r/Etsy Oct 04 '23

MOD ANNOUNCEMENTS FAQs - Please start here before making a post!

Upvotes

Welcome to a comprehensive list of FAQs for Etsy buyers and Etsy sellers!

Before making a post, please look through this guide and follow the links.

Posts that ask general questions where the answer is covered in this guide are subject to removal. If you had your post removed with a link to this FAQ, it means the answer to your question is found here!

Also: please use the sub search feature before making a post!

How to search the sub: In order to search a sub from either the desktop site or the mobile app, all you need to do is click the name of the sub on any post. This will navigate you to the sub's main page.

When you scroll to the search bar at the top of the screen, the name of the sub will be auto-filled in, so that when you type a search term, you will be searching results from only that sub. You will be able to sort your results by newest / most relevant.

If you can find your answer without creating a new post, this is always appreciated. Repetitive posts that have answers found in this guide, easily searchable answers, or are about topics that were very recently or popularly discussed may be removed.

You are always welcome to create a post to ask for advice about a specific situation! Please give as many details as possible so that we can help. General questions without sufficient details to provide anything but generic help may be removed and redirected to this FAQ post.

(NOTE: This FAQ page is still a work in progress, not all links are in place and not all topics that will eventually be covered are currently covered. If you have any suggestions for things that should be covered here, please message me and let me know!)

GENERAL QUESTIONS (Both Buyer / Seller)

How do I contact support? The answer, including links for all contact methods, is the top stickied comment.

How do I block someone on Etsy? This is the same link as the customer support contact post, please read the second comment on the post to find a guide to getting support to block someone for you.

Etsy does not allow users to block communication with another user without going through support. You can mark messages as spam and I believe that stops messages from that user from being visible to you, but to actually block someone from messaging you completely, you need to follow the steps outlined in the post linked above.

Is Etsy currently down? I'm getting a 429 error when trying to connect. This is typically caused by VPN usage. Etsy doesn't allow connecting with VPNs to prevent people from being dishonest about their location. Turn off your VPN and try again. Note: Etsy may also detect VPNs that are installed but off.

If you search the sub for "429" you'll see that this has been posted about many, many times.

Also, highly recommend www.downdetector.com if you ever want to know if a site is down or it's just you.

FOR BUYERS

The following guides cover just about any issue you may have with a product or a seller.

IMPORTANT: Please remember - you are covered by Etsy buyer protection!

If you are dealing with:

- a non-responsive seller

- a shop that has closed down

- a seller that is giving you the run-around

- a seller who sent the wrong product or something defective or not as described

- a seller who provided fake tracking

- a seller who wants you to pay return shipping for a damaged, wrong, or defective item

... you are covered! Please follow the guides below - chose the one that most closely fits your situation:

My order hasn’t shipped yet.

My order was marked shipped, but the tracking info still says pre-transit (or label created).

My order was marked shipped, but it’s very late. Is it lost?

My order was marked delivered but I don’t have it.

My order arrived damaged.

My order wasn't as described, was defective, or I received the wrong item.

I believe I bought from an AliExpress, Amazon, etc dropshipper. Also, how can I tell if a shop is one of these dropshippers?

I received a tracking number, but it appears to be fake.

Special note: If the shop has been shut down or voluntarily closed, you'll get a message when viewing the shop that says something like "xxxxx is no longer selling on Etsy." If you need a refund in these situations, Etsy support will typically give you one without you needing to go through the official case opening process as described in the above guides.

Chat with support here and you should be given a refund.

How long does Etsy give me to open a case under their buyer protection? 100 days from either the date the order was delivered, or the original estimated delivery date from when you purchased.

Some places I've seen say 180 days - this is inaccurate. The seller can voluntarily refund for only up to 180 days after purchase. After that, the seller literally loses the ability to refund. A case can only be opened against a seller for 100 days as described above.

Please note: There is only one exception to buyers being covered by Etsy buyer protection and that is buyers that purchased from a PayPal only shop. That means that when you checked out - there was no other choice but to pay with PayPal.

If this happened to you, please read the post below, including the stickied comment.

I bought from a PayPal only shop and Etsy won’t allow me to open a case.

I'm a buyer and I'm not sure if the shop I'm looking at is legit or a scam.

Please read this full guide to scam attempts for buyers!

However, here is one tip to always always always keep in mind to avoid getting scammed as a buyer: If you are looking at something with a too-good-to-be-true price, it is most likely a scam listing!

You may also find this post about the policy violating vs allowed kinds of dropshipping on Etsy to be helpful. Dropshipping is only allowed where the seller is the original designer of the item being sold, such as with Print on Demand.

FOR SELLERS

Star Seller Questions

Payment Reserve Questions

Account Suspension Questions Note: Suspicious login issues and forced vacation mode are both covered in the account suspension checklist.

Etsy Seller Protection Questions

Complete Guide to Etsy Fees + Offsite Ads

A Full Guide to Reviews on Etsy This FAQ post covers how to get buyers to leave reviews, what to do in response to a negative review, public responses, and review removal.

Is this a scam? Seller Edition

Our official guide post to scam attempts for sellers is here. Please read it!

But to quickly address some of the most common "is this a scam" questions...

You get a message from a buyer or "Etsy customer support" (or anyone else) asking for your email address. SCAM ATTEMPT.

You get a message from someone that wants to give you "free advice" or offer some kind of service for your shop. SCAM ATTEMPT.

You get a message from someone with a sob story asking you to send them free products, or someone who claims to be an influencer wanting you to send them free products. SCAM ATTEMPT.

You get a message from a "buyer" who wants you to click on ANY type of link to download images or anything else. SCAM ATTEMPT AND ABSOUTELY DO NOT CLICK THE LINK. If you have clicked it, get your computer or device scanned for malware right now, and change all your passwords. You may also want to visit r/scams for further advice.

You get a message from a "buyer" who wants you to 1) buy a gift card for ANY reason or 2) send you a check for ANY reason. SCAM ATTEMPT. I don't care what else they said, these are ALWAYS scam attempts... and very old, well known ones at that. Google "fake check scam" or "gift card scam" if you want to learn more.

You get a message from someone who wants to feature you in an article, on their website, or wants you to donate to their charity. These MAY be legitimate - contact the organization directly to verify the legitimacy of the request.

Contacting Etsy Support: DO NOT get scammed! Basically, do NOT use Google to find a phone number for ANY online marketplace. The reason is covered in detail in the official guide post to scams linked above, as well as in the how to contact support post here.

A buyer has messaged me that their order never arrived. What do I do?

Please see the Guide to Etsy Seller Protection post. Both you and the buyer are covered by Etsy's protection program on qualifying orders.

A buyer has messaged me that their order never arrived, even though there is a scan that says "delivered." What do I do?

Please see the Guide to Etsy Seller Protection post. Both you and the buyer are covered by Etsy's protection program on qualifying orders.

I received less money than I expected to. Why?

You definitely need to read the two links below under the What are Etsy's Fees? section. Both Etsy's official information as well as the thorough guide comment I wrote with a complete breakdown.

You also need to go through your payment account page in your dashboard, several months if needed, and look at the running totals. Every single credit to you as well as expense you incur is totaled there.

But I think the biggest thing that trips people up is this - Etsy deducts all fees you owe from your pending payout before transferring you any money.

This obviously includes the transaction fees and payment processing fees for any orders that have come through, but it also includes any listing fees (20c per listing you create as well as the ones that renew) and Etsy ad fees if you are choosing to run ads on Etsy. It will also include any shipping labels you may have bought through Etsy.

So if you've had one order, your pending payout is quite likely not the full amount you actually received for that transaction. It's the amount you received, minus any other fees you already owed Etsy. Etsy only charges your credit card for owed fees at the start of each month, and only if your sales revenue isn't covering the total of all the fees you owe (including all listing and Etsy ads fees).

Please also be sure to see the section below the next one about the listing renewal fee for quantity remaining - this is something people tend to miss.

What are Etsy's fees?

NOTE: I now have a full guide to this here.

Etsy's official page explaining all fees in detail is here.

You need to read the official page. There are no "hidden fees" or "surprise fees"... there are only sellers who haven't read the official page explaining all the fees.

You may also find googling for and using an Etsy fee calculator to be useful. There are tons of different ones out there... do a search and take your pick.

Finally, I previously wrote a thorough guide comment in response to a previous post asking about fees, which thoroughly breaks down every fee with an example of how they are calculated. If you are still confused, I recommend giving it a read. It is the stickied comment on the post.

Why am I being charged 20c for a listing renewal when the listing has quantity remaining?

Please read this help page from Etsy here.

Essentially, you will always pay 20c per listing that sells. It does not matter if the listing has quantity remaining - quantity does not effect this.

If you have a quantity of 10, you'll pay 20c to make the listing live. If one sells, you'll pay 20c to renew the listing, and it will renew with a quantity of 9.

If someone buys 5 at once, you've already paid the 20c for the first one... Etsy will "renew" and "sell" 4 more at the same time charging 20c for each. Then it will charge a further 20c to keep the listing active with a quantity of 5 remaining.

Listings expire after 4 months. If none of the 10 sell in that time, and your listings are set to automatic renewal, you'll pay 20c after the 4 months expires to keep the listing live. If your listings are set to manual renewal, then when the listing expires after 4 months, it will be in your "expired" listings section until you choose to pay 20c to renew it.

What is the difference between "Etsy ads" and "offsite ads"?"

Etsy ads give you the ability to promote your listings to appear higher within Etsy's search directly on Etsy's website. They are pay per click, and the price depends on the competitiveness of the keyword being searched for.

Help page for Etsy ads

Offsite ads are ads that Etsy pays to run on external sites such as Google shopping, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. You are only charged an offsite ads fee when you actually make a sale.

Help page for offsite ads

I'm stuck on the "set up billing" section of creating a shop.

UPDATE: Someone posted this solution recently, you can try it:

I found a solution! if you go to account settings and credit cards, it says credit cards can only be added when checking out. so i added a product to my cart and went to buy it, put in my credit info etc, and at the last step just before buying I checked in a different tab that credit card section and it was there! and then i could select the card when finishing the billing setup for the store! just go back to remove the item from your cart. it all worked without actually having to buy the product

This is a common issue. Here are a couple potential causes:

- You are attempting to use a credit card Etsy doesn't like. I don't have a full list of what type of cards Etsy will and won't accept, but if you cannot progress past billing with the card you are currently trying, I recommend trying another one.

- You are trying to submit billing information in a name or address other than the one you already gave Etsy. Can't do this, legal name needs to be an identical match everywhere you have to provide it, and so does address.

- You are trying to set up a shop with a bank account in a different country than your country.

- This is a glitch and you need to try again in a couple days. I'm not sure if this is still happening, but it has happened in the past. I think it's more likely there is an issue with your info or credit card, but if you are sure there is not... try again in a couple days.

This is an issue that has been posted about an absolute ton. If you want to see previous posts, please search for "save and continue" or "set up billing".

What is the difference between views and visits? Also, my views / visits seem to keep updating and they don't seem to match between the app and website.

Views represent the total number of times any of your listings or pages were clicked on, by anyone. Visits represent the total number of distinct individuals that looked at your listings or shop.

See Etsy help page here for more details on this!

Please note: the stats are not accurate in real time. Etsy only updates these stats a few times throughout the day, and there may be different update times between the app and the website.

Additionally, Etsy will filter out bot views... so this is the reason your views or visits might go down when stats are recalculated.

It's best not to try to track stats in real time. Check in on your stats occasionally and focus more on the long term (weekly) stats than the daily stats.

What is Plaid? Do I have to verify my bank account with Plaid?

If Etsy is asking you to do this... yes, it's mandatory. It's part of new legal regulations regarding money laundering - bank accounts have to be verified before Etsy can legally transfer you money.

Plaid is the system Etsy has chosen to use to conduct this bank verification. You have two choices with Plaid - you can opt to log into your bank account through Plaid, or you can do a manual verification if you are not comfortable using your login this way.

And yes, it is completely safe to verify your account with Plaid. Do manual verification if you need to for your own peace of mind!

My listing was deactivated by Etsy. They didn't say why. Why?

Please see our central post about listing deactivation here. This post covers a reasonably extensive (though most definitely not complete!) list of reasons why Etsy might flag a listing for deactivation.

Etsy uses bots to sweep the site for policy violating items. They tend to do this in bulk (a particular type of violation is checked for all at once) and different violations are checked at different times.

The bots are most definitely not always accurate. In cases where the bots incorrectly flag a listing, they are typically reinstated within a few days at most.

If you would like our help to figure out why your listing was deactivated, you are welcome to create a post to ask... but if you do not give details about what you were selling, it will be removed and redirected to this FAQ!

Be as specific as possible (ie, "I sell a faux leather purse with pink ribbons and flowers on it that I handmake myself" as opposed to just "I sell purses").

My listing was deactivated by Etsy for violating the handmade policy, but it is handmade by me!

This often, though not always, indicates that your listing has had its photos stolen by a knockoff making site such as AliExpress, Alibaba, SHEIN, etc. Etsy scans listings to see if photos are being used elsewhere, and this can cause a false deactivation where a photo has been stolen.

So the first step when this happens is to perform a reverse image search on your listing to see if you can find the thieving website. If you do, you need to follow their procedures to submit a copyright takedown... although be advised, these sites' whole business model tends to be to steal photos and designs from elsewhere, so there's a solid chance you're just ignored. It's extremely shitty, but when copyright laws aren't recognized or enforced, there's basically nothing you can do.

Etsy does tend to review and reinstate these listings the exact same way they do for other policy violation deactivations. You may just need to give it a few days. If Etsy asks for proof that you are in fact handmaking your items, you'll have to provide that.

If you would like to create a post about this, you are welcome to... but please follow the same rules as in the question / linked post about deactivation above. Specifics about what you're selling, or the post won't be approved.

I have an order that Etsy is showing as "Not paid" or "Payment processing" - what do I do?

It isn't unusual to occasionally have orders that take time in payment processing. It's not about your shop, it's about the buyer's payment method. Most of the delayed orders finish processing within a few hours to a couple days. If it doesn't process, Etsy should manually cancel the order after a period of time.

Do not ever fill an order that is showing as "not paid" or "payment processing". Always wait until the order goes through - Etsy will notify you when this happens.

I received a message or a review from a buyer complaining that the item wasn't in the language they expected it to be. Why?

Etsy auto translates listings into different languages. For certain types of language specific listings, this can be misleading for buyers. If this is your situation - you can turn off auto translate for the future. The link on how to do that is here.

In response to the buyer, depending on what the listing is, you can explain the auto translate issue and issue them a courtesy refund or offer them a return. There are no guarantees that the buyer will change their review if they left one (and offering them a refund in exchange for changing the review is violation of Etsy feedback extortion policies). But this is an option.

You can also write a quick, fact based public response to the review such as "Hi buyer, this listing is English (or whatever language) only!" Though ignoring such a review is also a perfectly valid option as this should be clear from your listing once you turn auto translate off.

I want to open a shop, but I'm not in an Etsy payments eligible country. How can I get around this?

You can't. I am sorry, but there's no way.

I could stop writing there and you'd have the answer, but I doubt it will stop anyone from looking for a way around it... so let me be very clear: Etsy uses strict ID verification. You have to provide all kinds of identifying documents and information to prove you are in the country you say you're in. Etsy also captures metrics from the devices you use to log into the site (those contain country code data) and if you do anything to obscure or fake that data (such as VPN) Etsy can detect that.

Even if you manage to get an account open... Etsy doesn't do the "real" ID verification until after the first sale. When they catch you at that time, you'll wind up losing whatever money you spent on listings up until that point as well as likely the money from the first sale. It's just not worth it to try.

I am genuinely sorry - I wish Etsy was available everywhere, but unfortunately it is not... and I want to save people from the effort of setting up a shop knowing it will be shut down in the future.

And please do not believe anyone who claims they can sell you a working account or create you a working account, etc. These are SCAMMERS. They cannot get you a working account... but after you've transferred them money and they ghost or the new account gets quickly suspended, who are you going to complain to? There will be no way to get your money back.

I cannot view the Etsy Community Forums - I am getting an Access Denied message.

This seems to be a common glitch at the moment. We've had many posts about it - but apparently the issue can be fixed by reaching out to Etsy.

See this help post here. If this solution does not work, please contact support and put in a request. Expect to be patient, support is always slow at resolving things.


r/Etsy 7d ago

Share Your Stuff - August 31st thru September 6th, 2026

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r/Etsy 12h ago

Help for Buyer Bait and switch pricing

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Is this allowed in Etsy?

I ordered a neon size that was listed as $50 but was marked as 70% off and only $13.

It also had estimated shipping for 7 days from date of purchase.

I had this in my cart for a few weeks and when was alerted to the 70% off, I didn’t think much of it and purchased.

Shortly after, the seller reached out to let me know I had paid a deposit and that the final price is $180!

I read through the whole listing, changes in price based on customization is not written anywhere. There are so many reviews and listings in this shop! What is happening?? It also says ships from Texas however a review says it was sent from Pakistan. This maybe explains why the seller also mentions in the message it will take 7-11 business days in the message.

I told them in the message that if they don’t update their prices and delivery times then I would report them to Etsy because it seems like fraud to me, no response and it has been a week. Should I report?

Could it be a seller who isn’t very tech savvy to explain pricing and shipping in the listing or is this a con?


r/Etsy 21h ago

Help for Buyer What’s up with this?

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I bought a shirt from this seller, they message me and say the color I chose is a premium one and wants to charge me an upgrade fee. Why wouldn’t they just adjust the price in their listing for that color?


r/Etsy 13h ago

Discussion Legal Entity name - Name is too long

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Alright,
Let me first start by saying, I first discovered this issue 3 years ago and warned Etsy about this, and now it is back to bite me in the..

3 years ago I opened an Etsy shop and one of the questions was the “Name of legal Entity”, as it appears on the legal documents. Our company name is long, about 55 characters… and I kept getting the Error “name is too long”. Being a developer myself, I looked into their code via the browsers developers tools, and discovered that the character limits was 50, originally, I entered a shortened version of the company name, and told the support team about it and stating that it isn’t the full legal name, and that they should up the character limit so this can be fixed . The shop was opened and I went on with life.

3 years later, they need to verify the documents again and the verification failed due to the name (duh), and they are withholding payments until it is verified. I am trying to enter the legal name, but I am getting the SAME error “Name it too Long”. I have logged several tickets and keep getting the same instructions “go to your store Finance > Legal and tax information..” blah blah blah, which I know, but I actually can’t submit the name as the error is blocking the submit option due to the name being too long. I am caught in a loop!

They are threatening to put the shop in vacation mode if this isn’t updated by the due date, but I can’t update it because their system is failing.

I logged a formal P2B complaint due to technical limitations preventing legal entity verification, but they haven’t gotten back to me.

Like what are we supposed to do? We might not be making millions off the Etsy shop but it is still an income for us. Not to mention, the end of the year is our biggest sales season, and the due date is within that time.

This post is more of me venting about the situation and a warning to make sure your legal company name is not longer than 50 characters 🥲


r/Etsy 28m ago

Help for Seller 1 star review by the customer

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Hi guys. I have made 10 sales on etsy so far. But the problem i am facing at the moment is that yesterday I got my first review and it was a 1 star and the customer who did that review didn’t have any solid reason for that. All the other customers i have Dmed regarding the product love it but are not reviewing 5 stars.

Now the problem is that i have only 1 review on my shop which is a 1 star. I am afraid this is going to impact my sales and shop performance. Can anybody guide me what can I do so that my sales and shop performance don’t go down?

Will it impact my sales? What can I do to avoid that?


r/Etsy 12h ago

Help for Buyer Real hand-knotted rug?

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Hi guys. We are looking for a wool rug for our living room, ideally hand-knotted as we want to hold on to it for many years. We found this one on Etsy selling a 6x9 ft (about 183 x 274 cm) for just around $600.

They have been on the site for just over a year, and have just sold a few dozen rugs with a bit over a dozen solid reviews. The problem is the reviews are all for hand loomed rugs from their store, which I understand to not be as durable. The seller claims very directly that this is a hand-knotted rug.

Before now, we've only gotten rugs for Ikea, so we know very little about this space. Did these pictures of another rug from their store look hand-knotted to you guys? Or just in general, how has your experience buying rugs from Etsy been?

I apologize if this is not the right space to ask. We just want to be careful before spending a lot of money on a purchase. And yes, we are aware this is a very good price, which is why we want to feel a little more confident. Thanks again! Any advice would be appreciated.


r/Etsy 3h ago

Help for Seller How to get more sales

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Hi everyone, my shop has been open for about two weeks. I have three sales, 2 5star reviews and 4 people have favorited my shop in the first week
The second week not much of anything though. I advertise the best I can on social media
But how do I get sales weekly?
I opened my shop after being diagnosed with a rare disease which has put a time stamp on my life and needed something to help me find joy in life. My first week I was so overjoyed, and now I’m stressed lol
Just looking for advice! Thanks everyone!


r/Etsy 11h ago

Help for Seller Has anyone else had their message response rate show blank or 0%?

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My message response rate for the last star seller review period is showing 0% but I have answered every message since July during the review period. I pulled up the date sheet and all are showing answered "yes" for on time. Currently in the new review month, it is still showing blank or when you open it at 0%. Should I reach out to support? Will they review this and change it? I meet all the requirements for star seller last month but because of this current status on my messages, I did not get it. I would like to get this resolved before next month, before the eligible review again.


r/Etsy 18h ago

Looking to Buy Looking for artist

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Hi all! Not sure this is the right place to post, but figured if not then it would be a good place to start. Apologies if not.

I love hiking and backpacking and am working my way through the US National Parks. I was gifted one of those scratch off posters (specifically the one from Native Maps) and love the art style and the encouragement it gives to keep exploring. I am also planning some international trips. However, I have not been able to find similar posters for national parks of other countries. My search skills are probably part of the problem but I can only find such posters for the US parks.

I would love to purchase custom posters for international national parks. Does anyone know of an Etsy shop/artist that could take this request? Thanks.


r/Etsy 13h ago

Discussion Etsy algorithm is so wrong

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If there’s no “new” review, it feels like my products don’t get much of a boost, even though my overall reviews are good. Anyone else notice this?


r/Etsy 10h ago

Tax Question How much does the import tax usually cost when buying statues (im from UK)

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Ive recently bought a statue for 135.53 and the postage cost 23.92 making it up to 159.45, the seller told me i will have to pay import tax but im trying to find out how much thatll be


r/Etsy 14h ago

Help for Seller Uk Store into Eu market, advice

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Hey all,

I opened up a store this year, I’m very happy with the progression it has made. It’s been a slow but steady growth, although the return for the amount of hours I spent thinking and working on it looks pretty dull I’m enjoying the process of making cool items

Anyway my shop currently only ship within the UK and wanted to get advice if I was to expand shipping to the EU what do I need to be mindful of, what are the additional costs involved?

Also could this negatively affect traffic to my store etc?

If anyone has good experience with this I would really appreciate your time

Thank you!


r/Etsy 15h ago

Help for Buyer Seller being really weird with shipping the order.

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I ordered something Aug and it was shipped around the 22nd. I’m in Canada and the tracking didn’t show up in Canada Post tracking. Which isn’t unusual as the tracking picks up once the item is in Canada. And then couple days ago I get out for delivery notification, but the item was still in the US. After it showed delivered I opened case and messaged the seller and also chatted with etsy support. Basically Etsy told me to wait for the seller to respond and then can escalate the case after the 13th, the original delivery window. Then seller got back to me saying to item was shipped to his brother is Wyoming as that’s how he handle his North American purchases. The items will then be shipped from there to me. But yesterday the new tracking was from India again. When confronted, he said something was wrong with the items before so he is shipping them again. I asked to see the shipping label to confirm the address. But he said he already shipped it.

The tracking at least shows on Canada Post now. But I cannot confirm the intended address.

I’m just worried the parcel will not arrive or I’m not going to get what I ordered.

Anyone else encountered this before?


r/Etsy 16h ago

Help for Buyer Trying to contact seller

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So I’m genuinely lost. I ordered a sword for my partner for her birthday and I’m always up for supporting small businesses and stuff. I saw 3 reviews. But all of them said that “sword arrived on time” or some variation. I thought great.

Well delivery was 2-4th of September. Obviously been and gone, the shipping hasn’t changed from “shipping label created” the seller keeps giving me “it’ll be scanned tomorrow” even when I’ve requested a refund.

Could this be a scam shop? Because Etsy are saying I’ve got to wait until the 13th September before I can take action however this has been going on now for a bit and I want to know if there’s any more action I can take?

Thank you!


r/Etsy 20h ago

Help for Buyer Do you still change your Etsy titles and tags regularly?

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There is so much conflicting advice about Etsy SEO

Some people recommend constantly testing titles, tags and keywords. Others seem to prefer making a listing once and leaving it alone long enough for Etsy to figure out where it belongs.

So what approach do you actually use?

Do you regularly change keywords when a listing isn't getting traffic, or do you leave it alone and focus on creating new listings?

I’d especially like to hear from sellers who have been doing this for a few years


r/Etsy 1d ago

Help for Seller Always lock in your good reviews

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Just a friendly reminder to sellers to always lock in your positive reviews with a response, just a thanks or a thumbs up is all you need.

I just had a completely unhinged buyer open a case 30 days after purchase, making false claims in order to try and get a full refund and keep the items they purchased. Luckily Etsy support was great and shut their claim down but they also tried to have their two reviews taken down so they could obviously repost bad ones in retaliation to not getting their way.

Buyers have three months to change their review and you never know what could happen in that time. Lock it in just in case!

Same goes for buyers, don’t be too quick to leave a review if you’re not 100% sure you love the item.


r/Etsy 2d ago

Help for Buyer Inaccurate

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I feel so frustrated. These to me look nothing alike. I wanted the bright vibrant color. Dark colors aren't my style and this won't match with the jeogori I bought. I'll have to buy a new skirt like yesterday to get it by the end of the month. I've opened a help request and am waiting for response. Should I wait to review until after resolution?


r/Etsy 1d ago

Looking to Buy Never used Etsy before, but now am to buy a cloak.

Upvotes

As per the title, I've been trying to buy a black cloak under 60$ online (I can't afford to splurge on one sadly) Since fabric is almost 20-40$ a yard where I live, can't make one either. Anyway, I was searching for a black, full circle cloak on Etsy to go with my plague doctor costume. Any recommendations? Can't tell what's AI or not cause I don't want to get ripped off.


r/Etsy 3d ago

Discussion Finally something good from Etsy!

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Upvotes

After feeling like AI slop has taken over the app & a lot of people here saying how much Etsy’s gone downhill over the years, it’s good to know that they’re at least aware of what’s bad about the app lmao.

I know it may not mean anything actually going to change, but I am glad they’re aware of their shortcomings and things people don’t like about the app!


r/Etsy 1d ago

Help for Buyer Is a 4 star review too harsh?

Upvotes

I've been an etsy seller, but am no longer. However, I am still an occasional buyer. I just recently bought 4 items from a shop, which I saw also sells on Amazon and on their own website, but I decided to go with etsy because I know I'm covered as a buyer if anything goes wrong. The "expected delivery" date was August 30-31. The "your item has shipped!" email came on August 27th. But tracking continued to show as "pre-transit" all the way through August 31st. On September 1st, I sent a help request to the shop, and asked when I could expect it to ship. They didn't reply on the 1st, and on either late the 1st or some time the 2nd, the shipping updated to "in transit." Then on the 3rd, I got a reply to my message which just said "I just checked tracking, and it still says in transit- when is your event?" I replied that I have plenty of time, and I was just excited to receive my package, and said that although it's rare, I've had USPS lose packages before, which is true. No reply. I did get my package yesterday, and the order itself is just fine. Packed well, good stuff, no complaints. But I feel like my overall experience was just... not a five star experience. Do I leave a four star review, or do I just not review at all? I need your opinions!


r/Etsy 1d ago

Help for Buyer Help me find a lost earring on Etsy

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Upvotes

I recently lost one of my earrings while clubbing and sadly since it was a gift to me I don’t have the shop info to order another pair. Knowing my sister they were most likely from Etsy and I’ve searched around online to no avail. If anyone recognizes the earring and the shop it is from or what key words to better help my search would be a great help! They are clip ons and also gold color.

Edit: Ella Moore is the closest match but currently the earring is sold out 😭 so the search continues!


r/Etsy 2d ago

Help for Buyer Very dramatic experience with seller

Upvotes

I don't post a lot so not sure if formatting is ok, and I couldn't upload more than 1 image here (?) so here is a basic run down of what happened when I tried to buy some Disneybounding dresses.

7/9: I asked for size chart - received, clarified dress skirt above knee length - seller confirmed it will be shorter, clarified if shorts built in or separate - separate per item description, clarified if bra padding included - built in per seller.

7/10: I placed my order for Ursula, Elsa, Jasmine, and Mulan dress. Estimated delivery late August to Mid September. 

8/10: I messaged to check in since it’s been a month.

8/17: Seller replied - working on getting these out

8/21: Order shipped; 8/26: Order received

8/29: I reached out via message to seller given there were several discrepancies with all my dresses. First is how different each of the skirt length was. Second was the piping on the dresses did not lay flat and often sat at a weird angle (especially the Jasmine). D8/30: Seller replied “Unfortunately these are final sale. The designs were not finished when you purchased it was detailed in all caps in the description.”

8/31: I escalated Help Request to Etsy, where they determined the ALL 4 products were different from listed and granted me a full refund, closed case. 8/31: Seller commented on my case “these items are identical to the photos shown in the listing and accurately reflect the product you purchased, simple because you don’t like the way they fit does not make the items not as described, nor does it qualify for a return/refund under shops stated return policy. Also note description of item says variation will occur”

Seller starts sending threatening messages “If you do not return every single one of these dresses in 48 hours, I will pursue legal courses. I’ve already won in a smaller case and I was awarded $5900 because this is considered theft even if Etsy honors and a refund you are still required to send me back the merchandise” “I would much rather resolve this simply through the return of the merchandise, so please send the tracking number within the 48-hour deadline.” “Oh, you absolutely are required to return the merchandise if you are retaining a refund for it. Keeping both the merchandise and the refunded purchase price is not something I consent to, and I would consider continued retention of the items to be wrongful. You also agreed to the terms of the purchase when placing your order. Regardless of Etsy’s decision regarding its own platform policies or refund process, I reserve the right to pursue any remedies available to me independently outside of Etsy regarding the merchandise and the transaction. Etsy cannot prevent either party from exercising whatever legal rights they may have outside of the platform.”

I ask for a prepaid return label

9/1: Seller replies “You stole the merchandise and will be responsible for return costs, You have until 12pm today”

I respond - I have escalated back to Esty again, I will no longer respond to these messages as its considered harassment at this point.

Seller: I have contacted the local authorities and they are just waiting for me to file the reports [lists my local PD] - STATEMENT [I am requesting to make a police report concerning an ETSY transaction...]

9/2: Seller sends prepaid label: just to reiterate, you are stealing from a single mom of 4, who supports her family after her children's father passed away

9/4: I send the items off, post review on Esty. And seller responds with my full name and state (as she had done with many other reviewers before)


r/Etsy 1d ago

Help for Buyer Seller printed label but did not/is not shipping until later

Upvotes

I've never had this problem before personally, but I have read on this sub that others have experienced this before

Well, this seems to be happening to me now. I bought a sticker/decal last Monday, and then on Thursday I received an email saying that it "shipped". All is well, or so I thought

Well yesterday, I checked the tracking, and it turns out that they only created the label and USPS has not actually received it yet (this is with USPS Ground Advantage). It still says this right now

I messaged the seller, and they claimed to have dropped it off yesterday but "the tracking will update on Tuesday". I messaged them again asking them if they dropped it off before or after the pickup cutoff time, but instead of answering they just said again "they will update the tracking on Tuesday"

This seller's reviews are mostly good, with only one or two mentioning any sort of delay. But I already feel like this seller might be playing games or is fishy in some kind of way. Am I overreacting? What should I do?


r/Etsy 1d ago

Help for Seller Etsy - Mock ups & AI

Upvotes

I have recently opened an Etsy shop selling seamless surface patterns (repeatable designs for fabric, stationery etc…) and printables.

My question comes around mock ups & the use of AI.

I have currently been buying my mock ups from Etsy and then use affinity to insert my pattern. I am not using AI to generate the mock ups.

I am becoming more convinced that most of my mock ups and the mock ups being shown to me on Etsy for purchase are originally ai-generated with masks & smart objects added afterwards.

I then wonder, why am I spending money when I could generate an ai image myself which actually suits my product more and then create the masks, diffusion adjustments etc… myself.

I have been, when I can, using free commercial-use stock photos for mock ups when I can find one that actually suits what I am selling.

I am trying to create my own stock photos (but photography is not my strong suit) so that’s still “under development” for the near future.

What do you think when you see a mock-up where the environment may have been generated by AI? But the product itself (e.g. the design I am selling) is not and has been added via standard photo manipulation.

Because I’m thinking if I’m accidentally buying it anyway, I may as well just save myself the money and make it?

What if the cover image is non-ai but mock ups as described above are used on following images to give a more visual idea of end product use?

Edited to add clarification on what I mean by patterns.