Had to dig through my email to find the deactivation notice. Apparently the listing was deactivated because:
"We have reason to believe that the item(s) we removed from your shop have been the subject of a consumer recall."
A consumer recall? on an item that I made? wtf? Well that message was from a "noreply" address, so I had to get on the Etsy website and look up Etsy "Support". Etsy "Support" is a fucking joke. I sent a message through Etsy "Support", and got an e-mail reply within a minute or two. Certainly not long enough for any human to have actually read my message and formulated a decent reply to it. So, obviously an automated reply. Among other things, the reply stated:
"I believe my listing was removed in error. Can I appeal this decision?
No, there is no appeals process for your listing at this time. We use a variety of factors to determine whether items comply with our policies, and we take this work very seriously."
and:
" Keep in mind that repeat violations of our policy will result in permanent account suspension."
"Is there anything more that Etsy Support can do for me?
Etsy Support cannot reactivate your listing(s) or provide more information about the removed listing."
"Thank you for reading!
Etsy Support"
So then I replied to that message, and immediately got another automated response. this was the entire text of that last (and apparently final) message:
"Hi there,
If you’re reaching out to Etsy Support for more information about a listing we removed from your shop due to a violation of our Seller Policies, please refer back to our previous reply and make sure to review what can be sold on Etsy.
Our support agents can’t reinstate your listing, and our decision on this matter remains final.
We won’t respond to further emails about this, but if you have a different question, we’re happy to assist! Please create a new support request instead of replying here so we don't miss your question.
Best,
Etsy Support"
So... basically Etsy's idea of "Support" is "yeah we cancelled your listing, and next time we might cancel your whole account. Don't ask us why, go read the rules if you can find them, don't even fucking bother talking to us, because we certainly won't bother talking to you, but thanks for asking, and have a nice day!
Seriously, what the fuck Etsy?
