403 Forbidden Message in Seller Forums

[LindasGeneralStore]

I have received a 403 Forbidden message just recently and again in the past 2 or 3 times when I go to list my listings in the teams.  Normally, the message is gone within a few hours to a day, but less than a month ago the message came up when I went into the forums and wasn't allowed to advertise - this lasted 4 days.  Again, a week ago it came up, and again it didn't go away this time for 6 days - this keeps us from advertising.  

I contacted Etsy's support team, they were baffled, nor could I find anything in any of the questions and answers in Etsy's help section.  I gave them a snapshot of the message, but no one had a clue what it is about.  Finally, Zesty cleared it up without admitting anything, but there still isn't a link to explain the 403 Forbidden message or how to correct it.  None of my items are forbidden, indecent or any of the other items that Etsy will not allow sellers to sell.

Has anyone else had this problem?  If so, what did you do to correct the situation other than contact Etsy's support team?

[GlassyFields]

not allowed to advertise? how were you advertising?

any chance that a bot it flagging a word in your listings ... coral, ivory, amber, Cuba ... many others that might be flagged for various reasons.

[LindasGeneralStore]

Maybe advertising is the wrong word.  I am a member of several teams. Under the seller Forums in the help link, I select one or more of the teams, then select the items for each of the subjects in the notification feed and post.  Hundreds of Etsy members do it daily.

[CatsBeadKitsandMore]

@LindasGeneralStore  , Are you talking about playing team games? If you are getting a red banner pop up try adding incog after what you post and see if that works.

[GroundZeroCreations]

Advertising in the forums is not allowed. If you are talking about playing favorites games on team sites, that is permitted. But if you are actually promoting sales, it is not permitted on any Etsy forum.

[GroundZeroCreations]

I just did a search for what your code means and it means you are being blocked by the website. Are you sure you are signed in to your Etsy account when this is happening?

[LindasGeneralStore]

I was completely signed in.  I even signed out of Etsy completely and reopened my shop, but the problem did not resolve itself for 6 days.  On day 6 right after the issue was resolved, Zesty notified me that they could not find any problem.  I did not press the issue, and went on to list my products in the notification feeds in the Seller Forums.

[ChillwolfArt]

@LindasGeneralStore  I found a past Thread about this, but I don't think I can post it (it was closed by Admin). But you can find it by this info:

OP 9/18/2024 by Chrysalism, "Strange 403 error on listings...."
Closed on 9/18/2024 by Admin Fabio McMustache, stating the problem was solved.

[GroundZeroCreations]

@LindasGeneralStore  When you post in the forum asking for help, we can't help much if we don't receive responses to our questions. When responses are given that gives us a chance to weed out some things and know it must be another issue. If, however, you have figured it out and don't need help or if the issue has simply been resolved, please let us know.

[Amaradorn]

I don't think it's anything to do with your listings. It's a forum issue. I suspect that it either means that forum thread has been closed or you are not logged in to the forum website properly. Try refreshing the webpage a few times.

I wouldn't waste time promoting in teams, whether it's allowed or not. You will find that everyone there is just doing the same as you. Very few people are actually buying anything. You are better off using that energy to promote off Etsy (try social media).

[BagmakerSupply]

@LindasGeneralStore: A 403 Error has nothing directly to do with you, but rather is a back end issue. It is almost always a request failure which is tied to application logic, such as insufficient permissions to a resource or action.

[Crystalsgiftsforu]

LindasGeneralStore

can I ask how were you able to post screenshots to show Etsy I seen that you said you posted screenshots for your issue, and I’m having a problem that I’m having with the site not allowing me to add core details to New items I’m selling! Same for many others are having the same issue they did explain in one of the forms that they wanted us to send them screenshots and any information through their help and contact section, but I couldn’t find where I sent the screenshots to. Is there an email or something that I can send the screenshots to thanks! Appreciate any information you might have for me as I definitely want to send them screenshots now I didn’t mention in this post, but if ever anyone is having that issue and hasn’t read up on the core details and a way to actually create a new listing and they have an iPhone or an iPad and it’s not working. There is information on multiple threads about the cord details and different tips on how you’ll be able to do it I can use my laptop it’s able to do it that way and also android phone because I can go into a desktop site mode when you’re on the browser, but if you have an iPhone my go to for listing new items. I end up having this issue was because I could not create a listing or save a draft by no means or put my iPhone in desktop mode so that is why I started to come to the form yesterday and I’m very grateful to See such a large community helping each other. It’s really great sorry for the long rant. Take care.

[LindasGeneralStore]

First, I looked it up on the internet on how to do a screenshot (I had no idea, and Etsy's customer service reps seems to think that everyone knows how to do this).

Here is what I did.  1) I opened the Seller Forum which instantly came up with the blank white screen with the words 403 Forbidden in bold black letter at the top center of the page.

2) I held the Control & S button down simultaneously to save the page and put it in a folder in my pictures just for this problem.

3) Once saved, I was able to attach it in my conversation with Etsy's cust service rep.  This let them see the problem.  Now everything was up to them.  

I hope that helps.  You might get more out of the online instructions when you read them.

[LastCentury]

I'm wondering if the 403 Error is a message from the universe?

Can I ask? What is the point of promoting listings in a thread like this and others like it?
https://community.etsy.com/t5/Promote/PROMOTE-ANYTHING/m-p/147817863#

The thread goes all the way back to 2017. The original poster is no longer selling on etsy. None of the posts on the last page have any likes & they're all basically from 3 different sellers including the OP.

Are sellers in threads like that really interested in other sellers listings, or do they even take the time to look at the listing links? Or make purchases even?

The amount of time spent on threads like that could be better spent posting on social media, or working on your shop, or taking a photography class... or asking for a shop critique. 

[LindasGeneralStore]

To CatsBeadKits and More,

Under the Help Link, click on Seller Forums.  There is a "bell" symbol on the upper right of the screen, click on that & choose the link you want to post you items in.  In this case, before I could get into the Notification Feed, the 403 Forbidden screen came up for 5 consecutive days all day long.  About 3 PM on day 6, the message went away, and I was able to list the items in the various links that I wanted to be seen by other Etsy sellers and potential buyers.  If you want to call them games, so be it.  You can favor the items above you, and I often do.  I don't advertise on social media.  I don't know what else to tell you, other than I learned how to do a screenshot to show Etsy's customer service rep what problem I was looking at.  They were as confused as I was about this.  They even thought it might be from an outside source, but who would want to hack into a link without any kind of financial and/or personal information?  The rest of my shop and my computer was untouched, no viruses or other problems.  It makes no sense, and Etsy does not have a link under the mountain of subjects listed to get information.  I would at least have tried to resolve the problem but couldn't.

[TheVintagePineapple]

I don't know why you're getting the 403 error screen. But I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to explain with ''There is a "bell" symbol on the upper right of the screen, click on that & choose the link you want to post you items in.''  

That bell symbol is for forum notifications to let you know that another seller likes your post, @'s you, or chose your post as a solution.  It's not a place to link any listing.

[Amaradorn]

@TheVintagePineapple I'm not understanding it either, but the notifications page is a quick way to get back to a thread you are following (either because you posted a reply or bookmarked the thread). I often use it.

[TheVintagePineapple]

@Amaradorn I sometimes use it for that reason, too.  The OP was confusing me when she said ''choose the link'' instead of 'choose the OP or thread.'

Fancytogs might've figured out the problem below.  It appears that the OP hasn't used the regular forums, only posting on promo teams, ever since they were changed a few years ago.

[LindasGeneralStore]

This is what the message looks like in the Seller Forums and Teams Link under the Help link under the Shop Manager link.  403 Forbidden

[FancyTogs]

@LindasGeneralStore 

The link on the dashboard is taking you to a forum page that you don't have permission to view, hence the 403 forbidden error.

When the forum was upgraded a couple of years ago some users did not get granted full access permission.

I shall summon admin for you:

@thatregina   Another user without permission for the main forum pages, can you fix it for them please?

Lawrence (Clare's other half)

[LindasGeneralStore]

To FancyTogs

So, Etsy's system has a flaw somewhere in it, and I just happened to get caught in it.  I have been in touch with admin. Today, the system was working, and I had no problem listing my items for sale.  The way things have been going doesn't mean that the problem is fixed and won't start all over again tomorrow or in any of the days following.  Maybe Etsy has been hacked into?  If so, this is a strange area for a hack if it is a hacking problem.  I do hope that Etsy's programmers permanently fix this.

[TheVintagePineapple]

@FancyTogs 

To test FancyTogs possible solution, when you click on Etsy Forums at the top of this page, are you able to see the full dropdown showing the different forum sections?  Or are you only seeing Tech and Announcements?

[Amaradorn]

@LindasGeneralStore the forum is not part of the main Etsy website. It's a separate website run by a different company but the 2 sites are linked together. When you log into your Etsy account and then click though to the forum it's supposed to pass a packet of data (called a cookie) so that it automatically logs you in to the forum website. Sometimes it's a bit slow with the second log in. If I go too quickly and try to access a thread I previously commented in, sometimes I get told by a big red banner that I don't have authorisation to view that forum page. Once I refresh/reload the webpage it fixes the issue. I'm not sure if that's the issue you are having but I thought it was worth sharing.

[thatregina · Accepted solution]

Hi @LindasGeneralStore, thanks for your report. Just to confirm, your account can access the full Community Space, both viewing and posting across Etsy Forums and Team.

403 Forbidden errors are usually temporary, resolved by refreshing the page or pressing F5. It's a momentary issue that sometimes crops up when viewing content that requires login. It's nothing to do with the links or content you were attempting to post at the time.

I see you've written in so we can always follow up with more information there. Thanks all for stepping in to offer help, everyone! I'll close this up now.