EtsyReviews 1,566

If you buy from them do not expect any kind of gift box packaging. They will tell you "did it state gift box'. Who sells earrings and puts them in a piece of bubble wrap. Never did I buy even a cheap pair of earrings and not come in some kind of packaging like a small box other than a piece of bubble wrap. Cheap Cheap Cheap!

On October 6,2016, I placed an order #*******046 for black flip flops. Sara Bokan immediately emailed asking when I needed the order. I gave her the date. On October 25,2016, I receive an email from Sara telling me the black flip flops were out of stock and would I accept white. I accepted the white because the wedding date was so close. When the flip flops arrived, they were stuffed into a carton. Half of the size labels had fallen off and I expected a much nicer presentation because of the pictures shown on the selling site. I am very disappointed.

I don't like to air my frustrations on Facebook, but I want everyone to know the wrong I feel Etsy and Barbie Bowtique have done to me.
In September I purchased a shirt from Barbie Bowtique knowing the shirt may not fit well, but the shop's return polices stated they accepted returns and exchanges if I contacted the seller within 3 days of delivery. I got the shirt and didn't like the fit and felt it was too large, so within 3 days of delivery, I contacted the seller and requested a return. The seller, Barbie Bowtique, and I continue to go back and forth because she will not accept my return, even though I offer to pay for return shipping. I have reached out to Etsy but they won't do anything because they are "purely a platform for sellers" and my transaction was "not with Etsy, but with Barbie Bowtique". The shop will not honor their policies and (with Etsy's permission) has taken away my rights as a buyer.
I plan to never use Etsy again because they allow Sellers to do whatever they want. Etsy allows the sellers on their site to take advantage of buyers.
P.S. Barbie Bowtique has since changed their polices to not accept returns, but I have a screenshot as proof of my statement before they did so.

I started selling some items there about a week ago.

A week in, my account was suddenly suspended with no explanation, no communication, nothing. There was a message at the top of my account telling me to check my email or email support for help. I got no email from them, so I contacted support twice to ask what was going on.

I got an email after that telling me to review my inactive items (all my items are inactive, not some of them) and that "Should you be granted an opportunity to reactivate your account, it will constitute your final chance to comply with Etsy's policy on counterfeit items. Any further violations will result in the termination of your account privileges."

Basically threatening me yet not telling me what I apparently did wrong. Oh, but I didn't do anything wrong - I don't have anything listed that doesn't already exist on Etsy by hundreds of other people. So why are they targeting me and not anyone else? I have no idea. I don't know why they did it. I have received no explanation so far about why they did this. Yet, they have taken my money for listing items and yet I didn't receive the service I paid for. That is UNETHICAL and dodgy service. They threaten me with their emails as if I have done something so wrong, yet I see the same products listed on their site. How does that work? One rule for established users and one rule for completely new users? It's ridiculous.

So many honest, hard working sellers making handmade products have been ravaged by Etsy's CORPORATE GREED. Shame on the MONEYGRABBING CORPORATE CONTROLLERS! You put mass produced products everywhere and you have no compassion for the sellers that made you what you WERE. You sit in your high and mighty offices and never respond to any requests (dont even provide a place to contact you). Aloof, arrogant vermin. Stay away from Etsy! Don't buy from Etsy. And you scum who sold out, there is KARMA. What you reap will come back to bite. You helped diminish what's good about this country. EAT, LIVE AND SLEEP WITH THAT SHAME.

Etsy allows big sellers to break the rules. I've reported many shops that claim handmade when items are not handmade. I've included links to the exact items to Etsy and shops aren't being shut down. These sellers are also using the stock photos of where they purchased their items.
Some of these shops have over 3000 sales, which explains why Etsy hasn't shut them down!
Those "leather" wrap bracelets you see all over Etsy, I bet 1 out of 100 shops actually handcraft them. Otherwise, you can purchase them from China for as low as 99 cents each and they aren't even worth that. I had someone send one as a gift to me a couple years back and it was a piece of crap!

I realize the site has lots of sellers. Some are good and some are bad. I had a problem with a bad seller. He sent me the wrong item, apologized and said he would send me the correct item when I sent him back the one he wrongly sent to me. He also told me something about the item I thought I had purchased that was NOT in the description, namely that the item had a crack in it (a vintage item). He had another item for sale that mentioned a crack but this one did not. I told him that I did not want it anymore and I would prefer a refund. I send back the item and demand that he pay me for the return shipping. He says he will send it to me. I open a case on Etsy. Etsy tells him to refund me the return shipping and that he won't be able to use the Etsy payment system and to find alternative means to refund me. They tell him to refund me the return shipping within one work or Etsy will refund me on his behalf and suspend his shop. This is what Etsy posted in the case log. Several weeks go by and I receive nothing. Etsy Admin asks us both for an update. I respond saying I am still waiting for the refund. Nothing from the seller. Then, without any warning Etsy Admin closes the case saying the seller refunded the money. WRONG. Etsy does not support buyers. And judging by the long list of forum posts by sellers, the entire site doesn't work well at all. I will never visit that site to buy anything ever again. I will only go there to post about how Etsy Sucks.

Etsy is a solid site that has been around since about 2005. The site itself is clean, navigable, and easy to use. Several of the reviews here on SJ have been about specific sellers - that's not what this review is about.

Like several other online sales sites - each vendor/store is a separate transaction. You are dealing with a different person each time. Look at the star ratings of each store before you buy and leave feedback. Most sellers will want to protect their reviews and ratings and provide you with great service.

This site is heavily craft specific and has a niche following. If you make handmade items you probably already know about it and/or use it.

REASONS TO USE
[1] You like to make/buy handmade items
[2] Clean, sophisticated, easy-to-use
[3] Lots of great person-to-person stores/vendors

REASONS TO LOSE
[1] You are unable to understand star rating systems
[2] You are a compulsive buyer who does no research before you purchase

If you know what you're looking for in Vintage & what you expect to pay, you'll do well. Especially if you're looking for something rare. Sellers are for the most part (85-90%) very fast to reply to ANY question. I also limit my Searches to US or closer to not get killed on shipping. But if it's an item made anywhere but the US, I have bought from the UK and paid very little for the item (a 19th C. Russian icon); even with Shipping higher than the actual item, it was well worth it!

If you are looking for handmade or organic makeup, you will find tons of amazing Shops and Sellers who care for the environment.

Etsy is an extraordinary, iconoclastic business model. And that reflects from the top down.

I have amazing votives made by OldSoulArtisan which burn perfectly and of the finest materials. If you want to flex your entrepreneurial muscles, this is a good place to start experimenting with branding, logo design, SEO, etc.

Etsy's Search has a lot to be desired so being very specific in the name of your listing is vital. A search for "Cotton boho maxis" is only good if the Seller uses all three words. Your Search will pull cotton, then boho, then maxi until you have to scroll through 20,000 items to find what you're looking for and read the Details bc a maxi may be rayon.

Because Etsy's commission is much lower than eBay and they don't nickel and dime you all the way as eBay does (more so with each Update of the User Agreement), I'm considering opening a shop there in 2017 but I need to get my ducks in a row to post pics on Pinterest to increase traffic, etc. so I need to make a serious step-by-step plan.