API Terms of Use (Effective from 1st December 2022)

This policy was published on 19th October 2022 and will take effect on 1st December 2022. The previous version of this policy can be viewed here.

This agreement (“API Terms”) between you and Etsy, Inc. and Etsy Ireland UC (collectively, "Etsy") applies to your use of Etsy’s public Application Program Interface (“API”), alone or in combination with the site, apps, and/or any other services provided by Etsy as defined in Etsy’s Terms of Use (“Etsy Terms”) and Privacy Policy. By using the API, you’re agreeing to these API Terms, Privacy Policy, and the Etsy Terms (collectively, the “Terms”).

Please note that Section 11. of Etsy’s Terms of Use, contains a binding arbitration and class action waiver. By agreeing to the API Terms and/or by using Etsy’s API or Services, you and Etsy agree to submit all disputes between us exclusively to binding, individual arbitration and not to sue in court before a judge or jury, except in the limited circumstances described in the Etsy Terms of Use.

We’ll refer to Etsy.com as the “Site”, Etsy's mobile applications as the “Apps”, and Pattern by Etsy, Etsy Payments, the Etsy API, and our other services, together with the Site and Apps, collectively as the “Services”. These API Terms also incorporate by reference Etsy’s Intellectual Property Policy. While Etsy owns our API, members own their own content.

1. Your Limited Licence to Use the Etsy API

If Etsy approves your API access application (which is in Etsy's sole discretion), Etsy grants you a limited, personal, non-sublicensable, non-transferable, non-exclusive, revocable licence to access and use our API to create and run websites and applications that comply with our policies. Etsy reserves the right to charge for access to, or use of, the API in the future. In addition, we may revoke your API access or your account privileges (including your related accounts) for any reason, including, but not limited to, your violation of the Terms, as discussed in more detail below. If Etsy enters into a business agreement involving our API, that agreement’s terms supersede these API Terms.

We know your personal information is important to you, so it’s important to us. Our Privacy Policy details how your information is used when you use our Services. By using our Services, you're also agreeing that we can process your information in the ways set forth in the Privacy Policy, so please read it.

2. API Agreement Acceptance and Changes

Transparency is important to us, so we require that you provide accurate registration data when you sign up to our API Terms, and that you keep your registration information up-to-date.

Etsy reserves the right to change these API Terms at any time. If we believe that the changes are material, we’ll send an email to the address associated with your account or message you through Etsy Messages. You consent to receiving these non-marketing messages, and it’s your responsibility to review these changes.

In order to continue using the API, you must accept the updated API Terms. If we provide notice to you of a material change in the API Terms that require you to affirmatively accept the change, and if you fail to accept the updated API Terms and other applicable policies within 30 days of notice of these updates, your access to the API may be suspended or terminated. For all other updates, your continued use of the API 30 days after we’ve notified you of an update will constitute your acceptance of the updated API Terms.

3. Your Privacy, Intellectual Property, and Security Obligations

When using our API, you may interact with user-generated content and users’ personal information. Remember, Etsy does not own user-generated content – Etsy's members do. Moreover, you have a strong obligation to protect user personal information.

Your application is your responsibility. This means you must keep your application, site, and any Etsy user data secure. It also means you must comply with all applicable laws, including intellectual property, privacy, and commercial laws. You also must comply with all of Etsy's policies, including our Privacy Policy and Intellectual Property Policy. You agree that Etsy and its affiliates have no responsibility or control over the content that you and your application’s users upload or transmit through Etsy’s API.

You must be transparent with our members by providing terms of service and a privacy policy in your application, which must be prominently displayed and comply with all relevant legal requirements. This includes applicable data protection and privacy laws that govern the ways in which you can use Etsy member information. Such laws may require that you take appropriate security and data protection steps protecting users, including but not limited to posting, and complying with, your own privacy policy, which must be accessible to users of your application and compatible with this policy and Etsy’s Terms of Use.

You are also required to comply with our access security requirements, such as two-factor authentication, wherever available. It is your responsibility to inform Etsy of any changes to your registration data by updating your account or contacting developer@etsy.com. We may get in touch with you if your account information is incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate, and we reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the API if you fail to provide us with accurate and complete contact information. Remember that your API and account security is your responsibility. You must immediately contact Etsy at security@etsy.com if you discover any security concerns or believe your account has been compromised.

You are also a separate and independent controller of personal information under EU law. See Section 11 of Etsy’s Privacy Policy for more details. If you fail to maintain a transparent and sufficient privacy policy, your access to the API may be suspended or terminated.

4. Use of the API

We expect your use of the API to be in the spirit of Etsy. We reserve the right to refuse service or access to the API at any time and for any reason or no reason, including if you or your users violate our Terms of Use, including but not limited to our Prohibited Items Policy Intellectual Property Policy, or Privacy Policy. If Etsy determines that your application, your content, or your processing of data are not in the letter or spirit of the Terms, we may take action against your account, such as terminating your API access, suspending your account privileges, or terminating all of your related accounts.

Etsy is always changing, so the data you access through the API may become outdated quickly. You will not display listing content more than 6 hours older than information on the Site or Apps. You will not display any other Etsy content more than 24 hours older than the content displayed on our Sites. Once you’ve accessed, stored, or displayed Etsy content, you will not cache or store it longer than is reasonably necessary to provide service to your application’s users.

Depending on the API version you access, you may be required to meet certain technical requirements, including but not limited to providing requested information in connection with your applications as set forth in the Developer API Specification, as updated from time to time.

You grant Etsy a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, sub-licensable, perpetual licence to use, display, edit, modify, reproduce, distribute, store, and prepare derivative works of any information you provide in connection with the API to enable the API to Etsy members and you, including but not limited to displaying such information to Etsy members in connection with your applications and services, and for Etsy’s uses and purposes set forth in Section 6 of Etsy’s Privacy Policy.

You’re solely responsible for your use of the API. If you’re offering your application to other Etsy members, you will provide support, including by prominently displaying an email address on your application and responding to enquiries from members or Etsy in a timely manner.

We expect your use of Etsy’s API to be a positive experience for everyone involved. Absent separate express written consent from Etsy, and where applicable, members, you may not:

• Try to replicate Etsy, scrape Etsy data, duplicate content on Etsy, or circumvent our checkout process including, but not limited to, exporting content on Etsy for the purpose of connecting to a third party checkout process.
• Circumvent any security features or technical limitations of the API.
• Disrupt the flow or user experience on Etsy, such as by modifying the look, feel, or content of the Site, Apps, or Services; distributing a virus; or other harmful computer code.
• Exceed reasonable request volume or reasonable number of API keys. By default, members are allocated a set number of calls per day per the Etsy API developer site, and Etsy may grant you higher call limits or further restrict your calls to the API at our discretion. You may not create additional API keys to overcome these limits.
• Sell, lease, or otherwise transfer our API or member data to any third party.
• Use API or member data with a third-party advertising or marketing platform, whether or not aggregated, and whether or not tied to a specific member.
• Use the API to collect, scan, or otherwise request Etsy content for analytics, machine learning, licensing, or content removal unless expressly authorised by us.
• Modify the API in any way.
• Transmit spam, unsolicited marketing communications, or any other content that violates Etsy’s policies.
• Misrepresent your affiliation with Etsy, such as by failing to comply with Section 6 of these API Terms.
• Upload, post, collect, or store member ID and password combinations.
• Upload, post, collect, store, share, transfer, or process personal information or data about Etsy members unless specifically and affirmatively authorised by such member with appropriate notice, and only to the extent compatible with your terms of service, your privacy policy, and the Terms.
• Reverse engineer or access internal or legacy APIs or data feeds.
• Use automated systems designed to access, analyse, or scrape our website, including our API, unless expressly authorised by us.
• Otherwise attempt to harm or damage Etsy or Etsy’s members.
• Combine your application or website code with the API in a way (such as using a software license) that is incompatible with the Terms.
• Use the API in a manner that presents a safety or security risk to Etsy or its users.
• Use the API in a manner that is inconsistent with data protection principles including subject access requests, where available to data subjects.
• Attempt to use the API in a way that is not transparent with Etsy or users regarding the purposes behind your processing of user data; for example, you may not combine Etsy user data with other sources of data about them without the consent of Etsy and the users.

5. Commercial Use

In general, we permit reasonable commercial uses of the API. Examples of permitted, reasonable commercial uses include:

• Charging users a fee for parts of your application that don’t integrate with our API, such as advice, consulting, or engaging in the sale of your own products or services not competitive with Etsy.
• Displaying advertising in your application, so long as you are not misleading or abusing users; you comply with all applicable advertising-related laws, disclosures, and industry standards; and the advertising is not using, or collecting information tied to, member data obtained via the API.
• Any use that is expressly authorised by Etsy.

Prohibited, unreasonable commercial uses include (but are not limited to):

• Selling or giving any third party the API, member content (that is not your own), or access to the API or content.
• Charging a fee to use or access any part of your application that integrates with the API and that Etsy provides to members free of charge.
• Using the API primarily to drive traffic to other non-Etsy websites or services.
• Using the API in a manner unrelated to seller or buyer activity, such as to determine information about Etsy’s internal systems or to perform marketing analytics, without the permission of Etsy.
• Using the API to obtain information on, track, or surveil Etsy members or their content in a manner that would otherwise require (i) valid legal civil or criminal process, or (ii) express permission from the affected members.
• Using the API to assist in creating databases of identifying information for any government or government sponsored entity (irrespective of any stated national security purpose) to abolish any human rights, civil rights, or civil liberties on the basis of race, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, or national origin, or otherwise in a manner that, in Etsy’s view, would violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including without limitation Articles 12, 18, or 19.
• Using the API in any manner that violates Etsy’s Anti-Discrimination Policy.
• Using the API in a manner that violates the privacy of Etsy or Etsy’s users.

If you’re not sure if your application has a permitted commercial use or if you exceed the daily call limit, please contact us at developer@etsy.com.

6. Etsy's Trademarks

Remember to keep it original. You agree not to use Etsy’s trademarks, logos, signature colours, layout, text, or other materials in a way that suggests endorsement from or affiliation with Etsy. Similarly, you can't create or use a mark that’s confusingly similar to our trademarks. Your use of Etsy’s marks is subject to our Trademark Policy. Since this application is your work, Etsy’s marks must be less prominent than your own. If you’re publicising or sharing your application, you may say that it was created using Etsy’s API, but you cannot state or imply that your application is endorsed or certified by Etsy.

To prevent confusion, we require you to display this notice prominently on your application: "The term 'Etsy' is a trademark of Etsy, Inc. This application uses the Etsy API but is not endorsed or certified by Etsy."

7. Indemnification and Release of Etsy

When you use the API, you (and your successors in interest) agree to indemnify, defend and hold Etsy (including its officers, directors, employees, agents, subsidiaries, partners, affiliates, and licensors) or members harmless against any and all claims, costs, losses, damages, liabilities, judgements and expenses (including reasonable lawyers’ fees) that may arise from or are related to (i) your use of, or access to, the API, or (ii) your negligence or willful misconduct (“Claims”). You further agree not to sue Etsy or our members, nor assist others in doing so, and fully release the same, from any intellectual property, data breach, security, or data protection based claims related to your application to the extent it employs the API, or related to your use of, or access to, the API (including how your application interacts with Etsy, the Site, the Apps, or the Services).

For clarification, this paragraph relates to your use of and access to the Etsy API, not to unrelated content of your application or any Etsy shop you may control. For more information about limitations of liability (the things you can’t sue us for), click here.

As noted above and in Section 11 of Etsy’s Privacy Policy, you are an independent data controller under EU law. However, if you are found to be joint data controllers with Etsy of user personal information, and if Etsy is sued, fined, or otherwise incurs expenses because of something that you did as a joint data controller of user personal information, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold Etsy harmless against any such claims, costs, losses, damages, liabilities, judgements and expenses (including reasonable lawyers' fees) in connection with your processing of user personal information.

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Last updated on 07 Jun, 2023