Buyers Download Links not working from the Etsy email

[PatsBabyHandknits]

Hi Everyone,

                      In the last 3 days I've had 5 people not being able to download their patterns after ordering. I've had various messages including, the Pattern link wasn't there, the link took me to the Uh Oops this page is not available, I thought it was just me. As I don't see the emails I'm not sure what the problem is but I'm pretty sure it's at Etsy's end. I've been on chat twice and got nowhere. They're just tellling me to refer buyers to the customer help centre but I prefer to deal with this myself by sending them the patterns by email. Has anyone else experienced this..

[NanaLetha]

Never had that complaint unless the buyer was trying to use the app. They need to log into their account and go to the purchase then download.

[PatsBabyHandknits]

@NanaLetha Yes I know they can access it in their account but isn't there a link on an email Etsy sends them after they've ordered? I thought it was this that wasn't working from what they are telling me. I'll certainly tell them about not using the App to download, thanks for that info. Etsy also mentioned something about it depending what Browser they are using..?

[PieceByNumberQuilts]

Etsy allows users to sign into Etsy using various alternate signons:  Apple, Facebook, Google.  I think this messes stuff up with downloads:  Etsy seems not to be able to cross-link the alternate sign-ons with the original / main Etsy sign-on.  So if a buyer is following a link in the Etsy email to get their pattern that they bought using their Apple ID, and they're signed into Etsy under their original account, this will cause the "Uh oh" message.  This also happens even with regular Etsy accounts, if a buyer has two different Etsy accounts.  Or if a buyer purchases a download as a guest, then tries to download it while signed in normally.

In short, the buyer has to be signed in with the same account that the purchase was made under to be able to use the download link in the payment confirmation email or to find the download in their account Purchases.

I think there may be other nuances with these alternate signons, but I haven't been able to get a clear answer out of Etsy on this.

[CuriousityShop]

Send the buyers an email to their email address (Found under their name on the orders page) attach your file to the email and send.

[PieceByNumberQuilts]

@CuriousityShop  This doesn't work if the buyer signs in with an alternate sign-on, like Apple.  Then the "email address" shown is just a string of gobbledegook that goes nowhere if you try to send something to it. 

[PatsBabyHandknits]

@PieceByNumberQuilts Wow that's so helpful. It explains a lot. One of the buyers bought under the name of "Sign in with Apple User". She had a really long gobblegook email address that I, painstakingly, copied out and sent the pattern to. Her next message said she was looking forward to my email with the pattern when I'd already sent it. I got her proper email and all was well. However knowing all this is good for sellers to be able to understand what is going on but I feel we have to make things as simple as possible for buyers. So sending it by email will have to be the easier option if not for me but for the buyer who just wants the pattern without all the hassle that goes with it. I'm annoyed that Etsy can't be more supportive over this and get their act together. If there are numerous ways to sign in they should cover all those for the downloads to work. I'm having to keep an eye open for any orders not downloaded and contact the buyers because a lot of the time they don't message me. That opens up the risk of a low review which wouldn't be my fault. That was part of my argument on chat last night when being told to refer buyers to the Etsy customer help centre. I wouldn't trust them to help and prefer to get the pattern to anyone whose already ordered asap before they lose their patience..    

[PieceByNumberQuilts]

@PatsBabyHandknits  Glad to help!  I'm like you -- when these kinds of things happen, I prefer to just send buyers their patterns by email rather than giving detailed info on what might have happened.  But some buyers want to understand why their order isn't under their Purchases section, so I end up having to try and explain.

I had one customer Sign in as Apple User who couldn't get the download from Etsy (not even as attachments within the messages area), but she wouldn't give me her real email address either!  We tried Google Docs (nope!) and Dropbox (nope!).  Eventually, I had to swear on a stack of bibles that I'd never spam her or sell the email address, and reluctantly, she finally provided it.  I totally get that we need to be vigilant about our personal details, but still ....  I spent a good couple of hours on just this one customer's issue.

The other thing about the alternate signons is that sellers can readily identify when buyers sign-in as Apple User, but not under FaceBook or Google.  I wholeheartedly agree Etsy could do a much better job at getting this straightened out to work properly with downloads, but they won't because it doesn't impact their bottom line.  I hate referring buyers to Etsy help, because I know how frustrating and limited Etsy help really is. So like you, I just end up emailing out patterns.

[PatsBabyHandknits]

@PieceByNumberQuilts I've also had 3 people in the last few days who've ordered the same pattern twice and I don't think they're even aware they've done it. This is all part of the same problem as it happens when they're trying a download system that isn't working. I get very confused as to what to do as none of them messaged me to ask for a cancellation. I used to message them and then wait for a reply but now I just cancel and put a message on the cancelled pattern. I also send patterns by post on a separate listing and when they order 2 there's always the risk of them buying for a friend. The other thing I found was the lack of any options for download problems when trying to contact Etsy Support and the same when you get onto chat. You just have to click on anything to progress to chat with someone. I'm getting older now and want to wind down to just selling downloads but all this is very off putting...

[NanaLetha]

@PatsBabyHandknits  People buy the pattern twice could just be honest buyers. If they are going to share the pattern with another person, they should be buying more than once. If they buy once and share, then they are breaking copyright laws.

[PatsBabyHandknits]

@NanaLetha It never crossed my mind that they may be other than honest. Apart from the scams going around all my customers have been genuine buyers. I deal a lot with the elderly especially for the posted versions. I have never said anything about them not being honest so not sure where that came from. The reason behind cancelling a 2nd order when I haven't heard from the buyer is me being honest as well as them. I could just take their money and leave the orders as they are, but I hate the thought of anyone paying for something they didn't want just because they made a mistake. As they're my own patterns so long as no-one is selling them on I'm not bothered how many times they reproduce them to give away. I'm giving them away myself to a charity I support and a group I've joined on FB for knitters knitting for Premature babies. I will eventually give up selling them and give them away instead. 

[PatsBabyHandknits]

@PieceByNumberQuilts I have written this out and am copying and pasting into all my descriptions. Please can you check if it's correct or if any changes are needed? Thanks for you help so far....

"Please note! You need to sign in to your Etsy account on a laptop to be able to download the pattern. If you sign in using Google, Apple, Facebook or any other account the download won't work. if you have any difficulty with the downloading process I am happy to send the pattern to your email address. The pattern can also be downloaded in your account under Purchases & Reviews but, again you do need to be logged in with the same account you created when registering with Etsy"

[PieceByNumberQuilts]

@PatsBabyHandknits 

Technically, buyers don't HAVE to log in using a laptop to download from Etsy -- they just can't use the Etsy app. It's possible to download from Etsy using a smart phone or tablet.  But unless buyers are already pretty experienced doing this on their devices, it can be challenging for them to know exactly where the downloaded files are saved (the files may be on the buyer's device, but they could also be in iCloud or some other cloud service, depending how their phones are set up). 

You may want to say something like:  "To minimize problems with downloading, please sign into your regular Etsy account (and not using Google, Apple, or Facebook sign ins, or as a "guest") to purchase.  To download using the link in the payment confirmation email, you must be logged into the same Etsy account you ordered under. A laptop is highly recommended for downloading and printing your pattern. Please note that the Etsy app does not allow downloads."  And then add your remaining statements.  

Note that Etsy has slightly changed the menu under the "Your Account" icon at upper right of most Etsy screens -- they've split out Reviews separately from Purchases.  I recently learned that you can share this link with buyers:  https://www.etsy.com/your/purchases    When the buyer is signed into their Etsy account, the link goes directly to their specific Purchases page.  So this cuts out a bit of extra explanation about how to get there, lol.  

[PieceByNumberQuilts]

@PatsBabyHandknits  One more thing to be aware of -- guest purchases.  Guest purchases can't be automatically linked to a buyer's regular Etsy account, but there's an Etsy help page with information to buyers on how to make the linkage themselves:  https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015565027?segment=shopping

I don't know if this works when buyers use any of the other sign-in methods, however.  

[PatsBabyHandknits]

@PieceByNumberQuilts Thank-you so much. Being 73 my technical know how is far from good. Everything else I can just about cope with. knitting and Pattern making is great (I hope). Otherwise I wouldn't be doing this... 

[ReviveRetroPatterns]

I'm having the same problem. And I'm having to privately email to buyers. How to fix this please as it's embarrassing and puts a sour taste in people as they won't buy from my shop again.  

[PieceByNumberQuilts]

@ReviveRetroPatterns  Please see my responses above to Pat - they cover the majority of buyer problems in at least my shop with PDF files.  You need to ask your customers for more information about what they're doing -- are they using the app?  did they get their Etsy confirmation email OK? are they logged into the same account that they made their order under?  is their email address on their Etsy account still their current one? what other problems are they having?  what error messages are they getting?  

You might also want to take a look at one of my listings to see how I use Etsy's personalization feature - buyers have to indicate before purchase that they understand they're buying a PDF file which must be downloaded with a web browser and not the app.  This has vastly decreased the number of buyer download issues I've had.

I've also created message "snippets" for the most common download situations buyers contact me about with the relevant information.  This makes it MUCH quicker for me to respond, and I attach their PDFs to the Etsy message instead of defaulting to email directly, though I do offer the email option.  You'll never completely avoid buyer issues with downloads, but you can set up your own little systems (like message snippets, instructions to buyers in the confirmation email, use of the personalization feature) to facilitate the process for both you and your customers.

 I hope this helps

[PieceByNumberQuilts]

@ReviveRetroPatterns  Just looked at your shop.  Some friendly advice - please educate yourself regarding distribution of materials still under copyright  From Wikipedia:  

"... copyright law assigns a set of exclusive rights to authors: to make and sell copies of their works, to create derivative works, and to perform or display their works publicly. These exclusive rights are subject to a time and generally expire 70 years after the author's death or 95 years after publication. In the United States, works published before January 1, 1928, are in the public domain." 

[SewItLikeAMan]

Thank you PieceByNumberQuilts!!!!! I've had issues before, but just today 3 buyer complained they get an error message. The automatic login by Google, Facebook & Apple is a problem. I personally do not email patterns because I like to know how many patterns have been downloaded and so the customer doesn't have to remember where THAT email is if something happens on their end, but that's my preference.

[SeasideShedStudio]

@PieceByNumberQuilts thank you so much for the explanations.

I've a customer who is having issues when downloading the files from the purchases email Etsy sends, and your explanation has helped me understand this is probably what's happened to them. Many thanks!

(I'm just going to send the customer the files by email as I can only imagine Etsy Support will just take too long to get back to me)

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