Why does ETSY object so strenuously when you want to add a reasonable shipping amount to your listings? I am new on there, just 1 month really actively, and just had my 5th sale. But I have noticed that when I add a shipping amount that seems very reasonable to me, because shipping rates have gone way up recently, ETSY always says I should lower my shipping prices or offer free shipping, because people are more likely to buy, when you do. I can't really afford to lose so much by not charging enough to cover shipping costs. What has been your experience with this, or are you ok with giving free or very low shipping and just taking a loss for it? I sell on Ebay too, and this has not been an issue with Ebay.

I fully revamped a digital product in my Etsy shop, and I feel that buyers are entitled to the updated version. I've been delivering it through the order conversation on each purchase and got through a batch in one evening, with a bunch more to go.

My only worry is Etsy's spam/automation detection. Has anyone sent a higher volume of order-related messages in a short window and had the system throttle, warn, or flag the account? Nothing promotional — strictly delivering updated files people already paid for.

For those who've pushed an update to existing buyers: did you space them out over several days, and is there a daily number you'd stay under? Appreciate any firsthand experience 🙏

So this is a new one for me. I guess I'm asking for advice how to handle this one. Item is coming back because on the buyers end, their forwarding service expired. Do I reach out to the buyer and let them know that it's coming back? Do I charge them for reshipping the item?

I sell miniatures & models. I got large 2 orders from the same person/account. The addresses given are slightly different from each other & neither are "USPS verified" (according to Etsy shipping page). Both USPS (on Etsy) & google maps suggest a prison (same highway & zip). I have messaged the seller on etsy & sent an email, but haven't gotten a response. Her first order is due & I'm not sure what exactly to do - it's a $90 model & quite a lot of effort, so I'd rather it not get lost/sent to the wrong address.

I genuinely want to know if other sellers are experiencing this, because I'm getting so frustrated.

I sell handmade, made-to-order products. When you place an order, I make it. Many of my items are personalized, while others are simply made when purchased. My listings clearly state that they're made to order, and my production times are entered into Etsy for a reason.

Customers can also see the estimated delivery dates before they purchase.

Yet I wake up every single morning to another message asking me to ship something faster.

I've even set up an automatic reply explaining that I make orders in the order they're received, that production takes time, and that I don't offer rush orders or bump people ahead of other customers.

And people STILL message things like, "I'd like this by X," even after receiving that response.

Today, a customer messaged asking when her order would ship. My processing time is 3–5 business days, excluding weekends and holidays, exactly as I've entered it into Etsy. It's only been two business days, we just had a holiday, and her order was already packaged and scheduled for USPS pickup today.

Her response? "I expected this to ship faster."

Based on WHAT? Where did I ever promise that?

I'm shipping within my stated processing time, and somehow that's still not fast enough.

I understand that people are excited to receive their purchases, and I genuinely appreciate every order. But I'm a small business making products by hand, not a warehouse shipping mass-produced inventory.

The constant requests to rush orders, ignore processing times, and make exceptions are honestly making me want to quit Etsy altogether.

I used to love getting orders. Now I find myself dreading the messages that come with them.

Is anyone else experiencing this? Have customer expectations gotten worse, or am I just completely burned out?

How are you guys holding custom orders? I sold a pair of custom earrings and have a customer requesting a partial refund/exchange because the color is not what they were expecting. I sent a picture of the acrylic before I made the earring. Personally I'm thinking of just doing an exchange this time but would like advice on what to do in the future.

My thoughts are to make a "color sheet" to add to the listing and put a disclaimer in the description that I will not be doing exchanges/refunds on custom orders as the customer picks all the details of the earrings to fit their liking.

I've had my Etsy shop for over 10 years and went off for most of the last 5. But things have changed as I've find back. I bought some Photoshop tools from a seller that was literally just linking you to a download link to the $30 set that True Grit Texture Supplies sells. Stealing and reselling people's work is wrong. I left a 1 star review with an image of the stolen watermarked tools.

The owner used his personal account to purchase a digital file of mine then immediately leave me a 1 star review and really oddly just copies and pastes my review and only changes the number. So it is OBVIOUSLY not about my product, but it still seriously hurts my rating since it's been many years since I did the thousands of sales. I reported the review. If they took 2 seconds to actually look at it, they would remove it

He then started messaging me over and over to refund him his whopping $4. He finally told Etsy it was damaged and they auto refunded him and closed it and then it wouldn't even let me submit FEEDBACK to them.

You can't talk to a person. I hate this platform now. It's all AI driven. I've had 100% original non AI designs be pulled for violations while the same design is on a bunch of other products but the reason is blank and i can't appeal so I have no idea why or how to fix it.

For a platform selling itself to the world on being human, they show their sellers they depend on that they don't matter enough to even have a channel to communicate with an actual human. I really thought they would realize letting people like this asshole get away with stuff like this on this platform is quickly destroying it.

Anyone have any advice on how to get it removed and the man banned? I mean it's all there in email and in the review!!! Sorry for the rant.

Help. I have had orders recently where people have not read the processing time and took it as the order would be there by then.

I’ve had people wanting a handmade knitted item by Halloween. I had someone order on the 1st October and want it by the 24th!! But I ship from Australia, have made to order items not items in stock and I had several orders before some of these people.

I’ve had to cancel a couple but I have one person who stated they wanted to try to go ahead to get it before 24th - that’s likely impossible. They said fingers crossed cos we’d like it by the 24th. Not sure if I just cancel it now or just ship it. I have other orders to do so I don’t want to waste my time right now.

Some people realise mt shipping times and messaged before buying but others seem oblivious and admitted they don’t read it properly

ive had my etsy shop for almost 5 years now, i sell only digital templates! Tonight im checking my email and i see this email from the etsy team saying my account got flagged for an attempt to make a transaction off of etsy?!?! heres the part of the email:

Why we’re reaching out

After careful review by our team, we noted an attempt was made to complete a transaction or payment outside of Etsy, which violates our Off-Platform Transactions policy. This content may have been reported to us or flagged by Etsy’s internal systems.

Off-platform transactions remove the protections our community relies on and put buyers at risk of fraud. That's why all transactions that start on Etsy must be completed on Etsy.

What’s not allowed

As outlined in our Off-Platform Transactions Policy, we don’t allow the following:

• Off-platform payment or direction: We don't allow instructing another member of Etsy’s community to pay for or purchase an item outside of Etsy's checkout system.
• Off-platform contact to complete a transaction: We don't allow requesting or sharing contact information for the purpose of completing a transaction off Etsy.
• Incentives to shop off-platform: We don't allow offering discounts, free items, cheaper shipping, or other financial incentives that encourage community members to purchase off Etsy.
• QR codes: We don't allow using a QR code to direct community members off Etsy

I would love to know how and why this would happen?! i have NEVER done any of this lol any order of mine has strictly only gone through the etsy platform, nor have i ever even purchased anything from this account! I looked at my account and they have now removed 3 listings (all digital! ones a cupcake topper template, another is a table sign for graduation and the third is valentines day cards) this is really random and unexpected and its got me worrying now because my shop has ALWAYS been in good standing ever since starting.

I have reached out to the etsy chat and the agent on there has sent my request to the specialized team they called it, and said wait for them to review it 24-48 hours, noting that i dispute the flag and to check that if it was a mistake in the automated system.

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated! And if any other digital shop sellers have had this happen to them! TIA

Just got a 2 star review for a popular waterproof frog car window decal that I sell for 2.99 to 4.99. The buyer chooses the size and color. All he said in the review was “Overpriced”. I think a lot of customers are expressing their frustrations over higher prices virtually everywhere out wherever they can: Etsy reviews for one.

Hi fellow sellers,

I would love to get some feedback on my Etsy shop!

Please read this first:

• Shop age: Even though Etsy shows my shop is 2 years old, it has only been actively running for about half a year because I took a long break.
• Recent projects: I’ve worked on some really cool custom projects over the last few weeks! For example, I turned a baby's feet into a 3D object and replicated someone's favorite shoes into a miniature version.
• Best sellers: My "photo to STL" and "photo to 3D" custom listings are currently performing the best.

Why I started this shop:

• I want to show everyone the amazing things you can create with 3D printing.
• I wanted to bring a fresh, exciting new hobby into my life.

Here is the link to my shop: https://3dshopschoonhoven.etsy.com/

Thank you in advance for your time and tips!

Hi folks, I’ve shipped my first ever parcel from Australia to the US last week. I did a manual custom declaration over the counter (ie. not online through Zonos), I entered all the relevant information, tariff code, country of origin and paid the 11% + 12.5% tariff/taxes.

This was before the new changes starting 22 Oct were announced. Now, the item shows as in transit, I spoke to Aus Post call centre and they told me because the item was not linked to a Zonos account back then (I didn’t have one last week, now I’ve created one) it may be returned.

Can I link the item to my Zonos retrospectively while in transit? If I decide to send another item to the buyer for free (at my own expense) do I need to declare the price and pay tariffs? Even though I’m literally losing money - help please 🙏🏼 thank you

Hi all,

I run what I’d call a successful Etsy shop. It’s my main income and I basically make a living from it. I genuinely love Etsy, and I can’t complain about the fees, because the platform brings me so many customers I wouldn’t reach otherwise.

The one thing that bothers me is not really “owning” my store. I know shops can get suspended or shut down, sometimes for reasons that seem pretty random, and when your livelihood depends on it, that’s a scary thought.

According to eRank, I’m in the top 9% of sellers worldwide. So I’m wondering: is there a point where Etsy assigns you an account manager or some kind of direct contact? I’m not looking for special treatment, just a real person I could reach if something goes wrong, instead of going through the standard support queue.

Has anyone here gotten access to something like that? If so, how did it happen? And if it doesn’t exist, how do you protect yourselves against a sudden suspension?

Thanks!

Finally the moment has come when I can post here.

I just got my first sale. Even though my shop is 1.5 years old. I tried for a few weeks and then stopped. After 6–7 months I changed my niche and tried again for a few weeks but stopped once more. Now I have started selling handdrawn SVGs. I have also started recording myself creating and drawing these designs and sharing the videos on social media. Maybe this is not a big achievement for some people but I hope it motivates others who are struggling and thinking about giving up.

I took on a few custom orders on the side, mostly personalized keychains and small wooden tags. The blanks are cheap, so I thought it would be an easy way to make a little extra money.

The problem is the unpaid time on tiny one-off jobs. A single order usually turns into several messages about font choices, file tweaks, and placement checks. I recently picked up an Aliencell, and while it definitely helped speed up my production, I still have machine costs, wear, and wasted materials to cover. More than that, the computer prep and messaging still keep me stuck at my desk.

If I price these to cover the actual time spent, they look way too expensive compared to mass-produced listings online, but absorbing all the revisions makes the whole thing feel pointless.

For anyone doing custom crafts or personalized side gigs, how do you handle pricing design time on single-item orders?

I decided to turn my long time hobby into a shop on Etsy... I have 600+ views, 20+ visits, but no sales. I know the main factor here is probably the prices, as the price ranges are for "premium" gift product... What should I do? Wait, create more products, create cheaper products, reduce prices, etc?

1. My concern with reducing prices is I can't do steep sales, and
2. I won't get the hourly rate for my work that I'm aiming for.

I'd also like feedback on the listings and the product images/quality, if that's not too much to ask. Thanks!

My product designs (the rose buds/blossoms) themselves are my unique design, they're also coated in iridescent mod podge or equivalent substitute, which I have yet to see on Etsy ("unique criteria") - part of my research was this, as well as there are no coated "preserved" Origami products similar to my design on Etsy, that I could find. I also have researched search terms extensively for 3+ weeks, using all my available tokens to find the best search criteria for my product. (Handbook says I should wait at least a month before analyzing ads, so I'm still a few days short on this) ...

I feel like my prices are justified considering these products, with proper care, will last a life time - they can be a gift given to mark significant events like weddings, first anniversaries (1 year tradition is paper gift) or birthdays, children, or valentines or other similar holiday, hence me being hesitant to change them despite no sales *yet* ...

Some considerations for pricing -

Rose bud model takes approximately 1.5 hours to make, if batching - if done as a single item, it takes 2 hours
Rose blossom model takes approximately 2.5 hours to make, if batching - if done as a single item, it takes 3 hours.
Rose bouquet (only one listing currently) took me 7 + hours, though this is the first time making it, so I think the next one might take 6-6.5 hours.

Thanks for whatever feedback you may have.
Ciao.

Hi all. Completely new to selling handmade work, and completely new to Etsy.

I opened a new shop a few weeks ago. I have 3 listings so far. I have done all the visibility requirements, I’m running a sale, my photos are decently attractive, I’ve done pretty much everything and I think it looks okay.

My views average about 7 a day. And I am nowhere near my first sale. Im wondering what I can do to get it going? I just started a $5/day ad campaign to see if that’ll bring at least a little more traffic.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thank you!

I have my USPS ground set to $5.99.

I offered a USPS Priority upgrade for $9.99 (Hawai’i).

Do we know- does Etsy punish in the algorithm for this?

Hi all !! I’m kind of new to selling on Etsy and just wanted to check if this might be a scam or not…? I prompted them to send an email to my business address, so hoping that was the right move.

Not sure if I’m just cynical and can’t fathom this being real, or if it’s somehow a scam!

Thank you!

I have had my store for 2 years but still not reached a 100 sales. I average around 4 sales a month which is depressing. I have also not been very consistent with the store, gone for months without updating or adding more listings, stayed away for as much as 6 months at a time. Im wondering if there is a possibility of changing things by becoming more consistent now for example adding something new every day or upgrading existing listings. Has anyone seen an actual change by doing that or is it that once a store falls into certain bracket of low performing stores, it would remain that way or only slightly improve despite putting in effort?

A customer ordered 4 handmade pieces from me totaling $254.66 that I shipped out on time August 10. I live in Texas, they got shipped to Canada via USPS. I didn't realize this package got stuck in a shipping facility in Illinois until they messaged me a month later asking where their package was, at this point I called USPS and was told to file a missing package claim which I did, weeks later there is no news and now that it's been 60 days no information comes up for the order at all when I put in the tracking number. I can't even attempt to get a refund from USPS after trying several things. The customer isn't angry but asking if they could get a refund which is completely understandable, but that's over $250 of work I put in too! I'm stuck on what is fair at this point, my gut says to tell them I'm unable to get a refund from USPS especially because it's been so long since it was reported but I'd be willing to give half of a refund which would come out of my own pocket. I feel that's reasonable even though some may say I shouldn't even have to do that, but I do feel it's also on me for not noticing it got stuck at a facility for so long. Pls help any advice for what you would do is appreciated!

With a daily budget of 100USD, how many listings should I promote?

Thank you all

How do I get my shop to open? I started it on 10/5 and have been in "Your shop will stay in Vacation Mode while we review your info" since then.

I have opened cases and get no responses, then they just close.

I don't understand why this is so complicated.