Skip to main contentSkip to main content
All Etsy policies
Suspension riskPI-5 · Prohibited Items Policy

Live animals and products from protected or prohibited species are prohibited

What this rule means

Etsy does not allow live animals. It also prohibits items made from endangered or threatened species, from cat or dog parts or pelts, and from ivory or the bones of ivory-producing animals. It also prohibits items made from or containing natural animal fur, regardless of age or origin. The fur rule does not cover leather, wool, mohair, or taxidermy. The goal is to prevent harm to live, companion, and at-risk animals.

What Etsy says

Certain human and animal products are highly regulated and prohibited on Etsy due to the risk of harm to live, companion, or at-risk animals. Ivory or bones from ivory-producing animals, including tusks, elk ivory, fossilized ivory, and woolly mammoth ivory.
Read Etsy's full Prohibited Items Policy

Why Etsy has this rule

Trade in animals and animal parts can drive harm to species that are already at risk. Some of these products are also regulated by law, and the rules differ by place. Etsy's policy says certain human and animal products are highly regulated and prohibited because of the risk of harm to live, companion, or at-risk animals.

Etsy cannot confirm where each feather, bone, or tusk came from. A clear line is simpler to apply: live animals are out, and so are the named materials. For other animal-derived materials, the responsibility sits with you to know the species and be able to show where the material came from.

Common mistakes

  • Listing a live animal, such as a pet, a fish, or a hatching egg, because the buyer would collect it locally.
  • Selling jewelry or carvings that use ivory, and labeling them as antique without any proof.
  • Using bone or tusk from an animal that produces ivory, such as an elephant, and calling it plain bone.
  • Selling items made with cat or dog fur or pelts.
  • Listing feathers, shells, or bones without knowing which species they came from.
  • Writing a vague listing such as 'natural bone' that gives buyers no species or source.
  • Assuming a material is allowed because a supplier sold it to you.

Examples

  • AllowedYou sell a pet bed or collar made from fabric. No animal is for sale.
  • AllowedYou sell beadwork with feathers from a species that is not protected, and your listing names the species and your source.
  • AllowedYou sell an illustration of an elephant or a wolf.
  • AllowedYou sell sea shells from a species that is not protected, with sourcing details in the description.
  • Not allowedYou sell a live animal or offer to ship one.
  • Not allowedYou sell a pendant carved from elephant ivory.
  • Not allowedYou sell a keychain made from dog or cat fur.
  • Not allowedYou sell a piece made from a species listed as endangered or threatened.

How to stay compliant

  1. Delist any listing offering a live animal for sale.
  2. Remove listings for products containing ivory, cat or dog parts, or materials from CITES Appendix I species.
  3. If you sell animal-derived materials (feathers, shells, bones), verify the species is not protected and provide sourcing documentation in your listing.

Effort: medium · 30-60 minutes

If your suspension email cites this rule

Read the email and find the exact listing it names. Then look at the material in that listing. Do you know the species? Can you show where the material came from? If you cannot answer both, you do not have enough to defend the listing, and removing it is the honest choice.

If the material is a live animal, ivory, cat or dog parts, or an endangered species, remove the listing and check your shop for similar items. If you sell feathers, shells, or bone from species that are not protected, update the descriptions to name the species and the source, and gather the paperwork before you reply. Etsy makes the final decision. Keep your reply short, factual, and based on what you can document.

Suspended over this rule?

Generate a complete, ready-to-submit Etsy appeal for this exact violation.

Generate your appeal letter

Common questions

Can I sell items made from bone on Etsy?

It depends on the animal. Bones from ivory-producing animals are prohibited. For other bone, confirm the species is not protected and include your sourcing details in the listing.

Is antique ivory allowed?

Etsy's page shows no age exception. It lists ivory or bones from ivory-producing animals, including fossilised ivory and woolly mammoth ivory, among items that may not be sold. Do not list ivory.

Can I sell feathers or shells?

Often yes, but only when the species is not protected. Name the species, say where the material came from, and keep your records.

Can I sell live plants?

This rule prohibits live animals and does not mention plants. Read Etsy's full policy page for plants, because other rules and shipping limits may apply.

What counts as an at-risk species?

Etsy's policy refers to endangered and threatened species. Lists of protected species are kept by government and wildlife agencies and they change, so look up your material before you list it.

Related prohibited items policy rules