I have an Etsy shop in Canada, and I mainly sell to the US. My shop has a no-return policy. I sell tool organizers, and it’s happened several times now that a customer wants to return the item because they thought it came with everything shown in the picture.

Just to be clear, the picture includes a toolbox, my organizers, and the tools that go inside. Anyone who isn’t completely stupid would realize that everything in that picture costs over $900 if you buy it in a store. I sell my organizers for $70...

The problem is that shipping costs me $20, so when a customer requests a return, it’s a huge loss for me—just because someone was too stupid to read the item description... Yes, the description clearly states that it only includes the organizers.

I have over 700 sales with 130 five-star reviews, and I’ve had maybe 10 return requests. Would you accept these returns?

I’d rather not get into politics, but some of the materials I source to make my products have increased 10-20% across the board. Unfortunately, buying domestically is still cost prohibitive. My margins are relatively healthy, but this will add up.

I looked today and etsy put my shop on vacation mode that I can't change. I never got an email from them either the banner on my page says I would. Trying to contact them about it was like running in circles. I'm very new to this and just last week received my first order (arrived and they left a 5 star review) so im not sure why they'd do this. Has anyone else experienced this?

I have sort of an odd idea and I wondered if any other sellers have done this before. In my shop, I sell mostly stickers and earrings. I want to emphasize that I'm a small business and I was thinking of putting together a sort of "shop commercial" that shows my bedroom/office where I do all my work, how thought goes into each order, you'll always get freebies and that no AI is ever used. I would use it as the product video in each of my listings. I thought it would be a cute and fun way to show possible customers that when they buy from me, they're supporting a real small business and not some big drop-shipper conglomerate. That this is how I'm "keeping commerce human"! Does this sound like a good idea? Has anyone else done this before?
TLDR: I want to make a short shop commercial and put it into my listings

TIA!!

Hello, I have a new shop that I have been working on for a few weeks, I have put a lot of my free time into learning what works and how to be successful, although I know I still have a lot to learn.

I have invested in some mockups that I believe look good. One of my biggest issues visually in the beginning was my poor mockups. I have invested in some editing softwares to help me create high quality designs as well.

I have been running some ads and really trying to optimize my SEO as well since I started. I am looking to gain some insight from others on what I can be doing better. I have a few listings that got 500-1000 views in 2-3 days and each had a 3-5% CTR from running ads but I haven't seen any sales, however I have seen favorites and abandoned carts on my stats page . I have great interest in creating designs and a passion to keep developing my shop but I am curious what my shop lacks from another point of view. I would appreciate some feedback on how my mockups look as well as the overall aesthetic of my shop(if it is too plain).

Any feedback is welcome and appreciated.

My shop is: BundledDesigns

Hi! I’m a very new Etsy seller, all I sell is art that i make in my free time. I could use some advice to help me boost sales if anyone’s willing. I’m open to literally any suggestions, including lowering prices if people think I’m charging too much. Shop linked below.

https://miaswatercolor.etsy.com

And I'm stressed about what the response might be to this post.

People come here to ask sincere questions, and a lot of the time they get downvoted and snarky answers (often including that OP could have found the answer themselves if they dug into it online).

It seems like a lot of people use this sub to get a sense of superiority over others by shaming them for not knowing things (including not knowing how to source info).

Hell, I know how to source info online, but sometimes I just want to talk to some fellow humans about it. And often times a quick post will get to a person that knows the answer faster than it would take for me to find the answer on my own.

I've just noticed in myself how stressed I am when posting here; I feel like I'm walking on eggshells. Just scrolling through the main feed, about 25-30% of the posts have a "0" score. Imo that is abnormal. Especially given that a lot of those posts are from vulnerable new folks, just seems in bad taste.

If you're new, don't take the behavior on this sub personally. If someone gives you crap about "not putting in enough effort to find the answer on your own", 1) it's incredibly normal to have to learn the skill of finding information, and despite what some people imply, you are not fundamentally incapable of having a successful Etsy shop just because you don't have that skill yet and 2) even if you know how to find information, it's incredibly normal to want to seek human connection and conversation over digging in on your own.

Apologies in advance if this post isn't allowed. The world is just making me sad recently, and it's surprising to me that this sub isn't a more compassionate place.

When I call USPS about an issue, they said the tracking number I give is invalid. But it’s in the Etsy app. Why?

I am looking at tools to help improve listing performance and have come across these two options. I was wondering if anyone had experience with either or both and had some thought to share?

It says my info is verified, yet still stuck on vacation mode. How long did it take everyone to get it cleared up with Etsy? I have had an open ticket for 6 days now.

is this normal? im fine with no one clicking/buying, but for it not to even have appeared once on anyones feed?

i filled out as much as i physically could (including certain events it could be useful for despite it being a general decoration)

is there anything else i can do besides paying money?

I sold a designer vintage dress to a buyer on 12/11. Buyer was in Australia. Sent the dress through Etsy with tracking and insurance. Dress had not arrived by 1/5, buyer files for refund—despite tracking saying it is out for delivery. Buyer claims she cannot see tracking info (is that possible?) Etsy grants refund, removes money from my account.

I contact them protesting that the dress says it is in the country and they are attempting to deliver (at this time it says two attempts had been made, unable to reach buyer). Etsy responds it is their policy to grant refunds for international orders over $250 if the item is not delivered within a certain timeframe.

A few days after refund is granted, it says item delivered. I contact etsy & they tell me to file for an insurance claim. I file with Shipsurance and they ask for documentation which must include the buyer saying they never received the item. Buyer never responded to any of my messages concerning the item being out for delivery, etc., and ignores my request for a statement that they never received the item. Shipsurance now says that since the item says delivered I do not have a claim unless buyer signs affidavit saying they did not receive it. Etsy keeps deflecting back to shipper even though they are the ones who prematurely refunded.

Has anyone been in this situation?? I don’t know where to turn or what to do and I cannot seem to contact an actual person.

I’m still pretty new to selling and had no idea that was an option. I don’t have a printer so I won’t be able to print out the message. I could offer to hand write the note but it’s a Valentine’s Day gift and I doubt she’ll want me to hand write the note for her boyfriend (the message mentions him that’s how I know)

I did disable that option after looking it up but any suggestions would be very helpful

Im thinking of opening a shop in which to sell animated layouts and emotes but im not sure as ive seen the digital product side of etsy has been flooded with AI.

Can anyone who has launched a similar shop give me some advice or insights?

Hi guys. So I’m a new small seller from Canada and I make reversible laminated bookmarks. I’ve had four sales so far which I’m super happy about, but one of my sales is going a little weird right now and I’m just wondering if there is anything else I should be doing…

So on January 10th someone from Hawaii made an order and their calculated shipping from Canada Post cost them around 7 dollars. However, when I looked at purchasing canada post shipping labels it said the price to ship to Hawaii would be 14 dollars. I was confused, so I looked into shipping with chitchats because I have used them before. Their shipping cost was 8 dollars, and because it was more in-line with what the customer paid, I thought this would be the better choice to send it out with.

The tracking stopped updating on the 19th and I asked the courier what was going on… they said to wait and theyd get back to me. So I let the buyer know there might be a slight delay.

Chitchats got back to me and they told me that they ship to the islands by boat and the boat only leaves to the islands once every two weeks. Ahhhhhh, I wish I knew that sooner!! They said it would probably be delayed by about a month.

So I messaged the buyer and told them them this, and I let them know that I would keep them updated and keep an eye on it… but I’m just wondering if there is anything else I should do?

I’m remaking the bookmark just in case it never arrives… but they were expecting it by the end of January and now I have no idea when it’ll get there.

The thing is, the buyer has not replied to either of my messages so I’m not sure how they’re feeling about this. Should I just wait until they either message me, or wait until the shipping starts moving or the item arrives? I would 100% be willing to resend the item with Canada Post at no cost to the buyer, but I won’t do that until I hear something…

I guess I’m just looking for some advice on proper etiquette for something like this. Thanks everyone in advance :)

Temu allow thieves to steal art work and resell them with ZERO monitoring. Wall art should not even be allowed to be sold on TEMU full stop - knowing FULL well 99.9% of it is all stolen from artists.

Why is there no regulations with this awful, treacherous company?

At least with Etsy there seems to be some sort of regulation and care involved.

I'm up to my eyeballs trying to get all my art work taken down from Temu. This is not only taking money from my pockets by stealing my art, but also my TIME dealing with it.

To top it off, people that buy art work work off Temu, do you literally have no idea at all? Or know full well and don't care because it's cheap? There needs to be some serious viral educating about this. It's sickening reading the reviews on my stolen art and seeing them it displayed in these ignorant people's homes.

I've put watermarks on most of my art, but still they've managed to get around it. Are they buying my art and scanning it in? I'm at a loss.

I say we boycott that website. Anyone else?

Is there a way to sort my Etsy orders by "payment type"- Etsy says this is impossible and they are not allowed to give out that info. (That is incorrect because I can see if someone paid with Visa or whatnot in each order.) The downloadable CSVs do not include this info.

Asking for : https://www.paymentcardsettlement.com/en (but I'm not willing to click through years' worth of orders to gather this info manually)

Full Time seller since 2013. I always had an interest in printing and metal working, and in 2018 I switched to a POD setup, as I had a brick and mortar before that selling stamped metal artwork and metal prints. However, all shops went belly up in October 2024 and have not recovered.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. My 4 shops have been my full time income going back to 2013 for the oldest one. The one I linked below has been going steady since 2018 and providing full time income for me. In October, it just stopped. Sales, and views too. I'd get 150-250 views per day before October and at least 3 sales daily, often 5. Now, I'm lucky to get 20 views since then each day. Rarely would I ever get a day with no sales. Now, I sometimes get an entire week or more without one.

I've started my attempts at pursuing social media and adding videos, but it's a huge learning curve for me, as I never quite understood social media and how to draw a viewer's interest. Most of my photos were all above the 2000px requirement, but a few were a bit smaller, so I changed those out months ago. I've also tried reviewing my tags as well and updating those.

My competition is still selling, so I don't think my market is completely down and out overall.

Do you see anything in my shop that could have caused this sudden drop and why it is staying down still? Is there anything that I can improve that stands out to you?

Here is the link to my shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/westmetalstudio

Thank you for your time!

Hey sorry i’m sure you get lots of posts like this, this is a first for me now after a few months of selling.

Customer has ordered an item, it’s made and ready to be shipped. Before sending parcels i make sure an address can be found on royal mail postcode finder.

The address given by customer does show up as a block of flats but i haven’t been given a flat number, just the building name.

I have messaged the customer twice since the order has been placed and i’ve got no response. Need it shipped by tomorrow or cancelled.

Do i send the parcel and possibly have the wrong address or cancel order. If i cancel does my shop get affected in any way?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

This is unexceptable and Etsy not doing anything about it. I already emailed them over 5 times.

Buyer send me this inappropriate picture of the items I sent and then upset about size of the item. But she could simply address her concerns in a appropriate language. She then used all kind of words, including F*, idiot, damb caucasian, not including the feedback of course. Etsy supposebely has a policy about hate speech, racism and so on. I even blocked this person, she still can message me even without my responce, she just keeps going. Why is it that you block and they can still contact you. this is crazy! Can I legally be after Etsy if they don't support their policy? Thanks

Hey everyone, I recently started my Etsy shop selling digital products and I'm looking for any advice / feedback about how to improve.

I know I've joined a hugely saturated market but I really enjoy the creative / design process so thought I'd give it a go for a while and see what happens.

I'm hoping to build up my listings over time, and have read that that helps with visibility etc, but very open to hearing any other nuggets of wisdom too!

Here's my shop: https://momentsbyp.etsy.com

Thanks in advance - feel free to be brutally honest if needed!!

Is anyone else running into the issue of being unable to deactivate coupons? I have them set up for favorited items and for abandoned cart. There is an option to "Stop sending offers" but no option to "Deactivate code". Presumably, "Stop sending offers" will do just that, but allow anyone who already received that offer to use it?

Hi! I have a digital shop and made a few sales already. I have set up my shop to have a deposit once per month. Is there any indication that Etsy made the deposit or will they send an email? Or do i have to check my bank manually?

New seller here. Thanks!!

Hi folks, hope this is allowed.

I've been working hard on some fan-art designs to sell on Esty. I realise the market is being horrible saturated since the 'side-hustle' boom sort of ruined Etsy, but I really do think the designs are niche and something which fans of the shows/movies/podcasts I'm referring to would have an interet.

I just don't know how to get it off the ground really. For digital downloads, is it just as simple as emailing a PDF of my product? And a lot of sellers of similar products seem to seel a pbysical option too, but I don't have a printer access, so is there a print on demand place that is reliable and high quality? Or should I invest in a good printer and bulk-buy frames?

Sorry if newbie questions aren't allowed or are just boring. I just really want this idea to take off. I'm UK based.

As title says. They messaged me asking to change the zip code as they had entered it wrong, but it’s in Australia and I’m in US and I have no idea if it’s even possible for me to do that. Tracking says it was out for delivery but is undeliverable. My first thought is they should call the post office with the incorrect zip code and ask them to redirect it to the correct one. Does anyone have any insight on this issue? TIA

I posted before about funny search terms, but on a serious note I've noticed one of the most common search terms Etsy is sending to my shop is "LED jewellery". It's in my top 5 for stats.

I do sell glow in the dark jewellery but I have never used LED components. I can understand why there might be an association in the algorithms mind between light up / glowing jewellery but surely this just leads to customers being directed to my shop and then being disappointed or frustrated? And quite a few of them too.

For the record, I'm not trying to mislead anyone into my shop by adding LED as a tag or title anywhere! I don't use the term.

It's not really causing me a problem at the moment other than the false flag traffic (although there's an argument that all traffic is good!) but has anyone had similar and is there anything I should be careful of or any way to stop it? Happy to be told I'm overthinking this too...

This is an approved thread for sharing your shop links, shop launches, shop updates, instagram handles, etc.

Contest mode is turned on to ensure a fair share of visibility for everyone.

This is also the approved place for sharing your shop milestones! Please use this thread and only this thread to share your milestones. Do your best to also share any information that other sellers might benefit from including tips and tricks that got you to the milestone, etc.

We strongly prefer posts that contain more information about the milestones. Tell us your story. Talk about the struggles you went through to reach 1000 orders. Explain what you learned about producing your products that let you scale from 10 orders to 100 orders.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a post for promotional only. Please do not post unsolicited critiques and feedback here.

Sellers, if you would like feedback, please create your own post requesting a critique, following the shop critique guidelines in the sub rules.

I've had a lot of people using a 5$ abandoned cart coupon lately and I was wondering if there was any way to tell where it came from. Like was it a real abandoned cart coupon from Etsy or did the customer get the coupon from honey. Is there any way to prevent people using honey?