To Admin Question about invoicing in Direct Checkout

[sherrytruitt]

The shipping Improvements team, as you know is taking away shipping options on Monday.

Six weeks ago you posted in the team that you understood we needed a way to invoice our customers for shipping upgrades.

When will that be available?

We are not allowed to make listings for upgrades.

It is embarrassing to have to invoice via paypal when the customer has clearly chosen Direct Checkout. I lost a sale when a customer refused that option.

I do not think it is safe nor prudent to have a customer call us or email a cc number so we can use a square or other device to charge them.

Our hands are tied and I would appreciate it if you could reply with a solution as this happens thousands of times a day on etsy.

Many thanks.
Sherry

[Former_Member]

Hear, hear!

[CopperLeafStudios]

Yes please!!

[SerenaSmithLampwork]

i'll be honest and say that there are a lot of etsy tools that would be helpful for sellers, and this is one of them. we need this tool.

however, i think the important thing for etsy to remember is that DC is their credit card processing service. it does reflect badly on individual sellers who have to contort their policies and massage their customer service skills in order to deal with this, and keep etsy customers faithful to etsy as a whole.

but, it really reflects badly on etsy. etsy is the name on the cc bill. etsy is the one providing the service.

when we have to say "sorry, etsy is inadequate, etsy is causing you this inconvenience, etsy is making your purchase impossible with their service and policies" then that makes etsy look bad, and it means fewer of our customers are likely to use the service.

[Former_Member]

Excellent post Sherry! Thanks for bringing this up again.

[TreasuresOfGrace]

I agree with everyone here. I almost lost a sale for the same reason since I couldn't invoice for faster shipping, but I decided to eat the extra cost myself to keep the sale. We really need a way to invoice the customer who uses DC.

[Former_Member]

In my opinion, the easiest fix for this, would be to offer multiple shipping services for each location. I think the problem is in trying to do a second charge. If we could have three rates for the US for shipping, parcel post, priority, and express. The customer could then make a choice and checkout with the service they desire. This could be done for all locations we ship to.

[BeadinByTheSea]

Yes please Etsy, we need this option.

I was so thankful to have different shipping options during the Christmas rush. Many customers chose to get their packages faster and I didn't have to answer convos or invoice through Paypal to take care of them. So sad that this feature is going away with no signs of something to replace it.

[Former_Member]

Griffincat, that would be a great option.

[Spellbinderie]

Yes we need shipping options but not to just US sellers please. I suspect Griffincat didn't mean it like that but I just want to jump in and state that this option is needed for ALL sellers, not just US-based sellers. Terms need to be set for any country, not just the US methods. Perhaps sellers should be able to simply list the shipping methods they use and times should be reported as estimated and not guaranteed (unless you ship guaranteed). Still the ship. improv. team admin said they ditched the program because they believe sales were lost when customers were informed of shipping time so I don't know how Etsy will move forward on this issue.

Serena & Sherry covered everything perfectly, thanks for so eloquently posting that. Expedited shipping costs too much for me to eat and last minute buyers often pay now, ask for expedited shipping later :( As the busy wedding season has started, I'm really upset to not have a proper way to bill my DC customers and wondering if I'd be best removing this payment method until Etsy figures things out.

[chattypress]

I would love love love shipping optiions - similar to the shipping options we had in the shipping beta test team - but instead of "2-3days" or "2-7 days including saturday" Allow us to type in what we call the shipping...... ie "priority mail" "usps express mail" "fed ex ground"

If we are able to type in what the shipping is then it would work for non-us sellers as well! they can type in what they call theirs "royal mail express" or what have you.

[Former_Member]

Griffincat - you're right, that would be the most awesome improvement!

[fernfiddlehead]

oh hello, yes, now that we're losing our shipping speeds, we need an invoicing system. Thank you for bringing this up, Sherry!

ETA: I can't imagine that there's a need to reinvent the wheel here. I mean, etsy's not the only international site.

[2TrickPony]

Yes please! This would be wonderful addition to the DC.

[TodoPapel]

Thanks for bringing this up. The system is inadequate for any professional seller.

[GardenCopperArt]

Yes what's with Etsy, come on how many sales do they need to assist us selllers. Does Etsy not realize they will increase their business by offering sellers and buyers options for shipping. I probably lose all of my Ca. sales because my shipping is high for Ca. but not for out of state sales. Out of sales is exactly the cost. I hope Etsy reads all of these comments on teams.
I say to Ca. customers to contact me before ordering, but really how many customers read our information before ordering.

[sherrytruitt]

I was just checking back to see if any admin had time to respond yet?

Thank you.

[ninedoorsvintage]

I need this today...hence why I came to the team to find a solution. You've all stated it better than I could so, please, Etsy, work this out and soon!

[sherrytruitt]

One again, I am asking for a response. Please. We are now in our second week with no options. Zero.

As it impacts our livelyhood, I simply do not understand why this issue is completely ignored. I'm embarrassed to keep requesting an answer.

[Former_Member]

just piping in hoping for an answer... very valid points.

[Former_Member]

sherry truitt from sherrytruitt says:

The shipping Improvements team, as you know is taking away shipping options on Monday.

Six weeks ago you posted in the team that you understood we needed a way to invoice our customers for shipping upgrades.

When will that be available?

We are not allowed to make listings for upgrades.

It is embarrassing to have to invoice via paypal when the customer has clearly chosen Direct Checkout. I lost a sale when a customer refused that option.

I do not think it is safe nor prudent to have a customer call us or email a cc number so we can use a square or other device to charge them.

Our hands are tied and I would appreciate it if you could reply with a solution as this happens thousands of times a day on etsy.

Many thanks.
Sherry

****

Hi Sherry,

Thanks for your post. I understand your frustration, and I'm happy you chose to escalate your concerns here in the team. It's great to hear everyone's thoughts on invoicing and how this system affects an individual business.

Although I don't have any new updates to share here in the team, I can assure you that this is something that many people are thinking about. It goes without saying that a invoicing system through DC is a part of a bigger discussion, as it would fundamentally change the way that checkout on Etsy works (one order/one payment). Beyond that, there are implications for bookkeeping, Trust and Safety, etc.

I'm sorry that I don't have a more concrete answer for everyone, but I'll certainly let you all know more when I know more. Also, I need to quickly add that cc information should NEVER be exchanged over email/Conversations. If you do choose to collect payment directly from your buyer, you should do so over the phone.

-Evelyn

[sherrytruitt]

Thanks, Evelyn. I appreciate that you stopped by.

I didn't realize we shouldn't take cc via email. I guess the phone is a possible option, I'm not certain my customers would be comfortable with that, but they would get a receipt for the transaction with their cc statement.

I don't think it would be viable for my international customers though.

In light of the issues you raised, perhaps the real solution is shipping options to keep us competitive with the rest of the ecommerce world.

Thanks again,
Sherry