Etsy accepts orders with incorrect or missing shipping information

[SoCalEventDecor]

Why does Etsy allow orders to go through that have unshippable addresses only to find out when I go to create the label after the custom item has been made?

[NanaLetha]

How would Etsy know the address is incorrect?

[SoCalEventDecor]

by incorrect I mean not shippable. Missing street, or entered incorrectly. They should be using the same software that they have to create the labels that verifies the address. Every major company verifies addresses when you place an order.

[Marmalady]

Depends what you mean by "unshippable"

I would not want to rely on Etsy's hare-brained US_centric algorithm to determine whether an address is unshippable

Their badly designed address format rejects many perfectly legitimate non_US addresses that are accepted by other sites such as Pirateship

[SoCalEventDecor]

Literally street missing. But this is just today. This goes on weekly.

[BlackCatTheory]

Yeah, I find that annoying - especially with custom/personalized items. I try to glance at the address before I make item. It's all you can do. Etsy is not going to do it for you. Try reaching out to the customer via email address. In the title I usually put - "PROBLEM WITH ETSY ORDER" to get their attention.

[SoCalEventDecor]

yes and it always seems to be the person that I cannot get in touch with and then I have a custom item that cannot ship

[JMOldeVintage]

@SoCalEventDecor - If your ship to address is in the US you could review all the orders details immediately to be sure that it at least appears to be correct. Some things may be obvious.

However if the buyer is in a small town or rural, addresses can look incomplete.

Even here in the US a buyer using the "wrong" abbreviation for "trail" or "circle" can throw USPS into a tizzy. 
When you add in International addresses, there are few marketplace that seem to be adaptable to address formats.

[SoCalEventDecor]

The one with the missing street would have been noticed but then I slow up their production process if I put it on hold. I think this should be a simple and necessary fix on Etsy's end. 

[BagmakerSupply]

It is a little more work but we always check US addresses at https://tools.usps.com/zip-code-lookup.htm?byaddress when we receive the order. You might be surprised how often buyers spell their street address differently than USPS or don't include an apartment number. For us it so much easier to resolve these inconsistencies right away.

[SoCalEventDecor]

sometimes I can figure it out and sometimes there is missing information 

[DivineCrossings]

I just had an order that was missing the buyer’s last name. And, to make it worse, it was an international order. It’s tough enough getting those orders delivered let alone with missing info. I had to send an email to the buyer asking her for her surname. Embarrassing. Whatever happened to *required field?

[Marmalady]

Here in the UK, mail is delivered to an address -- the name is optional

I often get orders with just a first name -- and they are delivered perfectly well.

[JMOldeVintage]

@Marmalady - I still receive mail addressed to "Occupant". When I think of how much less junk mail I'd have to recycle if USPS required my name, lol.

[DivineCrossings]

@Marmalady @Well that’s a relief! But it would still make me feel more comfortable and more confident of a successful delivery if all pertinent information was required and available on a label. Given Etsy’s penchant for shooting first and [rarely] asking questions later, it’s a kerfuffle I’d rather avoid and I’ll take any advantage I can get. Lol.