Etsy AI Rules 2026: Disclosure, the Unedited Photo, and What Changes in 2027

Yes, Etsy requires AI disclosure. Sellers must say in the listing description when an item was created with AI, and AI art is allowed when the seller plays a clear creative role and is open about the process. Etsy's image rules also require at least one unedited photo of the real item against a real background, changed only by cropping, resizing, a watermark or a file format change. Etsy says it will begin proactively enforcing the image rules in early 2027 and will give notice first. Removing file metadata does not change any of these duties.

What Etsy requires

Etsy's rule is short: "Sellers must disclose within their listing description if an item is created with the use of AI" (Etsy Creativity Standards, Etsy Seller Handbook). The disclosure is text a buyer reads in the description. Nothing in Etsy's rules ties it to file metadata.

AI art itself is allowed. Etsy's October 22, 2026 Seller Handbook article says sellers can use AI when they "play a clear creative role" and "are transparent about their process", and that they "cannot misrepresent AI-generated work as handmade or entirely their own creation" (Etsy Seller Handbook, Oct 22, 2026).

What Etsy bans

• AI prompt bundles.
• AI-generated functional guides, such as patterns, recipes, plans and manuals.
• Listings generated by bots.
• Fraud, which Etsy says includes "using AI to create fake inventory or otherwise misrepresent an item" (Etsy Seller Handbook).

The first three come from Etsy's Creativity Standards and the October 22 handbook article.

The unedited photo rule

Each listing needs "at least one unedited photo of the actual item against a real background". That photo "must not be edited or changed", and the only changes Etsy allows are cropping, resizing, a watermark and a file format change (Etsy Listing Image Requirements, updated Nov 5, 2026). Etsy says the unedited photo "helps us identify potentially misleading AI-generated or AI-edited images" (Etsy Seller Handbook, Oct 22, 2026).

The exceptions

• Print-on-demand listings may use an authorized stock mockup.
• Digital downloads with no visual elements may use representative imagery.
• Made-to-order is not an exception. Those listings still need the unedited photo.

Can your other photos use AI edits?

Yes, if the result is accurate. Etsy's image rules allow AI-edited photos beyond the required one, but not when the edit changes the item's color, texture or condition, hides defects, or uses AI to change the core design (Etsy Listing Image Requirements). Disclosure in the description still applies when the item itself was made with AI.

Videos don't count toward the unedited photo

Etsy says listing videos "don't replace the required unedited photo" (Etsy Listing Image Requirements). A product reel is extra. The still photo is still required.

What happens if you don't comply

• Now: Etsy's detection gives tips when you create a listing.
• Buyers have a new report reason. Etsy says it "won't result in immediate enforcement action" at first.
• Early 2027: proactive enforcement begins, and Etsy says it will give notice first.
• Sellers "may be responsible for refunding the buyer".
• Repeated violations can lead to "shop removal".

The first four points come from the October 22 handbook article; shop removal is in the Listing Image Requirements. Etsy does not say how it detects AI images, and we don't guess. A print-on-demand company that tested the new flow reported that only a fully AI-generated mockup drew a warning, and even that listing was not rejected (Prodigi, Oct 22, 2026, updated Oct 27).

California SB 1050 from January 1, 2027

Etsy's handbook points sellers to California SB 1050, which covers AI synthetic performers in ads from January 1, 2027, and says listing images may count as ads (Etsy Seller Handbook, Oct 22, 2026). If your listing photos show an AI-generated person, read Etsy's article in full. This page is not legal advice.

Where file metadata fits: privacy, not disclosure

None of the Etsy pages above mention EXIF, IPTC, C2PA or any other file metadata. Disclosure is the words in your listing description, and cleaning a file neither meets nor avoids that rule. Metadata matters for a different reason: photos you take at home with a phone can carry the GPS location where they were shot, plus your device model and the date. Etsy does not say whether it removes that data from uploaded photos.

StripShot does not help you meet or avoid Etsy's AI rules. Use it for the location and device data in your own product photos, with the GPS and location remover. If you also sell AI images on Google Shopping or Amazon, read which AI tags those channels require you to keep first: StripShot's standard clean and the batch cleaner remove all EXIF, XMP, IPTC and C2PA data, including those tags.

What changed

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