Bad News For Witches: Etsy Bans the Sale of Spells

If you’re looking for a handcrafted love spell or someone to put a curse on your archenemy, you’ll no longer be able to scour Etsy for your magickal needs.

The e-commerce website recently put new rules into place banning the sales of spells and hexes. Under a question on Etsy’s Help page that asks if services can be sold, it states, “any metaphysical service that promises or suggests it will effect a physical change (e.g., weight loss) or other outcome (e.g., love, revenge) is not allowed, even if it delivers a tangible item.”

A source told the Daily Dot, “Up until June, many sellers had been contacted by Etsy warning them their listings would be deleted and/or shop suspended unless they updated these kinds of things to include something tangible.” Etsy’s old guidelines actually allowed the selling of spells and hexes as long as they complied with the following:

They didn’t guarantee results, and they produced something tangible. So you could sell a tarot reading as long as it came with, say, a digital download, or a candle that could be used for casting spells, as long as you didn’t guarantee that the spell would actually work.

Etsy began shutting down shops last week causing vendors to flood the forums with questions. An admin for the website clarified, “This is not a ban on all metaphysical items. At Etsy, we believe in freedom of thought, expression, and religion. You may sell astrological charts, tarot readings, and other tangible objects, as long as you are not making a promise that object will effect a physical change or other outcome, such as weight loss, love, or revenge. Medical drug claims or claims of a medical cure are also not allowed.”

Still, some sellers claim the ban is due to religious discrimination and have started a petition to reverse the new guidelines. If the ban does remain, witches might want to take a different route to keep their businesses going, perhaps by selling through their own hosted website and doing what other companies do: expanding their brand reach through social media and cultivating a following. Who needs Etsy, anyway?

In the meantime, spell-seekers will have to get their next horny hex cast by a witch in person, unless someone starts the Witches’ Silk Road.