Creating custom order problem.

[#1]

The way we create custom orders from a customer message seems to have changed. Instead of being able to create a full listing I seem to just have a side bar to add basic details. I cannot add shipping profiles or an image to this. I have to go back into the listing once the order has been created to complete the details.

I'm hoping this is just a temporary glitch.

[KlothesbyKraig]

Had the same issues as everyone else with my custom listing sidebar.  Can't use my shipping profile until I publish and quickly go to edit.  The problem with that is, if I don't know where the customer is and they purchase immediately before I can change it, as usually we are live messaging when I create the lsiting.  I'm USA, so fine if they qualify for free shipping in the US, but if they are international, they won't get charged a proper calculated shipping fee.

Also,  it does look so unprofessional to see that the custom listing was "edited" after I send it to them.

NOW, as of June, they "fixed" an issue we all had that affected Star Seller ratings regarding customers sending multiple single messages and having to reply to each one for it to be counted.  Now they are combining multiple message from same customer.  All fine and good, however, you could always only create 1 custom listing for a customer, period.  Then I had the explain to them to start a new message thread so I could attach a new custom listing to it for them.

Just had a customer come back to purchase, needing a custom listing, I couldn't create a second one (first order was custom as well), so asked them to create a second message.   Well, they said they kept trying to, but it always brought them back to the original thread.  He even said he deleted the message thread from his messages to try.  WTF???

They tried to fix something (that we asked for - not getting punished for not answering multiple message threads when one simple answer would suffice, and broke something else (custom listing creation) even further.  Now once a customer buys a custom listing, they can never buy again.

[PrettyVagrant]

Bumping this because the custom listing from a message is still a UNUSABLE MESS!

Cant add photos when you list, can look through the message to look at details while the window is up, endless scroll to enter country, can’t simply use a shipping profile.  Now I get a error for the shipping settings not be correct for the custom order.

Then when you go back to add a actual photo the customer gets a message that you edited the item, which then brings questions.

WHY WHY WHY IS THIS EVEN A THING??????????

Ca

[Mirinesse]

Still nothing? YO ETSY! I have to explain to my customers before I send them a custom order NOT to purchase until I go in and edit it because "ETSY messed up custom order generation and now makes it impossible to generate a complete order with pictures and correct shipping."

Also - thanks for not letting your sellers send you feedback in any way...leaving it up to forums that you don't read is NOT a good way to run a business.

[EchoCanyonLanyards]

We need to do more to make our voices heard about this issue and many others. Etsy does not listen to the sellers who have made this company the lucrative profits! I started by engaging with CHAT. I am going to do that as often as I have time. I then sent a brief but to the point message to CEO Josh  Silverman (he  never answered). Keep complaining!!

[EchoCanyonLanyards]

We need to do more to make our voices heard about this issue and many others. Etsy does not listen to the sellers who have made this company the lucrative profits that it enjoy! I started by engaging with CHAT. I am going to do that as often as I have time. I then sent a brief but to the point message to CEO Josh  Silverman (he  never answered). Keep complaining!!

[SeleneSigns]

I've added my thoughts already in a different thread, because I do a lot of custom orders and have exactly the same issues. An order is a legal document, and should include an image of what the customer is ordering, otherwise I could send them anything and they might have no come-back. Most customers are trusting, but it shouldn't be like that.

[thePaperFramer]

My custom orders are all derived from an existing listing so I copy the original listing, make the changes appropriate for the custom order and leave the images the same.

[DIYslipcovers]

That's excellent but for many of us the custom order is a completely different item.  I have to start from scratch for the buyer's particular piece of furniture they want me to create slipcovers for.  To copy the original listing and simply make a few changes isn't possible.  If it were, I wouldn't even have posted here.

[EssentialHerb]

That's what I have been doing lately, even though I have to edit the copy to something else entirely.

[LulusCleverCrafts]

I just want to say that I finally took precious time out of my business to address this problem. I have chatted with 3 to 4 different customer service people and spent about two hours waiting for an answer. I can't believe the first and second customer service person had no clue how to help me and the third and fourth had to "look" into it. I am not happy with this change; it makes us look like we don't know how to run our shops properly. Thankfully my customers are the most understanding people and I have never gotten a complaint. I just want to stop wasting time with the extra steps to update and send extra messages. The only comfort I have is from sellers like you guys who have the same problem. I guess I will keep asking them to change this weekly, hopefully our voices will help make an easy fix. 

[DIYslipcovers]

I've been calling help with this issue since 2010 to no avail.  It used to be better now it's so much worse.

[EchoCanyonLanyards]

I too have taken away precious time from my business to address this problem. I have actually emailed  the Ceo (Josh Silverman https://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-12074)...to no avail, of course!! I am convinced that Etsy doesn't care aboout the folks like us who have "put them on the map" so to speak. I have had to raise my prices (which I hated to do to my customers) in order to make a reasonable profit. I took the time to explain all this to Silverman. He, nor his staff, couldn't even show me the courtesy of a response!  Etsy has become a non caring corporate greedy company like so many others. Not sure there is a solution. SAD

[EssentialHerb]

Very sad that I have to agree. I LOVE the Etsy platform because of the great ability to have customer interaction.  It is astounding that there is simply no support for sellers...no way to get hold of a human...emails just generate autobot responses, and when I have had a human email respond, they did not even address my question, they skirted around it, and didn't respond to my followup!

[PrettyVagrant]

I quit using this feature until it is USABLE!  

[KasparsCosyCreations]

Just reading this thread as I've been having problems with custom orders too. My main issue is that customers are buying an item and adding a note to ask if it can be changed even though my items are all ready made (made bigger or different colours!) So I either have to change it for the same price/time if I can or cancel/refund order and set up a custom order. This is where it's starting to get embarrassing, as a seller on Etsy I now have to ask the customer to ask me for a custom order because I'm not able to do so! Even though "custom order" is available on the message, it doesn't work as it's not come from the right place.

A couple of people have done this for me but mostly once they have their refund I don't hear anything from them again. I've lost 5 or 6 orders this way

[EchoCanyonLanyards]

as many complaints as Etsy has had from sellers, I don't know  why in the world they don't change it back. It's not like they have to "develop" it...they had it perfect for years...then they decided to mess it up. Typical!! Getting sick of Etsy's total disregard for sellers  concerns.

[CalendulaHandmade]

This has been going on for SO LONG that I doubt Etsy will ever do anything about it.

[EchoCanyonLanyards]

NOT temporary!!! Benn going on for a few years Submit a complaint to Etsy, or better yet, contact the CEO

https://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-12074

[TheGiraffeManor]

It's June 2023 ... has this custom order/photo thing been fixed? I am thinking not as I just made a custom order through a convo ... and I couldn't see how to add a photo and then it ended up with that generic pic.

[LastCentury]

It's fixed according to etsy... they don't think it's broken.

You can go back and edit the custom listing to add photos and more details and most importantly, make sure your shop policies / returns are updated on that listing because that has been a huge issue with seller protection.

Good luck!

[Daoire]

Nope. Not fixed. Etsy could care less that they took a GREAT custom order page and trashed it. They could care less that it's created double the work for us as sellers if we want our customers to receive a non-generic looking custom listing with the proper photos and shipping settings, without having notifications sent that we had to go around in circles to update the listing after it was made.

In order to create custom listings now.. I have to send a message to my shop from a different account, create a listing for the customer but have it sent to my other account. Go in and edit the listing, add photos, update shipping etc. Update the listing. And then copy and paste the link to the listing into a message for my customer. It's completely backwards and super irritating.

[TheGiraffeManor]

Well, I went to sold items, went into edit, added a photo, and saw my only options at the bottom were "preview" or "renew". I don't want to renew that custom order ... I only wanted a photo to be able to show up under "sold". Oh well.

[BagmakerSupply]

@TheGiraffeManor: There is no option to "edit" a sold out listing without renewing it via a browser or app.

[PleasureParadox]

My current problem with custom orders is they are apparently not showing up for my customers. Which makes a custom order useless if the buyer can't see it to buy it.  Serious glitch that showed up in past week or so.