EtsyReviews 1,566

Despite all of their BS proclamations to the contrary that they have a process to assist buyers who are ripped off, Etsy has - for years - allowed sellers on their site to lie about what they are selling, rip people off, and if a buyer asks for help, Etsy does NOTHING. If you're going to buy on Etsy, the person you are buying from can send you nothing or send you something completely different, and you will lose your money. In addition, look at their review process closely. No review after a certain amount of time. Can't review if you've filed a complaint. Can't sort reviews. And, I provided Etsy with email exchanges that proved without a doubt that the seller stole $60 from me. Etsy just "closed the case."
PLEASE NOTE: Etsy's policy is that buyer pays all shipping costs, there and back - even if seller lies to you to get your purchase.

I signed up via the Australian website. I bought an item from an Australian seller in the app which showed me the purchase was in Australian dollars. Long story short I got charged extra. Turned out the fabulous UX/UI on the websitr had set my default transaction currency to USD even though the app was showing me everything was in AUD.

Etsy support were crap. They were basically saying it was my fault I didn't know about their stupid default currency setting which is hidden on some obscure tab in the user setup when you go in via the website.

They offered me a gift certificat as I'd that was going to make the additional currency conversion fees and my lack of confidence in the product go away.

Don't do it too yourself. If you want to shop local go local.

I complained to Etsy about a seller who I believed misrepresented the product he was selling on their platform. Etsy never investigated intead, only stated that the complaint would be put on seller's file. I lost cost of shipping the items back to seller.
Also once items are returned, Etsy website doesn't allow you to review the product. I therefore couldn't warn other unsuspecting buyers about this particular seller.
If you are a buyer please avoid the platform because you wont get that much protection from Etsy.

People should realize that Etsy as a whole does not speak for the millions of small shops that sell there. Before you place your order you should check the shops reviews and send the seller a quick note to see their response time and business manner.

Quite frankly it's silly to peg Etsy as a whole as fraudulent when each shop is independent of Etsy. Just like eBay or Amazon, it is your responsibility to check out the credentials of a shop before you purchase. If you are unhappy with your purchase simply dispute it with your bank or credit card company if Etsy is not fast enough for you. It's just that simple.

I was happy with Etsy for a very long time but it went downhill quickly. I sell mainly vintage/estate jewelry and had buyers complain that items took "TWO DAYS to arrive" (nobody offered or PAID for overnight). Many buyers don't read the details or only read them AFTER they have ordered and paid then want to cancel. Etsy blames the seller for this. I also had no problem with giving a refund AFTER IT GET THE ITEM BACK. Etsy will cave to buyers by giving the refund before or INSTEAD of the return - so out the money AND the item. You can only have 3 complaints in 18 months or you are suspended for a month. On number 4 you are closed down forever. I made some nice cash there while it lasted but I could only lose so many items and so much money before we had to part company. I would try it again though if I was able to enforce my terms but I cant afford to give items away free.

Purchased necklace with "Sea glass" pendent. Sea glass pendent was plastic; not sea glass and the necklace clasp broke off when trying it on. Wasted $48.

They deleted items off my shop and sent a snooty email that "you cant cleverly re package items to sell. You can only sell items you made, vintage items, or craft supplies"
Problem: Both items were kits I put together for processing wood and making a camp fire making them craft supplies.
One of the kits had diy tools that I made.
Now they're hipsters from Brooklyn so I don't expect them to know what camp gear is but atleast sit your jegging clad butt down at the computer and study what you're deleting before you alienate the community that is your business.

Don't expect Etsy to help you as a customer AT ALL. First of all, it is impossible to reach their customer service team. You first need to open a case with the seller and then they GET A WEEK TO RESPOND?! Excuse me? This order was already two weeks late. Then once I finally could escalate the case to Etsy, all they do is CC me on an email to the seller and GIVE THEM ANOTHER WEEK TO RESPOND? I'm not sure who's side Etsy is on, but it sure isn't the customer. Stay away!

Etsy deactivated my new opened shop(just 1 day) with no explanation at all, after my unstopping trying and they gave me a ridiculous reply which nothing is true. They so called that being transparent and honest but to look what they did to me. After I provided all the id card and bank information, uploading some items which are exactly respect their selling policy, and they just simply shut down my shop. Ridiculous, rude after all.

I wanted to look at vintage craft beads. I selected "beads" > craft supplies & tools >UK >vintage>price lowest first. What came up were buttons, iron pyrite fossils, knitting patterns, beaded purses, cabochons, sea glass, beaded cardigans... in short, a whole load of items that were not beads. I began to add minuses. "beads" -buttons. I pressed Enter and Etsy wiped out my filters and re-set to Anywhere >All Items and Relevency. Long story short, every time I added a minus item Etsy re-set all my filters. When I'd added everything that was not beads, it returned only ONE search result. Which was a bonsai plant made out of wire!
Etsy's search engine is frustrating, ridiculous and archaic. Want to waste hours and send your blood pressure through the roof this is the place to do it.