Our House Rules

Get to know Etsy's legal terms and policies

Our House Rules

Pattern Policy

Pattern by Etsy allows you to grow your brand by creating a standalone website that will appear outside the Etsy marketplace. This Pattern Policy explains how the tool works and the rules you need to know to be successful.

This policy is a part of our Terms of Use. By using Pattern, you're agreeing to this policy and our Terms of Use.

1. Eligibility
2. Fees
3. Your Domain
4. Your Pattern Content
5. Checkout
6. Legal

1. Eligibility

You can create a Pattern site if you're an existing Etsy seller and you're registered to use Etsy Payments. You can turn Pattern on or off in the Pattern section of your Etsy Shop settings.

2. Fees

Subscription Fees

You're welcome to try Pattern for free for 30 days. Your free trial will begin when you select "Start Free Trial" from the Pattern dashboard. After 30 days, you can continue to use Pattern at the monthly subscription fee of $15.00 USD. Your first month's statement will be prorated, based on when you signed up, and you'll be charged the full subscription fee for each subsequent month you use Pattern. Your subscription fees will appear on your Etsy statement. You can learn more about your Etsy statement here.

Automatic Renewal

Your subscription fee will automatically renew on the first of the month at 12:01am Eastern Time. You can turn your subscription off at any time by clicking "cancel Pattern" from the Pattern settings on your dashboard or from your payment account. If you switch off the service after your subscription renews on the first of the month, you'll still be responsible for paying the full subscription fee for that month.

Other Fees

You will also be responsible for a payment processing fee when a buyer pays through Etsy Payments.

You can choose whether a listing appears only on your Pattern site or on both your Pattern site and your Etsy shop. Pattern-only listings (that is, listings that you only make available on your Pattern site) do not incur listing or transaction fees and never expire. You can choose to make a Pattern-only listing available in your Etsy shop at any time. When you list an item on both your Pattern site and your Etsy shop, you’ll be responsible for Etsy’s regular listing fee, and your listing will expire after four months.

See our Fees & Payments Policy for more information.

3. Your Domain

If you already have your own domain name, you can use that for your Pattern site.

You can also register a new domain for your Pattern site on the Pattern section of your Shop settings. Through your Shop settings you’ll be able to register a new domain name through OpenSRS, which is an affiliate of our partner, Tucows Inc., a third-party domain name registrar accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). If you use this service, you will also be subject to Tucows' registration agreement and privacy policy. The cost of the registration will depend on the domain name you choose and whether you purchase WHOIS protection. The registration charges will appear on your Etsy statement for your convenience under "Domain registration fee."

If you register a domain name through OpenSRS, the registration will remain in effect for one year. Tucows will send you emails reminding you to renew your registration 30 days prior to the domain expiration date, five days prior to the domain expiration date, and three days after the domain expires. For more information on the fees for domain names registered through OpenSRS, please see this Help article.

Automatic Renewal

You have the option of enabling automatic renewal (which we refer to as "auto-renew") for domain names you register through OpenSRS. If you choose to auto-renew your domain, OpenSRS will automatically extend your domain registration for an additional one-year period on each anniversary of your domain’s expiration date. If you have purchased WHOIS protection for your domain and enable auto-renew, your WHOIS protection will automatically renew each year as well. You will be charged for the domain registration fee when your domain is renewed and the registration charges will appear on your Etsy statement under "Domain registration fee." You can disable auto-renew at any time through your Pattern dashboard. If your account is suspended for 30 days or longer, your domain will no longer auto-renew. You must manually renew the domain or turn auto-renew on again when your account is in good standing.

To learn more about your rights and responsibilities as a domain name registrant, please review ICANN's Registrant Educational Materials and Registrant Rights and Benefits page.

If you don't have a domain name and don't wish to purchase a new one, we give you the option of using your Etsy shop name in a domain name at no additional charge. The domain would appear like this: YourEtsyShopName.patternbyetsy.com.

Your domain name has to comply with our Terms of Use (so it can't be offensive or infringe on someone's intellectual property rights) and our Trademark Policy (so it may not use any trademarks owned by Etsy without our permission). We can't guarantee the availability of any particular domain name. If your domain name is the subject of a legal action, you agree to indemnify and release Etsy from any liability.

4. Your Pattern Content

When you set up your Pattern site, your content – including your shop images, About section, Shop Policies, and listings – will be populated automatically from your existing Etsy shop and profile. You’ll have the opportunity to customize some Pattern content to match your unique branding. Click here to learn more.

You have the option of listing your items for sale just on your Pattern site or on both Pattern and Etsy. All listings, including Pattern-only listings, must comply with our Prohibited Items Policy. Items listed on both Pattern and Etsy must also meet the marketplace criteria outlined in Etsy’s Seller Policy.

You understand that you're solely responsible for your content. You represent that you have all necessary rights to your content and that you're not infringing or violating any third party's rights by posting it. You also understand that you're solely responsible for any content uploaded by visitors to your Pattern site and for removing such content from your Pattern site to the extent required by our policies or the law.

By posting your content to your Pattern site, you grant Etsy a license to use it. This license is just like the one you grant to Etsy when you post content to your Etsy shop. For a detailed description of the rights you're granting to Etsy and what we can do with your content, please see Section 5 of our Terms of Use. Rest assured, we don't claim any ownership of your content; we just have your permission to display it and use it in different ways that help us promote your business and Etsy's.

5. Checkout

When a buyer purchases an item from your Pattern site, they'll be directed to a checkout page on Etsy's site that will highlight the name of your Pattern site. Buyers can complete the transaction by signing into their Etsy account, registering a new Etsy account, or proceeding without an Etsy account through Guest Checkout. Click here to learn more about Guest Checkout.

You are solely responsible for posting and complying with your own shop policies. We encourage you to use the shop policy tools offered by Etsy to provide clear information to your buyers.

You are also solely responsible for complying with any legal requirements that you may be subject to and you agree to release Etsy from any liability related to your use of Pattern and any domains associated with your Pattern site.

For example, in accordance with applicable laws, you may be required to post and comply with your own privacy policy for your Pattern site. See Etsy’s Privacy Policy for more information. If you receive a notice involving intellectual property infringement through your Pattern site, it is your responsibility to respond in accordance with the law. If Etsy receives a notice involving intellectual property infringement for content on your Pattern site, we will act in accordance with our Intellectual Property Policy.

We reserve the right to remove any content from your Pattern site or to prevent you from using Pattern entirely, if your site violates any of Etsy's policies or if we're required to do so for legal reasons.

Last updated on Jul 2, 2018