Spell Sellers Say Etsy Pulled the Rug Out After a Decade of Looking the Other Way

If you’ve ever scrolled through Etsy looking for a love spell, a protection ritual, or maybe a well-aimed curse at an ex, you’re not alone. “Etsy witches” became a full-blown internet phenomenon in 2025, and their shops attracted millions of loyal customers. But in early 2026, those same sellers started waking up to find their stores gone, their listings wiped, and their customers left confused. Etsy, it seems, has finally decided to enforce a rule it wrote over a decade ago.

• A wave of Etsy sellers who offered paid spellwork say they’ve recently been banned or had listings removed, even though Etsy has prohibited supernatural services since 2015, and sellers argue the enforcement feels abrupt.
• Beatrix, a 62-year-old seller who ran Celestial Craft Spells, was among those removed, saying Etsy quietly took down shops with no real explanations.
• Some displaced sellers have moved to personal websites or niche platforms like Witchly, a new marketplace built specifically for witches.

What Etsy Witches Actually Sold

For anyone who missed the trend, “Etsy witches” is exactly what it sounds like. These are sellers who promise their services on platforms like Etsy, offering things like protection spells, love spells, manifesting services (such as manifesting good weather for a wedding), soulmate drawings, and even curses. Some listings had price tags under $10, while others ran over $200 depending on the practitioner. Some sellers listed hundreds of spell offerings and boasted thousands of five-star reviews, with one seller claiming to have earned approximately $100,000 since 2021.

The trend picked up steam thanks to TikTok, where the “WitchTok” crowd was already booming. Internet witches had a surge in popularity on TikTok in the 2020s, with associated hashtags amassing billions of views. And by 2025, it was everywhere. Both The Wall Street Journal and Fast Company described it as a flourishing “cottage industry.” Whether you believed in the spells or not, there was real money changing hands. A spell seller from Indiana or Alabama could reach customers across the globe through these listings, turning a niche spiritual practice into a full-time gig.

The Ban That Sat on the Shelf for 11 Years

These types of services have technically been banned by Etsy since 2015, but despite this, the scene seemed to be expanding rather than shrinking. The platform’s rules are pretty clear on paper. Physical spiritual items are allowed. Selling outcomes, predictions, or supernatural results is not. You can sell a crystal. You can’t promise it’ll bring your soulmate back.

But for years, enforcement was spotty at best. Many listings had thousands of reviews and loyal customers, with sellers surfaced through Etsy’s own search tools and paid ads. So not only did Etsy know these shops existed, the platform actively helped customers find them. Ashley Fike of Vice commented that Etsy’s increased enforcement of its ban in 2026 could be called either “moderation” or “a witch hunt. Either way, Etsy spent years collecting fees before deciding where the line was.”

Sellers and Customers React

The response online was loud and fast. Carol Jay’s TikTok video has already racked up 1.2 million views as she detailed her experience. She noticed her personal Etsy witch’s page had been completely removed from the site, which understandably made her “very alarmed.”

Beatrix, who sells under Celestial Craft Spells, was one of many who were “unfairly banned,” finding the removal “incredibly upsetting.” She told the New York Post that Etsy witches booted from marketplace claim they were unfairly banned, and that the platform used to promote her shop through its own advertising. “Suddenly, and quietly, they have removed us with no real explanations, whether it’s an immediate ban or slowly taking down our listings,” Beatrix, 62, said. She added that “for some of us, this was our livelihood” and that “it feels like persecution and like we are regressing back to the Salem witch trials.”

The frustration among sellers comes from the sudden enforcement, with many saying their shops operated for years before removal with no notice, and some clients had orders in progress. Customers who had already paid for services were left in the dark with no way to contact their sellers.

TikTok commenters didn’t hold back. One commenter described Etsy witches as “the backbone of Etsy,” while another predicted that “Etsy will suffer from these consequences.” One viewer had a funny observation: “Ooh, I don’t think you want a ton of witches mad at you.”

Where the Witches Are Headed Next

With Etsy out of the picture for now, displaced sellers are scrambling to rebuild. Some are growing their own websites and social media presence, and others have applied to sell on a new platform called Witchly, which is designed specifically for witch sellers. But as Jay put it in her viral video, rebranding doesn’t feel the same to longtime customers who built trust through Etsy’s review system.

The Wall Street Journal noted that “magic practitioners sell on Instagram, Shopify and TikTok, but most customers say Etsy is their go-to.” Losing that central hub means these sellers now have to work harder to get found. Search data shows the term “Etsy witch” attracts more than 15,000 global searches per month. That’s a lot of potential customers now landing on empty pages.

The fallout from Etsy’s crackdown touches on something bigger than spells and curses. What happens when a platform builds a busy seller base around services it technically banned, profits from those sellers for years, and then pulls the plug overnight? Whether you think spellwork is genuine or purely for entertainment, the pattern of inconsistent enforcement followed by sudden mass removal stings for the people who depended on it for income.

For now, the witches are regrouping. And if TikTok engagement is any indication, they aren’t going away quietly.