"Instant drop off": Sales plummet for BC business after Instagram deletes account
A local business owner feels gut-wrenched that Instagram disabled her account, causing a detrimental impact on her sales and livelihood.
Jessica Sinclair is the owner of an Aldergrove shop called The Office Home & Apparel.
The business had been booming, Sinclair says, prior to her Instagram woes.
The lifestyle and goods store opened its doors to customers earlier this year with a new storefront after Sinclair saw success running her business online — mainly through Instagram.
The Office Home & Apparel has existed for about two years now, and the Instagram account had about 4,000 followers.
Sinclair said about 98% of her online sales are driven through her Instagram page.
When she asks customers visiting her store, “How’d you hear about us?” about 90% say they saw her Instagram or saw someone else share items they’ve purchased from The Office Home & Apparel on social media.
However, two months ago, Sinclair received an email from Instagram saying she violated the platform’s Terms of Use. Instagram has confirmed with Daily Hive that her account was removed.
Instagram did point Sinclair towards the Help Centre to appeal the decision.
“I have spent years building this up”
Sinclair said she made multiple attempts to reach a member of Instagram but mostly received automatic responses or minimal information.
One response to her appeal read, “We regret to inform you that we are unable to restore your account. Following our review of your appeal, we continue to believe that your account was used to sell or promote counterfeit goods, which is not allowed on Instagram.”
“The manufacture, promotion or sale of a counterfeit good is a type of trademark that is illegal in most countries because it’s harmful to consumers, trademark owners and honest sellers,” the email to Sinclair said and added a link to learn more about intellectual property.
Sinclair has responded, insisting she has not seen a warning about this concern and said she would be willing to permanently remove any posts that violated the policies. However, she emphasizes, “I am in no way selling counterfeit goods. I would never steal another brand/logo or sell products as if they were something else.”
“This is a business account that my business fully relies on. I have spent years building this up,” she said in an email.
Sinclair attempted to create a new account for her business using the same email address linked to the deactivated Instagram account. It quickly grew to 1,000 followers. However, it was taken down by the platform last week.
“You cannot use Instagram to create new accounts for violations of our terms or policies,” the email from Instagram read.
Apart from the difficulty of reaching her customers online, Sinclair adds that losing this account also impacts her ability to collaborate and connect with other businesses and brands.
“For you to apply to carry a brand, the first thing they asked me was what’s your Instagram handle, and they go check it out,” she said.
Sinclair said her only option is to create a new account with a different email address and hope people find her.
“It was just like an instant drop off [of] sales all of a sudden … we would do a good couple hundred dollars a day, and all of a sudden through my Instagram, we’re doing $0 a day.”
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In addition to the deactivated account impacting her small business at a time when similar stores are suffering amid high inflation, she said she is about to start her maternity leave.
She added her husband has gone back to school. “So we definitely rely on this business a lot.”
While Sinclair said she remains in the dark about exactly why her account was disabled, she hopes Instagram finds a way to provide feedback to users.
Without changes to how Instagram approaches these kinds of incidents, Sinclair said she expects business owners will move away from the platform.
“You learn really fast that you don’t own [what you post]. Instagram may drive 100% of your sales, and you don’t own one thing that happens on there.”
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