattern. Etsy also prohibits listings created automatically by bots. AI-generated artwork remains allowed when sellers disclose how it was made.[1]
Misleading images can leave the seller responsible for a refund
If Etsy detects a potentially AI-generated image during upload, it prompts the seller to indicate whether AI was involved. A buyer receiving an item materially different from the listing may be entitled to a refund at the seller’s expense. The changes follow complaints about difficulty distinguishing real products from generated pictures and about sellers’ work appearing alongside misleading listings. These details come from The Verge’s account of the policy update.[1]
