Shock and Disappointment with Etsy

[MotionVibe]

On January 27, Etsy forcibly put our shop into vacation mode and requested document verification. We immediately submitted everything. After three days of waiting, the verification was successfully completed.

However, new issues emerged—our listings disappeared entirely, the Star Seller badge was gone, and Etsy Payments were listed as unavailable. A few hours later, we managed to restore the listings, but the other problems remained unresolved.

Then, after just a few more hours, a purchase was made in our shop. And what did Etsy do? They again put our shop into forced vacation mode and requested document verification—the same personal ID that had already been approved.

How long will this continue? Does this mean that every purchase will now trigger an ID verification and put our shop on hold? Then what’s the point of running a business here at all?

More than a year ago, my husband and I started a digital products shop. We put all our time and effort into growing it, making over 2,500 successful sales and receiving more than 350 positive reviews. We have always been a Star Seller, never engaged in fraudulent practices, and never manipulated sales or reviews. We have always been transparent and honest with our customers, responding to messages at any time of day.

So much time and effort invested… and now this.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

there is no our, or we, on etsy

there is 1 account owner, and you need to upload the ID of that one person only

do all addresses match, the address on photo ID, and on tax registration ID etc

do all dob's match

does the name match, on etsy, id, and payoneer, exactly

.... it's failing the autocheck somewhere, so double check everything, with the one persons ID that was uploaded for the person who opened the  etsy account and payoneer account initially

[MotionVibe]

The use of "we" was meant purely to describe the situation. As for the documents, they have all been thoroughly checked, and everything matches as described above. Etsy has already reviewed and approved my ID. 

However, after the first purchase, the situation has repeated itself. Despite my ID being approved, Etsy once again placed the shop in vacation mode and requested verification.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

the bots review them

if they find, even a slight mismatch, like St. instead of Street, or Jane S. Smith, instead of Jane Susan Smith,  both here and payoneer, it won't pass the auto bot.

If yours isn't going through, something is failing the autobot

so it will need human intervention, and with the millions of shops going through verification, even a small percentage failing the autobot, will build up a big queue for human intervention

your best bet, is to go through everything again

check everything on payoneer

check everything on etsy

check everything on the tax ID portal website  ...etc

something, somewhere is failing the auto check.

.... even if a human verifies it this time, the next time an autocheck is done, you will be back in the same position

[MotionVibe]

It seems we are stuck in a frustrating and senseless loop. For Payoneer registration, I provided my main national passport (Ukrainian passport) to link it to my primary bank card. Payoneer only accepts this passport. However, Etsy requires everything to be written in Latin letters, which is why I provided my international passport (for travel).

What you refer to as the taxpayer ID in our country is simply an extract from the registry and is unrelated to the passport. It has a completely different number and does not have an English translation.

All the information I manually entered matches the details on my international passport, which I provided to Etsy. But it cannot match Payoneer letter for letter because these are two entirely different documents.

This is creating a catch-22 situation, as it's impossible for the documents to match exactly due to the different systems and requirements.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@MotionVibe 

there are a few ukrainian shops here with similar problems, but not many

I wonder if there is a ukrainian facebook page set up by etsy sellers, who may be able to help with how they managed to make it work

[CaitlinsJewelryHouse]

I'm not sure if Etsy's technical team is aware of the issue with Etsy payments unavailable since the re-verification of ID started last year. I think all we can do is keep reaching out to Etsy support or forums for help. Hope we get through it soon.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

with the number of threads here closed, with messages passed to etsy

and with all the calls opened by sellers

Etsy defintely knows there are problems with verification on some shops,

whether they think it is a technical issue, or just sellers having mismatch in exact id, we won't know.

however, many shops will now have stricter verification, because of the new usa laws, for people selling from/to the USA

so things that were ok in the past, are no longer passing the bot verification

with the millions and millions of shops having to be verified by end Jan, the ones here, are a drop in the ocean - although that is no consolation, to the ones that can't verify exactly, for whatever reason

the quickest way, is to be your own sleuth

check your tax ID yourself on your government portal - check your bank/payoneer on their site, check exact names / addresses everywhere

think like a bot, not a rational human, when checking

[CaitlinsJewelryHouse]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

I understand. But my ID re-verification has been approved, and I received the confirmation email, but Etsy payment is unavailable. Payoneer confirmed my account twice, and everything matches. However, when I receive a new order, my shop gets put into forced vacation mode again and asks me to re-upload the already approved ID.

We're concerned that this re-verification process might not fix the Etsy payment issue and we might end up stuck in this endless loop.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@CaitlinsJewelryHouse 

it seems that the bots are failing to match

a human looks at it, and passes it through

then the bot fails it again next time

 .... look at everything again, and see where a computer bot might not think it is exact

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

Starting yesterday the forums are awash with sellers reporting the same thing:

1. They were recently put into vacation mode with an id verification request.
2. They uploaded the required documents which were approved, and their shop was taken out of vacation mode.
3. As soon as they received their first order, the cycle started again and they were put back into vacation mode with an id verification request.. 

Just search for the word again in the forums, then change the Sorted by: to Date and you will see what I mean.

I find it hard to believe this is not a technical defect, not something the seller can control in any way.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@DaysofYoreTreasures 

it's typical bot behaviour

the bots are finding a mismatch when they check after a sale

so there is something a human decides is OK, like St, and Street, or Susan J Smith and Susan Jane Smith 

but without it being fixed, the bot flags it again the next time.

Although there are quite a few posts here, considering the many millions that need to be vetted by end Jan, it's not a big %age

I really do think, the best thing to do, is go through everything with "bot eyes"

[RosyRetro]

Gosh that is so stressful ! This really seems to be such a nightmare way to handle things. So sorry you are going through this! 

[MotionVibe]

Thank you so much for your kind words! It really does feel like a never-ending nightmare at times. It's such a frustrating process, especially when you're doing everything by the book and still facing all these roadblocks. I really appreciate your empathy—it helps to know others understand how stressful it can be. Hopefully, this will get resolved soon!

[RosyRetro]

@MotionVibe It’s awful, i had it at the start of the week. There are so many of us who really rely on it for our income and it feels so helpless not being able to contact anyone. I really hope they open your shop again soon x

[MotionVibe]

Thank you, but at this point, I’m seriously considering alternatives (like my own website) because this level of dependency is just catastrophic. It's incredibly stressful knowing our income is tied to such an unpredictable system.

[RosyRetro]

@MotionVibe yes, totally agree! I actually opened a Shopify Store last year after a similar situation, it's so nerve wracking being reliant just on ETSY especially when they do things like this! 

[MotionVibe]

The irony of the situation is that in Ukraine, I can't open a Shopify store because, due to our country's policies, we don't have access to PayPal or Stripe. So all I can do is create my own website (without platforms like Shopify) and use services from companies that provide online payment solutions (like 2Checkout). As you can imagine, this is quite expensive and "fun," but unfortunately, I have no other option.

[RosyRetro]

@MotionVibe gosh what a nightmare! I really hope this gets sorted very soon! x

[MotionVibe]

Thank you! I really hope this gets resolved soon as well.

[ModKenneth · Accepted solution]

Hello! We're sorry to hear you're experiencing issues with your shop. We've forwarded your concerns to a specialist team. Thank you! 

Please know we handle support inquiries privately per our Community Policy – we’re closing this thread, so you can get the support you need from us directly.