Etsy has a rating of 1.8 stars from 1,555 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Etsy most frequently mention customer service, credit card, and phone number problems. Etsy ranks 717th among Marketplace sites.
Founded in 2005, Etsy is a legit online marketplace focused on homemade products from close to 2 million sellers. Each seller on Etsy is different, so always read their individual reviews and policies before making an order. Over 2,000 shoppers have reviewed Etsy and advise that since sellers are from all over the world, shipping may sometimes take a while. If you experience issues with a particular seller, Etsy has a customer support team to assist you.
This company does not typically respond to reviews
📢 Attention, Etsy Community and Support Team! My Etsy shop, NecklaceAura, was permanently banned right at the beginning of my journey with no explanation provided. To make matters worse, I was scammed as a seller on my very first day on the Etsy platform (Issue ID: #16571142). As a passionate and dedicated creator, I am deeply disappointed and seeking clarity on this decision. I kindly ask Etsy to review my case, unblock my store, and provide a transparent explanation. It is unfair to penalize a small business without a clear reason. My small business dream depends on it! #EtsyHelp #SupportSmallBusiness #NecklaceAura #EtsyCommunity
I tried setting one up, and it was instantly and permanently shut down by Etsy without so much as a hint of explanation. There weren't even any listings on the store—literally, all I did was create a profile picture. I appealed the closure, and guess what? Denied. No reason, no transparency, nothing. Now I can't sell or buy anything on my account, and if I try to set up a new one, that'll be blocked too. And to top it all off? Their denial of the appeal is permanent—no second chances, no reconsideration. Ridiculous.
This business is unable to compete with Ebay as a seller. EBay fills the void by enabling merchants to sell globally. Even though Etsy describes itself as an international firm, everything about it looks so US-focused. They don't, in my opinion, do nearly enough to be regarded as an international business.
I was EXTREMELY skeptical when my daughter asked to order from this site. I figured the dress wasn't that expensive and I told her she would have to wear it no matter what. Well... that dressed arrived and blew me away! It was a very high quality garment. Absolutely stunning. We chose not to do the alterations as my daughter is a competitive swimmer with a tough body to fit, so I cannot speak to that part. I can tell you that her dress was a show stopper!
Etsy bears many claims, like most businesses they tell you how great they are. They're just another Ebay without the auction. Sellers can be honest people or complete scammers. Personally I haven't been scammed with Etsy. For the most part I'm cautious on any website that hosts personal sales, as you should be. My problem mostly is I find it hard to believe that Etsy is like carbon neutral. They claim from the hosting servers to the app and etc. Not a chance. The amount of energy required to run a warehouse of servers is immense and those companies defiantly don't choose areas where they pay a premium for "green" energy services. Don't get caught up in the hype over this green energy fiasco. There is no such thing as green energy, just the distribution of carbon footprint.
Tip for consumers:
Just be cautious about the seller. Read reviews before purchase
Products used:
novelties. vinyl records
The clothes are nice of good quality, but the shipment took too long. In addition to the fact that their customer service is very bad and their return policy does not convince me at all.
Bought a mother of the bride dress which unfortunately was too small. No fuss to send it back and ordered the same dress in a larger size. Very impressed that the on line chat is manned out of normal hours.
After around 6 emails with the seller they agreed to reimburse me for the item once they received it, but not the shipping cost. Turns out the seller is from London UK. Post office quote to return the item was 40 something dollars and around 100 at the ups. Not worth sending back a 20 dollar item that I assumed was the correct one just by looking at the picture. If it was Amazon, they would of refunded everything. But why are these items coming from overseas with out us knowing? Why are they selling from overseas when this item can be found in the USA. Making it more expensive for us to return, so we get stuck with an item that does not meet our needs. 2nd item I bought from Etsy with problems on both, so I closed my Etsy account. No more inconsistent descriptions and charges. If I can't find it in the USA, I don't need it. But I'm sure I will not have that problem with AMAZON. Don't waist your money...
I am fed up I cannot get an answer from Esty regarding my order. Why is it so easy to take customers money, and very difficult to reach anyone when there is a problem. Problems like these are happening far too often. It has soured me on ordering anything else on line. I will go back to going to stores in person. That way, one can see the product, and take it home immediately. Less stress.
Tip for consumers:
The public needs to be aware of Esty's policy in dealing with consumers complaints. Lack of response is not quality business.
I have purchased from several Etsy sellers with fantastic results. However, when a seller fails to refund monies on returned merchandise, Etsy DOES NOTHING! I provided proof of the return and delivery confirmation. Seller's communications stated a "...refund would be promptly issued.". Etsy has this information, yet they do nothing! NO HELP AT ALL!
I bought a product twice worth 160 euro's and it got deducted from my account. I have proof of this but Etsy won't and can't help me with this. I need to handle it with the seller myself, not knowing that other people can sell items on Etsy without mentioning this. I contacted the seller and he denies receiving a penny and won't send me my order. I have to sort everything out myself.
Tip for consumers:
I bought a product twice worth 160 euro's and it got deducted from my account. I have proof of this but Etsy won't and can't help me with this. I need to handle it with the seller myself, not knowing that other people can sell items on Etsy without mentioning this. I contacted the seller and he denies receiving a penny and won't send me my order. I have to sort everything out myself.
Products used:
Nothing
Etsy closes account permanently without me having violated any rule or giving any explanation. It takes ages to setup a shop, and they just kick you out, withhold outstanding payments for 180 days, sending pre-fabricates messages and obviously bots doing the work. Never again Etsy, and I sold (and do so) on many platforms.
I wanted to look for gifts for coworkers for Christmas. I typed in the search bar "gifts for coworkers" and was SHOCKED by how many items came up that included the "F word" or the words "$#*!" or "$#*!". That is not at all cute or funny or appealing to me as a consumer. Etsy's help department could not offer any way to filter out profanity, forcing me to view it if I wanted to peruse their offerings. I get it that Etsy is a collection of small shops, but there should be some universal filters to avoid profanity. Just really ridiculous. They lost a long time customer.
Products used:
None. Not going to shop where I am bombarded with profanity.
They cost my family more than $600,000 per year on the unsubstantiated hearsay libel of Mike Rothschild, a hit piece specialist who isn't a good enough writer to get a job as an actual journalist, and is know for always being wrong.
He wrote a fact-free, defamatory hatchet job, emailed it to Etsy's amateur PR staff, who predictably panicked even though less than 59 other people would even read the piece. They removed all my listings, but left up those of my competitors. No reason is ever given since no rules are ever broken.
Tip for consumers:
I provided irrefutable evidence on no less than six occasions proving Rothschild is an idiot who’s out of his league, and that nobody was reading his article anyway. Etsy did more harm by running us off than that hit piece ever would have done had they just ignored it.
Products used:
Their paid selling package. We made Etsy one of the world’s go-to destinations, let us make them millions of dollars for years, then one day some liar says some stupid and nasty things about us, and without even fact-checking Etsy took him at his word. A serial liar.
Etsy is one of those places that is incredibly risky to buy things from. I love vintage and retro items and I appreciate people going out collecting these rare garments to resell. However, I suggest everyone to be more careful. Jewelry and handmade items are usually fine, but my problem is with clothes.
I reported an obvious scam from a seller in Turkey and my multiple reports were ignored. Two customer support representatives basically hung up on me, and my request to be transferred to a supervisor was answered with "a supervisor will email you", which was a lie. All they do is placate with canned replies. Nobody cares about the honest sellers, the crooks are not vetted and even when discovered and reported by buyers (who have no interest since they don't compete) nobody cares. Too bad, I used to love this company but it's going down the drain.
I am attaching the evidence of my order, that was never delivered (refunded by Etsy, not the seller), and 2 screenshots of the same item being advertised by 2 sellers, both from Turkey (like my original order, from yet a third seller from Turkey). Etsy doesn't even care about their own money, let alone ours.
Tip for consumers:
Verify the sellers ten times before you buy, nobody at Etsy will do that.
I've used Etsy several times successfully. Great response and products.
However, I recently Didn't receive an order, (USPS) stated delivered and well I didn't receive it.
Run around, contacted seller, USPS, the seller was very responsive but passed me to Etsy.
Etsy support was good via chat (if you can find that feature), first time just terminated me when I mentioned issue. 2 further chats I got some attention and follow up. Its frustrating as can understand issue is really sellers responsibility.
Overall, I've change my review and given 4 stars.
Tip for consumers:
Just watch the shipping method. Can be slow.
Products used:
Clothing
Etsy closed my shop after I refused to accept an unwarranted $1200 charge back to my account. As this was all going down, I had evacuated to Savannah, Georgia due to a mandatory evacuation directive in anticipation of Hurricane Ian. Etsy closed my shop the day I returned home.
It is not easy to fold your tent, when you have thousands of items to liquidate. In fact, the task was too much for me and I ended up in the emergency room. Thanks Etsy! Keeping in mind your "Keep Commerce Human" motto, and all. After 6 months, still getting billed for over $1,000. Etsy will not honor my no return policy.
Tip for consumers:
I would not recommend buying or selling on this platform.
I ordered a digital document from one of the vendors and received it instantly. They accept PayPal payment which was very convenient for me. The budget template has been really helpful for me. As a student, I have been struggling managing my finances and identifying areas of waste, but am slowly getting that under control. Etsy allows vendors to list their products and also determine their prices. This includes digital items such as excel templates, word document templates, etc.
Products used:
Digital excel budget template
I have received the parcel which was paid €165 and there is no watch in it just bad quality leather bracelet i
See a photo. This is outrageous and shocking. I asked for a refund but them just close my case since delivery was marked as dispatched not even consider otherwise.
To the future customers, do not ever order something from this site.
Tip for consumers:
Don't even think to order something from them.
Products used:
Samsung smart watch was ordered but delivered only bracelet without the watch.
I am a long time seller on ETSY. The last year it has gone to crap. Unfortunately they do no vetting of shops and it has became a hub for counterfeit and infringing items. I have reported many shops, filed many DMCA's, yet ETSY continues to leave these shops up and running. Shops like this send junk to the customers while stealing from honest hard working artists and designers. Buyer beware. Do some research on the seller before purchasing goods. I added a photo of just a couple items that are using my art.
Etsy is full of Chinese items from forced child labor used in the Xinjiang province. Do not patronize Etsy if you have concerns where the products came from. I know because I sold the same items for awhile until reading about the human rights violation in this Xinjiang providence. Etsy is basically people selling items that are made with child labor from China. Most items on Etsy are not handmade or vintage but rather Chinese knock-offs. There are too many disgusting items that Etsy does not remove.Don't let your children look at Etsy without supervision. Too much sex, drug paraphernalia and nudity in listings. Best to avoid Etsy
Questionable business practices allowing some sellers to sell regular coins as 'gold coins.' They have also removed other legitimate sellers for bias and discriminatory reasons yet they allow others to sell fakes!? Use at your own peril. I definitely do not recommend.
Received a GIFT purchased on etsy.com that was broken, there were no assembly instructions, and there was no contact information. Can't locate product on etsy.com. Can't leave review unless I create an account on etsy which I DO NOT want to do. This business is NOT customer-oriented. I recommend that people go somewhere else to buy products!
Tip for consumers:
Recommendations: make it easier to leave a review for a GIFT that was purchased on etsy; make it easier to locate a product on the company website that was purchased from etsy; provide a way for recipients of items purchased from etsy.com to contact the company regarding any problems with the product/delivery.
Products used:
Can't. It is broken.
I just recently listed on Etsy after a bit of time brainstorming clothing brand ideas and designing a logo. I really like how easy it was to set up a store, design my products and put them up for sale so I'd say I'm fairly hopeful that I can expand on this brand in the future. I decided to price all of my items with only 5% profit margin after calculating shipping in the price. I'd really like to see this grow, even if that means keeping a 5% margin for a year or more.
If you know someone like me where they're really into crystals then I recommend you go and get them a Valentines Crystal box. I received this last year as a gift from a friend and I absolutely loved it, it was such a cute and fun surprise. Not to mention, the packaging was just absolutely adorable. It's definitely a good way to gift a friend something they love while being in theme with the occasion. I wish I took a picture of it when I got it but this example from Etsy is basically the same as the one I received.
Absolute waste of time. I worked so hard on my store, had 80+ lisiting and it was doing so well and then out of nowhere, they suspended my store without any notification/communication. There is no way of getting in touch with them because the call back option keeps giving an error message and their is no phone number to call.
Etsy is a marketplace for buying and selling crafts, handmade and vintage goods, as well as art and craft supplies. Etsy is a private company based in Brooklyn, New York and has raised more than $90 million as of May 2013.