I am so upset!

[CatherinesAtticFinds]

On March 24th, I like many of you, I received an email from Etsy explaining that some listings that were on automatic had been renewing but without the .20 fee.

I spent every day from 3/24-4/1 changing as many listings as I could to manual, I focused on my most expensive items, my featured items and items that were in carts. I had 843 listings to plough through as I wanted to avoid the huge relisting fee of 843 items. Not one of those items I switched to manual stayed on manual and so the hours I spent editing just wasted.

In addition, I'm planning on a move this summer/fall whenever the building is done, and so since November, I have been putting mostly my lower priced comics on manual as I do not want to move them and plan on donating them. So, every day since November, when I would do listings, I would also include editing one or two comic listings to manual. Those were also removed and set to automatic. Months of work just gone. Reached out to chat and they said someone from Etsy would be in touch, tried chat again today and there is no response whatsoever. 

I'm livid.

[NanaLetha]

You need to read the email again. Etsy said they were moving them to expired not renewing them.

[CatherinesAtticFinds]

@NanaLetha Yes, I know that. Which is why I switched many to manual renewal.

[LastCentury]

you could have done that all in a few clicks with bulk editor at the top of your listings page.

Select all ____ on all pages
> editing options
> change renewal options
> choose Manual or Automatic
> Apply
> done

edited to add: if you only want certain listings to change, you can click the box in the bottom of each listing on your listings manager pages... at least there you can edit a whole page at a time instead of each one individually.

[hopeandjoystudios]

Just changing them to manual would not renew them. You had to renew them and change them to manual if you wished them to be on manual from here on out. No renewal..they expired then manual or not. It was the listing that was "stuck". Changing it no manual made no difference without renewing.

[CatherinesAtticFinds]

I understand, but WHY did items I always have on manual also expire, they were not to expire until summer.

[Amaradorn]

@CatherinesAtticFinds Are you sure they didn't expire in summer last year but stayed active (due to the bug)?

It matters not whether a listing is on manual or auto renewal - many have still been missing their expiration dates.

[PlatypusDream]

If Etsy is manually expiring items, it means that you got months of listing (if not years) for FREE from Etsy.

They are correcting a mistake that was in YOUR favour, not charging you for those free months.

Be thankful for the little work you need to sort this out on your end. Who knows how much it saved you in the past!

[CatherinesAtticFinds]

@Platypus, I'm aware of the advantages. What I do NOT understand is the listings I have always had on manual, also expired. Over 100.

[WitticismsRus]

@CatherinesAtticFinds 

I only use manual renewal and had hundreds of stuck listings. Etsy changed the expirations dates from dates in the past to April 1st and they finally expired yesterday. All 750+ of them. 

I think etsys communication is generally awful and their wording of things is often vague, confusing and unclear. The email they sent about this issue is a perfect example.

Edit to add- for future references- you can bulk edit all listings renewal options in just a few mouse clicks vs spending days on end doing them one by one see @LastCentury reply above for more info and instructions

[NanaLetha]

Manual or automatic renewal does not matter if they were active beyond four months.

[GlassyFields]

Etsy fixed a bug that allowed some listings to live forever. Until the bug was fixed, it was a benefit - allowing listings to live beyond the 4-month period.

To bulk edit renewal options ... in your listings page, click on the square on the left hand corner and select all listings or all the listings on that page. Then click on edit options and select renewal options. You can set all the listings in the group to automatic or manual.

Etsy set all the 'live forever' listings to expire April 1st and on April 2nd they expired. You can renew them at your convenience to avoid a big fee all at once.

Do a happy dance about all the free time those listings got ... and take a breath. Etsy fixed an error and there really is no negative impact.

[Amaradorn]

@CatherinesAtticFinds you said: "What I do NOT understand is the listings I have always had on manual, also expired."

I will try to explain it differently... Although the bug appeared to be random (i.e. not all listing were affected), it was still affecting many listings regardless of whether they were set to auto renew or manual. So the renewal type made no difference. I know that manual listings were also affected because I had a bunch of listings set to manual renewal and they all expired after I put my shop on vacation during Christmas 2023. That's how long this bug has been occurring for (at least). So, many of us have had possibly a year and a half of free listings (unless, of course, it sold and then renewed).

So Etsy must have reset all listings that were past their renewal date regardless of the renewal type. I also think this bug is still happening, so keep an eye on your listings and if they do not expire I suggest you change them to manual renewal (if they are not already) and then either force renew them manually or you can leave them if you will not be renewing when they finally expire (or when Etsy do another purge).

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@Amaradorn Great explanation of the fact that whatever the "bug" was, it affected both types of Listings - those on Manual Renew and those on Auto Renew.

It was a "random bug" which attacked some Listings but not others.

I suspect that the "fix" required the Listings affected to fully Expire, and that is why Etsy Manually Expired all Listings. I do not think Manual Renew was enough to fix the problem because I was doing this for a long time and the same Listings failed to expire when the next Expiry date came around.

The problem was not, specifically, an Auto Renew issue. Rather, the Listings failed to "Expire" and, therefore, failed to Auto Renew. That is, the trigger for Auto Renewal was not pulled. In my experience, Manually Renewal does not fix this. The Listings have to Expire and then be Renewed,