Customer was not charged for shipping, Etsy payment bug

[TinyFeat]

I created a custom order for a customer for $100 plus $10 shipping. The customer paid $100 for the listing, but was not charged the $10 shipping fee, even though it is listed on the transaction details. Now ive spent the last 1/2 hour trying to get ahold of Etsy but it appears that there is NO way to contact CUSTOMER SERVICE so here I am posting on a forum

[OneEyeCatStudio]

Did you look at your Payment Account?

Maybe they are a a subscriber?

[michellepatterns]

This is probably an etsy insider purchase. Look at your payment account and see you received the $10 payment from etsy.  

[vintageNCtreasures]

@TinyFeat Could be that the buyer was an Etsy insider and gets "free" shipping from Etsy paid (up to $20) but YOU still get the shipping you charged.

What is Etsy Insider? – Etsy Help

Free shipping benefit: Etsy covers the cost of free shipping to Etsy Insider members. You’ll be paid your full shipping fee minus the transaction fee. This will also be the case if you purchase a shipping label on Etsy. You'll be able to see shipping was paid by Etsy on the order email, order details page, packing slip, and in Messages. This benefit only applies to eligible listings with US domestic shipping.

[TBQSC]

Missing shipping info --even though you DID add it--  is a known issue with creating custom orders, and why many sellers now don't use the CO form but instead will create a regular listing and put "reserved for buyers name" as the title and a brief description ... this way also lets the seller create & edit the listing MANY times to ensure it is perfect before actually posting the listing and notifying the buyer their listing is ready for purchase.  Sorry this happened to you @TinyFeat ... you can try to get the shipping fee from the buyer by listing a "digital listing" (that way you don't have to add tracking to that order) -OR- you can just eat the cost yourself.  

[TinyFeat]

Thank you TBQSC.. every time I try and create a custom order there is a problem that ends up costing me money. No more, thats it, I give up I am going to shut down the custom order options. Boo to Etsy, this is a hard fail.

[BootifulLabels]

Sounds like an Etsy Insider member.  They get free shipping on orders (with some conditions) and Etsy pays the shipping.  Check the order details, you should see that the shipping is still being paid to you, by Etsy.

[TheVintagePineapple]

Most likely it's an EI buyer because you're seeing the order details.  But just wondering, since you have the FS/$35 option enabled, wouldn't that $100 custom order be included automatically?

[TBQSC]

yep!

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@TheVintagePineapple Bingo!

[OneEyeCatStudio]

Such a wise little troll.

[TheVintagePineapple]

lol!  TBH, I had no idea, just took a shot in the dark.  The last time I did a custom order (in our handmade shop) was years before FS$35 was around.  I really don't know if there's a way to get around the fs option auto-applying or not in this situation.

But thanks for thinking I know what I'm talking about!   

[SmudgePlant]

Wise and humble.

[TinyFeat]

Thank you all for your help, I just ended up cancelling the order. Boo to Etsy, if she was an Etsy insider I should have been notified, OR AT LEAST given an option to get help from Etsy... boo to Etsy, everyday you make it harder for me to work with you.

[TheVintagePineapple]

@TinyFeat 

Sellers aren't notified that the sale was to an EInsider.  We only know by looking at the details in the Item total/Order total section of the order form that says ''Covered by Etsy Insider''. 

If it was an Etsy Insider sale, and not because of the FS/$35, you did get the shipping amount that you charged.  Unfortunately, you might've just cancelled a good sale for no reason.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@TinyFeat It is highly likely that you just caused unnecessary annoyance to a customer who was, obviously, interested in your product.

The issue was not Etsy Insider Program.

As @TheVintagePineapple pointed out, you have Free Shipping on Orders over $ 35.00.

This Order was $ 100.00 so, even though it was a Custom Listing, it still qualified for Free Shipping. This was your mistake, not something that either the Buyer or Etsy did. You just  lost a $100.00 Sale  for the sake of $ 10.00 when you created the issue in the first place.

In future, if you create a Custom Listing for something over $ 35.00, you need to add the Shipping into the Listing cost if you feel it essential to have the Buyer pay it. But it is hard to see why you would think this because you offer everyone else Free Shipping if they spend over $ 35.00, so why would you not offer this to your Custom Listing Buyer?

Where Etsy Insider Program is concerned, a Seller does not need to know if the Buyer was a participant because the Buyer pays Etsy a yearly Fee and Etsy covers the Shipping Cost for the Byuer. Of course, the Seller still has to purchase the label from the funds in the Payment Account, but Etsy adds the Shipping back from their own funds and the Buyer pays the lower amount. But the Seller gets the full amount. 

[Adorabilities]

The FSG applies to all orders. If you create a custom order that's over $35, no shipping will be charged.

[TBQSC]

@TinyFeat --

GASP ... I am shocked you canceled the custom order sale... that is NOT what I inferred you to do!!!  I can't believe losing a whole $10 was enough to push you over the edge and stop offering any custom orders at all!  There was an easy solution to this whole thing, and instead of taking my advice, you literally blamed me for you losing that sale!  Your buyer sought you out for that special order ... out of millions of other Etsy sellers ... and instead of you honoring that sale, you instead decided to blow it off and cancel it.  You can be sure that buyer may not ever buy from you again.  TBH, I don't really know ... I am just surmising, but if it were me, you can bet I would not return!  I am so sorry you misunderstood me and my advice!!!

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@TBQSC Your advice about problems with a Custom Listing and Shipping were correct and given from experience. When I first looked at the OP's Orders, I saw no Custom Listing (as in one with the terrible placemarker) so I suspect this was a "revised" Listing which accommodated the Buyer's requirements. But, then again, I may be wrong?

Nevertheless, IMO a Seller with so much experience should and could have researched a bit better or asked a question here before deciding to cancel.

But it appears that the "Boo" to Etsy is really what the OP wanted to communicate, even when that "Boo" was unwarranted in this particular case.

If I was the Buyer I would have wanted to post a "Boo" to any Seller who cancelled an Order for something they, themselves, opened the door to.

I do not think the OP misunderstood you at all.

[TBQSC]

@CarpetCollectionAU ... ya know, the funny thing is, the first thing I looked for was the seller's previous orders ... unfortunately they are hidden, so I was unable to figure out what the custom order was actually for, but the fact the seller actually cancelled a $100 order "just because the buyer did not pay the $10 ship fee" ... just made me LOL!  I know the current issue is Etsy Insider sales where the buyer pays no shipping fees at all, but Etsy does pay those fees to the seller, but many sellers never even look to see if they actually got paid those funds or not, and instead they just assume they did not get paid, so they come to the forums to complain about things.  I am by no means saying the seller did not look at their payment account beforehand (many sellers do not), but regardless, the seller does offer free shipping on $35+ orders, so why would that same discount not be offered to the custom order buyer?  And even if not, why wouldn't the seller either honor the sale & eat the cost themselves or create a digital order for the shipment fees?  IMHO, it was all handled incorrectly.  I am by no means passing judgement on the seller ... perhaps they did not know how to handle it ... to each to their own!