Critical site error, over 2 months and no fix. I’ve filed a complaint with the Better Business Burea

[#1]

I have an issue with my new site which has resulted in customers not being able to make credit card purchases on it, essentially making the site inoperable. I first reported this error over 2 months ago. Numerous emails, chats, and phone calls, and it has still not been resolved and it’s now the busiest sales time of the year. For the last 2 months Etsy have said the error is being looked at by their engineers. But there has been no progress. They haven't even replied to my last 3 requests for my complaint to be escalated. As a last resort I’ve filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. But does anyone have any other suggestions as to what I can do. Is there any other external entity I can go to? I’m based in California.

Thanks 

[PrairiePrimitives]

@HighgateMansion I think you may have missed my point. You said "They haven't even replied to my last 3 requests for my complaint to be escalated" and I was trying to explain why Etsy might not be replying to you. If you're sending separate messages about the same issue, each new email cancels out the previous one and the new requests go on the bottom of the queue. If this is the case, you may be keeping yourself at the bottom of the queue and Honolulu will freeze over before you get a reply from Etsy.

My other questions were attempting to ascertain whether you are doing things as Etsy requires. That you ignored those questions pretty much gives me your answer.

[bradgoodell]

Filing a complaint with the BBB does nothing, the BBB has long-since lost it's relevance in the world.  

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but you probably aren't losing sales right now.  Not everyone makes sales during the holidays.  

You are a POD shop and Etsy and the web in general is overrun with POD shops with very similar items/artwork.  With that much competition, you would likely be buried under thousands of other listings with better SEO.  Your titles are quite repetitive.  With that much competition, it takes tons of work to stand out and be found.  Most POD shops that open today will be closed in 12 months, many never making a sale, and others owing Etsy money due to paying massively for ads that don't pay off.

If Etsy does fix your shop, are you aware of Etsy's funds hold on new shops?  Etsy takes their fees out first before releasing money.  If you buy ads, those fees come out first too.  It can be 6 months or more until you see positive cashflow.  You will need to have money to pay your POD for 6-12 months until you get regular sales and established enough for Etsy to drop their hold.  

Etsy isn't a list-and-you-will-sell site.  It can take months to get your first sale, and it takes a lot of work with promotion, new listings, SEO, etc.  If you've seen any of those TikTok or YouTube videos calling Etsy POD "passive income", know that those creators are making money off their YouTube videos, not off selling on Etsy.  Even if they show "proof" of income, they aren't mentioning the $100+ they are paying on ads, which drops their net to near-nothing.

As a new seller, you need to be prepared.  Best of luck.

[HighgateMansion]

I realise that just putting up a site and expecting to make money is not realistic. I never expected that. That's why I had a considerabl add budget put aside for the site launch for Xmass which I haven't been able to use due to the site error. However I have had two people contact me regarding the errors they were getting when trying to make a purcha

se, so I know for a fact I've lost at least 2 sales. And there may be others that haven't contacted me. 

[GroundZeroCreations]

@HighgateMansion We can't really help you out here if you don't respond to any of the questions or posts that have suggestions.

[HighgateMansion]

I'm doing that now. I work a lot of hours in my regular job. 

[KKbraceletsandmore]

You have no payment methods listed, so I'm guessing the issue is that your bank account, etc., hasn't been properly verified.  Follow the instructions above.

[HighgateMansion]

Yes. Thats the issue. But it's not because I haven't set it up. It's because I can't set it up due to a technical issue on the site. Etsy have said their engineers need to fix it. 

[LouiseFultonStudio]

The premise of your shop may be an impediment to sales.  That is, travel souvenirs are usually bought by the tourist when actually travelling. Tourists like to support the local business in the location they are visiting. Would your products be best sold wholesale to tourist souvenir shops? 

[Rachillu]

Agree with this, it might be worth asking for a shop critique. It also looks like all have been made using AI art? If so that needs to be disclosed on Etsy. I don't think the AI art is working well for specific locations such as are depicted in the products because they are weird uncanny versions of these places (also, what on earth is going on in Berlin???). If I want a souvenir I would buy one while I am visiting a place rather than shipping a doormat from the USA after the fact - which I couldn't do anyway because you only ship within the USA. Could it possibly be that overseas customers are trying to purchase but can't?

Another option aside from wholesaling might be to make your designs more general like the Japan one - where it's not trying to emulate a very particular place but more of a 'vibe' of the country as a whole. Or just steer away somewhat from the souvenir concept?

[HighgateMansion]

Nothing to do with that. It's a technical issue on the site. Etsy are aware of the issue. They just haven't fixed it. I'm not complaining about lack of sales. I'm complaining about that I CANT make sales due to a technical issue. 

[Rachillu]

Hmm, I have just tried to proceed to checkout with one of your items in my basket and see your issue properly. I hate to say it, but Etsy isn't usually quick to roll out fixes and especially not when they are affecting very few people. You can only keep chasing them up (reply using same email chain) and hope they get on with sorting it out; probably best to see about finding some other sales channels meantime. Wishing you the best.

[ArtDollsbyJD]

@HighgateMansion   Since you have no payment methods that usually means that you did not complete the enrollment, did not verify with Plaid as is required for US shops.  If you did not complete the enrollment, that is on your end.  If you did complete and it failed then it is on Etsy's end.  If you have one email from Etsy, reply back to it that you still need help.

[HighgateMansion]

Yes. That's the issue. But it's not because I didn't set it up. It's due to a technical issue that means I can't set it up because one of the buttons to do so doesn't work. Etsy have acknowledged it's a tech issue on their end. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

If one of the buttons don't work, you have either

not clicked through past it

tried to upload multiple documents instead of all in 1 pdf file

 or tried too many times

[HighgateMansion]

 It's not because I didn't set it up. It's due to a technical issue that means I can't set it up because one of the buttons to do so doesn't work. Etsy have acknowledged it's a tech issue on their end. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

did you click past it?

did you nly upload 1 pdf, and not more than one?

[CoquetteBath]

so, since it appears that this is an Etsy issue, why are you asking in the forums?

here is a seller to seller zone. While there are some admins, you haven't tagged any of them, so the folks here are TRYING to offer assistance and you keep coming back with 'this is an Etsy technical issue'.

okay it is. But, we can't help with that. So we try with what we see and what we know (some of which I would strongly consider you to pay attention too...but...)

Keep responding to the SAME email with Etsy. That's it. We can do nothing more.

[HighgateMansion]

Because this is an Etsy forum. Esty have not fixed by original technical issue. Which is why I asked the question to other Etsy sellers as to what other action I should take apart from filing a complaint with the BBB. I didn't actually ask for a fix for the issue. 

[Marmalady]

You might not want criticisms of your products, but for the London item:

why is there no driver on the bus?
why is there no door for people to get on & off the bus?
why is there no demarcation between pavement and road?
why are pedestrians walking in the middle of the road?

etc etc etc

Even if you get your technical issue fixed, you need to improve your images to have much chance of getting any sales

[CoquetteBath]

that's an issue with AI, and personally, I'm glad. Because then it makes it very easy to see what is done by an artist and what is done by a computer program.

[CatsWhiskersCurios]

The bus is out of proportion, the scene is wrong - everything is at the wrong angles. I get really pissed off when I see people who know nothing about London trashing my city like this. Almost every AI image does this.

[bradgoodell]

Imagine as a buyer you don't notice those things when you order, but do once it arrives and you see it is person.  This is begging for returns, refunds, cases, and chargebacks.

Missing obvious things like this means the shop isn't ready for launch IMO.  

[HighgateMansion]

Thank you for you input. But that's not relevant to the issue of why the site cannot accept credit cards. Like any item on Etsy its peoples own choice and preference as to if they want to purchase something. 

[PrairiePrimitives]

@bradgoodell Don't waste your breath (or your bytes). It's  obvious Mr. Highgate isn't interested in general Etsy advice. I'm beginning to wonder if he's actually in the U.S. Or maybe he is, but he's trying to use a bank account from another country to set up his account? Also, how was he able to list stuff before having his payments set up? Something isn't adding up, but I'm running out of ideas.

[VintageRescueSquad]

Everyone: the issue is that I can put one of OP's items in my cart, but the "proceed to checkout" button is grayed out.

OP, have you tried etsy chat?