Etsy

As of today I am done with Etsy. They used to have quality sellers and artisans back in the day, now they basically have scammers and overinflated prices. The sellers have also become very aggressive and will report you if you ask the wrong question or leave an honest review. Reviews should reflect your personal experience but apparently you are allowed to post that. Etsy will throw refunds at you as a way of mediating but won't hold the seller accountable. It's just too much trouble more so than Amazon which is shocking.

It seems many have had negative experiences shopping on Etsy especially when buying large, high value, expensive items that are custom made. In particular, custom orders are difficult to negotiate fair prices and returns for when the quality or finished piece is unsatisfactory. This has been my experience, and I have shopped for spiritual or religious items on Etsy that claimed results far beyond what they were realistically capable of delivering. Often, when a product did not deliver on the typical results described, getting a refund from the seller or from Etsy turned out to be a complete joke. If you want to find handmade, custom products that are one-of-a-kind, I recommend shopping at your local farmers' market or visiting a craft fair in your area.

I've bought 2 things off etsy and each time had fast, courteous service and got exactly what I paid for. As a consumer you have to look at the SELLER. Whenever you buy online it's a bit of a risk, especially person-to-person and not from an established company, but if you take some care you should be ok.
Think of it like this- are you looking for something almost completely unique or something you can't/ haven't found elsewhere? If yes, give etsy a shot.

Zero seller support from Etsy itself. They shut down our shop over a $6 discrepancy without any notification and refuse to respond to emails begging for an appeal. No info, no response, they just ignore us completely. We were top sellers last year, and they don't seem to care about the profit loss for their company or the fact that we may be on the street in a month because they completely eliminated our sole source of income. How nice is that? This is a pretty common story, apparently.

I just divorced and lost all the furniture so had to start over. I found a lot of unique things on Etsy I really liked so I placed orders for 4 big ticket items. I didn't find out until after the fact that two of them turned out to be in Europe with associated shipping costs higher than the item prices. Another was "lost" in transit and the sellers fell off the radar so now have a pending dispute filed with my bank, PayPal, and Etsy. The last item has been "processing" for a one and a half months. In short, I really don't think you can buy anything from Etsy. Try Houzz, they actually sell and deliver stuff. For now, I am out $2,000!

I love this site. It's so great for buying handmade and vintage. I've only been a member for a short time, but so far I have picked up some really beautiful jewelry and a lovely organic silk-screened tee. It's one of the best sites for shopping because you know you're going to get something unique that's been a complete labour of love. It's also a great community and a way to stumble onto new things you've never considered before. Plus there's the bonus of supporting local sellers. I can't believe how many shops are based where I live! I definitely recommend Etsy.

I purchased 2 oil tinctures beginning of January, only received one, told to contact seller myself & have gotten a run around ever since. First it was "We're having a hard time sourcing the materials, to sending me a second item of the one I received & some "substitute" for the one I never received. From "sourcing" issues to "My nephew is working the store"- it just never ends. Just emails back and forth & no resolution. If a vendor doesn't have the item, don't list it for sale! And people wonder why Amazon is so popular. A-Z guarantee.Not, "my nephew is working the store. Oops" Never again will I even think of trying these "rip you off at any chance" sites. Can't contact Etsy either about a problem vendor. How nice.

Every buyer I've bought from has beautiful packaging and my favorite items come from Etsy. If you are unsure about a seller, check their individual ratings and reviews. Otherwise, highly recommend. There are many reasons to support small businesses and buy vintage :)

Don't even bother. Etsy doesn't enforce their own rules and allows cheap, Chinese made garbage to be sold on their website as "handmade" or "vintage" when it's clearly mass-produced. As an online seller myself, I find this extremely dishonest and disgusting. It hurts every honest online seller by driving the price down making it impossible to compete fairly online. Everything is always about the bottom line and to heck with honesty and integrity! You won't have to worry about me EVER buying anything on Etsy and I'm for sure going to give Etsy the reviews they deserve wherever and whenever I find the opportunity. Word of mouth you know is your best friend or worst enemy. Yes, I did attempt to address this with Etsy about 150 times and they did nothing but send me BS excuses and canned email responses.

Hello, I'm extremely disappointed with your services. Firstly, a seller on your site ignored me for approximately two months. After that, I had to repeatedly ask them to refund my money. Secondly, I feel insecure on your site without any support. Thirdly, I have been waiting for my money for over a month now. This has been the worst experience of my life.

Etsy will shadow ban your shop for posts you make to social media about them & for returning negative surveys. I went from making thousands of dollars in sales every month to nothing in the blink of an eye. The only thing that happened in between was I made a truthful post on social media that portrayed the company's less than stellar side, and responded to a survey they emailed me with honest answers from my experiences. Unfortunately, those honest answers were not what etsy wanted to hear. The company was fantastic BEFORE it incorporated. Now, they are deceitful & care nothing about their sellers, only their stock investors.

What's up with Delayed, "Pending" Payments?
I have been buying on Etsy for 10 years without an issue. Last night, I purchased a bracelet from one of my favorite sellers. She got the notice that I bought it and we began discussing sizing. This morning the payment still shows, "Pending". An hour later I get an email from Etsy saying that they cancelled the order and that my account has been suspended! WHY? I've since sent several emails to them. There is no phone number!
Is this how Etsy treats a loyal customer?

I was an Etsy merchant for about five years and worked my butt off to make my shop successful. But year after year, Etsy seemed to create policies that worked against the merchants, not for them. One was allowing all the Chinese junk companies into the fold, which would jam up the search pages with non-handmade items. Etsy's last move was changing the search engines by giving the top rankings to new merchants as a way to lure them in. Why? So that when their rankings began to drop they would advertise for higher placement. All of these merchant sites are now using this trick. What this means to the merchant is measly sales, but when a site like Etsy has millions upon millions of shops under its roof, those measly sales add up. Bad for you, great for them. Once again, women get exploited in the workplace. ( Ironically, Etsy is owned by a guy.) Don't fall for these sites ladies. Find another way to sell your goods.

Etsy does not vet the people that sell through them very well. I bought 4 bridesmaid dresses and they arrived 2 weeks late and the wrong color. $400.00 dollars gone as I returned them and have never received a refund. The time allowed to open a claim is too short so there was absolutely zero help from Etsy or PayPal.