Made to Order Digital Items

[PracticalPredictions]

I can’t be the only seller experiencing this ongoing issue affecting my made to order digital items. The majority of orders are going straight into completed instead of open status. This forces me to email my orders using my personal email instead of through proper Etsy channels. Customers cannot leave a review on a made to order product with nothing to download, as reviews are only allowed when the file is downloaded. I’ve spent months emailing Etsy and the only solution was to switch to old version of site. That didn’t resolve the issue. It doesn’t matter if I’m using old or new version, my made to order digital items are still not coming in correctly. I’m so frustrated I’m ready to take my customers elsewhere. 

[NanaLetha]

If you are attaching a file to the listing and making it an instant download - that's why it's happening. 

[PracticalPredictions]

They are “made to order” digital items. I can only manually upload the item when the order is in open status. 

[JMOldeVintage]

@PracticalPredictions  - Is this happening on specific listings?
Or on all of your custom listings?
If it's just a few (possibly your best sellers?) check those listings' details.
If you have used the new listing form to update/edit any listings &/or used the new form to relist a sold out item, there have been many reports of shops having problems. But you might see what the problem is going into each listing.

I did click on your living pet listing & I would need to add the information in the personalization field & Etsy does tell me it's a made-to-order download.

[NanaLetha]

@PracticalPredictions  Yes, you are correct but you still should not attach a file when you make the listing. The help center explains it.

[PracticalPredictions]

There is no file attached because it’s “made to order.” I’m not new to Etsy and understand the difference between made to order digital items and instant download digital items. This is a bug not user error. The problems started when they rolled out new version of Etsy site. 

[SimplyInvitingLLC]

Is this happening on a certain listing in your shop or if someone contacts you through Messages for a custom request?

[PracticalPredictions]

There isn’t any specific listings that it’s happening to, it’s totally random. 

[GroundZeroCreations]

@PracticalPredictions I don't want to offend you, but are you doing it exactly as the steps Etsy shows below?

How to complete made-to-order digital orders

Unlike instant downloads, you don’t upload a file when creating a made-to-order digital listing. Once you’re ready to send the finished file to the buyer, complete the order through the following steps:

1. On Etsy.com, go to your Shop Manager and select Orders & Shipping. 
2. Your incomplete orders are displayed under the New tab. 
3. Check the box of the order you want to finish, then choose Complete order. 
4. Select the Upload file button. You can attach up to five files with a maximum size of 20MB each.
5. Finish by selecting the Complete order button. The buyer will be notified by email that their order is now available for download. 

[PracticalPredictions]

The listings have been up for at least two years, this just suddenly started to happen a few months ago and I’m curious if others are having the same issue? 

[PracticalPredictions]

The strange thing is that some orders will come in correctly to open status while the same day someone else could order and their order gets marked completed before I ever made the order. 

[CappuccinoLace]

Yes it's a glitch.

@PracticalPredictions  It's been happening on and off since the new listing format came out.

You can try to edit it in the old format for now, by changing to physical and saving, and then editing again to digital made to order. Hopefully when the old listing format is gone, it won't have this problem anymore.

(My thinking it a glitch between the formats, where info is not getting to the other format, resulting in these glitches.)

[PracticalPredictions]

Thank you for the temporary fix

[MissJayStudios]

ughhh i am also experiencing the same problem. As a shop that receives many orders daily, I've missed a few orders and received some angry messages because customers didn't receive there files in the promised time frame. Did you find a way to fix it?