Etsy Charges Sellers for 2021 Shipping Adjustments

Sellers panicked when they saw Etsy charge their accounts for shipping adjustments from 5 years ago, but it appears Etsy fixed the error fairly quickly. Ironically we reported 2 weeks ago that the USPS Office of Inspector General was seeking feedback on the Automated Package Verification (APV) program designed to find and handle discrepancies in online postage. 

One seller on Reddit said Etsy charged them $3 for an item they had shipped in 2021, another said they received an adjustment that meant they owed Etsy $500, but they both reported the issue was fixed the same day.

Several readers notified EcommerceBytes of the problem, and ecommerce consultant Cindy Baldassi covered the story on BlueSky. A reader included a link to Etsy's acknowledgment of the issue on the Etsy forums, which are only accessible to active sellers, but the reader shared a screenshot.

In the post, Etsy said it was "investigating an issue where some sellers are seeing unexpected charges or credits related to past USPS shipping label adjustments, with most dating back to earlier years."

Etsy said it appeared to be a system error on Etsy's side, and in an update, reported it had resolved the issue. It apologized and said, "We know unexpected changes to your Payment account can be stressful, and we take the accuracy of your information seriously."

It's frightening for sellers to think a glitch could result in large fees being assessed related to years-old transactions. One Etsy seller posted the following video on his BigBuddeTV YouTube channel where he pointed to sellers who had reported shipping label adjustments in the hundreds of dollars, and one who reported an adjustment of $5,000. Some of the sellers who commented on the video said they were no longer even selling on Etsy:

We asked Etsy for information on Wednesday night and have not received a response.

Update 4/18/2026: Etsy provided a response on Thursday with a link to the private forum post.

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