Seller Details Cash Flow Crunch due to Etsy Reserves

by: The End

I've never had anyone STEAL my money like Etsy has done to you.
The State's A.G. should be notified IMMEDIATELY.
Etsy Heads should not eat well whilst doing wrong to us.

by: Ophelia1

Keep in mind that any funds Etsy holds for any period of time for whatever reason earns them interest. Do the math.
I agree with by: The End. State AG should investigate; however, every time the issue of reporting Etsy to the AG pops up, all the Etsy cheerleaders out there shout "its against the TOU's (terms of service), you agreed; therefore, nothing you can do"
Is that really the case? what about if a company like Etsy abuses the TOU's?
There has to be a solution to this somewhere, but where?

by: Dea

My hope is that in the next few years, Federal and State agenices will come in to regulate the horrible practices of ecommerce, etsy is one of the worst.  Ecommerce is really in its infancy and the only regulations they adhere to are those in their TOU's.  As a former accountant I recall years ago the banking industry getting a smack down for holding customers funds willy-nilly.  Etsy is only doing this to earn interest, someone in the forums posted a section of the TOU's that allow them to do this.  They tout themselves as being 'transparent', " keeping commerce human".  They are none of these things.  Merchant accounts only hold funds that are considered high risk, one look at their shop and you can see none of these sellers would be deemed high risk with a merchant account, but etsy has setup their rules to make anyone high risk, this can include but not limited too all the other things, not responding to an email in 24 hours.  Can you imagine a bank or credit card company telling you "you're high risk because you did not respond to an email in 24 hours".  Etsy has become a bully, and like any bully loves to throw their weight around intimidating the little guy.  I am furious at these new heavy handed practices that etsy feel just because they say so, it is so.  I do suspect we will see big changes to ecommerce within the next 10 years or so around how they are regulated...it has already started with the issues with Facebook, Tiktok and Zuckerburg.  The worst issue is with etsy, they will never tell you why?  They say they don't want people to 'game' the system, this is utter rot.  If you have a merchant account/credit card, and they hold funds, you are told why and they are required to tell you why.  Etsy functions as a financial institution processing credit cards, disbursing funds, doing charge backs and refunds, and other banking practices have no accountability to sellers for what they are doing with their money.  Its unconscionable that etsy thinks this is OK, and what they say, goes.  I see so many posts from those that are 'rah rah etsy - like shills' saying it is fine because etsy says so, or its in their TOU's, just because it is in the TOU's does not make it ethical or legal.  They are not regulated here in the USA and I am hoping that changes soon, but it is going to take alot of public pressure to our elected representatives.    

by: brunutte18

We have been on reserve for over a month. No explanation no help. I am on several etsy groups and forums. This is happening to EVERYONE. They say it's to verify sellers but this is clearly not the case. Many people are finally hitting their 90 days and getting their money only to have it happen again a couple weeks later. So again no possibility this is to "verify". Please someone help us. I am reaching out to every news site I can think of. We were hit hard but alot of people were hit much harder. This evil company wont even let you speak to a representative about it

by: imaglitch

I strongly believe that Etsy is in financial trouble and is using seller reserves to stay afloat.  The sudden increase in reserves being placed on sellers, the randomness of the shops chosen, the lack of a clear explanation.  It does not matter that it is in the terms of service, this is not how solvent companies operate.  I have been a business to business contractor for years - every single time a company has unexpectedly delayed my payment, it is because they were in financial trouble.  

by: Tinysaur

I've been on Etsy for over a decade, and they just imposed this crap on me, too. Nothing has changed. Some sociopathic stiff just wants to get a bonus for gaming the corporate reward system, while jacking us. My credit card was debited for shipping because there wasn't enough in my account that wasn't being held in reserve to pay the few dollars for a label.
Never forget that we're the thing Etsy is selling, not our stuff. We're not people to them.

by: Shanna

No Terms of Service can trump state or federal laws. As a money transmitter, Etsy has to follow state money transmitting laws. Most states limit how long they can hold your funds. The risk of losing your license to do business in an entire state will motivate Etsy to release funds.

by: Whatever

Boy sellers get dumber and dumber - what was it PT Barnum said? Here's the first place you should go for help.  File a complaint with the FBI cyber crime unit. It all happened over the internet so it's a crime for them. 2nd thing to do is LEAVE - get your own venue or go somewhere else where they can steal your hard earned dollars.

by: Stone Cutter

*** General retail, in the toilet ***

In the U.S. online spending has slowed, while the EU is beginning to drop into a recession.

Etsy can no longer impose those awful Offsite Ad fees in the EU, per EU law. So you know this is hitting their balance sheet hard. For Etsy to hold funds is exactly what this sleazy company would do when their economics grow cold.

Kick’em while their down.

Call your State A.G.

by: iSeeTruth

After almost 11 years my business was put on Reserve for no reason. We ship by private carrier and no tracking # is available. I've been shipping like this for 10 years with no issue. Also, Etsy's own policy allows for no tracking number, yet sellers are penalized with 0% for on-time shipping and you get hit with a reserve. They alluded to this being a potential reason we were put on reserve.  

Etsy's policy is not to TELL YOU what they see as "risks" with your business. HOW do they expect you to correct what they view as risks? Doesn't it seem strange? It's almost like they don't want you to address the issues that landed you on reserve.

A few weeks after the 2 most recent bank failures, Etsy sent a notice saying they couldn't pay us because of bank processing issues due to those failures. Now, for no reason, our business is on Reserve Payment status. We build fairly expensive custom items so my gut tells me that it's LARGE DOLLAR item sellers who are being affected by sudden reserve status.

Is Etsy expecting something to happen in the near future? Looking at the financial changes going on worldwide would indicate they are and that many more banking failures will come. I see this at Etsy's way to be at the top of the pyramid when it happens.

BEWARE....

by: danesduns

I've been an Etsy seller for over 12 years.  In 12 years I haven't had 1 case opened, one return, 1 damaged good shipment.  I've caused Etsy zero trouble.  I was just put on payment reserve and this is what I was told ... I'm furious!

"I would like to inform you that reserves are common in online marketplaces and protect sellers and buyers. They can help you to keep your Payment account balance from becoming negative and your card on file being charged if you receive a chargeback from a customer’s credit card company, or any other unexpected refunds or charges."

by: Lisa

There is actually NO reason to hold funds on an established account.

The truth is, Etsy holds your funds to 1. collect interest  2. pad their value to look better to shareholders 3. stay afloat and ahead

to the math and the timing, holds are systematic

the  advise i have to avoid this, don't  put your eggs in one basket  

by: Lisa

*do not to

by: Another Etsy Seller

There is absolutely something shady going on, and it baffles me that this hasn't yet been investigated, as it's the same story over and over from thousands of sellers.

I currently have 2 shops on Etsy, one for over 8 years, the other for about 3. Both placed in reserve last month (almost 2 months now). No infringements ever of any kind. Not a star seller but 100% rate on shipping on time with tracking in both shops, 5.0 score on reviews (100%) also in both shops, and messages replied to within 24 hours at 92% in one and 94% in the other. So far a little over $20,000 being held (approximately 140 orders now between both since payment reserve was placed).

I have already contacted Etsy over a dozen times, only to receive the same automated copy/paste replies, with no real reason and/or information as to why this is being done.

While Etsy holds over $20,000 of my money, all my bank accounts are now negative, resulting in almost 2 months behind on my rent and all my other bills, and honestly don't know how I will be putting food on the table this week. I'm a single mother and this is my only income.

I just shared my full story on Twitter under an anonymous account, as I’m pretty terrified of retaliation by Etsy, and don’t need them holding my money any longer than however long they already will, and I'm just truly hoping that someone will look into this on our behalf.

If anyone is interested in reading it, here is the link to the thread: https://twitter.com/EtsySeller84/status/1674431421845495811?s=20
R>I have also emailed the same text to several national news channels the last few days. I honestly don’t know if they’ll even look (or care), but I can’t just sit here and do nothing…

You can also find hundreds of comments from other sellers sharing their story in this article (read all comments below):

https://www.valueaddedresource.net/etsy-responds-to-sel
ler-concerns-about-payment-reserves/

by: Lisa

out of curiosity... how many of you put on hold ship out of country?

by: Fruitylovesyou

I don't understand why you sellers with holds and no response from these companies are not filing complaints with the FBI. This is Interstate commerce. You want your money or not? You don't go to the local level or your state AG, you go to the feds.. The FBI or doj. The minute they see enough piled up they're gonna pick up the phone and start asking questions or close it... But there's enough watchdogs that can sniff out rubber stampers

by: Another Etsy Seller

Please sign and share our petition for Etsy to lower their payment reserve amounts on sellers ⬇️

https://www.change.org/p/please-sign-this-petition-to-bring-th
e-retainer-percentage-amount-down-so-small-businesses-can-still-operate-on-etsy?lang=en-US