Etsy - Please change custom order creation! Your system is flawed

[Mirinesse]

I am tired of telling my customers that YOU, Etsy, have a horrible system to generate custom orders and to PLEASE not purchase the custom order when it pops up until I go in and edit it first because of the poor custom order tools in place. I am tired of saying SORRY to my customers because you refuse to change the custom order generation tools.

Stop working or STAR SELLER stuff and give us tools to make you more money and stop making us waste time editing custom orders and apologizing for your lack of understanding of what your sellers need and have been begging for, for years!

Why can't we add a photo, and set shipping options up? We used to be able to do this.

[JasminesTreasuresLLC]

I agree! I had a recent custom order. I added a photo like I always do. Then I noticed after I posted it for the buyer the photo was gone and some Etsy thing had been added. I was not happy with that. When did that change?

[DreamGreatDreams]

i’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but etsy outsourced the forums a few years ago and admins aren’t here checking on topics like they used to. only your fellow sellers are here these days so they likely won’t see your post…  the company that runs the forums, lithium, has nothing at all to do with etsy.  that being said, recently i have seen admins closing duplicate threads or moving posts to a different sub so they are here from time to time but i’m not sure you can count on a post being seen and acted upon.  you can request help through email, chat, or a callback option and it will get assigned a support ticket number and get into their queue.  i urge you to share your concerns with them!  the more sellers they hear from about problems the better it will be for us all…

since it became difficult to find the links for support, i’ve collected them when sellers mentioned they found help.  i hope one of these will work for you:

here is the link to the “how to contact support” from the seller’s handbook.

here is a link to initiate chat or email.

here is the link to request a callback.

or try this link or this link to email them.

if you do email them you *should* get an automated reply and once you do, you must reply to that email above the line of asterisks that their automated best guess solutions did not work. all you have to say is something like “i still need help” send the reply, and it should stay active.  it’s critical that you reply to the automated response you receive and don’t send additional emails thinking it will speed things up (this actually slows things down.)

keep in mind none of these links work all of the time. also know they may, or may not work, outside the usa. additionally they may, or may not work outside of non-standard typical usa business hours (m-f & 8-5).

[nineteen27]

@DreamGreatDreams 

please stop saying that etsy staff does not come in here.

they do come in here... more often than people think.

one was just here posting this:

We're noting all of your feedback and will be sharing it with the team to consider for a future update. Please know we take comments from the community to heart, and we make many changes to the site based on what we hear.

if you could remove that part about being the bearer of bad news {first paragraph} in your copy and paste... i am sure the etsy community would be grateful.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

" the company that runs the forums, lithium, has nothing at all to do with etsy"

Not true. Please read this.
Here is what thatregina recently posted about the Etsy forum ....

"Separately, I'd like to offer some clarification on a few points that have been raised here. While the Community Space (Etsy Forums and Teams) is now hosted by Khoros, it remains very much a full part of Etsy. The monitoring and management of the Etsy Forums has not been outsourced. The Forums Team continues to work daily on policy enforcement, moderation and escalation of member-reported issues. We welcome member flags alerting us to potential issues, and feedback, which should be shared with us at community [at] etsy [dot] com."

[JDTotesnDolls]

How to Offer Custom Items and Reserved Listings – Etsy Help

According to this the listing is not published until you decide to.  It is private to the buyer only.  

I've done custom another way which was to have privat messages with the buyer including all details such as cost.  I then create a listing that is published in my shop but with reserved on it.  I then send the link to the buyer.  I've done it this way because I preferred to do it this way.

If you have specific questions or suggestions it might be a good idea to contact Etsy to discuss them.  Administrator does not always see all forum postings.  

[Adorabilities]

Yeah, it's funny how it allows you to completely create the custom order and publish it. Then it yells at you for having an order without a shipping estimate. Maybe make the shipping estimate part of the custom order set up?!?

It's been that way for at least a few months now. There have been many complaints already.

[TheHomespunLoft]

@Mirinesse 

I agree with the nasty pic you are allowed to have BUT I just did a custom order yesterday and I was able to put in the postage I wanted. If I move really fast I can put in my own pic and generally do have the time. I think it is more about Etsy having a cohesive look to it and ignoring the fact that we are individual shops and not part of the collective.

[TonsOfPaper · Accepted solution]

Hello there,

As of the moment, when creating a custom listing, you will only be able to add basic information(title, description, category & price)  and shipping information(processing time and shipping country). We're noting all of your feedback and will be sharing it with the team to consider for a future update. Please know we take comments from the community to heart, and we make many changes to the site based on what we hear.

Thank you very much!

[PrairieCrocusStudio]

The previous version of creating custom listings worked perfectly for me. The latest version is incomplete and awkward for buyers and sellers, and not at all useful. No save as draft! 
No way to add image or shipping profile,.... until you publish and hope the buyer is asleep until you finish editing. 

[PillowDetails]

I contacted Etsy Support months ago - shortly after it was first introduced - to let them know exactly how non-functional the new Custom Order format through messages is.  I was given a similar response to what is highlighted, above.  

[DreamGreatDreams]

@nineteen27

“recently i have seen admins closing duplicate threads or moving posts to a different sub so they are here from time to time but i’m not sure you can count on a post being seen and acted upon.  you can request help through email, chat, or a callback option and it will get assigned a support ticket number and get into their queue.  i urge you to share your concerns with them!  the more sellers they hear from about problems the better it will be for us all…”

perhaps in the future, when you find posts so egregious you feel the need to publicly chastise another seller, pause… and instead flag the post for etsy to follow up on. afterall, as you’ve gone to great lengths to point out, etsy employees are active and constantly present and available to help.

[nineteen27]

@DreamGreatDreams 

i was only asking if you could remove that one paragraph because it is not true.

it confuses new sellers who are sent here from etsy support for instance.

and why would i report your post?

and what does i went to great lengths to point it out mean? where did i say they were constantly in here helping people?

now i am sorry i suggested it at all.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

Honestly, I don't think anyone is chastising you.
Just clarifying your post for future readers. It is nothing personal.

[HouseofWhisperingFir]

Yes, this is the worst "custom order" system ever generated from Messages.  I enter the required Etsy info, enter post, then need to run to listings to add actual photos and real shipping information - hopefully before the customer actually receives Etsy's notification and/or reads it.  

Hello?  What are they (Etsy programmers) thinking?  Additionally, what are our buyers thinking about us as providers?  I just hate having to apologize to my customers for the Etsy system.

[SulisCreations]

I agree, it's awful.  No more photos, just Etsy's new crappy little graphic that looks really cheap and no shipping upgrades.  Creating custom orders has turned into a nightmare and I also agree about Etsy's 'Star Seller' nonsense.  Some of us just want to run a small business and do not need to keep growing to satisfy Etsy's corporate backers.  Enough of this rant though, please give us the custom order tools that we used to have and that we need, back.

[GodsWordandWorld]

I clicked on the "create a custom order" tab, and it created a private listing, do I have to click "publish" in order for my customer to purchase? This is so confusing!!!

[TonsOfPaper · Accepted solution]

Hello @GodsWordandWorld,

After filling up all the information for the custom listing, you just need to click the Send Private Listing and a link will be sent to your buyer for them to purchase. More information about Custom listing can be found in this Help Article.
 

On the other hand, we also recommend using the Forums' Search function prior to posting (just be careful to not bump an old thread that hasn't seen any activity in the last months/years), as questions related to the Star Seller Program have been extensively covered by our fellow members since its launch, as well as our official Star Seller Guide, which contains in-depth answers to some of the more common questions regarding Message Response Rate, Shipping, Local Pick-Up, Digital Orders, and other topics. You can check it out here:etsy.com/starseller.

Having said that, and since this thread does not pertain to a technical issue, it will be closed to prevent it from going off-topic.

Thank you!

[SimplyDivineThings]

I totally agree. I'm at risk of losing star seller, why? Oh yeah, custom listings not having a shipping profile

[artbyjocelyn]

I totally agree. I hate it too. It Used to work, up until maybe a yr and a half ago. I was able to add photos and do an accurate Custom Listing for the potential buyer, Previously. This function really did not need to be touched at all.

[LastCentury]

It's so rich that Etsy is taking notes on our requests to improve the custom listing. I haven't seen any changes. It has been a joke ever since they changed to the medieval times listing we see today. The customer gets a notification with half baked info, and then another when I edit the listing and include an apology to them on behalf of Etsy's custom listing process.

[PillowDetails]

@LastCentury 

For years we asked for the ability to create more than one Custom order per message thread.

Et Voila!  This is what we got.  So yes, Etsy does listen to us, and that part, I guess, is an improvement.  But why the loss of other features, is beyond me!