Cant' send messages to my customers since a week....Please fix asap

[MusicMakersHub]

Hi. I contacted many times Etsy support via chat, opened 2 threads about this thing.. and still can't get an answer or a reason for what happened. I only see a red banner with a message for each time i try to answer to help requests. 

In this way reputation of the shop will drop soon... and you know what happens next...so i think this is a major issue that should be fixed asap guys.. 

PS: i did not contact any buyers from the past (only if they first ask me something, at that point i answered).

[DesertChains]

What is the message on the red banner?

[MusicMakersHub]

"I tuoi messaggi sono stati temporaneamente disattivati. Contatta l'assistenza per farli riattivare. Per maggiori informazioni sui messaggi, consulta FAQ e Linee guida della Community."

"Your messages have been temporarily disabled. Contact support to have them reactivated. For more information about posts, see FAQ and Community Guidelines."

As said, I already tried to contact Etsy multiple times, via chat and via threads, but no updates yet and almost 1 week is gone

[PlatypusDream]

If you broke Etsy's Seller Policy your messages can be disable for a day, a week or for months.

You should remove the listing in your shop, as you are not allowed to use listings as announcements or advertising.

Read the rules so you don't "accidentally" break any of the Terms again.

https://www.etsy.com/legal/sellers/

c. Communication Standards

i. Messages

With Etsy's "Messages", you have the ability to communicate directly with your buyers or other Etsy members. Messages are a great way for buyers to ask you questions about an item or an order.

Messages may not be used for the following activities:

1. Sending unsolicited advertising or promotions, requests for donations or spam;
2. Harassing or abusing another member or violating our Anti-Discrimination Policy;
3. Contacting someone after they have explicitly asked you not to;  
4. Interfering with a transaction or the business of another member;
5. Exchanging personal contact, financial or other information for the purposes of evading the checkout process on Etsy, including phone number, address, email, social media handles, external URLs, instructions for money transfer, etc.

[BagmakerSupply]

@MusicMakersHub: Not to discount the fact that your messaging may have been disabled in error, generally the "Bummer, your messages have been temporarily disabled" advisory is because the system has detected that your account has been sending unsolicited non-transactional messages.

There does not appear to be a published time for how long messaging is muted and based on posts in this forum it can vary.

Again based on other posts, Etsy does not seem to view support requests based on supposed user violations as a priority.

If the Message muting is in error, one of the Etsy Admins has been able, in several cases, to restore messaging. Hopefully they will see your thread and will check into it for you.

[JustMeToo]

@MusicMakersHub   Wow.  I would certainly remove your "messages to customers"! on your front page!  It doesn't look like an etsy glitch.  It looks like they removed your messaging on purpose.

[MusicMakersHub]

@PlatypusDream i never broke any of these rules about messages so...i don't think that this could be the cause. (thanks for the hint about the listings, but the one you are referring to was created today precisely because I have no way to communicate with those who are waiting for my answers)

@JustMeToo Wow? How can you know that is not an Etsy glitch? I see many concerning here and on the web about this problem so why you are so sure about what you are saying? Would love to know, cheers (also this message was created BEFORE this block)

[PlatypusDream]

"thanks for the hint about the listings, but the one you are referring to was created today precisely because I have no way to communicate with those who are waiting for my answers"

You can't do that.  It's against the Terms of Use.

This is a sure fire way to get a strike from Etsy.

b. What can't be Sold on Etsy

Even if they otherwise meet our marketplace criteria, prohibited items, services, and items that violate our intellectual property policies are not allowed to be sold on Etsy. All listings must offer an item for sale (which includes digitally delivered items, and can also include reserved listings). You may not create an Etsy listing for the purpose of sharing a referral code, posting a want ad, or similar activity that does not offer a physical or digital item for sale.

[nineteen27]

i think they removed your ability to message customers...

on purpose.

[MusicMakersHub]

Why don't close the account directly then? there is no reason to do one thing and not the other...the shop is useless without sending messages.

[MusicMakersHub]

@BagmakerSupply thanks but the problem is only the lack of comunication here. I read the rules but really can't understand if I did something wrong or if it's a problem related to my account.

[VINTAGEbytheMAGPIE]

The thing is non of your items qualify to be sold on Etsy .You can find Etsy selling policy via the link from @PlatypusDream

From what we see here in the forum , when you don't follow Etsy rules they do sometimes stop communicating with you.

[MusicMakersHub]

Why don't just saying something like this via email? I really don't get it. Thanks anyway

[VINTAGEbytheMAGPIE]

Communicating to sellers is not Etsy strong point at the best of times , but when you break Etsy rules , its even worse , they do tend to just cut you off 

[BootifulLabels]

the shop is useless without sending messages.

The purpose of a shop is to display your wares for potential buyers to see, not to email people you think might want what you have, without their permission.  Etsy buyers are NOT your customers until they buy from your shop.  You cannot use the messaging system to cold canvas people you think might like what you sell.  It is not only against Etsy rules, it is illegal in many countries. If a potential buyer has questions about your products they will contact you.  You can answer such questions, but not until they are asked.  Your privileges may be restored when Etsy decides you have learned the lesson.  You will just have to wait.  If they are restored be sure you don't repeat the behaviour or it won't just be your messaging privileges that are revoked, it could well be your seller privileges. 

[MusicMakersHub]

I'm speaking about "giving responses to people that ask me about the shop". This is what i mean with that highlighted phrase. So yes is still useless if i can't answer. Thanks for the other clarifications.

[LSPhotoCrafts]

Hello everyone. I have exactly the same problem with my new shop. First couple of weeks the message system works absolutely fine, and then one day, it just stopped working. And I get the same message as you. Never break any messaging rules or something. Contacted the Support multiple times with no results. Orders are keep coming and I cannot contact the buyers to approve the mockups and process with the orders. 

Horrible situation since it’s a new shop, and everything impact performance.

[WitticismsRus]

@LSPhotoCrafts 

"Orders are keep coming and I cannot contact the buyers to approve the mockups and process with the orders."

The buyers email address is on the order page. Just click the small inverted triangle by their name next to the checkbox and the email will be right there.  You should also have every buyers email address in the order confirmation email etsy sends you for every order.  Perhaps you can communicate with your buyers that way while you wait for your etsy messages to be restored.

[KKbraceletsandmore]

MusicMakersHub:  The fact that I can't actually look at any of your sold listings makes me think that they weren't eligible to be sold on Etsy in the first place, and Etsy doesn't want you communicating to anyone about selling more of them?

[PrevntProducts]

What you were selling goes against policies.

Etsy has chosen to remove messaging ability, sometimes search visibility in cases such as this, but is still choosing to get % off each sale, and not allowing those vendors to communicate with customers. Heavy stuff...

[WinningCrystal]

I have the same problems as well.