My messaging feature has been disabled.
I have not violated any guidelines or TOU's.
I sell digital tutorials in needlework/books and rely on the message feature because it allows customers to get help with questions.
Now I'm afraid of negative reviews because I don't send messages.
My store almost doesn't make sense here anymore and I'm considering closing it for now.
I have learned that sometimes it can take months?
This is not good for my business.
I have contacted the support days ago.
With kind regards
Birgit
#1. Were you sending the exact same message to multiple buyers?
Offering a discount or a coupon on a future purchase for example.
#2. Were you sending messages to people that favorited your items or shop and had never bought anything from you?
Either of these will get your messages temporarily disabled.
If you were replying to buyers that purchased your items that needed help with their them, then your messages shouldn't have been disabled.
Since you contacted support you'll have to wait on them.
BUT you need to reply back to that email from Etsy, saying YOU STILL NEED HELP.
If you don't Etsy will think the problem is resolved and close it.
Etsy blocks messages when you send too many in too short a time frame, too many with the same message or unsolicited marketing messages to strangers. It used to take about a month but is taking much longer now before messages are restored. This is to comply with various spam laws in various countries so don't blame Etsy for it. If you did anything that can be considered spam that is why messages were blocked. If you weren't sending spam, you can contact Etsy and explain what the problem was and hope messages get reinstated or wait it out if you were sending spam. Unless there is a language barrier or lack of experience with customers, there shouldn't be that many problems with messages that needlepoint and craft patterns need to be explained. They should be plainly written and not need explanations.
Unfortunately, there are always customers who have queries. This can´t be avoided in this area.
What is the 'error message' you get when you try to reply to an Etsy message?
This message appears:
"Bummer, your messages have been temporarily disabled. Please contact support to have them reactivated. Also, see the FAQ and Community Guidelines for more info about Messages"
#1. Were you sending the exact same message to multiple buyers?
Offering a discount or a coupon on a future purchase for example.
#2. Were you sending messages to people that favorited your items or shop and had never bought anything from you?
Either of these will get your messages temporarily disabled.
If you were replying to buyers that purchased your items that needed help with their them, then your messages shouldn't have been disabled.
Since you contacted support you'll have to wait on them.
BUT you need to reply back to that email from Etsy, saying YOU STILL NEED HELP.
If you don't Etsy will think the problem is resolved and close it.
thank you
You can still answer questions of your customers (who have bought from you) by e-mail.
The e-mail address of the customer can be found in the respective order
I know ... but this is a suboptimal solution ... but thank you too