Guide
When copies keep coming back after a takedown
A copy back after a takedown is one of three things: the same listing live again, the same seller with a new listing, or a listing restored after a counter notice. The first two get a new report that names the old one. The third needs a lawsuit or Copyright Claims Board claim the platform hears about before the restore.
Before you file anything, open the page and look for your photo. In the takedowns we've filed, eBay sometimes acts on a photo claim by pulling your pictures and leaving the item page up under the same number. A page that loads is not a relist. Your photo back in the gallery is. On a Shopify store, check the product page you reported, not the store itself: the homepage keeps loading after the products come down. We learned that one the hard way.
By Josh Pigford, founder of Knockoff. Written October 14, 2026
Which comeback is it
A removal isn't the end of it. Founders who stop after the first takedown decide the whole thing is pointless. One report really can't fix three different problems. Sort the comeback first. The address and your inbox tell you which one you have.
If the platform sent you a counter notice before the listing came back, you're on the third branch. Counter notices belong to copyright reports: eBay and Etsy take them only for US copyright reports.36 If you reported a trademark or a counterfeit, your copy came back some other way. If you did get a counter notice, read that section first, because it runs on a clock.
Same listing, live again
Same address, photo back. New report, name the first
Same seller, new listing
New address, same photos. New report, link the seller
Restored by counter notice
A counter notice came first. Court or CCB claim
The same listing is back
The listing you got removed is live again at the same address, with your photo in it. This is the easy case, and it's the one people give up on. File a new report on the same form you used the first time. Don't tell the story again. Point at the first report, so whoever reads it sees a seller who was told once already.
Put these in the second report:
- The first report's reference number, and the date the platform removed the listing.
- The listing's address, and a dated screenshot of it as it looks today.
- Your original photo, and where and when you first published it.
- One sentence asking the platform to review the seller under its repeat infringer policy.
Check the listing yourself before you send. A copyright notice includes your statement that you believe in good faith the use isn't authorized, and the law makes anyone who knowingly misstates infringement liable for the other side's damages and legal fees.1
eBay has one rule worth knowing here. An item reported as counterfeit through its VeRO program can't be relisted, and eBay says trying can bring selling restrictions or suspension.3 That rule is written for counterfeit reports. After a photo or text removal, eBay says the seller may be able to edit the listing and relist it, so a relisted item with your photos gone can be the seller using that route.
The same seller, under a new name
New address, new shop name, your photos. Report the new listing as its own case, then tell the platform who it is. Don't wait for the platform to connect the two accounts on its own. Hand it the connection.
Two platforms say in writing why that connection matters. Shopify says that when it terminates a store for repeat infringement, all shops owned or operated by the same repeat infringer are subject to termination too.2 Etsy says that if it believes a member tried to open a new shop after termination, it can refuse all service to that member, and the same goes for any account it believes is associated with the member.6
What you can show is your own work turning up twice: the same photo files, the same product text lifted from your listing, and the date the new listing appeared next to the date the old one came down. Put the earlier report's reference in the new one, the same way you would for a relist.
Restored after a counter notice
If the seller answered your report with a counter notice, the listing coming back is the platform following the law, not ignoring you. Under the DMCA the platform puts the material back 10 to 14 business days after it receives the counter notice, unless you tell it first that you've filed a court action.1 eBay and Etsy say 10 business days, and Shopify says generally 10 to 14.236 It isn't rare. On Etsy, sellers filed counter notices on 10% of copyright reports in 2025.7
Don't send the same notice again. The seller stated under penalty of perjury a good faith belief that the removal was a mistake or misidentification, and the platform did what the law tells it to do. A second notice on the same listing won't hold.
Only two things hold the listing, and only inside that window. File a lawsuit or a Copyright Claims Board claim, and tell the platform's designated agent (the contact it lists for copyright notices) before it restores the listing.8 Miss the date and it's restored. The two aren't equal. A lawsuit can ask a court to order the seller to stop. A Board claim can't: the Board hears claims up to $30,000, the seller can opt out, and it can't order a stop unless the seller agrees. Our guide to the Copyright Claims Board covers what a claim costs and wins, and what to do when a report goes nowhere covers the counter notice itself.
What each platform says about repeat sellers
Every platform below says it acts against repeat sellers. None says how many reports that takes. For a relist or the same seller under a new name, the next move is the same everywhere: a new report on the platform's own form that names the first one. What differs is the wording you can quote back to them, and what happens when the seller counters.
| Platform | Repeat sellers | After a counter notice |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify stores | Terminates stores for repeat infringement in appropriate circumstances, such as several notices the store didn't counter. Every shop the same seller owns or operates can go with it. | The merchant can generally repost in 10 to 14 business days |
| eBay | Consequences escalate from selling restrictions to permanent suspension. An item reported as counterfeit through VeRO can't be relisted. | US copyright reports only. Reinstated after 10 business days |
| Walmart | A repeat infringer includes anyone who gets multiple claims Walmart finds valid. Listings can come down and the seller can be suspended or terminated. | Takes counter notices. No restore window published |
| Temu | Terminates repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances. | Takes counter notices. No restore window published |
| Etsy | Ends selling privileges for repeat or multiple notices, at its discretion, and can refuse service to a new shop opened after termination. | US copyright reports only. May be restored 10 business days after Etsy processes it |
Shopify2, eBay3, Walmart4, Temu5, Etsy6. Walmart takes reports through its Brand Portal or its IP claim form, and Temu through its IP Portal.
When reporting again stops working
Every one of those policies works at the platform's discretion, and the law behind them sets no number of strikes either. It asks for a policy that ends repeat infringers' accounts "in appropriate circumstances."1 So keep the record and keep reporting. A platform can only count the reports it gets.
When the same seller is on their third or fourth shop, write to the seller directly. Our cease and desist letter generator writes one as you fill in the form. If the letter goes nowhere too, the Copyright Claims Board and a lawyer are the steps above it.
How Knockoff handles relists
Everyone counts the first removal. The relist is the one that keeps costing you, so Knockoff keeps watching after the takedown.
- Every removed listing gets checked once a day for 90 days. For a stolen photo, the check is whether your photo is back in the listing, not whether the page loads.
- When it's back, Knockoff files again. The follow-up goes out as your authorized agent with the first case's evidence, under the Letter of Authorization you signed once.
- A counter notice comes to Knockoff, not to you. Knockoff doesn't refile on it. You get the document and the restore date, and if you sue or file a Copyright Claims Board claim, Knockoff tells the platform.
- New listings by the same seller show up in the daily search for your product photos, and each one becomes its own case.
Knockoff files on Shopify stores, eBay, Walmart and Temu, and it's $799 a month on the pricing page. Nobody can promise a copy stays down, and we don't. What we do is keep looking.
Questions
Which services re-report relisted copies of my product automatically? +
Ask any service three questions. What counts as a relist: a page that loads, or your photo back in the listing? How long does it watch after a removal? Does a follow-up need your sign-off? Knockoff's answers are your photo back in the listing, a check every day for 90 days, and no sign-off from you, because the Letter of Authorization you signed once covers the follow-up. Knockoff files on Shopify stores, eBay, Walmart and Temu.
Can I report the same listing twice? +
Yes, if it came back on its own. File on the same form you used the first time and name the first report. No, if the seller sent a counter notice. Then the platform is following the law, and only a court action or a Copyright Claims Board claim stops the restore, and only if the platform hears about it before it restores the listing.
The listing is still live after the takedown. Did it come back? +
Look for your photo, not the page. eBay can act on a photo claim by removing your pictures and leaving the item page up under the same number, so a page that loads is not a relist. If the address now opens a different product, find your copy at its new address and report that page.
Does a takedown get the seller banned? +
Not on its own. Shopify, eBay, Walmart, Temu and Etsy all say they act against repeat sellers, at their discretion or in appropriate circumstances, and none publishes how many reports it takes. Shopify gives several notices the store didn't counter as its example.
Sources and dates
Every source below was read on October 14, 2026.
- 1. 17 U.S.C. 512. The text of the statute: 512(c)(3)(A)(v) for the good-faith statement in a notice, 512(f) for liability for knowing misrepresentation, 512(g)(2)(C) for the restore window of not less than 10 and not more than 14 business days and the court action that stops it, 512(g)(3)(C) for the counter notice's statement under penalty of perjury, and 512(i)(1)(A) for the repeat infringer policy "in appropriate circumstances". ↩
- 2. Shopify. Its copyright policy, for terminating stores for repeat infringement "in appropriate circumstances, such as where it has received several notices of alleged infringement that are not countered by the store", for all shops owned or operated by the same repeat infringer, and for reposting "in 10 to 14 business days" after a valid counter notice. ↩
- 3. eBay. The Seller Center intellectual property page, for the rule that an item reported as counterfeit through VeRO "can't be relisted", the edit-and-relist route after an image or text removal, escalating consequences up to permanent suspension, and counter notices for US copyright reports only with reinstatement after 10 business days; and the intellectual property policy for the list of actions eBay may take. ↩
- 4. Walmart. Its help article Claims of Intellectual Property Infringement, for the repeat infringer policy and the Brand Portal and IP claim form. It gives no restore window after a counter notice. ↩
- 5. Temu. Its intellectual property policy, last updated March 2, 2025, for "we terminate repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances" and the IP Portal. It gives no restore window after a counter notice. ↩
- 6. Etsy. Its intellectual property policy, section 4 for repeat infringement, new shops after termination and associated accounts, and section 3 for the counter notice rules: US copyright reports only, and restoring "10 business days after the counter notice is processed" unless the owner files a court action or a qualifying Copyright Claims Board claim and tells Etsy. ↩
- 7. Etsy 2025 Transparency Report. The report for January to December 2025, page 10: sellers filed counter notices for 10% of copyright infringement reports. ↩
- 8. The Copyright Claims Board. 17 U.S.C. 1507(d), under which a claim counts as a court action for the restore rule when the platform's designated agent is told before the material is replaced; and the Board's FAQ for the $30,000 limit, the respondent's right to opt out, and the Board's inability to order a stop unless the party agrees. ↩
Knockoff sells brand protection software and is not a neutral party. Knockoff is not a law firm and this page is general information, not legal advice. Policies and forms change without notice, so read the source before you rely on a line here.
