Customer notifies a sale in mail, Etsy does not

[In2Cord]

I have a customer for whom I made a custom listing. The customer then notifies me in the mail of the purchase of this item. She also sends me a picture of the payment in her bank app.

Etsy reports no sale to me, the custom listing is still active. 

What happened here? Where did her money go? And can I still expect to get the purchase notification in the app or on my account?

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@In2Cord: If your Orders page (in a browser) does not show this sale BE CAREFUL. Not saying that there not Etsy glitches or that your customer is dishonest, but this is a classic scam pattern. Explain to your customer that Etsy does not allow you to ship until Etsy provides you with a paid order and if there is a payment issue Etsy will not discuss it with the seller only the buyer. Unfortunately the buyer will need to contact Etsy to find out why the order has not gone through.

[LoonMtEmbroidnCrafts]

Do not ship until the payment has cleared in your account and is in your deposit amount!

[LittleCreekCardCo]

If you did not get a payment, then no payment was made. If she's showing you a bank statement that says payment was made to Etsy and you didn't get it, then it did not process or its a scam. Just tell her you have to wait until payment has cleared and you only process payments thru Etsy. She can always cancel payment with her bank and try again. I would be careful with this one. 

[audreytherese]

They could have made a purchase from another Etsy shop. 

They could be good at photoshop and just made up a fake image from her bank account. 

You say they notified you in the mail - I assume email, not snail mail. This sounds like it could be someone purposely communicating off Etsy. Keep messages within the Etsy system. They send you an email, send a response referencing the email through Etsy.

[CuriousityShop]

If she has a "Bank App" she has to have a bank. If she has a bank, she can go through etsy like everyone else. 

[bradgoodell · Accepted solution]

When someone makes a purchase, the money immediately gets put on hold by the buyer's bank/credit card company.  In the meantime, the processing has to happen.  It can be held up for any numbers of reasons.  

1. The buyer could have failed to "complete" the payment on Etsy.  This happens with PayPal and other services, where the buyer needs to go back to Etsy to complete the sale.
2. Etsy and/or Etsy's credit card processor may be doing extended fraud checks.
3. Her bank may be waiting on approval from her, if the suspect card fraud.  
4. There could be a delay if any of the processors (her bank, Etsy's processor, or Etsy) have power outages or computer issues.  
5. Large international orders tend to get extra scrutiny. 
6. It doesn't matter if her bank app shows the money withdrawn.  It's not withdrawn, it's the weekend and banks are closed.  What she is seeing is a "hold" on those funds, and the hold will either drop off or complete.
7. An order isn't complete until Etsy has notified you that it is paid and complete.

Hope this helps to understand what may be happening.  

[CappuccinoLace]

You're in the Netherlands. I'm gonna guess this:

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360016125273-How-to-Check-Out-With-iDEAL?segment=shopping

I was charged through iDEAL, but my item is still in my basket

When you checked out, you may have missed a step when you reached your bank's website but did not return to Etsy to complete your order. We automatically issue a refund when this happens, and you’ll see it on your bank statement within the next 5 business days.