Official tracking number would not be validated according to Etsy

[ParlorMo]

Dear reader,

I am experiencing a problem and i am wondering if somebody suffers from this too?

when my customers buy something, I have been completing the shipment for 2 years with a POSTNL validated tracking number, I ship on time and write a personal note the same way i always did.

A month ago I suddenly had a problem that  will affect my Top Seller status because the tracking was not validated by Etsy. I have now contacted Etsy twice about this via chat, but apparently I have to solve it myself and Etsy cannot do anything about it, except that I am offered a small course on 'how to ship' (I have done so for the last 2 years so i think i am familiar with how to..)

I'm not amused because apparently it's up to me and/or Postnl to change something (no clue what) , but what can you do if you get an official tracking number when buying a shipping slip that I can track.  Am I the only one who suffers from this?

In addition to this why do you have to state tracking anyway, is it not enough you ship safely on time and provide the right customer service?

[CraftyCornishMaids]

There was a post about this yesterday

If you are shipping internationally, in the shipper, you have to select 

PostNL International 3S

more here

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Technical-Issues/BUG-in-Star-Seller-stats-for-PostNL/m-p/144118799

[DesertChains]

Tracking provides evidence that shipping has occurred.

[JMOldeVintage]

@ParlorMo  - The issue with PostNL has been going on for months now. Hopefully the work-around posted in the thread CraftyCornishMaids provided the link for works for you.

TBH I'm not sure Etsy even knows how to fix the issue. And since only a small number of shop owners are having problems, they are probably not rushing to try to investigate. Etsy prioritizes issues by number/percentage of shop owners affected.

[ByVanillaMintDesigns]

I switched to using "PostNL International 3S" for everything, also domestic PostNL shipments and it does track them then. Just watch out that when you press the complete button it doesn't switch back to PostNL International or PostNL Domestic. Trick I learned to stop that from happening is to first select something else like PostNL International (yes even if it already automatically says PostNL International 3S), then go back and select PostNL International 3S again. This way it won't switch to something else once you press the complete button. Sometimes it switches to Pre-Transit after first being In Transit, but generally it switches back after a day or so (next scan). It's a hot mess, seriously as bad as the iDeal problems...

Try it out if you have any packages that you sent out these last couple days (as you can edit shipping for 3 days). Put in PostNL International 3S and see if it changes anything.

[JMOldeVintage]

@ByVanillaMintDesigns  - Your suggestion "to first select something else" is what many shops in Europe & UK are doing to try and avoid Etsy changing their chosen shipper to FedEx.

Which makes me think this is all somehow an Etsy glitch.

[ByVanillaMintDesigns]

@JMOldeVintage it is an Etsy glitch. One they don't do a thing about. Been doing this for over a year now already...