An Etsy glitch is causing some listings to incorrectly display “Returns Not Accepted,” according to sellers. “All of my listings appear to have the “returns not accepted” badge,” a seller wrote on the Etsy discussion boards on Sunday.
The seller explained that she doesn’t accept returns on custom or clearance items, but the no-returns badge is displaying on listings even where she doesn’t offer customization and does accept returns..
“Is this a bug? How can I fix this,” she asked. “It looks so bad on all of my listings and would certainly help to explain the super slow sales lately.”
Seller reported the issue on at least two threads on Tuesday. “Once again, I come bearing bad news about a new Etsy test feature,” one seller wrote, and described how the no-returns badge appeared: “Each and every listing is now showing a prominent “Returns Not Accepted” message underneath the item title. The words are underlined inside a pale blue oval.”
Another seller replied, “To have such a vague blurb “This shop does not accept returns” without more of an explanation could be damaging to a store. Many items of a particular nature cannot be returned for very pertinent reasons.”
Sellers reported sometimes seeing the badge, sometimes not seeing it, leading some to believe they were part of Etsy’s testing.
A seller who said they did accept returns but saw the no-returns message displayed in their listings wrote, “this new test says I don’t accept returns. Arrrrrggggggh. That’s not a test, that’s a freaking error.”
*** A much bigger problem…why is Etsy tinkering with their “Return” subsystem?? ***
For the love of my hobby and minerals, I’m a stone cutter and jeweler on Etsy, however, I use to be a Software Engineer. I have no doubt the “return policy” field problem is a glitch, however, I’m mostly concerned as to why….
Engineering work is done in subsets. So my question…why is Etsy tinkering with their “Return Policy” subsystem? I’m concerned that Etsy is ready to change return policies for their sellers.
For my Etsy shop, I have a return policy that says all returns are to be paid for by the buyer which include Priority Mail and Insurance. And for jewelry pieces at $250+ , this amounts to approximately $17.00. Just this morning I read an article on CNBC about how online has generated so many “returns” that its become harmful to the environment. And thanks to Amazons’ easy return policy, consumers now expect easy returns paid for by the seller. Latest survey says that 96% of shoppers come back to the retailer if they have a good return experience, while 69% deterred from buying if they had to pay for shipping.
I’m very skeptical that Etsy will soon force shops to allow for “returns” to increase sales activity. And the latest data from consumers concerning inflation, for the month of March, says that there is now an increase of consumers that feel they may lose their job due to a slowing economy….because a fear of inflation is more than just being able to afford to buy a product…it’s also about a consumers collective wealth in investments…i.e. the housing marking, the Stock Market, the jobs market. If consumers begin to lose wealth, they will stop spending.
Etsy will become more cut-throat if Etsys sales begin to contract. I had my first Off-Site Ad sale on Thursday which took an additional $60 in fees to Etsy. Immediately, I’ve stopped posting new pieces, because my new buyer tells me that she’s had her eye on my shop for quite a while and found my on Etsy; not from from Off-Site Ads. I have no doubt Etsy will begin to charge sellers for Off-Site Ads whenever they need more money.
Watch your backs, sellers. Etsy will lie, cheat and steal for their shareholders. And I wouldn’t doubt that a change in “return policies” will be on their list.