“Is Etsy’s API support now fully automated? No human review, instant bans, no responses anywhere?”

[Dunespawn]

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Question / discussion

I’m trying to understand what’s happening with Etsy’s API approval and support process.

I’ve built a full application that uses Etsy’s OAuth flow, follows the API Terms of Use, includes all required legal/compliance pages, and implements the correct redirect, scopes, and security requirements. Everything is implemented exactly according to Etsy’s documentation.

Despite this, my app was instantly banned without any explanation. I created multiple apps to test whether it was a configuration issue, and each one was banned immediately before activation. No human review appears to be involved.

I’ve attempted every support channel Etsy lists:

Developer email → no response

Partner Program → no response

GitHub Q&A → dozens of unanswered posts from other developers

The Q&A section shows many developers experiencing the same problems:

instant bans

invalid_target OAuth errors

invalid_scope errors

commercial access requests ignored

no upgrade options

no human replies

This makes me wonder if Etsy’s API approval and support process is now fully automated, with no human reviewers involved in API key approval, ban appeals, or compliance checks.

Can Etsy staff clarify whether any human review still exists for API approval or ban appeals?

I’m asking because legitimate apps appear to be auto‑denied or auto‑banned, and no support channels seem to be staffed.

[turboturtleD]

If you just need personal access for your own shop, there is a new process and class of app that is supposed to be automatically approved. If you are looking for normal or commercial access that seems to be hard to get currently.

[Dunespawn]

I actually do have personal access — that part works fine. The issue is that the moment I request commercial access, the system auto‑bans the entire app instantly. And once that happens, it also invalidates the personal key tied to the same app, forcing me to create a brand‑new personal app just to keep testing.

So I’m in the same situation you’re describing: commercial access appears completely locked down, and the automated system bans apps so fast that it doesn’t seem like any human review is involved at all.

I’ve followed every requirement in Etsy’s documentation, implemented OAuth correctly, added all compliance pages, and provided detailed use‑case explanations. But one commercial request triggers an instant ban every time — no explanation, no appeal, no human response from any support channel.

It really does feel like the commercial approval pipeline is running on an automated filter that’s currently rejecting everything, even legitimate apps.

[npiasecki]

You're not the only one, and I keep getting a generic response parroted back to me. I don't believe that I'm speaking to a human or that Etsy is actually approving any commercial apps at the moment, and I struggle to see how I can be more detailed in a 500-character text field about the app's use case.

It's certainly not a reasonable way to do business or an acceptable way to treat a human being who has spent several days implementing an app on behalf of an Etsy client and making a good faith effort to comply with all of the policies, terms, and conditions, and then to receive a generic "nope, banned, go away" response without any detailed explanation or opportunity to explain or correct what may have gone wrong or have been misinterpreted.

Writing integration software was uneventful for a long time, but over the past five years or so, I've noticed that access to APIs is becoming increasingly difficult for legitimate small businesses to obtain and maintain. The practical reality is that participation in modern ecommerce increasingly depends on maintaining access to a handful of dominant digital platforms.

Of course, not all actors requesting access to APIs should be granted that access, and these companies have a right to police their platforms and ask why and how the data is being used. But based on my experience and what others are posting recently, that's not what's happening here: it's just thumbs down, go away.

When dominant platforms can arbitrarily deny access without explanation or appeal, they effectively determine who can and cannot participate in the American economy. It's not right, but it is what it is.

[Dunespawn]

I completely agree — it’s incredibly frustrating to spend a lot of time following every guideline, building the app correctly, and making sure all the compliance pieces are in place, only for the entire thing to get auto‑banned without a single human taking even a moment to look at it. When you’re doing everything by the book and still getting shut down instantly, it really feels like the review process isn’t actually staffed anymore.

[turboturtleD]

I do recall them maybe saying that that specific workflow is prohibited. You can’t roll a personal access app into a commercial app. Likely the cause for the instaban.

[alexh-swdev]

Then this should be written down somewhere, right? Not just "someone maybe saying" ...

[Dunespawn]

There are actually two different app types on Etsy’s developer dashboard, and only one of them can ever be used to request commercial access. The “normal” app creation page will never grant commercial approval — it’s basically locked out. The only path Etsy intends developers to use is the personal app, because that’s the one that includes the commercial‑access request form.

The problem is that when you follow the correct path and request commercial access from the personal app, the system auto‑bans the entire app instantly. That ban also wipes out the personal key, so you’re forced to create a brand‑new personal app just to keep testing. It’s a loop with no way forward.

So even when you follow the exact process Etsy says to use, the commercial request still triggers an immediate automated ban. No human review, no explanation, no chance to clarify anything — just an instant shutdown.

[Dunespawn]

A lot of people think personal access is “good enough,” but it really isn’t. Personal access is extremely limited — it only lets you work with your own shop and a small subset of endpoints. Commercial access unlocks way more tools, including the scopes and endpoints needed for real integrations, automation, multi‑shop workflows, and anything that goes beyond a private internal script.

Personal access is basically a starter key. Commercial access is the full developer toolkit.

And that’s why the current situation is so frustrating. Etsy gives you two app creation paths, but only the personal app includes the commercial‑access request option. The “normal” app creation page will never grant commercial approval. So you follow the correct process, request commercial access from the personal app — and the system auto‑bans the entire app instantly.

So even though personal access works, it doesn’t give you the tools you actually need. Commercial access is the part that matters, and right now it seems completely blocked by automated bans with no human review.