Etsy Reviews

Well, mid-August I purchased an item from a shop. Again, I waited patiently, while items from other vendors had arrived in a timely manner. Again I attempted to contact this shop, without any success. And again, I was notified that my item had been delivered... To an individual in St. Paul, Minnesota! And guess where the vendor was located... Mexico! SCAM written all over these two shops. I again dug up a different Etsy contact number, and even though the representative plainly saw that the item had been delivered a thousand miles away... You guessed it, I have to wait an additional three days to open a case! The shop is CuriosBoyandGirl, and the proprietor is "Brian **".

After fifteen years of shopping on Etsy, I think I will cut ties for a while and shop elsewhere. Buyer beware... We all know that scammers are everywhere, but I feel Etsy's silly policy should reflect this and when an incident occurs, expedite the refund process so the buyer, or customer, feels that Etsy cares. The buyer won't suffer, they will go elsewhere... The good and honest vendors will lose out.

To make matters worse, Etsy began billing me fees for a store that was nothing more than a mirage! I received invoices for services I never received and products I never sold. It's painfully evident that Etsy is solely interested in wringing every last penny from its users, regardless of whether they deliver on their promises. When I attempted to address this issue with Etsy, their customer support was conspicuously absent. They deactivated their 800-number, making it nearly impossible to get in touch with a live representative. Submitting a ticket online proved to be a Herculean task, and the response time was measured in days or even weeks. It's as if Etsy couldn't care less about their customers' concerns and is solely focused on extracting more money.

Now, here's the real kicker: Etsy has the audacity to demand payment for these fraudulent fees before they'll even consider closing my store, which never actually existed! It's a blatant attempt to extort money from me, and it's beyond disgraceful. In conclusion, my experience with Etsy has been a complete and utter disaster. They failed to fulfill their promises, billed me for services that never materialized, and demonstrated an utter disregard for customer service and ethics. I strongly advise anyone contemplating using Etsy to seek out a more reliable and ethical platform for their online store needs. Etsy is nothing but a money-grabbing scam, and I deeply regret ever becoming entangled with them. Spare yourself the agony and avoid Etsy at all costs!

One of the key issues I encountered was the inconsistent enforcement of their rules and policies. Etsy tends to favor buyers over sellers, often neglecting to adequately address disputes or protect sellers' interests. This lack of fair treatment undermines trust and discourages sellers from investing their time and effort into the platform.

Furthermore, the customer service offered by Etsy is incredibly disappointing. It is exceedingly difficult to reach a real person for assistance, and when you do, the responses are often vague, unhelpful, or automated. It is disheartening to see a company prioritize customer service so poorly, as it ultimately affects the experience for both buyers and sellers. Additionally, Etsy's fees and charges are excessive compared to the value and support they provide. The fees eat into sellers' profits significantly, making it challenging to maintain a sustainable business on their platform. In my opinion, this is a significant flaw in Etsy's structure that requires immediate attention.

Overall, my experience with Etsy as a seller has been extremely negative. The lack of consistent enforcement of rules, inadequate customer service, and excessive fees have made it clear that Etsy has little regard for the success and satisfaction of their sellers. In light of these experiences, I cannot in good conscience recommend Etsy as a platform for selling products. There are numerous alternative platforms available that provide better support, fairer policies, and a higher level of customer service. Please note that this review reflects my personal experience and opinion as a seller on Etsy. Others may have had different experiences, but it is important to consider these aspects before deciding to sell products on the platform.

We went back and forth, they were polite and flowery in the typically awkward language of outsourced help, and it was a different rep handling the case in each subsequent contact. This went on for a while, five or six exchanges, until finally it was resolved and I regained access. They apologized and seemed to care, but it didn't do much to soothe my frustration, as I believe a phone number change ought not cripple anyone, especially with a company this large. It's as though they had never handled a simple number change.

Once back in the account, I tried to list an item and repeatedly got a red-banner error message on the top of my screen. Okay, time to contact the clowns again. They apologized again, stated that their engineering department was aware of the issue and was working to resolve it. The same error thwarted me for three days, and finally I closed my account and sent them one more e-mail letting them know they are extra lame.

Shortly thereafter, I re-opened the account out of desperation to list some items that aren't moving on Facebook Marketplace. e-Bay sucks, too, so they aren't even a consideration at this point. Upon re-opening the account and attempting to list an Adidas watch, here came more problems, here was even more frustration. It really doesn't end.

The listing options asked who made the item, and I clicked "someone else" which, according to them, indicates another person or company. Ok, sounds good. But wait, it's not good, because etsy is terrible at simple things. Now the system wants to know who my production partner is, and what role I played in the design, i.e. what is my relationship to the maker? So, I backed up and selected "I made it" so their system would quit the squawking. I submitted the listing, it didn't appear in my shop, and instead I received an e-mail that "oops, it looks like your item is counterfeit." Oops indeed...my mistake for trying.

I have closed the shop again and messaged them again that they are an utter waste. I highly un-recommend Etsy to anyone who values their time at all. It is a waste. And even if they resolve this issue, what's in store later if I continue to list on their platform? What surprises will I encounter once locked in with a bunch of listings? How else will they thwart my efforts to earn much needed money? Only etsy knows.

Moving on to Shopify, even though it seems tricky...setting up a page, promoting my own shop, and whatever else Shopify entails. Run from Etsy. Run somewhere worth your while. It's unfortunate that I'm here reviewing them in this way, but then somehow validating to know there are so many others reviewing similarly.

I can NOT make a purchase from this company for some odd reason. They send an email stating several reasons that either my bank didn't have the funds or the sellers wasn't accepting my payment type and they weren't allowed to contact the sellers, and so forth. They lost a $400.00 purchase. I am very disappointed, confused, frustrated, and upset. I will NOT try buying from this company again.

Oh also to top things off. I lost two items that I was going to purchase. They were from independent sellers and I had to buy directly from them. When I went to buy from them the cost near doubled because of fees. I stopped payment on those. Etsy may have good prices but the trouble it takes to receive those good prices aren't worth it. I want to purchase my items with ease and know when I pay for something I'm going to get it. I also don't want to have to make several purchases from different vendors and pay higher prices. They don't tell you this when ordering by the way. I'll continue with Walmart or other companies. I'm trying Temu so I'll let you know how that one goes.