Payment reserve

[StanleyWinked]

With no notice or correspondence whatsoever, my funds have been held for five weeks so far. The yellow box on my deposit says "while we verify your info, usually takes up to 48 hours." 

I haven't changed anything, wasn't prompted to verify anything in the first place. Two weeks ago, phone support said it would be resolved by the end of the week. Last Tuesday they said it had been escalated to "urgent." And today over the phone, she said "On Tuesday it was escalated, there's no timeframe on that." 

I've been a full time seller for nine years, been a star seller consistently since it was implemented, didn't receive a sudden influx in orders, no IP infringement issues literally NOTHING. No word from Etsy. This is how I pay my mortgage and it's been over a month. Does anyone have a similar experience? Any insight?

[NanaLetha]

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

[StanleyWinked]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. None of those issues apply to me however. There is no more info, no progress bar and it still says "up to 48 hours." It's been five weeks. 

[ArtDollsbyJD]

You had Etsy call you?  If not then you are not talking to Etsy.

It seems rather odd.  I would contact Etsy via email again and ask them for further information or have them call you.

All I can think might be happening is your shop information needs to be verified for the Inform Act.  Were you asked to verify your information last year?  I'm not sure exactly what Etsy does during this request.  There is usually an email asking for ID or anything else.

Is your tax information up to date?   Who is the actual owner?  Etsy may be looking for ID for the owner.  It's only one person, not two.

If you have an LLC maybe Etsy is looking into that?

However it is odd that you have received no communication when this started.

I would email Etsy again and ask for a call back again.

Hope it gets resolved for you.

[StanleyWinked]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Yes, these are calls from Etsy to me, from the "request a callback." They've not responded to my support ticket or emails. Yes, I did verify my information last year. I am the owner, it is taxed under my LLC. That was all verified in November. 

[GlassyFields]

Wow, incredibly successful shop. Congratulations. I would think Etsy would love sellers like you.

I'd be mystified also. Long term seller, star seller, lots of sales ...

Do you have a issue # that you can keep referring to? I'd be checking once a day on the status of my case (using the theory that the squeaky wheel gets the grease). I would want to keep all communications on the same case # though to prevent being sent to the back of the queue ... something that can happen if you start new issue reports). And I would have the dollar amount of fees Etsy has earned from my shop on the tip of my tongue for my next discussion. 

Does your bank have any insight? Was there a failed attempt to deposit funds around the time the reserve was put on your account?

And this would certainly be a jolt to spread my business around a bit. I like Etsy but the blips are high risk when it's the basis for mortgage payments.

I hope you're able to get this resolved quickly.

[StanleyWinked]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. And thanks for the congratulations! We love our shop and are very proud.

I do have a reference number and I haven't opened any new support tickets. There was no attempted deposits. The person I spoke to today says she can see its been escalated to urgent and there's nothing further she can do and she said there isn't a timeframe of when they will get back to me. She says she understands that a business needs access to their funds to operate but there's nothing she can do and I just have to wait to hear back. 

[audreytherese]

They specifically stated that being a star seller would exempt you from being put on reserve. 

Protecting the Etsy marketplace - Welcome to the Etsy Community

This is key to receiving Star Seller status, and Star Sellers are exempt from payment account reserves.

What is a Payment Account Reserve? – Etsy Help

You’ll also avoid Payment account reserves if you become a Star Seller, in line with the Etsy Payments Policy.

Are you actually on reserve? Did they call it that? Or are they just holding your money? Since they say they're verifying your identity, I think they call that a payment hold, which is different than a reserve. 

[StanleyWinked]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. You are correct. The yellow box says a temporary hold.

[audreytherese]

Did you make any changes to your account? Like get married and change your name or anything? I don't have personal experience, but that seems to cause issues with Etsy. 

Also, not trying to cause you more stress, but you may not want to continue taking orders until this is straightened out. There have been numerous threads where sellers tried to verify but ran out of time, and Etsy refunded all orders from the 60 days prior. These are just a handful of the posts, there are more:

Solved: over $4000 REFUNDED - Welcome to the Etsy Community

Help- Etsy refunded completed orders - Welcome to the Etsy Community

Solved: Etsy Refunded All Orders for the Last 60 Days on D... - Welcome to the Etsy Community

Solved: Help Needed: Refunded Orders — Lost 5.000 EURO and... - Welcome to the Etsy Community

[StanleyWinked]

I made absolutely no changes to my account, nor was I prompted to. That's so scary they're refunding completed orders! I wish there was any helpful info or any hope:(