I have had two buyers contact me stating they have tried to make a purchase and it will not work...

[DaysLongGone]

I have had two buyers in the last couple of days contact me stating they have tried to make a purchase in my shop but it will not work.  I contacted support through Chat.  He said on my end it was working and that a buyer would have to go and seek help through buyer support.  I asked him to send my information to technical support and he refused.  I tried to explain that it is costing me sales and he still refused to send it to technical support.  Just because he "thinks" it is working on my end, does not mean it is!  I had 1 sale yesterday and I can't even remember a day where I had just 1 sale!  I have numerous sales in a day, normally. As a buyer, I would not contact buyer support, I would just move on to another seller or website to shop and buy.  Has anyone else had a buyer contact you with this issue?

[ElysianArtisanCA]

It is a scam. They are fishing for your email address.

[DaysLongGone]

What are you talking about?  They did not ask for my email. 

[cutebutton]

Were they saying it wouldn't work and they need you email address to complete the purchase?  If that's the case it's for sure a scam.

I would say regardless it's likely a scam, especially since etsy said there was no issue on their end (that doesn't always mean there isn't an issue though LOL)

[DaysLongGone]

They DID NOT ask for my email. 

[cutebutton]

regardless it still could be some sort of scam.  Scammers are getting wiser and may be over the asking for an email thing because people are on to them. 

The fact they refused to contact support seems slightly suspicious  and makes me think scam but I guess they might not have wanted to waste their time.  

It may not be a scam but it wouldn't shock me if it is.

[DaysLongGone]

@cutebutton 

They did not refuse to contact support!  I never received a response regarding me suggesting they contact buyer support.

I said if I was the buyer, I would just move on and buy elsewhere.

[cutebutton]

@DaysLongGone 

I totally misread that part where you were saying that chat refused to send your info to support.

Hopefully if the buyer did contact support they could tell them if there was a problem on their end.

[LittleGemsJewells]

What exactly is the issue the "buyers" are having?

[cutebutton]

I think that would determine more if it's a scam.

I did have one person last week let me know they placed an order (I was expecting it because it was a custom order)

I had to contact them to tell them I didn't receive an order.  They didn't know what they did wrong because it had asked them for all their info.  They were able to repurchase though no issue so I assumed the inital mess up was likely user error. 

[DaysLongGone]

They are getting errors when trying to complete the order. 

[FallenAngelBrass]

What exactly "will not work?"  Do these buyers say which step is not working?  I am able to add your items to a cart and go through to PayPal. 

If they bring up needing your email, then bail.  It's a scam. 

[DaysLongGone]

One buyer said he tried to use different cards and he would get an error message. 

The other buyer, I have been talking to about an item she wanted to purchase for her boyfriend's birthday.  She couldn't get it to complete the sale.

Neither buyer asked for my email.

[cutebutton]

@DaysLongGone 

It could possibly be that etsy was having a glitch when they were trying to purchase.

If that happened then typically if they wait a bit and try to place the order again it should go through.

But as I mentioned and others mentioned it wouldn't shock me if it's a scam.  Sad that we tend to make that assumption but there have been so many scams going around that it doesn't hurt to be slightly suspicious, especially if they try to take it farther than just saying it doesn't work.

[ThePurplePuppy]

If you had a sale yesterday and it went through then I would say it is working.

There are NUMEROUS scams right now with "so called" buyers contacting sellers and saying this.  Unless it was a repeat buyer that you have done business with before I would be very very skeptical!

What EXACTLY did they say the problem was when they could not buy. (You can paraphrase) Without knowing what they are telling you it is difficult to tell if this falls under "scam" but I am betting 99% that it is!

ETA: I am able to add to cart and go thru all steps to purchase other than actually buying the item.

[CanningCrafts]

I had a buyer a month ago say she couldn't check out saying she got errors too... for over a week. This was a repeat buyer, so I knew it wasn't a "scam". I told her the usual, clear cache/cookies & try a different browser, try signing in & out, try checking out as a guest. Not sure what her issue was since she never replied back... but I did get an order from her after that. 

Have you given your buyers any "troubleshooting" advice like that? I imagine that's what "support" would tell her to try.

Keep all your messages within Etsy & do not click external links or supply emails to these potential buyers... there are known scams like that here.

[DaysLongGone]

I am very aware of the scams...been here selling for 16 years.    I was in the credit card industry for many years prior.

I did not provide instructions.  I think it was a glitch, too. 

[DaysLongGone]

@cutebutton   I think it was a glitch, too, and that is why I contacted support through Chat and wanted him to forward my message to technical support. 

[cutebutton]

@DaysLongGone 

If it was just a glitch it was probably so short lived that it wouldn't have mattered if they had sent your info to support because there would be nothing that they could do.

If it was happening site wide then that would be an issue but an isolated incident that they can't verify probably won't get much of their attention.

Also likely if there was an issue it was on the buyers end not yours so that is probably why they suggested the buyer report it.

[ChillwolfArt]

@DaysLongGone  Two Buyers contacting you because they can't make purchases, is two too many. As a Buyer, I wouldn't contact Support. If the problem isn't on my end, I would shop elsewhere.
I haven't had Buyers contact me about this, so I wouldn't know if they are having difficult. Yesterday and today have been dead, but I attributed it to the holiday.  However you have communication from Buyers having difficulty.

[DaysLongGone]

@ChillwolfArt  Exactly!!  I am right there with you on contacting support as a buyer!  I would just go elsewhere to shop, too!  

[LylaSupplies]

This happened to my store 3 times this year. I lost about 5 weeks worth of sale. I recommend asking buyers to send you a screenshot, showing the red banner error message. Then show that to etsy support, even though it may look like it is working at their end. It isn't. They have to set up a ticket if there is proof. I.e screenshots. 

P.S. The bug was related to changing the shop currency to quickly apparently. In the end I gave up and had to have my store set up as Euro. Even though it has always been USD. 

[ONLYBRACELETByRhonda]

Yes I hv and not sure what to do

[TheVintagePineapple]

@ONLYBRACELETByRhonda This OP is somewhat old and a different situation.  The message you received is most likely a scam message that's being sent to other new sellers such as yourself.  

I just added one of your bracelets to my cart and would probably be able to check out with no problem.

[LynnsLittleShop]

@ONLYBRACELETByRhonda  read this that was posted in the forums earlier 

Solved: New seller here… possible scam? Please help. - Welcome to the Etsy Community