Payment Reserve not working?

[AstroToolsUK]

I've had a payment reserve on my account since the 27th Feb. The terms quite clearly state that funds are released when goods are shipped with tracking. However none of mine have been. 90% of my shipments are with tracking yet everything is still in reserve. I've raised multiple tickets to Etsy and ZERO response. My reserve should be lifted on the 28th May but I've no confidence it will be and Etsy are holding a lot of my money. Is this a normal thing for Etsy these days as my other shop has never had this, even with a reserve in place, funds were released when goods with tracking were sent.

[Amaradorn]

I've heard people say that Etsy doesn't recognise Royal Mail tracking unless you buy shipping labels via Etsy labels.

[AstroToolsUK]

Etsy's labels are via Royal Mail. It's always worked for my other store. I don't use Etsy's labels because they're not formatted correctly for A4 label sheets (4 per sheet).

[MaynardMillinery]

No @AstroToolsUK but they are formatted for 2 labels per page A4 label sheets, so work perfectly well.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Etsy only says they MAY release funds if they ship with tracking., not that they WILL.

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.

There have been quite a few posts saying aftership is currently not playing ball between Etsy and Royal Mail, so the info isn't being passed through automatically,

One seller did open a case, was eventually passed through to the finance section, who did manual checks, and released the funds.

...

do NOT open multiple tickets, as the earlier ones are then closed, and the new one starts at the bottom of the pile.

Open 1 ticket, for all the ones not released, with order no and tracking no, and screenshot from Royal Mail showing actually tracking (delivery on QR code does not count), it has to be properly tracked, showing time it was dispatched ,,,,,, shows the order in transit.

When you get the auto reply, rply it still hasn't fixed your problem, and keep replying to that 1 ticket every day, until it is escalated to the right place

[AstroToolsUK]

That's not correct. This is the statement from their reserve 

'During this period, 75% of the funds you earn from each order will not be available for deposit until your order dispatches with valid tracking (or after 45 days from the date of sale).'

There is no may in there.

[PersonalizeStation]

In the link JJewellerySuppliesUK provided below, it does say "may." 

Then it goes on to talk about 90 days as long as there were no policy violations within that 90 days. 

If your reserve was in place for the 90 days, I'd think it would be lifted at the end of May. You never know with Etsy. Sometimes sellers need to push when they shouldn't have to. 

I would still follow the advice of CraftyCornishMaids.

It's an issue I've also read about in the forums (the tracking issue with Royal Mail).  

[ArtDollsbyJD]

@AstroToolsUK " 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. Sellers in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK can buy shipping labels directly on Etsy that may include tracking. Learn about customer service best practices.  "  from the payment reserve article.  It does say MAY.

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

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

[AstroToolsUK]

Well finance have replied. Basically because of the issue between Royal Mail and Etsy, Etsy tracking is not being updated. Therefore, if your account is in reserve, you will not get any money for 45 days for EVERY sale, whether you use a tracked or untracked service. That is wholly unacceptable. Waiting their reply. 

[cindylouwho2]

@AstroToolsUK other people have had their money released manually when there is valid tracking but Etsy's automation can't read it. Keep pursuing this ticket. 

[TiaLovesArchie]

I'm currently on reserve too. All the funds from orders I have sent with Royal Mail click and drop tracked have been released within a day!

[Petestreasuretrove]

Same here use Royal Mail Click and Drop and money still not released even though some orders are showing as received on tracking!  How c\n this be legal, they have over £3000 of our money!

[CraftyCornishMaids]

you don't have the "ship on time with tracking" badge, so something you are doing isn't working properly,

you can download the CSV, to see where the problem is.

[PersonalizeStation]

Petestreasuretrove

Do you ship all orders with tracking or just some of them?

[AstroToolsUK]

Ok well Etsy have released some of my funds, still claiming I need to use a tracked supported service. I'm in the UK, I only use Royal Mail tracked, so not sure why orders aren't being updated.

Anyway, I've ordered a label printer now so will use Etsy's RM integration from now to avoid these issues (maybe?!). 

[MaynardMillinery]

That’s because you need to use a tracked “supported” service. RM isn’t supportedby Aftership, which is the company Etsy has employed to monitor tracking.

You need to use one of the companies that Aftership does monitor. 

[AstroToolsUK]

Royal Mail 100% is supported and the only option I get to use if buying labels via Etsy 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@AstroToolsUK 

Etsy uses "aftership" to do the auto tracking, and if you look at the aftership website, you will see they say they don't support Royal mail for checking tracking

[AstroToolsUK]

Well it always has worked until recently. Full tracking details showed up under each order. The issue started when this stopped happening. Strangely, now I've complained, it seems to be working again. Or should I just switch to Evri? Not exactly reliable though.

[AstroToolsUK]

Aftership website states it does track Royal Mail - https://www.aftership.com/carriers/royal-mail-webhook

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Oh wow, that's new, they only used to do parcelforce, not Royal mail

[MyOrganisedHome]

When you say you use tracking, do you mean Tracked 24/48, Special Delivery or Signed For?

Etsy only releases funds from Reserve if the items have been sent with a trackable service that includes point-to-point tracking notifications.

This means that Signed For doesn’t count as it only gives confirmation of delivery (and acceptance into the network in some cases) but not a detailed breakdown of where it went along its journey. According to Etsy (brace yourself) confirmation of delivery is not confirmation it was sent!

I’m very, very glad to see that Royal Mail is finally trackable by Aftership. Hopefully this should mean fewer headaches for UK sellers in the future!

Edit: Incidentally the integration between Etsy and Aftership is a bit glitchy, so even ‘supported carriers’ sometimes don’t show the right details. When it comes to Payment Reserve the details you see on your dashboard are not the same as those ‘seen’ by Etsy’s PAR release bots. They don’t see your dashboard at all. That’s why you may be looking at confirmation of delivery on your Etsy account but Etsy is saying they can’t confirm it.

[AstroToolsUK]

I only used Tracked 24 or 48 for UK purchases. Which is another reason I don't use Etsy labels, as they don't offer that service. 

[MyOrganisedHome]

@AstroToolsUK

That’s a bit odd then.

As said before, Etsy doesn’t directly integrate with Royal Mail tracking, they use Aftership as an intermediary.

What happens when you input the Tracked24/48 numbers into Aftership’s tracking page, does it show the full journey ok? If not, it may be that Etsy still doesn’t recognise your choice of postage due to something going on with Aftership. If everything looks ok be sure to forward a screenshot and a link in your correspondence with Etsy and hopefully that will get things sorted.

Edit: I think I’ve found the problem…

Aftership lists Royal Mail as an integration with API according to the link you provided. However when you go to the tracking page and input a Tracked 24 number it doesn’t recognise it. Underneath the tracking box there’s a link to select carrier and that brings up a pop-up from which you can filter by country. Selecting UK gives a list of all the supported carriers they can track, so presumably those are the only ones Etsy has access to  - and Royal Mail is not on the list.

It may be that the API stuff is for companies building their own tracking links (I really don’t understand about them) or somehow building Aftership’s service into their website,  but not for companies using one of the other services Aftership offers. Alternatively it may be that the inclusion of Royal Mail in the initial list is premature and it’s a tracking service which is coming, but not yet fully operational.