PSA regarding offsite ads

[JimsBDSMGear]

Don't know if this is a common issue, or this was a one off, but I got charged for an offsite ad from "Etsy Partner Sites" yesterday. A customer placed an order (without ad fees) and asked for an additional item. I created a custom listing for the add-on and he ordered the custom order in less than 60 seconds from my creating it. I was immediately charged an offsite ad fee.

The matter was quickly refunded in a chat with tech support the morning, but you may want to look a little closely at your ad stats and see if all your fees came from actual ads.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Etsy partner sites are also part of the offsite ad scheme,

• Etsy Offsite Ads can be shown onmultiple ad channels, including on search engine results, social media sites, Etsy Publishing Partner sites, and Google Display Network sites.

You were probably refunded in error

[JimsBDSMGear]

Again, the primary order was NOT off an ad. And secondly, Etsy doesn't advertise my product because of the mature nature.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@JimsBDSMGear 

the person could have googled after they purchased, to find you again, and clicked on an ad

Etsy isn't advertising, the platforms/partners are

If you go to stats - offsite ad stats.

the left hand column is the day, site, and item they clicked on, which was an ad, to get to your shop, the right hand side is what they bought.

[ArtDollsbyJD]

@JimsBDSMGear   Has Etsy told you they don't advertise your items?  There is nothing in the information that limits what is forwarded to Google, Bing, Facebook, and all the others. It does say that the partnering sites can decide if they will offer ads on mature items not that it is not a possibility.  So you can check to see which site your ads may be posted on.

If the person within the past 30 days clicked on any offsite ad for your shop then it is eligible for the offsite ad to be applied.

How Etsy's Offsite Ads Work – Etsy Help

[JimsBDSMGear]

Sorry I bothered. I was just giving people a heads up. There isn't a single "?" in my original post.

No, Etsy does not advertise my items. I have not had an ad fee for this shop (I have two, one not mature) EVER. If the customer clicked on an ad (which doesn't exist) in the past 30 days then I would have been charged the fee on the first order. Etsy is the one who said the charge was in error. I know how ads work, I've been a part of them since the day they started. They wouldn't have tried to find me again and click on a (non-existent) ad as they messaged me within a minute or two of placing the first order, and stayed with me chatting for the minute or so it took to create a custom order, and then they bought it in 60 seconds or so.

Again, this was a PSA - not picking on either of you specifically, but everyone is free to totally ignore it if they please.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@JimsBDSMGear 

If you are in offsite ads, etsy passes all the info, from all your items, to their platforms and partners who advertise,

they don't charge you per click, they only charge you if a sale results after a click on the ad.

[cindylouwho2]

The Etsy partner sites use the affiliate program, so not all of them will have the same policies about your products as Google, Facebook et al. If you are opted in to Offsite Ads, you may receive future sales from affiliates. 

That said, Etsy can make errors, and refunds when they do. You are not the only seller to get a refund from Offsite Ads.

[CumberlandGapShop]

I have my own store in addition to Etsy. Checked daily for a certain item not showing up but got hit with almost $9.00 in addition to their other fees on a $78 price on Etsy. Altogether I lost $37 thanks to that. I removed renewals & only left one up. I was told by an investor online a year or so ago it’s not about sellers making money. It’s about investors. Had been off a long while. This item is expensive to make so I lost an extra $9.48 & my labor was free. Lesson learned again.