Etsy ads campaign set up without permission

[SimplyDivineThings]

This evening Etsy have started up my ads with a $1 a day budget. Check your accounts folks because I didn't authorise this. I already pay through the nose for off-site ads, I'm not paying more! I only knew about it as I had an email in my spam file. Somehow they have managed to charge me for two days worth as well, even though I only got the email five hours ago.

[ExtremeCreation]

Did you place a new listing? If so, it may have already been selected to advertise that new listing unless you selected not to when you were creating it. Just a thought.

[cindylouwho2]

@ExtremeCreation If @SimplyDivineThings did list something new, this could be yet another glitch with the new listing form. 

[BohoBattista]

I have made a critical posting on this from my other shop and it was right away deleted. I was forced to pay 130 USD for this without choosing or sufficient return. (I only bought the first weekend and then set my alarm and stopped it, had a finish page). This is abusive and illegal.

But hey, I am really not surprised Etsy works this way.

[Hertfordweaver]

Does it have anything to do with your shop reaching the annual dollar threshold. I think it's 20000.00 you will automatically be enrolled without the option to opt out.

[BootifulLabels]

It's $10k and your opted in, but that is for Offsite Aads, not Etsy Ads.  The latter are pay per click and not compulsory.  It sounds like the OP has somehow turned on the Etsy Ads without realising.  I used to use them before Offsite Ads started, and got rid of them in favour of the OA, which only cost you when they actually bring you a sale.  

OP, any time you switch Ads off it can take a day or two for them to stop completely.  Did you only recently turn them off?

[PetandWildlifeGifts]

@Hertfordweaver That applies to offsite ads, only, not Etsy Ads. And the amount for offsite ads is  $10,000 in any consecutive 12 month period, and then you can't opt out anymore.

[sweettreatssupplies]

After reading about this I went to my shops to see if they did this as well and they did.  Because of my star seller status I was able to phone Etsy and get an immediate call back.  Not only will they not return my money they took unauthorized, they accused me of being the one to activate it with a $25 budget.  I've been on Etsy since 2010 and haven't run an ad campaign since 2011 when I realized there was no money to make from the ads.  I can assure you I didn't activate this ad.  However; beware as they posted something about ad campaigns on my dashboard and I hit the only option to deactivate the post so I could move on.  Apparently by doing so they're automatically creating an ad campaign for you and in my case decided to take $25 from me that I never authorized.  I can guarantee you I'd never run an ad campaign nor would I do so with a high dollar amount.

[cindylouwho2]

@sweettreatssupplies when did your ad campaign start? Did you list something new that day, or renew something that was sold out etc. 

I am wondering if this is another new listing form glitch.

[SilverandEarth]

Yikes! That's awful!

[PotterybyHelene]

Same with my page.  I've turned off ads twice and it keeps coming back on, and I keep getting charged.

Hate seeing the 'glitch' replies.  It's no glitch.  It should be a class action law suit as I'm guessing Etsy is making millions off of this 'glitch' that's never fixed.

[Jewels2at]

I got nervous...checked mine...I am not in the adds.

I wonder what on earth is Etsy thinking of when they do these things.

[cindylouwho2]

I've seen a few other reports like this. One said it was auto renewed items, another said it was their whole shop. 

If anyone has any other info, please contact me, as forum notifications aren't really working right now. 

[Natalya1905]

I renewed 3 listings today:  1 expiring, 1 expired, and 1 inactive. The expiring listing (last day before expiration) had all its current settings, but both the expired and the inactive ones had Etsy Ads set to ON by default. I had to turn them off manually. 

[cindylouwho2]

@Natalya1905 do you run ads on some things? I don't, and I don't see a setting for ads in my listings, including expired ones. 

[Natalya1905]

@cindylouwho2 I do sometimes, but not on the type of products I was renewing yesterday. 

Looks like now we have to check our schedule (processing days on holidays) and Ads setting on the listings regularly.  

[PillowDetails]

I've never run ads- ever.  Where do charges show up - payment account??

[cindylouwho2]

@PillowDetails yes, but you can also check  here: https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/me/advertising

[redsofa]

yes, in the payment account: they are labeled as marketing

[SilverandEarth]

Hmm, I hope this isn't the start of more glitches that opt us into things we never signed up for.

Here's a post today about a seller being signed up for a Pattern site that she said she never consented to. I remember that glitch happened many years ago to lots of sellers when Pattern was first launched. Hope that isn't happening again.

https://community.etsy.com/t5/All-Things-Finance/What-is-Pattern-Domain/m-p/145946871

[sweettreatssupplies]

cindylouwho2 According to support it started yesterday the 25th.  Because I'm currently working on shutting this store down permanently I am not posting new listings.  However; I did relist about 10 items yesterday.  I think it was on Sunday; I came into this shop after being in another shop I have and I was taken directly to the dashboard.  When the dashboard popped up there was the ad campaign information taking up my entire dashboard page and my only option was to activate it as there was no option to get rid of the page.  I think I left the ad campaign information by going into my orders and it took the page down.  I did NOT activate it and certainly did not change it from a $1 campaign to a $25 campaign.  I think I'd remember changing the dollar amount.  As far a yesterday goes...I was on Etsy very little other than just to pull my and print my invoices and process shipping labels.  I've been pet sitting for the last 10 days and was exhausted and the last thing I wanted to deal with was my Etsy shops.  I was more interested in napping and resting yesterday since sales have been so dismal for the last several weeks.

[cindylouwho2]

@sweettreatssupplies thanks for your reply! 

Were the ad clicks for the relisted items only, or was Etsy advertising your whole shop? 

I am trying to figure out what is triggering this so we can warn people. 

[TheCraftyLittleBug]

@cindylouwho2 It was a Random Act of Etsy for me. A few days ago I shut off the ads, didn't do anything new to my shop, and the next day they were back on, on their own.

I check every day if not a couple times a day to see if they were turned back on without my permission.

[sweettreatssupplies]

Just saw the post about these ads being ad specific and some are the entire shop.  They ran them for my entire shop

[cindylouwho2]

@sweettreatssupplies thank you!