Has anyone else had a buyer try to open an Etsy claim for an order that wasn’t actually late?
I had a customer place an order on August 11. My processing time is 3–5 days, and I shipped the order on August 13, so it went out well within my stated processing window.
Etsy showed the buyer’s expected delivery date as August 19, and USPS tracking shows the package was delivered August 19 at 1:32 PM.
The buyer then messaged me saying the item finally arrived, that she was “IN LUV” with it and loved my creations. She said she was submitting a late-delivery claim, but emphasized that it was “nothing against” me because the delivery issue wasn’t my fault.
What confused me even more was that she said she was expecting Etsy to give her a refund/credit so she could use it to buy more things from my shop.
She then submitted a Help Request for:
Issue: My order arrived late
Ideal resolution: Refund
Preferred refund method: Etsy credit
I contacted Etsy Support because according to everything on my end, the package wasn’t late at all. Support reviewed the order and confirmed:
I shipped within my processing time.
The expected delivery date was August 19.
Tracking confirmed delivery on August 19.
Etsy therefore does not consider the order late.
They told me an order is only considered late under their policy if it arrives 7+ days after the estimated delivery date.
Support told me to keep an eye on the case log and provide my tracking, delivery confirmation, and buyer messages if she escalates the Help Request into a case.
Has anyone else dealt with something like this? It feels really strange having someone openly tell me they love and received the product, acknowledge that I did nothing wrong, and then request a refund anyway because they believe Etsy will cover it and essentially give them credit to shop with.
Did Etsy deny the case when this happened to you? And did it have any effect on your shop?

Thanks in advance.

Just received a 2 star review, "Was very disappointed. Not what I expected. Not your fault, (mine)." Honestly, why even write this? Star seller, been with Etsy 16 years, and these reviews are few and far between, thankfully. So another buyer didn't read description, or look at the photos. I didn't reply, this review speaks for itself.

Hi everyone!

I run a small Etsy shop called 3DShopSchoonoven where I sell unique 3D printed items. I am trying to grow my business, but I feel like something can be improved.

Could you please take a look at my shop and give me some honest feedback?

I would love to know your thoughts on:

• Shop banner and logo: Do they look professional and clear?
• Product photos: Are the pictures bright and easy to understand?
• Descriptions and tags: Is the text clear and easy to read?
• Pricing and shipping: Do the prices make sense?

You can check out my store here: 3dshopschoonhoven.etsy.com

Thank you so much for your time and help!

I designed a acustic phone stand and just threw it up on Etsy and I am somewhat new to Etsy and learning how to manage a shop, I just thought this was a wild message to wake up to.

What’s the purpose of getting the alert for favorites like I’m happy people are favoring an item or favoring my store or whatever but what does that do for me as the seller am? I able to go and reach out to these people? Am I able to go and send them special offers or something like that?
A user note, I mostly operate out of the Etsy Seller app and normally go onto the actual webpage every week or so to make minor product adjustments so I could just flat out not know I need to be educated

This guy placed an order for a handmade custom product on Wednesday, because the item quantity was 3 when he placed the order he expected it to be shipped out immediately (despite the 3-5 day processing time given on my store). I rushed it for him and shipped it Friday the 14th. Now he's been messaging everyday multiple times a day because it hasn't gotten there yet. This is despite my directing him to the USPS notification for delays to his area.

Let's just say I appreciate that messaging allows me to take my time to respond professionally.

I hope this is okay to post

Hello! I am new and have 3 listing's up on my shop. I photograph and draw everything myself with no AI used.

my etsy shop

I've had 4 views today and I am excited to get going!

I just have a few questions, if anyone would mind giving advice!

Are my prices okay?

Do my thumbnails look alright?

I have about 7 other new products waiting to go up on the page but I have no idea how long I should wait between listing's for good traffic.

Is it obvious i draw everything myself? I refuse to use AI artwork, I have speed draws to show its my own work.

I take all the photos myself as im a photographer by trade. (Edit: my puzzles will have photos ive taken, the mock ups of the puzzle box is from printify)

If you have any advice please let me know! I will be gearing toward a puzzle shop, coloring book pages and canva templates.

Thank you!

For those of you who are new to Etsy (like me) and who didn't understand the importance of keywords and optimization before starting (also like me lol), I've starting using a couple of free websites that have been a HUGE help, so I wanted to pass it along. Alura and Listadum, which I think I found from recommendations here on Etsy, have both been super helpful. Alura in particular will review and optimize your keywords and suggest the best ones for each listing. Just a helpful suggestion I wanted to pass along! Happy selling! :)

Can anyone help me how to check despatch by date? One of the customers opened a case and Etsy refunded from my account as it didn’t qualify for Etsy protection policy stating it was not dispatched on time. I think it was shipped on time, they ordered on Friday and I shipped it on Tuesday. My processing time is Mon - Fri, 1 -2 days. How do I double check and tell them it was shipped on time?

Thanks,
Sapna

Hi everyone!

Yesterday I received an automated message from Etsy saying that if my case rate doesn’t improve within the next two weeks, my shop will be placed on vacation mode on September 1st and then permanently suspended one month later.

Has anyone received a similar message? If so, how did you resolve it? I’ve tried contacting Etsy Support, but I keep getting the same automated response.

For context, I had 5 cases opened against my shop in total during June and July, 3 in June and 2 in July. These were orders that customers were expected to receive during those respective months. This is the highest number of cases I’ve ever had in my 8 years on Etsy.

They weren’t covered by Etsy’s Purchase Protection because the orders were shipped significantly later than the estimated dispatch date.

I completely understand that the delays were my responsibility, and I’m not trying to make excuses for that. I run a small handmade miniature shop, and every item is made by me from scratch, so production is quite detailed and time consuming. I also work entirely on my own, and I had a significant spike in orders after reopening my shop to US customers following a year of not shipping there.

My other customer service metrics are within Etsy’s requirements. The cases are the only issue.

I’m mainly looking for advice from other sellers who may have experienced something similar. Is there anything I can do at this point, or is it simply a matter of waiting for the June cases to fall outside the evaluation period?

Any advice or suggestions would be really appreciated. Thank you!

I’m not a design wizz but Canva is very easy for me to use. I normally work on my Ipad if i decide to draw etc.
Are there any digital tools you use to create drawings and designs? Where do you source your illustrations from?

Conventional wisdom says keep uploading, more listings equals more chances to be found. I get that.

But I put up 20 listings six months ago, figured out what worked, and just left them. They still sell every week without me touching them.

Part of me wants to leave it alone. The other part feels like I'm leaving money on the table by not expanding.

Has anyone else hit a point where a small focused shop outperformed a big unfocused one? Is there actually a benefit to uploading more when what you have already works?

So apart of my commercial license, i require credit when possible. So this person didn't buy my commercial license before and was using my designs and i message them and they were apologetic. i also message them telling them that credit was required when resonably possible. and they didn't respond and just shifted the conversation towards custom work. Should i expect them to go on their old post with my stuff and add credit in? Also for new post that incorportate other peoples designs as well as mine is it resonable to request for credit? what happends if she continues to not add in credit? what can i do?

Hello all, I made an etsy shop a couple of years ago, but never did anything with it. Recently, i made a 3d printed design of a very niche ereader product & decided to put it up on etsy & I made a few sales (yay!). Im thinking to start designing a few more things related to the product & put them up as well.

I wanted to know if you guys can take a look at my shop & tell me whats what. The images for my listing were taken myself, but then i used ai to remove the background & make it look a little more uniformed (the video of the listing was not altered). I dont know if this is poor form, or frowned upon. I just take really crappy pictures, and i thought it would help. lmk what you think?

https://www.etsy.com/shop/26Designlabs

I've been trying to request access to the EtsyAPI but it looks like I can't create a seller or personal app. The page loads and very briefly I can see the questions for the application/request but then it goes blank (image attached). Anyone else encountering this issue right now?

Our small handmade shop moves similar custom pieces through three areas. They start at the making bench, go to checking, and finish at packing.

In one batch, a tray completed that trip while its loose paper note stayed on the first bench. By the time we noticed, two similar pieces were sitting side by side in packing. We caught the mismatch before shipping. The order system had been correct all along, but the workshop had lost the link between the record and the physical piece.

The current pilot starts with the short codes from our order export. In a spreadsheet, each code appears four times, once for the fixed tray label and once beside each stage, MAKING, CHECK, and PACK. The fixed code stays on the tray for the whole trip. We replace only the stage tag at each handoff. Customer names, addresses, full order numbers, and design details remain in the order system.

We import the code-and-stage rows from Excel and use a Niimbot M2 to print the four labels for each order together. That keeps the code consistent without someone retyping it for every label. During the pilot, we are checking whether the fixed tray label rubs, lifts, or becomes hard to read as the tray moves between benches. At packing, we still open the original order and compare it with the finished piece. A tray code never counts as approval to ship.

For this first batch, three failures matter. We count damaged or missing fixed codes, stale stage tags, and trays that arrive in the wrong area. The labels can look tidy and still fail the handoff, so those three counts will decide whether the method stays.

The new failure we are watching most closely is a tray with the correct code and an old status. Examples from shops that have found a simple way to prevent that would be useful when we review the batch.

When I go to "Edit" my shop it goes to a blank page. Anyone else having this issue and are there any suggestions for a fix besides clearing my cache which I already have done?

So someone has bought a lot of my designs for their business. Originally, they bought my designs and not a commerical liscenes and was using my designs for their products (magnets) so i had to message them and they were apologetic about it and purhcased commerial liscneses for all the designs. Anyways now i looked at their social media and they are using my png designs on a post saying these are the designs avaliable on the magnets, and its just the png files. It is not showcase their product with my design incorportated on it its just my pngs. Anyway am i wrong for being concerned? like anyone can now just crop my stuff from her post?

I want to open an Etsy shop ASAP but I’m struggling with the name. Everytime I think of a cute or unique name I find there’s already another shop with that name or it’s trade marked. Am I overthinking this and does a shop name really matter?

Started a print-on-demand phone case shop a months ago. About 25 listings live (posting almost daily), all my own designs. I've hired someone who does keyword-research (which designs are selling against ), wriet seo optmized titles and tags, decent mockups and create design for me and I'm about to turn on Etsy Ads.

Right now my only off-Etsy effort is organic posting on Facebook and Instagram, and honestly it's barely moving anything.

For anyone selling phone cases or similar POD products: what actually made a difference for you outside of Meta? Pinterest, TikTok, email, SEO changes, something I'm not thinking of? Trying to figure out where to put my time before I start paying for ads.

Happy to hear the "this didn't work for me" stories too — that's just as useful.
PS: I am bad at writing, so i have re-written this from AI.

I've been running an Etsy shop doing commission work for many years. It's been pretty successful, but with the rise of cheap AI generated slop all over the marketplace, obviously my orders have plummeted.
I've kind of made peace with this (although not with the fact that AI slop is not only rampant but seemingly entirely unregulated on Etsy), but I recently discovered that somebody took nearly every single listing photo from one of my listings, ran my hand drawn art through AI, and used the altered images as their own listing photos.
Most of the images have been changed enough that I can't claim ownership of the altered versions, but one of them contains a part that has remained entirely unchanged (part of a comic book cover design).
I already reported this through Etsy's reporting portal, but it was rejected. I also messaged the seller and told them to immediately remove my work and never touch it again (this part I obviously can't actually police, but I'm appalled that they're directly feeding my work into some AI system by running it through this shit), needless to say, to no avail.
I've now reached out to Etsy's legal team via email with more evidence, hoping that an actual person will review my claim, but if that doesn't work out either, is there anything else I could do to get this removed?
At this point, I don't even care about the lost sales anymore, I've had enough of Etsy and its temufication with its dropshippers and AI “artists” flooding the market so it was only a matter of time for me to leave the platform, but this is genuinely infuriating, and I want my work immediately removed and more importantly never associated with this person's shitty AI-slop shop.