EcommerceBytes Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor
Your emails to EcommerceBytes
For consideration, send your email to ina@auctionbytes.com with "Letters to the Editor Blog" in the subject line! Remember to include your name as you would like it to appear in the blog.
Thu Dec 18 2025 11:14:25

Is Etsy Too Lax towards Poorly Performing Sellers?

By: Ina Steiner

Sponsored Link

Dear Ina,
I just had an interesting situation with Etsy. I bought a (redacted) from a seller, (redacted), on Nov. 30. They were for my daughter's birthday on Dec. 11 so I figured that was plenty of time to arrive from Florida to Virginia. Checked the tracking later in the week and found the seller didn't actually get it to the post office until Dec. 5.

I messaged them explaining my disappointment because tracking said it would arrive on the 12th. No reply from the seller. I did get them on the 11th late in the day and they were silver instead of gold. Title of item clearly said "gold (redacted)". My daughter liked them so kept them but I did leave a review mentioning the incorrect shipping information and wrong item. Seller wrote back saying it's not her fault USPS is slow...

I've been selling on eBay for 25 years so I'm very familiar with how USPS operates and they do have issues but the scan is the key. Had she actually taken it to the post office as she said on Dec. 1 it wouldn't sit around for 4 days before being scanned. 

But my point with Etsy is although I have "chatted" with them and reported her false reply to my review, they refuse to take any action. I even sent them a record of the tracking. The last correspondence via email said to file a case, but the reasons for filing do not include anything about false review information.  Kind of makes you wonder how accurate reviews are on Etsy.
B.



Share

Comments (2) | Permalink

Readers Comments

Perminate Link for Is Etsy Too Lax towards Poorly Performing Sellers?   Is Etsy Too Lax towards Poorly Performing Sellers?

by: CCBeanSprouts This user has validated their user name.

Mon Dec 22 01:14:36 2025

The tracking issue is absolutely false.  I've been selling on Etsy for 13 years, and prior to that on Ebay since 1999.  Lately, my local post office AND local sorting center have not been scanning packages in at all, particularly, ground and priority flat rates.  I just had two priority flat rate envelopes reach their destinations' sorting centers without any tracking until they got there.  And this has happened to me numerous times this year and last holiday season.  So I'm sure my buyers could accuse me of the very same thing you're accusing this new seller of.  

Perminate Link for Is Etsy Too Lax towards Poorly Performing Sellers?   Is Etsy Too Lax towards Poorly Performing Sellers?

by: alaska This user has validated their user name.

Mon Dec 22 16:25:19 2025

Etsy is not interested in dealing with bad sellers. For many years now a great many of us in the antique photographs community have complained to Etsy that one of their sellers has tried to sell important photographs of very important people that are not of the people that they claim they are. In most cases these photographs do not even closely resemble the famous person. Etsy doesn't care. If you would like to see examples of these fraudulent listings, search for ''daguerreotype'' and set the filter to only show those priced at over 10K.



AB Verify login is required to post comments on the Blogs and EKG.
To sign in to leave a comment, fill in the form below. If you have not yet signed up for AB Verify, or if you'd like more information, go to the Registration Page.

Posting comments in the News Section requires SEPARATE REGISTRATION.
Login for AB Verify
Be sure and use your email address and password to log in.
 
Email:
Password:
 
 Forgot Your Password?
 Even though you are signed in with the AuctionBytes Blog, you will have to sign in to the EcommerceBytes blog. But you can sign in with your existing AB Verify info.