Etsy Trademark Checker: How to Scan Your Listings Before Posting

You’ve got a listing ready. Title written. Tags filled in. Description polished.

But is there a trademarked word hiding in there? Something that could get your listing pulled? Something you didn’t even realize was a problem?

There’s only one way to find out before Etsy does.

Why You Need to Check Before Posting

Here’s what happens when you don’t:

Your listing goes live. Everything seems fine. Maybe it sells a few times. Then one day you open Etsy and there’s a notification. Listing removed for intellectual property violation.

If it happens again, your shop is at risk.

If it happens a third time, you might get suspended.

And here’s the frustrating part: Most sellers who get hit had no idea they were violating anything. They used “onesie” not knowing it’s trademarked by Gerber. They said “super bowl party” not realizing the NFL owns that phrase. They described their product as “velcro closure” when they should have said “hook and loop fastener.”

One word. That’s all it takes.

The Problem with Manual Checking

You could check your listings manually. Read through every title, tag, and description looking for problems.

But can you remember that “onesie” is trademarked? That “superhero” is jointly owned by DC and Marvel? That “ping pong” is a trademark and you should say “table tennis”?

There are thousands of trademarked terms that look like ordinary words. Nobody can remember them all.

And when you’re posting your twentieth listing of the day, your attention slips. You miss things.

I’ve talked to sellers who manually checked everything. They still got takedowns. Words they’d never heard were trademarked. Terms they’d used for years without problems. One bad word hidden in paragraph three of their description.

Manual checking helps, but it’s not enough.

How a Trademark Checker Works

A trademark scanner does what your brain can’t: check every word against a database of thousands of protected terms.

You paste in your listing text. The scanner reads it. Within seconds, it flags any words that could cause problems.

Not just the obvious ones like “Disney” and “Nike.” The hidden ones too. The everyday words that are secretly trademarked. The phrases you didn’t know were protected.

Some tools check just the words. Better tools also tell you:

Who owns the trademark
How risky it is (critical vs. moderate)
What to say instead

That last part matters. Knowing “velcro” is trademarked doesn’t help if you don’t know the alternative is “hook and loop fastener.”

What to Look For in a Trademark Checker

Not all checkers are equal. Here’s what matters:

Database size. How many terms does it check? Some tools only catch the obvious brand names. Better tools know about hidden everyday trademarks too.

Specific to Etsy. Generic trademark databases include things that don’t matter for sellers. You need something focused on the terms that actually get Etsy listings removed.

Risk levels. “Disney” and “Mario” aren’t equally dangerous. A good tool tells you which flags are critical versus moderate.

Alternatives. Flagging a problem without a solution isn’t very helpful. Look for tools that suggest what to say instead.

Speed. You’re not going to use something that takes minutes per listing. It needs to be fast enough to check every listing before you post.

Up to date. New trademarks get registered constantly. A tool with a stale database will miss emerging risks.

When to Use a Trademark Checker

Before posting any new listing. This is the obvious one. Check before you publish.

After writing product descriptions. Descriptions are where most hidden violations live. That casual mention of “perfect for Disney cruises” in paragraph four.

When creating tags. Tags are heavily scanned by brand enforcement tools. Every tag needs to be clean.

Quarterly audits of existing listings. Go back through your shop. Things you posted months ago might have problems you didn’t know about then.

After any takedown. If Etsy removes one listing, check everything else immediately. The same term might appear elsewhere in your shop.

What a Checker Catches That You’ll Miss

I ran an experiment last year. I had five experienced sellers manually review their listings for trademark issues. Then I ran those same listings through a scanner.

Results:

Seller A: Found 0 issues manually. Scanner found 3.
Seller B: Found 1 issue manually. Scanner found 4.
Seller C: Found 2 issues manually. Scanner found 5.
Seller D: Found 0 issues manually. Scanner found 2.
Seller E: Found 1 issue manually. Scanner found 3.

Every single seller missed something. Most missed multiple things.

The most common misses:

“Onesie” (Gerber trademark)
“Crockpot” (should be “slow cooker”)
Character names they didn’t realize were protected
Phrases they didn’t know were trademarked

These aren’t careless sellers. They’re experienced people who pay attention. The volume of protected terms is simply too large for manual checking to catch everything.

How to Use the Results

When a scanner flags something, you have three options:

1. Remove the term entirely. Often the safest choice. If you don’t need the word, cut it.

2. Replace with the suggested alternative. “Velcro closure” becomes “hook and loop closure.” Same meaning, no trademark issue.

3. Evaluate the risk level. Some terms are higher risk than others. “Disney” will definitely get flagged. A moderate-risk term might be okay in certain contexts. Use judgment, but err on the side of caution.

After fixing flagged terms, run the scan again. Make sure your changes didn’t introduce new problems.

Building a Trademark-Safe Workflow

The best sellers build checking into their process:

Step 1: Write your listing as normal.

Step 2: Before publishing, paste your title into the checker.

Step 3: Check your tags individually.

Step 4: Check your description.

Step 5: Fix any flags.

Step 6: Publish.

This adds maybe two minutes per listing. That’s nothing compared to the time you’d spend recovering from a suspension.

The Cost of Not Checking

Let’s do some math.

Average cost of a trademark checker: A few dollars per month or free for basic use.

Cost of a shop suspension:

Lost revenue while suspended (days or weeks)
Lost customers who can’t find you
Lost reviews you can’t recover
Time spent on appeals
Potential need to start a completely new shop

One suspension can cost thousands of dollars in lost business. Multiple suspensions can end your Etsy career.

A scanner costs less than a single listing earns. The return on investment is obvious.

Free Tools vs. Paid Tools

Some trademark checkers are free. Others charge subscription fees.

Free tools typically offer:

Basic brand name checking
Limited scans per day
Fewer terms in their database

Paid tools typically offer:

Larger databases including hidden trademarks
Unlimited scans
Better alternatives suggestions
More detailed risk assessments

For casual sellers with a few listings, free tools might be enough.

For active sellers posting regularly, paid tools usually pay for themselves immediately.

Either way, some checking is infinitely better than no checking.

Get Started Now

Your next listing is either safe or it isn’t. You won’t know until you check.

Don’t wait for a takedown to find out you had a problem. By then it’s already affecting your shop’s standing.

Check your listings. Fix the issues. Publish with confidence.

That’s it. That’s the whole system. Simple enough that you can do it for every listing. Effective enough that you won’t wake up to removal notices.