Friends and Family Cannot Order from my shop

[#1]

My customers-friend and family (not scammers) are getting an error message when trying to checkout that says "Oh Dear. There was a problem submitting your order. Please give it another shot. If you continue to have problems, please contact support. This happened to two separate people trying to order two separate listings last night. tech support called but said they would send to tech support and tech support would email but there is no response today so terrible "support".

[TickleYourWitch]

@Adorabilities 

Agree. That might be happening. Especially as OP mentioned buying her own things. Of course that's not allowed.

[GroundZeroCreations]

@TickleYourWitch I don't think you have a clear understanding of fee avoidance. If someone is not coming to Etsy you can send them wherever you wish.

According to Etsy:

"Fee Avoidance. Any action by a seller to avoid paying a fee is considered fee avoidance and is strictly prohibited by Etsy. This includes, for example, encouraging buyers to purchase an item in your Etsy shop through another venue. A transaction initiated on Etsy may not be completed off of Etsy."

And I obviously know this is not Amazon. I simply cited an example of a large online platform as an example of why Etsy might choose to block something.

As we all know, Etsy has moved more and more in the direction of Amazon practices. And with AI being implemented deeper and deeper into online business, you never know what is going to happen. 

And I would never tell a friend or relative to come to Etsy to purchase from me because I do not charge the same price in person that I charge online. When I sell in person, I don't have the same overhead that I have on Etsy. And that is not fee avoidance. 

[TickleYourWitch]

@GroundZeroCreations 

I fully understand fee avoidance. I don't think you read my post carefully enough. 

I've said too much already on this topic and will agree to disagree. 

My parting advice is to simply follow the policy. Those who choose to add extra layers of perceived security are free to do so. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

why would your friend find you on etsy,

don't they know where you are already?

[WildMacroNature]

@ TickleYourWitch

"Also, I'm ETA that there is a tendency toward over caution on this site, sometimes."

I've observed the same thing here. It suggests an unhealthy psychology, of subservience.

Maybe something to do with the offhanded way Etsy exercises its dominance, sellers generally accept poor treatment for fear of rocking the boat.

[EccentricHandbags]

There is nothing wrong with friends and family ordering if the order is a sincere one.  I have friends and family out of state that like my things and have made purchases.  This is not shilling.   

Could the problem be that they are ordering from your house using your wifi?  That is a no no and will get your shop closed.  This makes Etsy think you are trying to make purchases to boost your shop.  And really if the stuff is right there in front of them there is no reason to do things this way. 

[TickleYourWitch]

Yes. OP notes she was trying to purchase from herself. Therein lies the problem. 

[GoodStuffToGoShop]

Yes this was my daughter away at college and my friend just a few miles away. Etsy needs to calm down because of course a new shop owner advertises to friends and family that they are "open for business". I'm just going to delete the shop and start over or swtich to Shopify and Amanzon. The items are not right in front of them because it's POD. Thanks so much for responding!

[EccentricHandbags]

@TickleYourWitch If she did say that I missed it somehow.

[AAANativeArts]

I think they would have to either share financial information with you (signer on same bank account), be a shop member, use the same phone number, use the same shipping address, or have the same IP address. If they have used one of your computer devices, the cookies would show that. If they are all using a VPN to hide their true IP, that might trigger it. Otherwise, Etsy would have no way to know they are related to you.

[GoodStuffToGoShop]

One was my daughter three hours away and one my college friend in a different part of town. Thanks!

[HazelsSewingSupplies]

I think I'm more concerned that the daughter is being asked to pay by the Mother....lol and said with tongue in cheek.  My family would shame me unmercifully if I did that to either my daughter or my granddaughters.  Again LOL.

[SamazamaGB]

On Etsy's page with their tips about the Share and Save scheme, they specifically suggest sharing the link with your friends and family.   That is not shilling. 

[GoodStuffToGoShop]

thank you yes I just shared the listing to test my brand new shop and the two people got blocked at payment and got the "Oh Dear...something is wrong message"

[PillowDetails]

@GoodStuffToGoShop   I was able to add an item to cart, and see nothing wrong with the payment options.  Everything looks good to go - not sure what is happening with your friends/family issues  - other than your own attempts, which has been discussed in previous posts.

[GoodStuffToGoShop]

If you try to pay and hit purchase it pops up the Oh Dear...error message. So you stopped just shor to that but thanks for trying.

[HazelsSewingSupplies]

@CraftyCornishMaids has the quote of the day (maybe the year) in my opinion.

Why would your family and friends "find" you on Etsy?  Do they not already know that you are on Etsy?  All my family which is scattered over several states all know that I am a seller on Etsy.

As for friends, all of my "old" (like me) ones also know that I am on Etsy.  New friends soon know because at some point it might come up in conversation as most of the new people I meet are at craft shows, thrift stores, etc.  LOL

[ThePurplePuppy]

@HazelsSewingSupplies. etal.

The absolute ONLY one of my friends and family who even know I have a shop here is my sister and my youngest daughter. NO ONE--not my BBF, older daughter, the  hundreds (yes, hundreds) of dog friends know I have a shop. 

The reason being: back in the day when both Tupperware (sold at parties) and Amway (sold in what I always called a
Ponzi scheme) were rampant I was driven crazy by "friends" who expected me to buy something everytime I saw them. Pretty soon I would cross the street or drive the long way round just to avoid them! I do not want ANY of my current friends (especially my dog friends) to feel the way I felt so I never mention my shop.

Actually I only accidently let it slip to my sister.

[GoodStuffToGoShop]

Thank you for your comments. I am a new shop so I wanted to "test" a purchase because I have over 100 views on some products and Etsy won't let you test a purchase yourself, so I asked my college aged daughter using a different ip, wifi, cc, etc to test my store. I had a scammer asking for my credit card after I launched my store and I thought maybe I got hacked, etc. When my daughter tried to purchase she gets the "I'm sorry message". People on this thread are thinking I'm trying to get fake sales or shouldn't be allowed to tell my friends and family that I have a new store and come shop? This is bizarre. I've asked Etsy and they say nothing is wrong with my shop. My daughter got customer service and said nothing was wrong on her end and ask the "shop owner". I have no sales and a couple hundred views and at least 10 things being held in carts but there is an issue at checkout. I guess I've been hacked and will have to delete my new store and start again but beware of all the scamming text messages. I would think that if there was an issue, Etsy would have told me but no one has answers. I was successful at ordering my same product on Gearbubble and Printify and my daughter was also able to order on Printify-so I think closing and opening a new store is the solution.

[FlippinBroadsJewelry]

My friends and family contact me via Etsy because they do not expect discounts or free anything.  They all support both of our Etsy shops, as they put it, like any other customer. We have had several purchases and custom order requests from both friends and family.  When we offer to discount or offer something for free ~ Every Single One turns me down.  I think it depends on your particular family and friends and Etsy shopping.  BTW I would NEVER charge my Mom or Dad or let them purchase from me (they are my parents for goodness sakes!) but my favorite Aunt, BFF, etc - you bet!  LOL I'm running a (2) business here!

[NoFrogsAllowed]

I think getting Etsy to deal with and solve the situation is the solution.  There is no guarantee that you won't have the same problem again with a new shop.

I will say this again.  Etsy needs to have an area where everyone new has to go through getting a sale before they can open their shop.  It would save most people from trying to buy from themselves and it would cut down on a lot of scamming if new sellers knew what to expect and how things work.  This will probably never happen, but it should.

[Adorabilities]

I don't see anything wrong with checkout in the OP's shop, so I'm not sure the problem is within the shop itself. It would be a shame to re-do all the work and pay for all those listings again if there really isn't a problem.

@GoodStuffToGoShop 
I don't think it's unusual to have 100 views but no sales -- 1% is about the average conversion rate for online shops. I don't think that (or having products in 10 carts without sales) indicates that there's anything wrong with your shop. Of course it's extremely frustrating not to know what the issue is, though. 

[Hertfordweaver]

I know nobody can buy from your shop if using your computer, possibly your home network system too.

[EccentricHandbags]

Define friend.  Would this be everyone you know or just the ones you like?  So, people you don't personally like you are OK to sell to and if you like them they are a friend and can't buy anything.

[ThePurplePuppy]

@EccentricHandbags 

Well, if you don't like them, by definition, they would not be a friend. Maybe a "frenemy"?

What I would like to know is how Etsy would know who is your friend. I have hundreds of dog friends scattered all over the US and the world. I have  a GOOD friend who lives in Australia. (She even came to visit me) and several in Canada and  Europe--all met thru "dogs".

If Etsy knows who all my friends and family are I find that rather scary!

I have NO family here--the closest is about 400 miles away.