Etsy Tests "From A Buyer Account" Tag For Messages In Continuing Fight Against Scams

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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Etsy is testing out a new tag for messages that informs the receiver the message came "from a buyer account" as struggle to fight spam and scams rages on but users worry the wording may be confusing.

Etsy seller and ecommerce consultant Cindy Baldassi posted about the messaging feature in the Etsy community.

New Messages notation - “From a buyer account”
I received a message late tonight that has a blue star and text in blue that says “from a buyer account” It is indeed a buyer Message. Do you think this means Etsy will be counting buyer and seller Messages differently in the future? (Not just for Star Seller, but in general for the requirement we r…

I received a message late tonight that has a blue star and text in blue that says "from a buyer account"

It is indeed a buyer Message. Do you think this means Etsy will be counting buyer and seller Messages differently in the future? (Not just for Star Seller, but in general for the requirement we respond to Messages in a reasonable time.)

One problem I can see is that seller accounts can also buy, and AI might have difficulty figuring that out. If Etsy really cares about us responding to Messages about buying in a timely fashion, flagging Messages will have to consider the content of the Message, not just whether there is a shop attached or not.

After doing some testing with other Etsy community members though, it became clear that Etsy was not in fact doing any kind of complex assessment or using AI to determine if the message was really sent by or a seller - instead it appears Etsy is using the "from a buyer account" tag as a catch all for any message that is sent by an Etsy user rather than Etsy itself.

"so I think this is nothing to do with buyer/seller, but so people know it's not "from etsy"" If so, that's really a poor choice LOL

They could just say "this is not from Etsy" if that is the intent. Because now to someone unaware of other issues, Etsy's notifications look wrong, marking sellers as buyers.

If I were a newbie, would I trust this at all? Would I assume that real Etsy messages also would get this "buyer" tag, since sellers also do? On a site with as many bugs and errors as this one, this notification looks like just another mistake.

Etsy has been battling a massive wave of spam and scams targeting users with fake support links and other fraud attempts for months, leading to changes to how communication from Etsy appears in a user's messaging inbox.

Etsy Fights Spam & Scams With New “From Etsy” Inbox
Etsy addresses spam & scams with “From Etsy” section in messaging inbox & reminders about how to spot scams.

The changes Etsy made to the inbox apparently haven't gone far enough, prompting the company to announce they will be making most of their community forum private and restricting API access for certain third party programs to try to stem the tide of scams.

Etsy Takes Community Forum Private, Limits API Access To Protect Users From Scams
Etsy is restricting access to community forums over security concerns, but will it shield the company from public scrutiny too?

Unfortunately, not only have the scams not stopped, Etsy's efforts to combat them often interrupt legitimate buyer and seller interactions on the platform, making it harder for real users to transact on the site.

For example, Etsy recently enacted a new policy that turns "marking as spam" into blocking all future communication - which could be a useful tool against the scammers but only if users are made widely aware of it so they can understand how to use it correctly and, most importantly, avoid the unintended consequence of accidentally blocking a legitimate user.

Unannounced Etsy Messaging Change Blocks Communication Between Buyers & Sellers
Etsy stealth change to How To Handle Scams & Suspicious messages policy causes confusion as communication is cut off between buyers & sellers.

The problem has gotten so out of hand, that Etsy is introducing new policies to "strengthen new shop onboarding and keep the community safe" - including a shop set up fee, seller ID checks requiring submitting government ID and a a selfie and delaying payment schedules for new sellers.

Etsy Introduces Shop Set Up Fee, ID Checks For New Shops To “Keep Community Safe”
Etsy introduces new shop onboarding policies including a shop set up fee, seller ID checks & delayed payouts for new sellers to keep community safe.

What do you think of the new "from a buyer account" tag for Etsy messages? Will it help users avoid scams or just add more confusion to the mix? Let us know in the comments below!

EtsyFraudSeller Updates

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Liz Morton is a 17 year ecommerce pro turned indie investigative journalist providing ad-free deep dives on eBay, Amazon, Etsy & more, championing sellers & advocating for corporate accountability.


Recent Comments
Avatar PlaceholderNone Such12 hours ago
They really are pricing themselves into bankruptcy and then sale (privatization) of the carcass whole or in pieces.
Avatar PlaceholderkathyctbcYesterday
I have an issue with Service Metrics too. 24 year Top Rated seller.
I had a customer open THREE separate INAD cases back to back in Feb. She told a bunch of falsehoods in her comments on the case and refused to provide pictures to back up what she was saying, so I called her out on in it with proof that her statements were untrue.

Even though I knew she was trying to scam me, of course, I approved the returns [all 3] and provided a pre-paid shipping label.
She never sent anything back. I got 3 messages from eBay's system saying "We've closed your buyer's return because we have no record that they shipped the item back to you."

However, eBay's system counted all of them against me in my Service Metrics, causing my "Item not as described returns" rate to be: 0.98% even though the buyer was an obvious scammer and didn't return the items.

I didn't have to refund her since she never shipped anything back so there's not a problem there and eBay did remove her feedback, but eBay still counted the cases against me in my 'service metrics' percentage making me look bad in comparison to my peers.
Avatar PlaceholderTaiapanPenguin4 days ago
I tried it to post an IG promo and it couldn't get past the selection stage. Photos errored out and required new photos. If i want to take new photos, i can make a better posting in the native IG post generator.