New Scam Trending for Print on Demand Sellers

[StraMuttCuriosities]

This has happened to me for the third time now. The first time was totally my fault. I had a customer buy a PoD product before I was done customizing it and that prompted me to issue a refund through Etsy. I forgot to also cancel the order through my PoD supplier and the customer received two items and only paid for one. The second time, primarily the same scenario, except I knew to cancel it through PoD supplier also. But, to my surprise the order had already been sent to production and could not be canceled. I was able to change the postal address to my own and basically bought myself a custom product. The third time, the buyer purchased an item and then waited almost 12 hours before asking for a refund. This time the product had been printed and shipped before I could cancel it. I lost revenue and the buyer received one product for free. 

A few take-aways. The first two occurrences can be chocked up to me being a bit green with  selling on Etsy and using PoD products. But the third issue was very clearly someone "gaming" the system. To combat this issue, I was able to delay all new orders 24 hours before being sent to PoD production and added a very clear statement in my postings about the time frame limit for canceling orders. I also learned not too be so quick to refund the buyer through Etsy until you are certain that the product can be cancelled through supplier.

While all this may be pretty obvious to some of the more seasoned sellers, I thought I might make a quick post to help out some of the newbies from getting swindled. 

Hamilton T. Dog

https://www.etsy.com/shop/StraMuttCuriosities?ref=dashboard-header 

[nineteen27]

if 2 of 3 issues.

were your fault.

how can 1 customer asking to cancel...

be a scam trend?

[StraMuttCuriosities]

Being super critical is not necessary. I know other sellers that have experienced this issue also. I was just attempting to be helpful.

[nineteen27]

i just repeated what you said in your post.

[PWOriginals]

I couldn't follow the first scenario you explained but ...

There will always be issues when using POD if a customer wants to cancel or return, regardless of your "no returns/cancellations" policy (except in cases where it's "personalized," not "made to order," as there's a difference). It's one of the risks you take where you may have to eat the cost of the return or the customer will file a case to get reimbursed, which will prompt negative feedback.

I looked at a few of your items and didn't see any production partners listed, which is required by Etsy (right on the listing page). Customers will assume you're doing all the work yourself.

[StraMuttCuriosities]

I appreciate the advice. I was not aware that listing production partners was required. I will update my listings immediately.

[PlatypusDream]

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000336547-Working-with-Production-Partners-on-Etsy?segmen...

[TheVintagePineapple]

I'm not seeing any information about cancellations on your shop front or in any of the 4 listings I just clicked on.  I did see INFORMATION about ordering in time for Christmas on those listings though.  Maybe putting a time frame for cancellations would've helped with the third situation.  It could be anywhere between 1 hour and 24 hours.

[StraMuttCuriosities]

PLEASE ... keep it coming. I love the constructive criticism.

[bradgoodell]

POD is always a crap shoot.  Here is why:

1. Since you never actually touch the product, any NAD dispute the buyer is pretty much guaranteed to win.  
2. If you are selling clothes, size is always a possible issue, and people will want to return items.  If you don't accept returns, the buyer can simply file a NAD and get their money back without returning it.  
3. You need to plan and budget for losses, because they will happen, and are more likely to happen when you don't actually have control over production and shipping.  
4. POD is overrun on Etsy.  If you get established and some of your items start to sell well, you can expect all the new POD sellers to rip off your designs and underprice you.  It is a vicious race to the bottom.

Good luck.

[ArtworkByAllysia]

Thank you for this tip, I appreciate it. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

you sell to the EU/UK. you have to accept returns and cancellations,

if you don't want to, remove the EU and UK from places you ship to, currently, all your policies are illegal, so we can get free products from you, whenever we want to.

[AAANativeArts]

 @CraftyCornishMaids Isn't there an exception if it is personalized? Made to Order, however, they must have the EU refund policies because they can resell it to someone else.

@StraMuttCuriositiesIf you don't meet all three requirements for returns in the UK and EU countries, it reverts to they have 365 days to ask for a refund for any reason or no reason, and THEY DO NOT HAVE TO RETURN THE MERCHANDISE. Etsy will back this up if they file a case on you, so you'll want to comply ASAP or don't sell to those countries.

At Printify, you can check a box to wait 24 hours before processing, or send all your orders at the same time every day, which I think you can choose.

You can then tell your customers you take cancellations within 12 or 24 hours. (You might want to make it shorter than your POD allows in case someone messages you in the middle of the night and you don't see it until the morning. I'd put that in your FAQ, or even on the bottom of every product listing.

If someone cancels after it is shipped, I don't refund. I just tell them it is aleady in the mail.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@AAANativeArts 

made to order is not custom,

custom has to have something like their name on it, or ask for a colour size they don't sell. then you can exclude that.

buying a listing which is made to order, even if you choose from dropdown menu choices the seller offers, is not classified as custom.

if they offer to sell to EU/UK, unless it really is custom , which the ones I looked at weren't, then they need the return policies, on the listing, and in the gdpr and address etc in the shop policies

[bohemians]

" ... so we can get free products from you, whenever we want to."

Best to have policies in place for selling to UK and EU because you can bet this is taken advantage of.

[TylerGraceCo]

Sorry this happened to you, and glad that you now know how to prevent any more scams. Also, I was born and raised in Kankakee! What a small world!

[StraMuttCuriosities]

It is a small world. Thank you for reaching out.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@ArtworkByAllysia This issue is not limited to POD Sellers. Many Sellers have 1-2 Day processing and there was a huge scam running a few years ago whereby Jewellery Sellers were reporting Buyers claiming CC Fraud or requesting cancellation as soon as they saw the Item had been posted. Or the fraudsters were using stolen CCs and the real CC owner did not realize until a few days later, after the parcel had been sent to the fraudster.

Most Sellers here agreed that a slightly longer processing time would give the CC companies the necessary time to reverse the charge and that waiting one or two more days before shipping an Order would help to prevent refunds after the item had been sent.

[BagmakerSupply]

@ArtworkByAllysia: You may also want to acquaint yourself with the laws concerning selling items using someone's name and / or likeness without their permission. If you do have permission, you really should include the licensing information in your listing, otherwise buyers (and Etsy) may conclude that you are selling those items illegally.

[steelhipdesign]

You've got several listings that may get you a trademark and/or copyright strikes.  They are very different forms of intellectual property.  Most strikes are due to the seller using trademark (often words - brand name, universe, character name, group name) anywhere in the listing - including tags.  You can't use their words, to attract their fanbase, for your profit.  If a buyer can search and find the listing, so can studio lawyers looking for illegal use of their TM.  Etsy also takes TM strikes far more seriously than CR.  

Many new sellers see established sellers, with a shop full of fandom and thousands of sales, and assume every franchise, movie, book, game, league, celebrity are fair game.  Etsy did turn a blind eye to egregious sellers for their "growth at any cost" strategy but that has now changed.  Old sellers worked out which IP is abandoned but that can also change overnight.  

First offense is usually a payment reserve.  After that it includes:  lower search rank, removal of badges, exemption from star seller and, finally, having ID credentials banned on the platform.  There is no coming back from that and even with a sympathetic friend's identity, they will balk at paying personal income tax on your shop.  

Remove all Monty Python, Bob the Builder, all celebrity names (protected by Personality Rights), brand names, Learn the difference between TM and CR.  Before you cite "parody" that only covers editorial or performance use, rarely extending to commercial items.  If you want to use any pop culture references, get permission or a license before it's too late.  

[StraMuttCuriosities]

I took everyone's advice thank you so much for the feedback. I removed all products that might even remotely be considered IP Infringement and changed shipping to only the US. I have also adjusted the time frame to when orders are sent to POD center. I think I might have it dialed in now. Please feel free to continue to critique my shop. 

[TennesseeWreathCo]

Sorry about your losses.  That hurts.  Good advice though.  I’m new so anything and everything I can learn will help.