What is your experience with etsy? Do you use it, have you had good experiences?

Asked by LifeQuestioner (4043

) September 29th, 2023

I’ve probably made purchases on Etsy about 10 times total in the past. I’ve bought stamps for my stamp collection, cross stitch patterns, scented candle wax, and the other day I purchased a kit of what I thought were four coasters for my new hobby of gem painting.

The picture on the person’s page clearly showed four coasters, and nowhere in the description did it indicate that you would only get one with your order. I didn’t find that out until today when my package arrived. I contacted the seller, also arguing the fact that when I made my purchase, there was no option to choose one out of the four.

She did respond once and claim that there were no other options presented because she was out of stock on three of them. I wrote her back and said I wanted a refund and she hasn’t responded since.

Fortunately, I took screenshots of the original picture and the item description. I have put in a message to Etsy, and hopefully this will be taken care of quickly, but obviously this vendor is up to no good because…

I went back on her page tonight and she had changed the picture to just the one, and now she is offering different options, but with three of the four marked as sold out. It only came to a total of $11.43 with shipping, but I refuse to let her get away with this clearly deceptive marketing. I’m hoping Etsy comes through for me or I’m not sure I can ever order anything from their website again unless it’s from trusted merchants that I have used before

Has anybody else had any similar situations where you had to appeal to Etsy in general to get something resolved?

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7 Answers

I bought a painting off Etsy. Easy transaction. I’ve never thought about returning though. I went to the site specifically to buy the painting.

SnipSnip (7110

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Generally pretty good. I have bought several belts, a wallet, and some covid masks from Etsy. The belts were custom made for me, and the guy (who made them) was great with communicating.

Everything I purchased was as described and in good order. I should note, however, that I don’t buy from the ultra-commercial people on Etsy (Etsy has gone downhill recently) but mainly from artisans and people who care about their craft.

Shipping tends to be high compared to other online stores.

elbanditoroso (33518

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@SnipSnip yeah, I’m not a huge customer at Etsy but I’ve bought a number of things over the years and always been very happy, which was why I was so shocked about how this all went down.

LifeQuestioner (4043

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@LifeQuestioner Did you contact Etsy yet? What was the outcome?

jca2 (16741

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@jca2 I got more of a response from the vendor at last. She says she will send me a shipping label and I can return the item for free and she will refund my money. Which is the best I can probably hope for, but I still feel that she should have followed through and what was advertised.

LifeQuestioner (4043

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@LifeQuestioner The only time I’ve been to the Etsy site was on instruction from the artist who painted the painting I wanted to buy. I don’t expect to go there again, but have learned to never say never unless absolutely sure.

SnipSnip (7110

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I’ve used Etsy for years and haven’t had any issue with domestic sellers. But I’ve noticed there’s been an influx of sellers purportedly selling handmade goods, but google lens will pull up identical items that are mass produced overseas.

raum (13338

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