Problems with purchase

[Mantyna]

Hi, dear Etsies, I¨m a new member of Etsy and my customers keep going throught troubles with purchasing my digital format goods. They keep asking me, whether the goods is still available and when they want to purchase it, they keep sending me information: Buyers has a problem with the purchase, please see below and there is a picture of Help Center. I have no idea, what to do with it, So far, many buyers engaged, but no purchase made from peeps. Thank you a lot, I appreciate your help. 

[givemeacrown · Accepted solution]

@Mantyna New shops are frequently targetted by scammers. Do not click on any links they send you, do not provide any personal information to them.

This Help Center articles provides some information - How to Handle Scams and Suspicious Messages : https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000343128-How-to-Handle-Scams-and-Suspicious-Messages

Be aware that Etsy does not like sellers buying from themselves as it could be considered Shilling. Here is Etsy's policy on Shilling: https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/shilling/243317364583

[JJewellerySuppliesUK · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, they are probably scammers pretending they are having problems.  Scammers do target new shops.  What do they say the problem is? Genuine sales will arrive and show in your Shop Manager. 

You must never buy your own products as Etsy could close you down!

[UppNorthEh · Accepted solution]

All scammers.  Do not engage or click on any links or give them any of your banking or credit card info.  Send all their messages to Spam.

[Mantyna]

Thank you a lot for your help, I know now. I appreciate your help. 

[EightMileVintage]

This is what the forums admin post about scams:

Etsy is actively engaged in preventing scammers from targeting our community members. If you receive a suspicious message, please proceed with caution. Etsy Support will never ask you to provide personal information via Etsy Messages, such as your email address or password. Any legitimate message from us will show in your "From Etsy" folder.

If you receive a suspicious message, here’s how to report it:

1. Sign in to Etsy.com and go to Your Account.
2. Go to Messages. 
3. Select the suspicious message from your inbox. 
4. Choose Mark as Spam.

You’ll find examples of common scammer techniques and phishing messages here in our Help Center. Read our Account Security Checklist in the Seller Handbook for more steps you can take to protect your account.

[Amaradorn]

When a buyer asks if an active listing is still available that's a big red flag - because of course it's still available otherwise the listing would say 'Sold out'. 

Scammers may try to get you to take the purchase off Etsy - that's another red flag. It's a actually against Etsy Seller policy (fee avoidance) and you won't have any seller protection. They may ask for your credit card details so they can 'pay you directly' - that's not how payments work. In fact, once they have your CC details they will charge the card and take your money. 

Messages from scammers should be reported (which will move it to the SPAM folder)