Orders have tracking and been delivered but orders remain in reserve account?

[VintagedCharm]

I am feeling confused and can't seem to get answers just sympathetic replies from Etsy Help agents.

I am a season seller and have been trading on Etsy since 2017 with no violations and have been a star seller a few times and have always refunded should a problem arise immediately, a reserve account was put on my shop on May the 18th with a 75% hold on all my orders, I read all the info and the statement from Etsy which reads:

Quick answer

To release the funds for an order from a reserve, try adding a tracking number to the order. If Etsy can confirm the tracking shows the order in transit, the reserved funds will be released immediately.

The statement gave me some hope that because I use tracking which is integrated to Etsy via Royal Mail because I use Royal Mail to purchase shipping labels as we have a business account with them, but looking at my reserve account everyday since the 18th of May, not a single order has been released even though tracking on Etsy shows delivery and others shows it's in transit, we are not talking one or two it's 61 orders that are being held in the reserve account by Etsy, could there be a problem? Because all guidelines have been followed. I am not disagreeing with the use of reserve accounts, but just looking for answers.  

[SVGRox]

This seems normal for Etsy based on this previous post 

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Managing-Your-Shop/Payment-Reserve/td-p/136936780

[Printsinthegarden]

Hi sorry to hear you are in this position. I was put on a reserve last Sunday and this week has been hell. I ship out around 50 orders a day so trying to make these whist negotiating the fund reserve issue has been a nightmare. I use Royal Mail 48 tracked or special delivery for all my orders, none of these items sent had initiated any funds to be released. After research and checking the forums for info it became apparent that Etsy uses software called Aftership to provide customers with tracking details directly through the Etsy app. Royal Mail is not yet compatible with aftership so Etsy can’t trace the progress of any items. I managed to get funds released by contacting Etsy support, I provided a list of orders that were marked delivered everyday. I then started sending items with evri as they are aftership compatible and sure enough the funds are automatically released. Etsy have stated there isn’t an issue and items sent with Royal Mail should release funds automatically but I haven’t found this to be the case. Massive disadvantage to U.K. sellers. 

[ThunderBoltLightTins]

Well i didnt know that about royal mail...ive just been put on reserve and im in the UK. Someone told me to go back through my untracked orders (which is all the ones to USA as i send royal mail standard untracked for price reasons) and type not tracked in the box. Which im doing but after reading this im wondering why im bothering ...what woud you suggest i do? is my only option Evri?x

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@ThunderBoltLightTins 

there is no point doing that for untracked,

for payments to be released from reserve, etsy has to see it track through the system, it needs proper tracking numbers that you paid for to be tracked.

If etsy sees you are trying to game the system, then they could
increase the percentage of the reserve,
or do it for longer,
or close your shop completely, for policy violations.

[Printsinthegarden]

I don't think adding not tracked in the box will get you anywhere. I opened a thread with Etsy support and gave them list of orders that showed delivered on Royal Mail tracking and they released the funds but I had paid for a tracked service. I'm not sure this will work for international standard or 2nd class, if that does't come with any kind of delivery confirmation. I know evri works, I might try Yodel too as they are an aftership partner. It says on the aftership website that partnership with Royal Mail is coming soon! 

[GiftyCharms]

I totally agree with the above. I too was on a reserve account and after reading forums it does seem that Royal Mail is not compatible with the Etsy software. Luckily I came off automatically when I became a star seller. But yes a massive disadvantage to U.K sellers.

[StockAndCravatMarket]

Thunderboltlighttins May I suggest you consider using Transglobal Express based in the UK who ship in bulk to USPS who then deliver.   I found them after the cyber attack and all my US mail goes via Transglobal express in bulk 2 - 3 times a week.   It is collected as one package with DPD £7.50 and all has tracking - its so much cheaper - £4.49 for a 100g package.    At least the tracking is in place rather than winging it on untracked royal mail 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360058722214-What-is-a-Payment-Account-Reserve-?segment=sell...

If your Payment account has a reserve, you may be able to receive the full funds from a sale sooner than 45 days by adding tracking that shows the order in transit.

"may" is not "will"

etsy / afterhip / Royal Mail often doesn't work, so although you can click through on the order, the batch processing from aftership has a hole, so etsy bots can't confirm anything

contact etsy through community and hep - contact us, with all the info, and screenshots, and they may release them.

[TheWestcountryWitch]

My other shop was put on reserve at the beginning of the year--I tracked everything but did see that etsy took about 2 weeks from items being delivered to update via the dashboard with royal mail. Once they did, my deserve was removed about another 2 weeks afterwards. 

[ThunderBoltLightTins]

hi ive just been put on reserve and only my uk items are automatically tracked as theyre over £10 even though i use 2nd class small parcels, I use standard international for USA which isnt tracked , Someone said i should write not tracked in the box but after reading that etsy doesnt recognise RM as it doesnt use aftership im stumped

[EamesAntiques]

I've had the reserve placed on my payments today, having been a seller for many years with very few issues and plenty of 5* reviews. I often sell large items of furniture which are delivered by courier, therefore no tracking is available. How can anyone sustain a business with 75% of sales held for up to 45 days?! As unfair as the offsite ads fee.

[HmWish]

I also received two similar emails, and I also place a reserve on your Payment account, saying that it is because the logistics information cannot be tracked

[HmWish]

In the past two weeks, I had two emails from Etsy notifying us of listings getting deactivated due to "potential counterfeit or unauthorized item",The email also included that placing a reserve on your Payment account for 90 days as a precaution, in accordance with the Etsy Payments Policy. Throughout this period, funds from orders placed with your shop will become available for deposit when an order is shipped with tracking information showing the item is in transit or 45 days from each sale date, whichever is earlier. Sellers in certain regions can buy shipping labels directly on Etsy that include tracking. Etsy is not able to access tracking events for some carriers. If we can’t determine if an order is in transit, the reserved funds will become available 45 days after the sale.

After the review is over, I don’t know if it will end

[AnniebelloPaper]

@HmWish your robots are 1) identifiable as from BIG movies and 2) available on discount sites. If your deactivated for infringement listings were similar, that's probably the reason. The bots search by words AND images.

Actually a lot of your products are available elsewhere and cheaper ... 

[BagmakerSupply]

@HmWish: If any of the items you are selling are not handmade by you, but you have marked them as Handmade, the buyer can make a "Not As Described" claim, get a refund, and keep the item. Etsy often puts a reserve in place in these cases to make sure they make the refund.

[EamesAntiques]

This whole reserve business is just wrong. The other worry of course, is that if Etsy were to go into liquidation, all seller's funds would be lost, as I don't imagine this money is being held in a seller account. Holding of cleared funds for 6.5 weeks should also attract some interest!

[BoudoirPrive]

@EamesAntiques 

"Holding of cleared funds for 6.5 weeks should also attract some interest!"  Yes, I suspect that's why Etsy is doing it.  I also wonder when Etsy shipping labels will become compulsory.  Thank goodness I plan to retire at the end of next year, after 14 years of selling on Etsy,

[CraftyCornishMaids]

etsy only does labels for 5 countries, they have a way to go yet to make them available, let alone compulsory

[BoudoirPrive]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

Nothing would surprise me with Etsy.

[StockAndCravatMarket]

All those shipping to the US from the UK use Transglobal express - its cheaper than Evri and Royal Mail and provides a tracking number - they are placed into the hands of USPS and its at that point that Etsy release the money usually about 10 days - better than 6 weeks but it does work.   I recently got out of reserve after about 6 weeks - nearly got to star seller and aiming to reach it this month and they just lifted the reserve one day! Now everything goes with tracking Royal mail 48 or 24 and once zapped by the post office it should release immediately - Recorded delivery does not track and is more expensive than RM 48/24 and it didnt always release even if it had been delivered.    These are all little tips that I found as I was going along.    I also added shipping costs for all orders so there is now no free delivery unless you spend a certain amount and thats only to the US.    All Etsy did was increase the price of the finished shipped product for the customer.   It did however make me concentrate more on other platforms rather than using Etsy as my main one.    A lesson well learnt.