It's a bit weird!! Somethings going on.

[pheasantsandflowers]

I've put this under technical issues, but I'm not really sure what's going on...it could be me and my flagging memory. Two orders in succession from my vintage shop, the items are missing from my stock. I have a good system of managing my itinerary and its very reliable. I've looked through every single box of stock in both cases and the items are nowhere to be seen. My first instinct was to go to my sold orders and see whether they've previously sold, just in case there's a technical glitch and Etsy have relisted these two items, but they are not listed in my sales. One item was quite small and could easily be lost, but the other is a large item and I cannot understand where its gone.  It's not as if I've got hundreds of items. I just wanted to check if this has happened to any other sellers here? Has Etsy relisted anyone's sold items? Thanks for any help you can offer.

[TBQSC]

I've had a few items go MIA ... happens occasionally to everyone at some point, no matter how good your inventory management is.  When it does happen, you can just cancel & refund the order and leave an explanation to the buyer.  You can also extend them a courtesy discount for the minor mistake on your part.  Good luck!

[pheasantsandflowers]

Thank you. It just seems so wierd that it happened on two orders in a row. 

[vintagecomfortnstyle]

Yes- sold out items do accidently get sold again- read about others just today in the forum. I used to keep my vintage items in my attic filed in numbered boxes and bins until I went up to get an order and all the lids were removed and moved around- every cup was missing out of each set- just one from each tea set and mind you no one had access to my attic- we had to remove all of them and we never found them either- WE MOVED

[TBQSC]

@vintagecomfortnstyle  oh that is eerie!  Happy Halloween

[MouseGarden]

Happened to me once.  I could have sworn I did not relist it.  It sold.  I didn't have it anymore so had to refund.

I think sometimes Etsy switches the default back on when it changes stuff, and the default is automatic renewal.  Or it comes on when you edit.  But sometimes it is on items and I didn't edit them.  When I remember I look through my items for any that are on the wrong setting.

[PinoMagic]

I have experienced this before, both through my own misplacing of the item and through listing error. With the latter I’ve found that the issue is I copied a listing that had multiple items in stock to create a listing for an item that didn’t, and then failed to change the inventory number back to 1, so when the item sold it was automatically relisted and I didn’t realize until someone had bought it again. Managing hundreds of listings can be messy sometimes!

[irmaKdesigns]

I constantly check that my listings are on manual renewal, because sometimes it switches to auto. It usually happens when the listing expires and goes into "Expired" folder, where it defaults to auto when you publish again.

[YarnShop4U]

It's an ongoing battle. There are many reasons inventory can be off from something we've done; IE key entry error when restocking, initial listing creation error, accidentally sent a wrong item (ugh), virtually moving inventory between 3 packs/singles/sold out/inactive/not adding back for cancelled orders/exchanging items for the customer who bought the wrong color/etc(?), but the most baffling is when none of these scenarios have occurred and yet somehow you have more of less for what you KNOW the count was correct not long ago.

I check the count periodically; items with a lot of variations can really get messed up but with nearly 20,000 items in stock, we just have to hope for the best and do random checks on items that seem to somehow get off on the count.

Now, if I found all the lids flipped open and one ball of yarn was missing from every box, THEN there would be a logical explanation; otherwise it's just another Etsy WHOOPSIE!!

Marlene

[SeasideRoseCreations]

It's spooky season.......

[EphemeralExpressions]

@SeasideRoseCreations 

And Friday the 13th is quickly approaching!

[Hertfordweaver]

Possibly someone in the house didn't realize it was a sale item and took it or gifted it or sent it to the thrift store by accident? Yup, can happen.

[pheasantsandflowers]

@Hertfordweaver not in my house

[pheasantsandflowers]

Thanks for all your responses. I am currently running down my stock, so only have 5 large IKEA boxes full. As my items are vintage or antique they are one offs (no variations in the listings). The only time I have more than one of the same item, it's usually china saucers or cups etc. The two orders 'lost' in succession were one off items. The troubling thing is, despite wracking my brain, I can't remember whether they sold or not. Neither are in my sold items list. Although the total sales figure Etsy says I've achieved seems to fluctuate by quite a margin! Not sure what's happened but it's just so embarrassing to have to apologise to customers, it makes me look inefficient and unprofessional

[MomsantiquesNthings]

@pheasantsandflowers Do you sell on any other platforms? If so, check to see if you sold them there. I had that happen once, discovered I sold it on ebay but never removed the item from my etsy shop. 

[PinoMagic]

You’ve probably already checked and double checked but this seems like a good time to bring up that I find many of my older inactive listings, whether sold out/draft/expired etc don’t come up in search results via the new app! So if you haven’t already, double check your search via regular browser. Just in case.

[VINTAGEnfinity]

Check any and all boxes!
 
We have lost (couldn’t find) 2 items in the last 8 years. We just found a little table we sold 2 years or so ago…packed in a box ready to ship…NOT labeled of course! 
Since that sale we had to cancel, we have moved and now have 2 buildings. It was in a portion of one bldg with our personal items we had packed up that I’m slowly opening up since the remodel is done. 

-Still haven’t found the 2nd item, a really beautiful Art Deco tea tray! I have lots of boxes to go…

[MeerkatsManor]

Is it possible you're looking for the physical item but what you need to be looking for is a box or bag you put it in? Or a location in your home you chose for extra protection?

[VintageRescueSquad]

Maybe my sister took them. Happens to me all the time!