Reserve Funds is a Punishment

[WickedVineStitching]

This Reserve Funds is nothing but a punishment. I had a hat design up for 3 years. Some company goes and trademarks a design similar and then sends etsy an infringement notice and Etsy puts a reserve funds on my money for 45 days. Etsy states to make sure my account doesn't go into negative??? WHAT.. I have been on etsy for 5 years and processed over 600,00 dollars of sales and they think I'm going to not pay something? So as a direct effect I have stopped ALL advertising with etsy. I usually spend over 1,000 a month with etsy. I also generally run my own adds on facebook and other social media places and send them to etsy to but my products, but I have taken them all down and updated them to send my customers to other on line selling sites to buy my items and best of all I get MY money. Etsy just lost a huge fan.

[bradgoodell]

You are correct, Reserves are punishments for breaking Etsy's TOUs, whether the shop owner does it knowingly or not.  It sucks when a legitimate shop gets caught up and gets their funds held.  

[AAANativeArts]

I'm on a reserve for 90 days, but it isn't really 45 days till you get your money. Once you post a tracking number and the post office scans it, you usually get all the money for that order in about 4-5 days. So it only delays your money for about a week or less, as long as you are shipping your orders promptly.

[hopeandjoystudios]

Did they ever tell you why?

[OneEyeCatStudio]

Oh. Weren't you the seller who was having thousands of dollars held?

What did they finally say?

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@AAANativeArts 

The tracking number may work with USA and USPS,

unfortunately, etsy chose aftership as a partner, and they can't track Royal Mail, (I kid you not)

so those  in the UK, are basically stuck between a rock and a hard place, if they are put on reserve.

Did you ever get a proper explanation from Etsy, on why they did this?

[hopeandjoystudios]

@CraftyCornishMaids that is ridiculous for lack of a better non forum friendly word.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@hopeandjoystudios 

Yup, even for star seller, you have to log a call and report every sale to etsy, with the tracking info, and get them to manually adjust,

etsy tells you to use one of their linked shippers,

but really, how come, Royal Mail, in the UK, is not a supported shipper

It's a bit like telling USA shops that they can't use USPS, use someone else

We are definitely second class citizens

[AAANativeArts]

@hopeandjoystudios @OneEyeCatStudio @CraftyCornishMaids

I never got an explanation as to why I was put on reserve. They never replied. But now they have released most of my money. New orders go to the reserve until the 90 days is up, but as soon as I get them shipped, the money is released in 4-5 days.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@AAANativeArts 

at least that is something, but not having an explanation is a bit worrying

[JsprsByWragge]

Spread out! Find other selling platforms. Get your items shown to much more buyers. You will make a lot more sales with multiple selling platforms than with just this one. They all have different policies and regulations but some are much lighter than others.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@WickedVineStitching 

It is unfortunate that this happened, but etsy doesn't look at why IP infringement happened, just that it did - the safe harbor USA laws are very strict..... luckily you were only hit here, and not other places too.

At least you are in the USA, and can do the USPS tracking to release funds, unlike etsy's daft link up with aftership, which works with USPS, but not Royal Mail.

I love your caps, and hope you do well wherever you sell

[hopeandjoystudios]

I think a  lot/most of it is algorithm driven. X happens..reserve instated.

[bradgoodell]

Yep.  

[LabradorWoodDesigns]

I've just received an email from Etsy, saying they've put a reserve on my funds. No explanation as to why. I deliver the majority of the larger goods I make personally and 99% of the time deliver before the dispatch date. I have 5 star reviews and repeat customers. As far as I know I haven't violated and of Etsy seller policies. I've had over 450 sales with no problems............???????

[AAANativeArts]

It's probably because you don't have any tracking numbers to post. Do you mark Other and fill in Delivered in Person or something like that when you mark your orders Complete?

[HowdyPrintz]

I believe that the buyer can complete the order or report that they've accepted the product which should count as verified delivery. If you're dropping them off I would have them accept it in front of me before I left. It will show up for Etsy and then you would bypass the shipping component. 

[BlackCatTheory]

There is a FB group that every Tuesday reports new TM applications that might be relevant. Also phrases, ah-hem, I mean brands, that are no longer TMed. You might want to join just to see the Tuesday report. TrademarkWatchDawgs  It's not all encompassing of course, but it is useful info.

[QuirkyMiniatures]

Thanks for that … something else to keep an eye on, I had an IP infringement on a listing that had ‘pet rock as a tag. The listing had been running for 18 months before the other company took out the trademark. 
ironically I had taken the tag off of similar items because there were so many items with the pet rock tag. 

[onedaysgracenz]

Etsy is making a few different moves across the platform to "encourage" sellers to use tracking.

When looked at together, all these restrictions on sellers who don't use tracking (for any reason at all) show a pattern of Etsy favoring shops who use tracking on parcels. There are changes in the SS program and other places that reveal a move towards this.

As usual, sellers who don't "comply" won't be deliberately punished or singled out. They can absolutely continue to use the platform.

It's just that sellers who DO comply will do better here (including speed of releasing funds), but there won't be any way of definitively saying why that is. One of the aims seems to be quite clear - to lessen buyer complaints for anything to do with shipping/ delivery and therefore reduce Etsy's exposure to risk, thereby increasing "buyer confidence" which is an all-important metric in online retail these days.

I suspect all these things related to tracking of deliveries are a part of a wider "standardized system" we have yet to see rolled out which includes the Star Seller metrics, shipping, infringements, buyer protection policies & other areas of Etsy's perceived risk.

Withholding funds in seller accounts when there is no tracking or a seller has had infringement notices, is an obvious way for Etsy to cover the potential cost of claims/refunds in those areas.

Might be a year or two to see the whole system in action - it's been underway for a couple of years already. (The whole safe harbor thing is under scrutiny, and perhaps that plays a part with Etsy preparing for the future.)

Standardized systems make no allowance for individual variation by sellers, or in particular transactions. One system to rule them all.

In the case of personal deliveries or buyer pick-up, we can hope Etsy will see from click data that personal delivery/collection is acceptable. There are ways for platforms to mitigate the risk to themselves when this happens.

A platform can use some sort of "coded exemption" signed by the buyer on receipt of their goods which is then entered into the records instead of a tracking number. By signing the exemption, the buyer voids Etsy's buyer protection policies - it is their responsibility to check the goods before signing. Similar to couriers use when a signature on delivery is required.

Like all standardization, this is  designed for compliance by 80% of users, at the expense of the other 20%.

[BlackberryDesigns]

You are a Etsy success, hopefully you have a website where you can drive all your outside traffic.  It's pretty easy now with Shopify and lots of people to help set it up for you.  I would try Storetasker, they have a great group of experts in shopify and I have done well with them.   Etsy holding funds in reserve feels like shady practices to me whereas they are earning money off the interest.  Most times I have seen there is no reason to hold sellers funds.  The really bad thing is you cannot appeal it and they are not transparent in telling you why.  They talk all about 'transparency', but in the 12 years I have been with them I have never seen this to be the case, it is just a word they use and hide behind.  I am really sorry this is happening to you.  The really sad thing is it doesn't matter how much you sell, how you follow the rules, how great your reviews are, they will do this to any one of us.  

[moonbeamgifts]

That's how patents/trademarks work, unfortunately - whoever puts the money up first for registration gets the rights.   Understandable, since it isn't cheap but part of the process is also to defend it which means filing take down notices to shops selling who didn't register or even comment on the trademark.   

It is best for you to move to the next thing - and if you feel it will be a good seller, to invest in the registration in order to keep yours as the sole product offered.  The paperwork is not for the weak of heart but it is an insurance policy.

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