Etsy reviews

I love the products there, original and creative, best place to buy a gift to family or to myself, their pinterest photo is also nice!

Just watch who you are buying from, Check reviews on the persons and correspond.
I purchased items, received a bogus tracking number, as with proof of this number they are paid, and the item was never shipped and three weeks later was blaming not receiving on the USPS not picking it up. The USPS stated a label was generated, NO package available for pick up or received.. Shop was paid.
Then, the shop said it was left on the porch for USPS to pick up and it had rained and the package was ruined with water. Finally after a bad review and numerous email, the shop finally provided that info. So watch who you are dealing with.
These people work out of their homes and use the ETSY site for business.
There is NO phone number or CSR behind ETSY, just an automated email that everyone gets if a complaint is sent. No one from ETSY ever got back with me.
There are a couple of sellers I still deal with, but check out their shops and reviews prior to any purchases.
A bad apple can run the bunch, and I hate to see negatives against all the sellers, as there are some very good ones on Etsy. Just watch it.

I am both a buyer and seller through Etsy and all my experiences have been 100% positive. However, I have read some of the other reviews and just want to put this out there. Etsy is basically an online market in which vendors pay for shop space and are required to follow some "market" rules. Whenever I purchase anything online I always have a good look at their reviews and policies, including shipping, returns, repairs and their about us page. If they don't have this information available, contact them and ask them to send you a email of what their policies are.

Purchased a $250 Etsy gift card for my granddaughter since she loves Etsy. It was emailed and used it to make a few purchases. A day later they cancelled all her orders and told her her address was associated with fraud. She lives in an apartment building in NYC. I wanted a refund of the card price of $250 since they would not allow her to use it and they refused so I called my credit card company and got a refund. I wouldn't do business with them again and my granddaughter has since closed her account. They said it was a mistake but they should have done their homework first before treating her like that.

I know a few people selling on Etsy and one is my sister. I also created an account to watch and decide if I might open a shop there, but after what I've seen last night to my sister, I'm sure I should check some other websites to runa business. Etsy... not a bad site, BUT some TEAMS there where people sincerely try to promote their items and other shop owners on threads, just there to promote their websites and try to link people there and sell them 'tutorials', 'success pack', etc. and their team leaders have such a rude attitude to members thinking they own them. I'm sure if Etsy will not solve this problem soon, it will lose many people, both customers and sellers...

I am truly puzzled by all the negative reviews. What, you didn't know that you'd be paying customs fees on anything you import (buy from oversees)? Better educate yourself about your own country's laws an regulations then. Seller can provide proof of purchase but you still b!tch about how they screwed you over? Well what do you know, customs office is authorized and hold your package for several weeks, also, stuff is occassionally lost in the mail. Not the sellers fault! If you ask them politely and contact them in a timely manner, surely they will try and work out a solution for you. In the end, if you run a small online business, all you have is your reputation.
As far as customer service goes, Etsy is a PLATFORM for handmade artists, who run their individual shops. They are rolling out their telephone hotline this year, 2014, to help remedy situations where something clearly goes wrong with the transaction.
I do feel truly sorry for those sellers who had their shops shut down without a warning.
As far as the website being difficult to navigate - absolute BS, Etsy has one of the cleanest and most comprehensive layouts. Policies/payment methods differing from shop to shop - well duuh! Once again people, it's a PLATFORM for individual sellers that exercise control over their own business and have their own policies. READ the shop policies and COMMUNICATE with the seller if there is any discrepancies in your addresses, etc. Your life will improve dramatically, I guarantee you.

I first found etsy when I went looking for supplies. I loved what was being offered such as charms,fimo, prints. Some shops were out of my price range but many were just right for my budget.

I am now a seller on etsy and direct many buyers to various shops I would have to say my favorite category is vintage collectibles as it just brings up happy memories.

Terrible group to work with should you experience any issues. They do not know how to treat their community with respect. The reason their fees are low is only to attract revenue... Closed my shop because of how I was treated. There are better alternatives available... use them!

As a seller, I love etsy. Low fees, easy to use, and I get lot's of sales... You can't beat it for handmade items.

Nice alternative from Ebay...I like the idea that it is not full of the Ebay fakes...Most sellers seem good.

They don't tell you you'll pay a customs charge even though they list their prices in your local currency. Very sneaky indeed.

ZERO STARS ACTUALLY. Bought two items from ETSY website using two different credit cards. Within weeks of buying the items BOTH CREDIT CARDS HAD FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY ON THEM!!! STAY AWAY FROM THIS WEBSITE!!!! After reading reviews now, it looks like people order items and never receive them. Wish I would have read these reviews before placing my order on this website.

I purchased a item it was never shipped. the seller and esty.com never responded to my multiple messages. I had to file a dispute and get my money back from pay pal. and it took 2 weeks.. horrible. no customer service whatsoever

Site has its own "track package" link which provides fake tracking information. Their fake tracking information is formatted to look like a real US Postal Service tracking report, but despite the fancy USPS logo and excellent formatting, the information being provided by Etsy does not match the tracking information on the real USPS online tracking report.

I found the problem after an Etsy seller "Featherpick Fashions" took nearly a full week after the order had been placed and paid before Etsy sent me an email saying that the seller was GOING TO ship my order soon and providing a USPS tracking number. I have checked the tracking information on both the Etsy site and the real USPS website -- they both agree that the seller STILL has not shipped my package (more than a week after it was ordered and paid for), but the tracking information on the Etsy website is not the same as the real USPS tracking report.

Basically, I bought a hand made dress for $150 and never got it. The seller tells me that Etsy is not giving her my messages. Etsy tells me that my case expired and can no longer open a case against the seller. Conclusion: Etsy stole $150 from me. Called my credit card and they will dispute the money. Horrible refund policy, sent them an email, didn't get reply from the trust issue link. Great idea, but horrible treatment to customers, thieves is the right word!!

HOrrible. I read reviews for the shops before I purchased from them and they had great reviews. My first experience, I paid through paypal and the shop all of a sudden didn't exist. Never got my item, had to get a refund through paypal. I gave it one more chance and found a shop with more positive reviews, same thing happened. After never receiving two items...there isn't even a way to contact etsy, no customer service phone number, just an automated question website that didn't help. I will never use etsy.com again.

Love the hand made products! It means a little more when someone takes the time and attention to detail to produce something so unique!

I have been selling on etsy since early '09. It was pretty great at that time, and a decent alternative to ebay. It always bothered me that it was limited in what you are allowed to sell there. For example, I sold high end couture and vintage fashion on ebay, but on etsy, the site rules prevented me from selling anything newer than 20 years old. This has always been a drawback. They should allow the high end couture items, because they are relatively unique pieces and it is recycled fashion, it is always good to reuse and reduce waste, and these pieces are not mass-produced, which is what etsy is about. This rule still exists today, but now, mass produced items are allowed and resale items younger than 20 years old, still not allowed. Etsy has slowly changed in the way sellers are treated too. Fees are still pretty low, but sellers cannot leave feedback for buyers, not even positive feedback. And buyers can't leave feedback for sellers until weeks after they buy the item. By this time, most forget about feedback and move on. Most sales never receive feedback. They also keep aimlessly changing the look of the item pages, and it's never for the better. It seems like they waste a lot of effort/money/time "improving" things on the site that don't need improvement while other things are never even considered for improvement but do need it. The forums are also highly censored. That part is only getting worse. And the punishments are handed down pretty arbitrarily. The threads used to be pretty fun to participate in, even though it sometimes became heated, at least it was real. They've really taken the reality out of it. Also, you have the regular forum visitors that are in constant defense of etsy's unnecessary and lame changes. It just seems like the whole vibe there is going toward censorship, corporatocracy, cookie cutter and plain lameness. Also, the site is now over saturated thanks to the influx of sellers offering mass-produced items, and views have really plummeted, causing sales to plummet as well. Selling used to be relatively easy. You just listed and the item sold a few days later usually. Now, because of a relevancy-based search instead of a chronological one, you can't just relist your item to return it to a higher place in search. You have to constantly re-tweak your SEO to remain relevant. It's so much work for literally a few dollars in profit. The revenue etsy generates for the average seller is a fraction of what you'd receive at an easy part time minimum wage job. The amount of work the maintenance required to sell a $12 item in an etsy shop turns out to pay the seller a few cents per hour. It really has just become overall not worth bothering with for most people. It probably works well for the people who are always featured and re-featured on the main page, i.e., the favorites, which is a whole additional issue. A lot of little things adding up with this site, I'm sure I failed to mention some. If you want to open a shop there, just have low expectations.

Terrible website. I was selling my eliquid line thats used in electronic cigarettes. Before making my shop, I read through all the items you are not supposed to sell, and nothing about vapors is on there. We were one of the first shops selling liquids. After selling multiple orders, etsy shuts down my shop claiming that I was selling drug paraphernalia. I mean....what. I know its a big deal in the news and polictics right now, but claiming I'm selling drugs? There is nothing in these that you wouldn't find in the baked goods or candies that are being sold on etsy. Keep in mind, if you search for "glass pipes" there are over 8000 listings that have been up for months. When i brought this up to jessica, she says its up to etsy if its considered a drug paraphernalia item or not, and the marajuana leaf decorated glass pipe is not considered to be one, After going back and fourth with Jessica, watching her copy and paste their banned selling items, and adding vapors into it, when its not listed on the actual banned items list, I'm refusing to pay my shop fees. I informed her if she doesn't return my money, going to take legal action. Yes...legal action over ten dollars. The fact that shes changing their terms and conditions in an email to make her argument valid is insane. So anyone that is planning on opening a shop on etsy, be aware that they can unofficially change their terms and conditions through emails.

Etsy shut down my account and won't let me BUY because I used gift cards that I had purchased myself. Why is this not ok?
There is no customer service and no phone number. IT makes no sense to me.

I do love etsy, but while looking around at different products, I have begun to see the same reviews on different products. It makes me wary to buy anything if the reviews are fake :(

This is a fairly large site for buying and selling original, handmade items. I am a seller on etsy and have sold a few of my Twilight-inspired jewelry items. I have always received instant payment from the buyers. It costs a small amount to list & sell items, but items listed here will sell for more than they would on ebay.

I agree that there is no customer service. If you run into problems you are on your own. And that is a problem when you are buying on line from sellers nation or worldwide.

Etsy is a GREAT place. Sometimes some sellers suck, but thats why you read their reviews on their own shop first. It's kinda like eBay without the bidding. I love it as a buyer, AND seller. :) Never had a problem really. eBay is more of a problem with all their stock photos. Etsy is for vintage or handmade items only however, which is what makes Etsy so awesome and different.

Etsy closed my shop after have 100% reviews with lots of repeat happy customers with NO warning or way to even contact them to speak about it. If you are a newcomer to Etsy WATCH OUT. There are sellers on there who love to attack new people. They will flag your items and get them pulled out of your shop. The fact that they let all this drama go down and give us innocent, minding our own business sellers the cold shoulder makes me sick!! I'm a single mom who finally found a great way to make income doing what I love and now it is ruined because of jealous, vindictive women. If anyone else knows where I can go to sell digital images (instant download) please let me know. Besides Etsy rakes you through the coals with their fees. Everything has a fee attached.

Literally if I could I wouldn't even give it one star, it's the worst site. I ordered a gift over 3 weeks ago, STILL nothing has come in and good luck with customer service communication, the girl said it would be shipped the next day (that was a week ago). The biggest rip off, even if it does come in any time soon I will still be upset by the amount of time it even took to come in..... DON'T SHOP ETSY

I've had nothing but good experiences on Etsy, both as a seller and buyer. I'm very confused by most of the reviews here. They seemed to be left primarily by (1) sellers whose shops did poorly, and (2) buyers who aren't accustomed to shopping online. Compared to Ebay, where I've been scammed more times than I can count with no redress, Etsy is 1000 times more trustworthy, offers better service, and better products.

Etsy is like Communism...If you don't agree with it, do not expect a response.
They choose shops they like, my guess is they are actual stores that pay them off, so etsy receives much revenue, so they FEATURE them.

My little shop. No Way! I just posted this comment when asked what me, a seller thinks of etsy, "POLITICS, PLAIN AND SIMPLE" and somehow the website knew to get rid of me and it, and all of a sudden I was out of etsy, where I pay for a shop and on a random internet site.

"It was very weird how they knew exactly what I said when I typed it. They must get a LOT of negative reviews!"

My shop was suspended without any warning or preliminary messages. But guess what? it happened right after I received a few orders. The orders were delivered in a very timely manner, and the buyers were happy. My shop was suspended, but there were a bunch of other shops, selling the same product, claiming to have the same effect, for way longer than me. I feel discriminated against. And it is not fair - why my shop? how is my shop different from all the others that are selling the same product? Etsy "integrity team" - does that mean that they consider me a liar? - haven't given me a chance to present my corrected listing. After multiple emails, going back and forth they told me that I cannot sell here and neither should I try to create a new shop. I am appalled! I have never encountered such lack of customer service! Sellers stay away from Etsy.com . You will be treated unfairly, you will be discriminated against, they will allow other sellers gang up on you, and take out the competition, and the worst part - Etsy will support the coup. Stay away and save yourself a headache. STAY AWAY from this site, it's lacking customer service, integrity.

Website is difficult to navigate, and very fragmented in approach. The sellers are all individual, which can be confusing. The checkout function can vary by seller. This checkout function is where my real problem surfaced. I had multiple items from multiple sellers in my "cart". At checkout, I completed all shipping & payment information for my items. However, one of the sellers was a "Paypal only" seller. So, I was redirected to Paypal to complete my payment. The seller then erroneously decided to ship to an old address on my Paypal account instead of the shipping info that I entered. The seller accepted no blame, and etsy.com left me out in the cold when I asked for help. So, it's definitely a "buyer beware" website. There is no buyer protection available.

I bought a scarf from one US store for $50 but then had to pay a further £8.83 in import vat and £13.50 clearance fee. The shop I bought from didn't respond when I queried why I had pay these additional charges when they knew that I was buying from the UK. There doesn't appear to be any redress. I also bought some jewellery, again from a US store and this time had to pay £45.88 in VAT and international handling fees. Again no reply from the store and no redress. Don't use this site - the customer service is non-existent.

HORRIBLE they banned you from etsy without reason just because they want,,,,another sellers set up a group to shut your shop down if you have a lot of sales and admin agree with them and shut down your shop for forever
STAY AWAY FROM ETSY SITE

etsy.com is fine as long as you don't run into any problems that need customer service. Customer service is nonexistence on etsy.com

Some sellers have "Custom Order" buttons, but I have not been able to get any custom order. The sellers refuse, take shortcuts that mess up the product or ignore/drop the request.

What a pile of rubbish! I brought a ring of etsy last month and when it arrived I was asked to pay £20 uk customs charge. In the online description the seller lists the item as being able to ship to the uk at no extra charge. When I challenged the seller she was nothing but rude and instead that this was my charge to pay. When I contacted Royal Mail they told me that it was the sellers responsibilities to pay this because they should of paid it in the first place. I requested the item was returned to her as it only cost £10 in the first place. She is now refusing to give me any form of refund after having it returned. It still of nothing but con artists who want to scam you out of your money.

Purchased item for Christmas gift, item fell to bits within a week. Seller no longer listed on Etsy. Very poor customer service and any attempts to complain fall on deaf ears. This is the worst website I have used. BUYER BEWARE. Will never use these people again.

I ordered 2 cell phone cases from seller Dealokshop on Etsy and only received one of the cases I ordered. The seller would not respond to 3 emails I sent (allowing for 48 hrs in between for seller to respond) until Etsy got involved. Unfortunately, Etsy blew me off about this issue as the seller had proof of delivery BUT there was only one item of the two I ordered AND PAID FOR in that delivery. After pointing that out to Etsy, both seller and Etsy will not return my communication.
I have used Etsy before with satisfaction but you only know how good a service really is when you have a problem and etsy failed there.
btw: The case I did receive was beautiful.

I currently have 2 shops open on Etsy, but I am considering cancelling them. Here is what bothers me. First, this is no longer a market place for the handmade. There are companies I have seen on eBay from China or Thailand that sell mass produced jewelry and they have Etsy shops because they list as selling supplies. There are companies that sell on an independent website, wholesale charms and other jewelry, and also have an Etsy shop. These factors are making it hard to open a supply shop on Etsy. You can't compete. It also makes it harder for those that are actually making handmade jewelry.

My next problem is with their featured treasury on the home page. These treasuries are supposedly created by Etsy users and the featured ones are randomly selected by Etsy staff. Problem here is I keep seeing the same shops featured over and over and over. The past week and a half, Carriage Oak Cottage has been featured more times than I have kept count on. Not that I expect to be featured this early in my Etsy career, but something seems fishy. It is the same when you search for items. It seems there is favoritism going on.

This site is so flooded that it is hard to be found and I think it doesn't offer enough menu options for buyers to narrow their search. I am going to start looking for other options and this is very disappointing to me. I had high hopes when I first found Etsy.

I've been selling on Etsy for about 2 and a half years now, and I really have no complaints. Yeah, they recently changed their policies so they could ignore resellers, their forums are a bit draconian and their fees are kind of steep, but it's been a great experience for me. If YOU offer good customer service and follow their guidelines, Etsy will be kind to you. And if you're a shopper, just know that you are usually working with individuals, not corporations, so service will be different than what you're used to--perhaps slower, definitely more handmade. But if you work with the right people, you can get some great custom items. And they offer great shipping discounts! I love Etsy.

To buy an ELECTRONIC gift card it took over 4 HOURS for them to email it to me and only after i emailed them about 4 times complaining. They also have no phone number to call. ANY OTHER STORE ONLINE ANYWHERE that sells online gift cards provides the link to print it INSTANTLY. 4 hours is absolutely absurd.

I ordered an infinity scarf from craftsbybeck and am very pleased. The scarf is beautifully made and arrived within a few days. I highly recommend craftsbybeck.

I have placed several jewelry orders with Etsy but, I am done with them because, I feel that it is too risky.

Many of the sellers have professional jewelry photos for their store and in this case the jewelry that they make rarely looks like the photos. They are using photos that are representing a similar product but, the photos don't depict the actual products that they are making, themselves. The stores that I have ordered from that have obviously, taken photos of the jewelry that they made, were fine.

I have also, received a silver ring when I had ordered a rose-gold ring. It wasn't worth it for me to send back because, they weren't a US-based store.

You can't trust that the metals used are of the composition advertised. KetiSorelyDesigns is very bad. I ordered what was suppose to be a "gold-filled" necklace and it was not! It was badly tarnished before it was even worn!!

I have a few orders that I was pleased with but, overall I find it way too risky. There is only one store I may order from, again as I was pleased with the products and she shows actual photos of the jewelry that she has made.

My fiance told me that rather than buy her jewelery/clothes I can just get her an ETSY GIFT Card.

I have only used this service once and it was to buy her a purse. But I decided to get her a gift card so she can get herself something nice (along with the stuff i got her).

I did this 6 hours before I left town as I assumed ETSY is a remotely proffesional organization and i would get my gift card confirmation (for printing so I can wrap it up in a box; because 1/2 the fun of getting a gift is opening it) within a few minutes. EVERY organization I have dealt with that uses online transaction from Amazon all the way down to local community theaters and businesses usually have a turnover time of a few minutes. 6 hours later with 100 things to do I am checking my inbox for the stupid ETSY GIFT Card; it is still in processing.

Since I am literally out the door in 10 minutes I am just assuming ETSY took my money and will write her a note explaining how unproffesional ETSY is and that I got her a gift card (I have the processing email) but ETSY is SO SLOW that i do not have the actual gift card (hopefully she understands).

Sadly she wanted to get some gifts for wedding guests via ETSY but I am going to make sure we do not deal with them; the last thing I need is to deal with this BUSH LEAGUE organization again for our wedding.

So yeah. Thanks ETSY for disapointing someone I love at Christmas. I will make sure you do not turn our wedding into a farce ! ! ! ! If you can not handle a simple Gift Card Transaction one only knows how awful it will be actually dealing with you trying to get physical gifts.

I would reccomend people buy gift cards from reputable businesses like Amazon or a local jewelry or vintage store as ETSY is a picture of UNPROFFESIONALISM and WEAK CUSTOMER SERVICE (that do not even have a phone contact).

Wonderful down home experience time after time. Etsy people are honest and from my experience professional and fast shipping. 5 stars on communication as well. I will never go to eBay again after finding Etsy

Order an item from Twinnsie shop, i paid an additional £20 for priority shipping which should have taken 3-4 days from US to UK.....item still not arrived over two weeks later . Terrible service ..... never use again!

HORRIBLE. I requested to cancel and item with no response. No customer service AT ALL! Very frusturating. I luckily got ahold of paypal and they are refunding my purchase in 10 days if the seller doesn't respond by them. I hope paypal sticks it to them and charges them extra. It's the best personalized jewelry shop. HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE!! Stay away from this site people. Don't be fooled by the fake "good" reviews. It's etsy bots, and etsy employees trying to make themselves look good under the guise of "reviewers".

I was a seller on Etsy for 4 years, 4000 sales and 100% feedback. They shut me down for "infringement" for using the words "inspired by". I did not use images but used colors similar to characters. This happened while my shop was on vacation and items were unavailable to view to the public. I was a sucker for paying hundreds in fees every month when all these 20 cent listings with high shipping are obvious fee avoidance. Not to mention all the blatant copyright listings Etsy is making money off of each time an item is listed and each time an item sells. When I asked what I could do to reopen my shop they told me they take this issue very seriously. I hope they didn't type that with a straight face. Search "Minnie mouse" on their site and 49,000+ items come up......very serious I see.......what a joke!

I paid for an item in the 7th November it was dispatched on the 21st and still not received it. I have sent various emails to them and they have ignored my messages. This present was for my daughters birthday.

I am a frequent buyer on Etsy, and also a seller. Much of what is shared in the way of reviews here and on other such review sites is the result of an organized group of disgruntled sellers who shout they are leaving to Zibbet if Etsy doesn't make changes. Of course, they go to Zibbet where it is 'friendly', and then realize they are making no sales. Then they bash Zibbet, and return to Etsy. It's all just a bit ridiculous.