Deposit Delayed Past 90-Day Reserve Period - became a STARSELLER and nothing happened

[SilverGifts925]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone here has experienced something similar.

My first sale on Etsy was on April 24, 2025, and I was under the 90-day reserve period. I’ve been adding tracking details, etc., and recently I received a message that my account reserve was lifted:

Good news: We’ve lifted your Payment account reserve.

Now, 100% of your sales funds (minus fees) will be available for deposit, as long as there aren’t any other holds on your account.

At the same time, I received the Star Seller badge — but nothing changed.

I got more orders, yet my payments are still being fully reserved!

I contacted support, and they replied that everything was fine and it was just a matter of 1–2 days for the system to update.

Okay, days passed, I had more orders, and guess what? My payments are still being reserved.

I contacted support again, but the response I got seemed like they hadn’t even read my message — they just repeated the info about the 90-day period.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of delay after the reserve period ended and after becoming a Star Seller?

At this point, my reserved funds are over €1600, and it honestly makes me wish I didn’t get any more sales under these conditions...

[SilverGifts925]

Is there any other seller with same issues?

I am afraid that this might cause me soon το be out to stock and close my shop. Why restock and stay and sell here for nothing? In some similar posts I am reading that it took months to be really lifted up, despite messages and starseller badge etc.

[GreenDragonsCloset]

Same here, my 90 days over was on the 16th, same message as you and also Star Seller badge.

...and still 14 days wait time.

[IlluminatiFlamingo]

Good afternoon, I’m a Star Seller for the second time and it’s been 10 months since my first sale, yet the 14-day payment hold still hasn’t been lifted. This means that fees from new sales are deducted from the balance of older ones, and I can’t move forward. Support has given me different answers, none of them clear. The last one told me they would escalate my case because they acknowledged that after 90 days, this hold shouldn’t still be active. Were you able to get it resolved?

[Duckwells]

The shop you posted from is not new, do you have two shops selling the same inventory? 

[SilverGifts925]

No, I had an Etsy account since I was shopping from Etsy many years, recently I became a seller.

[CatsWhiskersCurios]

It won't help that your shop looks like you could be reselling.  Try adding an about section that shows your items being handmade - as you are the only shop member named, I assume you are personally hand-making all the items?  If not, you need to add all shop members.  You cannot sell items that are not handmade by a member of your shop, or designed by a member of your shop and made exclusively for you by a production partner.  With so many identical items available elsewhere, it's very important to demonstrate you are abiding by Etsy's rules.  You also don't have the legally required shop policies for selling in the EU and that will also be a concern to Etsy, so get those in place ASAP. 

[SilverGifts925]

I am not reselling, I am making my products, its a family silversmith shop - no production partners, no semi ready items.

[CatsWhiskersCurios]

@SilverGifts925

Then you need to make that clear.  You need to list all shop members, including the makers, and an about section that talks about your business.

Add full EU shop policies so you are selling legally.

And take note of what @CraftyCornishMaids says below re hallmarking.

[SilverGifts925]

I am not reselling, I am making my products, its a family silversmith shop - no production partners, no semi ready items.

I will see this about EU, do you think this is the issue? and why I've received this message from Etsy support says that they are sorry, everything is fine and it was just a matter of 1–2 days for the system to update?

[CraftyCornishMaids]

you are selling illegally, anything over 7.78 gm silver has to be assayed and hallmarked by the assay office, the spoon I looked at said 12gm, and had no assay mark

remove the UK from the countries you ship to, if you don't have them officially assayed

....

you also need a GDPR policy, a right to withdraw policy, and your address and e-mail address in sellers details, with the trader box ticked - these are all also legal requirements

[SilverGifts925]

What do you mean it doesn't look like I’m a professional seller? I’ve registered my business properly — is there somewhere it doesn’t show this?  can you tell me pls?

Regarding what you mentioned about the assay office, each purchase I make for raw silver and sterling as well in plaques etc., is certified by a European laboratory. These certificates accompanying each of my invoices.
Every item sent to a customer is also accompanying with its certificate.
Any piece that leaves my workshop carries the legally required purity hallmark. Everything is properly stamped.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@SilverGifts925 

To sell to the UK, the silver has to be assayed by a UK certified assay office, and hallmarked by them, in the UK. There are ony 4 offices who can do it

Europe has nothing to do with it, and doesn't count for anything. It is not legally acceptable here.

this is the law, the bottom bit says you can only sell to the UK, if you have a registered hallmark from one of the 4 UK hallmark offices

All items (over certain weights) sold in the UK and described as being made from gold, silver, platinum or palladium must have a legally recognised hallmark. The law is set out in the Hallmarking Act 1973 (which has been amended and updated on various occasions).

Compulsory marks

A complete hallmark consists of 3 compulsory marks. If an item has not been stamped or marked with these 3 markings then it has not been properly hallmarked. All 3 marks must be present.

1. A sponsor’s or maker’s mark

This is the registered mark of the company or person that sends the item for hallmarking. Manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, importers and more can all be sponsors. In the UK, this mark has at least 2 letters, and all marks are unique.

2. A metal and purity (fineness) mark

This mark shows the precious metal content in the item, recorded in parts per thousand. This means that the number tells you the proportion of precious metal content in the alloy. For example, the fineness mark of 9 carat gold is 375. This tells us that the alloy must have at least 375 parts gold per 1,000. The shape surrounding the number indicates the metal type, which you can see in the diagram below.

3. An Assay Office mark

This mark shows which of the 4 Assay Office in the UK tested and hallmarked the item.

Full UK hallmark Which items made of precious metal need to be hallmarked

If a precious metal item weighs less than a certain amount it is not compulsory to apply a hallmark. The minimum weight thresholds are:

• gold 1 gram
• silver 7.78 grams
• platinum 0.5 gram
• palladium 1 gram

If you are sold an item of jewellery made with gold, silver, platinum or palladium over the minimum weight and it is not hallmarked, then the seller is breaking the law. This is regardless of whether the sale is in a shop or online.

''''

also, as you are in the EU, you have to conform to the EU right to withdraw directive, and your countries laws, you need

 a GDPR policy, a right to withdraw policy, and your address and e-mail address in sellers details, with the trader box ticked - these are all also legal requirements

more info here

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32011L0083

[SilverGifts925]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

Do you think this is the reason why Etsy is holding my money? 

Greece is part of the Vienna Convention on the Control of the Fineness and the Hallmarking of Precious Metal Objects - we have no authorized Assay Office in Greece - only independent offices under the Hellenic Organization for Standardization – ELOT.

One of my supplier that I asked, who is EU based, told me that the UK accepts those hallmarks (CCMs) as legal — no need to send them to a UK Assay Office.

Until now I haven't sales in UK anyway. Its easy for me to close this market. 

Thank you for this comment anyway, knowledge is power. Can you tell me also that you mentioned above, where did you see that trader box unticked & missing info???? 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@SilverGifts925 

The UK only accepts UK assayed items over the amounts specified, and yours are over the amounts

Recognition of hallmarks

From 1 January 2021, obligations to recognise equivalent EU hallmarks ended in Great Britain. For the Northern Ireland market EU hallmarks will continue to be recognised.

Any product already on the market before 1 January 2021 will continue to be legal.

This is the UK gov website, you can read it yourself

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hallmarking-guidance-notes/hallmarking-is-the-law-guidanc...

.....

This is were you have to put right to withdraw

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/me/shop-policies/cancellations

your gdpr privacy settings

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/me/shop-policies/privacy

...

for address, email address and trader

go to your main shop page

click edit top left

scroll to the bottiom

edit sellers detail on other details for name address and e-mail address, and save, and tick the trader box and save

[PrimFun]

@SilverGifts925   Did you contact Etsy through chat?  They cannot help with financial matters.

Use email and contact Etsy to ask why the delay in getting your funds.  It is very odd about the 90 day since Etsy pretty much releases sellers much earlier when they  ship with tracking and perform other required movement towards getting star seller.

Etsy did not release any funds over the 90 day period? Again that is odd as they normally do release a bit of the funds unless there is reason they feel it would not be wise to release.

For new sellers the hold is 14 to 20 days with the possibility of a payment reserve.

I would suggest you send an email and check to see why you are not getting funds.  Did you try to have the funds sent to you?  Did you check to makes sure your bank is still verified? 

You need to discuss this with Etsy and not through chat.  They have limited resources. 

[SilverGifts925]

Thank you for your message, I did contact them via email and I have a written reply that everything is ok and sorry and I will see my fund released within 1-2 days, it was just their system which hadn't been updated yet.

Then these days passed and I had orders full reserved again. Never had the 50% only to be reserved. 

I wrote them back in the same mail (reply) and another Etsy help name replied like I was new with Etsy's rules for new sellers, saying that when the 90 days passed or being a star seller I will see my funds the same time. Probably he didn't even read the message history.

The problem is that at the time I wrote this post, untill now, I had about 57 available and about 1600 on hold, now that I had more sales, I have almost 40 available and over 1750 on hold.

I am very afraid that if I sell more the weekend, on Monday I will have to pay Etsy for my sales!!!!!! Ridiculous....

[ThePurplePuppy]

I agree with @PrimFun  that chat will be no help with financial matters.  However--You said your first sale was on April 24th and it is now July 31st. I am wondering if that "90" days might mean 90 BUSINESS days. If so you would not quite be there yet. 

[SilverGifts925]

I believe there are 90 days, I received the auto message that my funds would be available without reserved amount etc on 25.

I 've received also another email about my funds availability, while became a star seller.

And after contacting help desk by email, which says I was right, etc as I mention above.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

you are still illegally selling silver to the UK, without the required UK assay marking and hallmarking

[SilverGifts925 · Accepted solution]

The issue was settled — the help center finally resolved my case. It was only a matter of days before what they had written to me took effect. It wasn’t any of the issues mentioned above.
So, for those of you who have the same problem, just keep contacting the help center until it gets resolved. Some staff may not understand what you’re asking for, so keep insisting until you reach the right person who will actually READ what you write and provide the solution.

[BarbieandMeVintage]

Thanks for that update. I keep writing and writing and sending emails on the same thing. 

[BarbieandMeVintage]

I’m having that exact problem. I own three Etsy shops . Been on here since 2017 and 2019 5 star seller on all ,opened third shop in June. First sale 6/24, 90 day reserve was up in 9/22. 5 star seller , use etsy labels ship next day or same day , on time with etsy tracking, dotted every I Crossed every T… not my first rodeo, reached out and keep looping on , blah blah blah… yes I can re-read the Reserve contract. No way to get an answer . No way to get help. Still holding over $1800. Ahhhhhh!