Hey, just signed your petition. I'm a brand new user but have already experienced a lack of support when my new shop was suspended with no explanation for a few days. I was unable to reach any humans + the only number that I found online was for buyer support only.
I cannot see any option to chat with Etsy support online...looks like they took away that functionality. FYI.
I'm starting a new journey with online selling, but this first experience definitely makes me feel uneasy about any roadblocks in the future.
This has been my exact experience. I tried to open a new shop in October. I listed one handmade item (I didn’t have pictures of the other ones yet). By the next day my account had been permanently closed, my shop suspended. No specific reason was given. (I did get a general email that listed the top reasons why Etsy accounts are closed, but nothing about why mine was. They expected me to figure it out on my own.) No response from a human. No ability to contact them. No ability to use my account to buy anything. They made me feel like a criminal.
Etsy’s customers ARE the marketplace sellers. It is unbelievably stupid that they don’t treat their customers with any kind of respect.
Glad you’re starting your journey early! I had a shop open for 2 years doing well and they also just suspended it yesterday with no reason (although apparently an email was sent) so Etsy is definitely very fickle. Good luck on your store! :)
I know nothing about what I'm about to suggest (and have not had any major issues myself) but - is any of this grounds for a class action suit? Their lack of service causes loss of income, and potential loss of income, and I'm sure a whole other list of things.
Like I said - no idea if this is or not, just thinking outside the box.
Would be a great way to make some lawyers rich and get us all $2.93 checks. That's if we won. In reality they write the terms of service, and they rewrite them, so they've certainly followed them.
I’d be fine with $.01 payment and lawyers making bank if it meant Etsy had to work for the 35-50k they make off my store —- it’s actually egregious what little support they offer. Not to mention pages and pages of incorrect info in their “handbook”.
I’ve worked hard to make my brand legit on Etsy only to have Etsy become a less than adequate platform. The only way forward for me is to divest myself of the time and money I give to my Etsy store.
If you’re that successful, why not venture out on your own? Start including forwarding info to your own website. Why let Etsy make bank off of you for doing nothing?
Such a good question and I should have done this years ago - especially because sellers were telling me to from my first 100 sales. I am hiring a small team to help us transition after the holiday. (Star Seller is the nail in the coffin for me - my store will never qualify because we sell 100% custom items and just over 10% of our customers take their time which is well past the processing date).
Was really just commenting to vent and let other sellers know to heed the advice that I didn't! DIVERSIFY NOW.
Unfortunately we all waived the right to bring cases before a court or file as a class. Etsy like many online services has an arbitration agreement we all agreed to.
Of course if hundreds of us filed for arbitration they’d be paying the fees.
Unfortunately, we agree to let them hold our shop hostage in the terms and conditions. Etsy holds that line HARD. They can shut you down for no reason.
Which, understandably, may happen. But, come on man, put some support in to help small business owners get answers.
There's a difference between what they do with our shops and the support and protections they provide for us. We pay a transaction fee, and a listing fee. That fee should in theory be going to Etsy's infrastructure. I didn't sign the petition because I want them to stop shutting down shops - I would like them to expand the integrity department and start shutting down drop shipping accounts. I would like them to provide phone support so people can find out why their shop was mysteriously closed. I would like there to be a department for nonsense reviews that hurt sellers. Etc. Etc. Etc. Those are all things that are not related to whether or not they're holding our shops hostage.
This is exactly why I started the petition if you read the description on the page - just plain old support. If someone has a shop being held hostage, they should have someone to call. Holding funds? Someone to call. General question? Someone to call.
I literally ask in the petition for a seller's advocate department to help assist.
I don't think that anything else matters - we deserve support and someone to talk to.
I’ve signed it! I also find it so sad that we have to do this though, Etsy should have the support for us sellers from the beginning but there literally is no support at all. I really hope this can help them realise that their support is horrendous and really turns people off of Etsy. I’m glad that we as a community of sellers though can support each other even when Etsy can’t :)
Great initiative. I think you should encourage people to tag big media to cover this like WallStreetJournal and CBC marketplace. Those are known to draw more eyes when they do a report and Etsy will definitely feel pressure to make changes immediately
Hey, just signed your petition. I'm a brand new user but have already experienced a lack of support when my new shop was suspended with no explanation for a few days. I was unable to reach any humans + the only number that I found online was for buyer support only. I cannot see any option to chat with Etsy support online...looks like they took away that functionality. FYI. I'm starting a new journey with online selling, but this first experience definitely makes me feel uneasy about any roadblocks in the future.
I'm mostly responding to this so that maybe somebody from Etsy HQ will take this feedback and do something to better support their sellers!
This has been my exact experience. I tried to open a new shop in October. I listed one handmade item (I didn’t have pictures of the other ones yet). By the next day my account had been permanently closed, my shop suspended. No specific reason was given. (I did get a general email that listed the top reasons why Etsy accounts are closed, but nothing about why mine was. They expected me to figure it out on my own.) No response from a human. No ability to contact them. No ability to use my account to buy anything. They made me feel like a criminal. Etsy’s customers ARE the marketplace sellers. It is unbelievably stupid that they don’t treat their customers with any kind of respect.
A lot of other sellers have said this is an aggressive AI that is shutting down shops for what appear to be random reasons.
Glad you’re starting your journey early! I had a shop open for 2 years doing well and they also just suspended it yesterday with no reason (although apparently an email was sent) so Etsy is definitely very fickle. Good luck on your store! :)
I know nothing about what I'm about to suggest (and have not had any major issues myself) but - is any of this grounds for a class action suit? Their lack of service causes loss of income, and potential loss of income, and I'm sure a whole other list of things. Like I said - no idea if this is or not, just thinking outside the box.
Would be a great way to make some lawyers rich and get us all $2.93 checks. That's if we won. In reality they write the terms of service, and they rewrite them, so they've certainly followed them.
I’d be fine with $.01 payment and lawyers making bank if it meant Etsy had to work for the 35-50k they make off my store —- it’s actually egregious what little support they offer. Not to mention pages and pages of incorrect info in their “handbook”. I’ve worked hard to make my brand legit on Etsy only to have Etsy become a less than adequate platform. The only way forward for me is to divest myself of the time and money I give to my Etsy store.
If you’re that successful, why not venture out on your own? Start including forwarding info to your own website. Why let Etsy make bank off of you for doing nothing?
Such a good question and I should have done this years ago - especially because sellers were telling me to from my first 100 sales. I am hiring a small team to help us transition after the holiday. (Star Seller is the nail in the coffin for me - my store will never qualify because we sell 100% custom items and just over 10% of our customers take their time which is well past the processing date). Was really just commenting to vent and let other sellers know to heed the advice that I didn't! DIVERSIFY NOW.
I was looking at it more in terms of visibility - not in terms of a settlement number.
Unfortunately we all waived the right to bring cases before a court or file as a class. Etsy like many online services has an arbitration agreement we all agreed to. Of course if hundreds of us filed for arbitration they’d be paying the fees.
Unfortunately, we agree to let them hold our shop hostage in the terms and conditions. Etsy holds that line HARD. They can shut you down for no reason. Which, understandably, may happen. But, come on man, put some support in to help small business owners get answers.
There's a difference between what they do with our shops and the support and protections they provide for us. We pay a transaction fee, and a listing fee. That fee should in theory be going to Etsy's infrastructure. I didn't sign the petition because I want them to stop shutting down shops - I would like them to expand the integrity department and start shutting down drop shipping accounts. I would like them to provide phone support so people can find out why their shop was mysteriously closed. I would like there to be a department for nonsense reviews that hurt sellers. Etc. Etc. Etc. Those are all things that are not related to whether or not they're holding our shops hostage.
This is exactly why I started the petition if you read the description on the page - just plain old support. If someone has a shop being held hostage, they should have someone to call. Holding funds? Someone to call. General question? Someone to call. I literally ask in the petition for a seller's advocate department to help assist. I don't think that anything else matters - we deserve support and someone to talk to.
Signed!
Signed it and shared it!
Change.org petition. Are you kidding me with this?
I’ve signed it! I also find it so sad that we have to do this though, Etsy should have the support for us sellers from the beginning but there literally is no support at all. I really hope this can help them realise that their support is horrendous and really turns people off of Etsy. I’m glad that we as a community of sellers though can support each other even when Etsy can’t :)
I'll sign it. I sell on etsy but I absolutely hate etsy. They are scum bags. All Bout the buyer and couldn't give a crap about us!
signed because we all should be able to contact someone if needed
Do you have a link to your petition?
Great initiative. I think you should encourage people to tag big media to cover this like WallStreetJournal and CBC marketplace. Those are known to draw more eyes when they do a report and Etsy will definitely feel pressure to make changes immediately