The seller, apparently, had sold an item to a buyer and waited patiently for the payment. To back up a little bit, it is important to understand that there is a huge gap in the Etsy to PayPal transaction process. A buyer can "purchase" an item from an Etsy shop, causing the item to be listed as "Sold" and therefore unavailable to other buyers for purchase. Although the item appears to be sold, the buyer does not have to pay for the item because the shopping cart program on Etsy is not directly linked with PayPal, the buyer is simply given a button to push that sends them to PayPal.
So the buyer, in this case, took advantage of this gap and "purchased" the item via Etsy but did not follow through on payment. In fact, the buyer went so far as to say that their PayPal was not currently working, and asked to make a payment at a later date. It is my experience as both a seller and a buyer on Etsy that shop owners are extremely polite, helpful, and giving because most the time it is just one person behind the shop, and not a huge company. Being a kind-natured "Etsian", the seller granted the buyer some extra time to follow up with payment... 3+ weeks to be exact. No Payment. Not only that, but after the seller decided to re-list and sell the item to another buyer after non-payment for an extensive amount of time, the buyer decided to leave extremely negative feedback on this seller's shop before the cancellation had been completed!
While I would love to totally put this EVIL buyer on blast and tell you which "buyer" on Etsy it is, I won't. (But you can read more about it here and search for the evilness yourself should you so desire: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6655856)
Anyway, the point of this entry was to warn Etsy sellers of the dangers of selling and potential risks. Just as buyers should make sure that the shop they are buying from has generally good and positive feedback, sellers need to take caution and check out the feedback their buyers have. And also, don't just look at the % on the feedback, take the time to actually READ the feedback, just because someone gave a bad review doesnt necessarily mean the shop is BAD.
I went through the feedback that this evil buyer was receiving and decided to promote some of the shops that he/she/it decided to try and defraud.
 |
The Most Fabulous Vintage 1950s Navy Blue and White Polka Dot FULL CIRCLE Skirt Party Dress HANDMADE by DecadesBaltimore |
 |
A Glass of Bubbly Vintage 80's Lillie Rubin Strapless Black Silk Petal Dress, S by cricketcapers |
 |
Vintage 1970s Green/White Gingham Print Summer Dress - Size Sm/Med by danadaisys |
thanks!!! you're the best! it's a cruel world out there, someone's gotta stop em, haha.
ReplyDelete-decades
Wonderful blog post about the dark side of selling on Etsy. But in all seriousness, how could Etsy watch so many sellers get crapped on over and over again by these horrible repeat offenders? I think its time Etsy starts instating some policies. Thanks for including me and shining the light!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. It's a good reminder that everyone who comes here isn't on the up and up. Sometimes we get a bit to naive about our buyers if we're honest people ourselves.
ReplyDeleteThanks also for showing the vintage items. They're beautiful!
thanks for posting. I just got cheated by an Etsy customer. She bought an item and left good feedback. Months later, she filed a complaint with her credit card company via PayPal that she had never made this purchase and that she gets all her money back. Despite contacting PayPal personally with 3 pieces of evidence (the invoice, the feedback and the postal receipt), her credit company still ruled in her favor. Meanwhile PayPal says they aren't "involved" with this yet slammed me $20 fee for being in the middle of this. Fortunately I managed to speak to someone on PP who waived that fee.
ReplyDeleteSince then, that buyer has discontinued her shop. Now she has opened up a new shop with a different user name. She is a professional crook :(