Local Pickup disqualified Star Seller status?

[3DMountables]

Someone in my local community saw one of my products when they were over at my apartment, and wanted to purchase one for themselves so I told them to go about it via etsy since I knew I could mark the product as hand delivered. I selected other as shipping method and did not include a tracking number as there was none to include. I refunded him the shipping costs since he did not even let me get the chance to do a free shipping promo for him, he just ordered it a few hours later. I am concerned about this because I just hit all of the milestones for star seller for everything other than on-time shipping and tracking where I have "1 order missing tracking info". Am I out of luck becuase of how this order worked out, or is there a way to resolve this since obviously this was delivered way quicker than normal.

[NanaLetha]

No way to fix it.

[Natalya1905]

There are numerous posts about it:

https://community.etsy.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?advanced=false&allow_punctuation=false&q... 

[audreytherese]

"I refunded him the shipping costs since he did not even let me get the chance to do a free shipping promo for him, he just ordered it a few hours later."

It doesn't matter if the item has 'free shipping' or if you charge for it. Either way you are still required to enter a tracking number. Since you are in the US, there are no exceptions. 

[PrimFun]

Tracking is very important to Etsy.  It is the way to prove delivery.  Since our tracking is free in the US, Etsy is very insistent on its use.  Yes you could lose star seller badge for tracking because of the hand delivery.

You could try and send a receipt via letters but that still does not give you purchase protection for the item or mean the item was delivered. 

My way of handling a local delivery is to take the item off of Etsy and get payment the old fashioned way cash.  That solves the issue. 

[SkinGuruFountainOfU]

I’ve heard of this workaround -purchasing a cheaper label from Etsy in order to fulfill the tracking requirements for SS.

1.) Will I be flagged for purchasing a label with dimensions that don’t match my listing’s dimensions? 2) Do you have recommendations for a USPS prepaid label that would match a post card or regular sized envelop? 3) If not, is it ok if I purchase the minimum size & still send a postcard or will I get flagged for the dimensions not matching perfectly? Hope this makes sense!

[FallenAngelBrass]

@SkinGuruFountainOfU 

Be careful about calling attention to this workaround.  I'm not sure if it still works or not, but the workaround does get close to a disqualification criterion.  Tracking on the actual item isn't the same as tracking on a letter sent to a buyer.  Etsy does tell us that in-person deliveries do not qualify for a star seller "yes" on tracking.  If this were my shop, I'd take the hit on this one sale and let three months pass so that I could qualify for star seller again.  I would not risk losing the star seller permanently. 

In accordance with the Star Seller Terms, the following may result in temporary or permanent disqualification from the program:

• your shop no longer meets the qualification criteria
• your shop has an overdue bill
• your account privileges were limited
• your account violated our Terms of Use, including and not limited to our Seller Policy
• we have reason to believe you attempted to falsely inflate your Star Seller stats

From Why Was My Star Seller Badge Removed? 

[mommawhazelsquilts]

@3DMountables  This customer didn't even find you on Etsy and you still paid Etsy their fees.  Why?  Next time, delete or de-activate the listing, collect the money and your SSB won't be effected.

Only pay Etsy when you have to.....lol

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