Etsy Shipping Price Snafu Leaves Sellers Holding The Bag
Etsy users report shipping price problems on the platform today, with buyers being charged a significantly lower amount than they should be for Priority Mail and sellers eating the difference.
KnotOriginal
i just had an order come in, weighing 8.5oz and the buyer chose priority. they were only charged $1.31 by etsy. i can't possibly mail for that without losing out $$.
is this an etsy bug happening site wide? the mistake was definitely etsy's as my shipping rates have not changed or been problematic before.
Another poster pointed to a different thread in the Etsy community where a seller saw the exact same issue with the same low price, but unfortunately it's in a section of the forum that is not viewable to the public.
There is another poster with the same problem -- same exact amount.
https://community.etsy.com/t5/Managing-Your-Shop/Etsy-Insider-Shipping/m-p/147533649#M1780194
And users in the EtsySellers subReddit say they are also seeing orders coming in with the same $1.31 shipping price.
Just a heads up to check the ship charges on orders that came in today. I noticed customers were being charged an abnormally small amount for USPS priority, basically $1.31 instead of $12+. I hadn’t changed anything on my end since yesterday. Etsy chat escalated the report as a technical issue.
Will be interesting to see if they make the sellers cover the cost of their calculation errors, or make the customers (doubtful) or will Etsy eat the cost (unlikely). Will probably depend how widespread the issue is.
Sveral users have pointed out that new USPS rates for Parcel Select, Ground Advantage, Priority & Priority Express went into effect today - and that it wouldn't be the first time Etsy bungled a postal rate update.
Other sellers say their buyers who were incorrectly charged are part of the Etsy Insider buyer membership program trial, which is supposed to offer free shipping to the buyer but not at the seller's expense.
the seller who started the other thread said their customer is a part of etsy's trial run for their version of amazon prime shipping.
Those who have contacted support say so for Etsy isn't offering any information about what is causing the glitch or any assurances that sellers will be compensated for the difference - in fact, they are being told they should simply cancel orders if buyers don't want to pay the additional amount.
i was told that if my customer doesn't want to pay for the correct amount to cancel the order. i'm shocked that i'm expected to ask my customer for more money to cover shipping when this was etsy's mistake.
Are you seeing errors in shipping costs on Etsy today? Let us know in the comments below!
much too complicated now for a few pounds a year in sales
They just "killed the golden goose". I imported my 1500+ eBay items to there since it was free. Turned out just to be a lot of work for (maybe) 3 sales a month.
The total fees were higher there before this new $20 a month cost structure, even though they claimed otherwise. When one factors in the 3.49% + 49 cent PayPal processing fees so one can get paid, there went a good chunk of profit.
Now they have boosted their commission to 11%, and still claim that the cost to sell there is less than eBay's. And remember that this does not include payment processing. WHY?? Makes no sense at all.
On eBay, for $27.95 a month, I sell over 100 items there every 30-31 days. Makes ZERO SENSE to pay a site $20 to make just a couple of sales. Since they now allow 50 "free listings", I have trimmed my offerings back to just below that amount. Also had to raise all my prices accordingly to absorb the extra selling costs.
The people who run the show here obviously didn't realize that eBay sellers who imported their listings gave the site a great depth of product, which would attract more buyers. Now that will be gone, because NO ONE will pay them $20 monthly for little to no sales.
The site also has technical issues that they refuse to fix. It was a decent resource to enable the occasional sale, but they will soon be stacked onto the eCommerce trash heap of companies that THOUGHT they could compete with Amazon and eBay. Etsy may also suffer the same fate soon, as many sellers are also leaving their site due to high fees, website issues, and poor management.
Basic eComm rule here: When you do not carry any inventory, and sellers are solely responsible for supplying your site with the goods offered, DON'T BITE THE HAND WHICH FEEDS YOU!!!