75% reserve normal for made to order stores?

[LyreBirdFurniture]

I've been on etsy.. 11 years now. I was a star seller the minute the program went live, and due to a clerical error.. im currently not, and still miffed about it.

And today i get hit with a 75% reserve on my account. Now i do made to order furniture, giving me 25% to fulfill and order, isnt do able.

I actually got a call back from support, and they said they didnt know why the reserve was placed on my account, just that it existed. I finally got him to admit that it was just an algorithm that decided i needed a reserve. So i asked who could fix this, he said no one. I asked who could change it so it was more reasonable, he said no one.

This legit feels like they're trying to get me off the platform, if my finical situation was not good, i wouldnt be able to function under these restrictions.

And the fact there's no process for review, or to even find out what you did to be able to not do it in the future is crazy to me.

Any help or just a good luck would be appreciated.

Does anyone have any advice? Or do i just have to weather the storm and suck it up and deal with it because i inadvertently angered the algorithm?

[TinLizziAntiques]

What caused you to lose Star Seller, may I ask. A Star Seller shop is generally not placed on reserves. Others on Etsy have been hit with reserves this month.

[LyreBirdFurniture]

A customer bought a piece, and i have "add on" things in my store, if they want something fancy, like metal tips on the legs. Rather than just making two listings, they just add that to their cart as well.

He processed it as two separate orders and i marked the metal tips as "Does not need tracking" but since it was a physical order, the star seller program demands it has tracking. If it would of been in the same cart/transaction it probably would of been fine. 

And by the time it impacted my rating it was too late to add tracking to the order. I asked to get it fixed, they said they couldnt do anything about it.

[bradgoodell]

@LyreBirdFurniture You simply could have added the same tracking number to both orders.  

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@LyreBirdFurniture For future Orders sent in the same parcel, you need to mark the second Order as complete and manually add the same Tracking Number as the first Order. 

US Sellers must have Tracking for all Orders for SSP purposes. The "Does not require Tracking" works for meeting the normal Service Level for Streamlined Shipping but it will not work for SSP.

[nineteen27]

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/Protecting-the-Etsy-marketplace/m-p/142342185#M1868

etsy made an announcement.

[LyreBirdFurniture]

That's great, and just the same form letter. But here i'll break down this problem, using the last order I sold prior to the reserve.

Funds that went to my account. 760.00 (rounded for easy math)

75% goes into reserve 560$

25% goes to me to fulfill the order 190$

Material Cost

Wood: 100$

Legs 140$

Shipping 100$

Estimated Cost to Fulfill Order: 340$

Meaning im in the hole 150$ on this rounded math.

And like i said in my OP, if my finances were worse off right now i'd be screwed. If someone placed and order, 25% is not enough to complete the order. That's the problem, if i have to replace a water heater in the next 3 months, or my truck breaks, i'll be in a position where im receiving order but un-able to fulfill them

[nineteen27]

yes reserves suck.

and why is it 75%.

it makes sense for new sellers.

but not sellers with 11 years here.

[AnniebelloPaper]

@nineteen27 just read the announcement you linked ... Star Sellers are exempt from payment account reserves ??

What the absolute ****! The SSP is so flawed. Use tracking Etsy can confirm - and yet they struggle with government-controlled reliable postal services tracking. Keep your shop compliant with the rules (cough cough) resellers and infringers with purple stars. Reviews are out of sellers' control and revenue amounts have nothing to do with customer service.  

So many good sellers will never get the star, so many rule-breakers have it. So much for standing small and keeping commerce human. 

Apologies for getting off-topic : (

[ShelbyandGray]

Hi,

Reassuring to find this thread and i have had to do some digging to find out why, as a star seller i have had a reserve account applied for three months.

I could not get anything definite from Etsy chat last night, thye just kept repeating the same thing, not of which seemed to make any sense as to why i have had this applied to my account!

I think ( but i'm not sure its because, to keep my star seller status you have to add tracking number. However,if you go above and beyond and hand deliver an tem locally, there is no option to show this and the only way i can 'clear'the order is to add a tracking number, so i make one up.

The programmethat Etsy runs behind the scenes picks up on these tracking numbers and monitors them for delivery etc,so having added two 'false' numbers in this month for local delivery ( and to fulfill orders) Etsy have determined that i should have a reserve account applied for three months.

I hope this is the reason,otherwise at the end of three monthsi may find out im still on hold and i have no idea why.

However, as i was told last night,there is no delivery option to change it to 'local delivery' so i am stuck.

After working so hard to get this 'Star Seller Status' I find i may not be able to keep it due to a glitch in Etsys algorithms.

Thanks Etsy.

[ZalunaStudio]

@ShelbyandGray 

if you are still paying attention to this thread and issue, there is a workaround to hand delivered doesnt have tracking. send a post card, flyer, business card or even coupon code to the buyer by snail mail - use etsy first class letter tracking, print out the etsy label and send that in a regular envelope with label taped or stuck on. that tracking number for the letter rate label will track, be legit, even if its only a thank you to the customer.

[PlatypusDream]

The Reserve system is automatic.  No one will tell you how exactly it works, because no one knows (but super secret people at Etsy).

The Help people can't fix or reverse it.

More information here:

https://www.cindylouwho2.com/blog/2021/10/22/etsy-payment-account-reserves-what-every-seller-needs-t...

[nineteen27]

@PlatypusDream 

i want to work at the super secret place at etsy.

[VintageRescueSquad]

Yeah, the Help Center is outsourced; they are not etsy employees. Etsy's articles on the SSB indicate that no one will manually adjust or alter the SSB statistics.

Seems you don't have the shipping badge, so you will now need to mark your add-ons with the same tracking number you use with your main piece.

[LyreBirdFurniture]

The work around is to mark them as digital, and send a file. This is what etsy support told me to do.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@LyreBirdFurniture Customer Support is woefully inadequate where the nuances of the site are concerned. You can just add the same Tracking to both Orders.

I am not even sure you can change a physical listing to digital after the Order has been placed?

[Jewels2at]

I am not even sure the SSPE (super secret people at Etsy) know. I truely believe they have no idea how the algorithm works and this is bots gone wild.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@LyreBirdFurniture I know what I am about to say is probably of no comfort to you but your beautiful tables are just not suited to the present-day Etsy priorities. 

High $$ items with a 3-4 week Processing Timeframe are considered to be two of the "risk factors" as far as Etsy is concerned. We all understand that you need money and time to actually make the product for the Buyer but Etsy sees this as "bankrolling" your product and is mitigating against the potential risk imposed if you do not, after 4 weeks, actually supply the product. Your Shop appears 100% reliable but ... .a few "bad apples" and all that ....

[LyreBirdFurniture]

See the thing is they're not bankrolling, the customer is, the customer decided to buy a made to order piece. Etsy is the middle man, and they can take their finders fee for putting us together.

This is overstepping.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@LyreBirdFurniture True, but from Etsy's perspective, if a Seller does not "deliver" Etsy is left "carrying the can" to either retreive the funds from the Seller or refund from their own funds if the Seller has closed up and moved on. Until there is an actual product which has been shipped, in Etsy's universe there is a risk they need to mitigate against

[dlcgems]

Prepare to get lectured on how to run your business and that you should have been prepared for the eventual and inevitable reserve, blah blah blah.

Sorry you're in the reserve club now, I am too. The only way to stay out of it seems to be to get and maintain your star seller status.  Good luck.

[CustomTungstenRings]

I'm a star seller have been for several years... now I'm placed in reserve... I've worked out that this is caused by The carrier of the tracking information I added doesn't share tracking events with Etsy at this time, which means they can't determine if an order is in transit...They sent me a link to approved couriers of which both couriers I use are listed and a big fat yes in the column headed 'Trackable by Etsy'... so Uk sellers are getting placed in reserve due to the new Aftership software not working correctly... Does Etsy care there's a bug in the system... seems not...Dreadful way to treat sellers who without them Etsy will go under...

[SmudgePlant]

@LyreBirdFurniture 

In the new announcement it says, "Reserves can be placed or removed from a payment account at any time"

Someone is able to remove it.

You just have to fight your way to that person.

Kind of like getting to the boss in a video game.