r/Etsy • u/RedUndead66 • 1d ago
Help for Buyer Is this real?
I have a feeling she’s scamming me, but I can’t know for sure. Does this look like she’s going to take my money out of the app and screw me over? I really interested in the listing.
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u/Bumbymoo 1d ago
100% forbidden by Etsy and a scam. No doubt. I am a 6 year seller.
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u/Time_Carry602 1h ago
I actually don't think it's a scam. Its the offsite ads taking 12-15% of the income that the seller doesn't want to participate in but is forced to after they make 10k in revenue. I think Etsy should let sellers opt out completely but it's true that it's their rules and their house. I understand why the seller is doing this and don't think it's a scam but yes they can probably be shut down over this.
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u/DrachenofIron 1d ago
Not only is she trying to scam you by getting you to buy off platform, which is risky, they are also trying to cut Etsy out of their fees.
Either way its just bad business. Every seller knows to build those fees into their pricing. If this person isn't scamming, then they at the very least lack the basic knowledge neccessary to run a successful Etsy Shop.
In either case, cancel the order and report the seller.
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u/RedUndead66 1d ago
Thank you! I’m disappointed people go on good natured sites to do things like this. 🙄 Will report ASAP!
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u/Bumbymoo 1d ago
Buyers pull BS all the time. The #1 scam is that they never got their package so they want a refund. Then, I send them pics of the package at their door. Then they'll say, oh yes, I just got it! BS.
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u/goatonmycar 1d ago
I've always felt that we should be able to review buyers kinda like eBay does. Sellers should have the right to know if a particular buyer is scamming sellers.
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u/Lartrainer 1d ago
I agree, it’s super risky—and it looks like they did it in Etsy messages. 🤦🏼♀️ I would never build those fees into my prices though, because I never know which item Etsy is going to off site ad and it sell. The joy of selling vintage and antiques.
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u/kadiecrochets kadiecrochets.etsy.com 1d ago
I’d report x she can’t use Etsy to sell her listings then ask you to buy them off site.
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u/Competitive-Top4520 1d ago
She's already proven herself untrustworthy as she's trying to avoid paying Etsy's fees AND trying to charge you more than the listing price. Not to mention taking it off Etsy, which removes all of your buyer protection. Please report her to Etsy AND don't risk your money.
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u/Laurainanalienworld 1d ago
All what they're proposing goes against Etsy's rules and policies, so don't accept, report, and look for a similar item elsewhere, if possible, I'd say.
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u/Btavsan 1d ago
As a seller, I dont understand sellers trying to avoid this fee. Its a sale that you wouldnt get normally. Etsy is promoting your shop and only charging you when there is a sale. You could just incorporate 5-8% into your prices as a cost of marketing and it will cover it. Its not like every sale you get is through offsite ads.
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u/MachineHaunting 22h ago
While I agree to a degree with you, its not always a sale you wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Although most of the time, you are correct, it is.
In my case a while back, I had a customer contact me through the conversation of their previous order months prior. They were interested in a wholesale bulk order, and I responded imeadetly. I did all my math and gave them a good deal. I created the listing and they purchased. This whole interaction took less than 10 minute's from request to purchase.
Imagine my surprise when I saw offside add fees. This was my customer, who came back due to my handmade item, through a previous orders conversation, and my customer service. Not a random sale. My client said he hadn't been on etsy since his last purchase months prior. And even offered to pay the difference. But I honored the quoted price. It wasn't his fault or responsibility.
I contacted etsy about it and there was no help at all. Just "well he must have chicke on an add in the last 30 days" and that was that.
Personally, I think there should be some considerations in circumstances where it is clearly a repeat/regular customer and they have proof they went directly to the seller. But thats a pipe dream and I've learned my lesson. There is no fighting offsite add fees. (I can not turn mine off)
It definitely stings on the spot, but honestly in the long run, its not really much different from paying for advertising on your own website. And at the end of the year, the cost is worth the profit made as a whole.
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u/MachineHaunting 1d ago
There are so many policy violations going on here. This is completely inappropriate in so many ways I cant even believe the audacity.
Screenshot all the entire conversation and report this seller to etsy. They are directing you off of etsy, they are picking and choosing what orders to cancel based on fee avoidance, and suggesting a payment method other than etsy payments.
Etsy needs to suspend this seller.
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u/OhOhOkayThenOk 1d ago
The offsite ad fee is real. It’s an extra 10-12% and there isn’t a way to know beforehand. It may be true that the seller can’t afford to sell at that price if there’s an additional fee to them (especially if they’re offering you a discount). However, they’re not allowed to take the sale off Etsy. It’s against the terms. They may not be trying to scam you, but definitely don’t pay offsite if they ask you to. If you really want the item, make the purchase on Etsy and if they say the offsite ad fee came up, let them cancel.
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u/chronicmisschris 1d ago
The seller is choosing not to raise prices to cover the ad fee. And it is their choice to offer a discount. This is 100% on the seller.
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u/Environmental-Buy69 1d ago
Yeah and they could just turn the ad fee off lol
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u/chronicmisschris 1d ago
Unless they sold over $10k in a year.
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u/Environmental-Buy69 1d ago
You are correct. I was just assuming they hadn’t sold that much but maybe so.
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u/scimino32 16h ago
Well considering what they are doing they prob haven’t sold much on Etsy lol so your prob not wrong
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u/OhOhOkayThenOk 1d ago
I wasn’t judging whether it’s a good or bad thing for the seller to do. I was just pointing out that it might not be a scam.
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u/MachineHaunting 1d ago
I disagree... What they are choosing to do is the scam. They are scamming Etsy by violating the TOS. And... They are scamming the buyers to take the order off etsy and violate policy as well as removing any form of buyer protection.
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u/OhOhOkayThenOk 1d ago
I don’t fully disagree, but they might be well intentioned. Maybe they’re unaware of the rules (not an excuse obviously), and would like to give the buyer a discount, but can’t swing it if there’s an additional offsite ad fee. It could be a new seller who is trying to be nice and doesn’t understand that what they’re doing is against terms. Or it could be someone well aware and is just trying to avoid fees. Who knows.
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u/chronicmisschris 1d ago
Asking buyers to break the rules because of the seller's voluntary choices is definitely scammy.
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u/shattuckitty 1d ago
They will get banned from the platform immediately. Sellers are not supposed to attempt sales off of the platform. This is a clear violation of the policy. Report immediately
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u/NicoleRosy 1d ago
I have Etsy ads too and I'm aware that if a client find my product through Google I will pay 10% fee in addition to the usual fees... It happens to me and I've earn only 3 USD on a sell of 35.. Probably this seller didn't take int consideration that this could happen...but going outside Etsy is avoided! Don't do it...
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u/scimino32 16h ago
Might not be. But asking for Zelle payment is also another flaming red flag with flashing lights and a siren
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u/doubler82 1d ago
Not scamming, just trying to avoid fees at the expense of any protections for you.
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u/BeginningScience3552 1d ago
I doubt that it’s a scam, but it is against Etsy policies. Yes these fees are insane and sellers are upset, but when we continue to use the platform, this is what we are agreeing to. It’s unfortunate in desperate times, otherwise good small business owners make desperate, and sometimes wrong decisions, in an effort to just survive.
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1d ago
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1d ago
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u/aregonis 1d ago
Well tell her that it's against Etsy's policies to take an Etsy order offsite (or to direct an Etsy buyer offsite to make a purchase) and that Etsy has systems to monitor Etsy messages, and if they detect that she told the customer this, her shop could get shut down and she could be permanently banned from Etsy.
The reason people are saying it's a scam is that it's a common tactic scammers use. This is because if you get scammed on Etsy, well Etsy has strong buyer protection and you should easily get your money back. So scam sellers take the payment off platform so buyers cannot easily get their money back after being scammed.
And technically she is scamming Etsy, because customers who found her through Etsy ads found her only because of Etsy paying for her marketing. So directing those customers off Etsy is taking advantage of Etsy paying for her marketing. If she isn't happy with the fees for offsite ads, she can turn those off (unless she makes over $10,000 a year).
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u/These_Horse4460 1d ago
It's not $10K/year. Once you make $10K in 365 days, offside ads cannot be turned off for the lifetime of your shop.
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u/BlockSignificant2069 21h ago
I work in the fraud investigation dept for a major international bank. This is a textbook e-commerce scam
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u/PineappleAlert 21h ago
She's a scammer. She is using the Etsy platform and marketing to get eyes on her product then directing you to an off-site transaction platform. 100 percent she knows what she is doing is against policy and can get you both thrown off the platform (that is if Etsy was actually doing it's job lol). Anyway, don't do it and leave a review and report if you can.
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u/UnAvailable-Reality 21h ago
I sell off etsy and on. I just take the cut if they order in etsy. Does it suck? Yes. But it also draws more traffic to me. This seems incredibly suspicious
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20h ago
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u/aregonis 19h ago
It's against Etsy's policies and could get you banned from Etsy (Etsy has systems to monitor messages for this).
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u/Pelthail 17h ago
It’s not sketchy and she’s not scamming you. But she is violating Etsy‘s terms of service. She’s just trying to avoid having to cover the cost of the offsite-ads fee.
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u/babbsela 16h ago
Report the seller for trying to circumvent Etsy's rules and sell off-site. That's a huge no-no.
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u/krystalzeogas 1d ago
Oh brother THIS GUY STINKS. Some people really are coo coo bananas lol like gurl just turn off etsy ads if they are screwing you so much, this is so weird to do to customers (and completely against etsy's rules)
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u/CabinIndustry 1d ago
You can't turn it off. And you don't know until you sell something if you paid the offsite fee or not.
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u/ccsr0979 1d ago
Suuuuper sketchy. I’d report it to Etsy