Star Seller issue

[AntiquEclectic]

Etsy says I neglected to provide tracking info on two shipments this month. This will take away my star seller status.  I hand delivered these two items, and indicated this when completing the orders.  Is there anything I can do to correct the record?  Thank you.

Greg - AntiquEclectic

[AnnaleasFinest]

@AntiquEclectic 

how did you indicate the hand delivery?

[AntiquEclectic]

I believe there is a drop down box when you click complete order, and there is an other option. Under other I typed hand delivered. 

[MississippiSpoon]

don't think you can do anything, not for sure. I have been put OTHER, CUSTOMER PICKUP, THEN 12 ZEROS FOR TRACKING. Seems to work so far.

[AntiquEclectic]

Thanks,  I'll give that a try next time.

[luxcrafter]

AntiquEclectic ... not sure how you'd fix this but i noticed that when i visited your sketch from the front page of the shop I could not get back to your shop by clicking on the AntiquEclectic link above the price etc.  Etsy threw an error and searching on that page brought up nothing.  Had to return to the main etsy site to enter your shop name to get back again.  Never seen that happen before.

[Adorabilities]

If Etsy cannot connect to the shipping platform to verify a tracking number, it will be marked as untracked/late in the Star Seller CSV. Hand-delivering counts as untracked, as "hand delivered" is not a valid tracking number.

95% of orders need to have valid tracking to keep your Star Seller status, so as long as you don't hand-deliver more than 1 out of every 20 orders, you'll still fall in Etsy's acceptable range.

[AntiquEclectic]

Really?  We cannot hand deliver to local buyers without being penalized by Etsy? UGH

[AntiquEclectic]

This month my two hand deliveries put me at 92%....  There should be a way for the system to accept hand deliveries rather than penalizing relatively small volume, high service, sellers.

[WitticismsRus · Accepted solution]

@AntiquEclectic 

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

scroll down a bit to the On time shipping & tracking bit and expand.

it says 

"What if I offer local pick-up or delivery for my items?

At this time, orders that don't have tracking because they are delivered or picked up in person will be considered shipped without tracking, and will not meet the Star Seller criteria for shipping. "

[AnnaleasFinest]

@WitticismsRus 

that's a pity!

[AntiquEclectic]

OK, thank you for confirming that Etsy is aware and apparently OK with the problem.  

[luxcrafter]

That's the rub -- Etsy has not actually seen it as a problem.  Etsy is pretty myopic in many areas where simple logic would do wonders for customer (aka seller) sentiment towards it.

[BagmakerSupply]

@AntiquEclectic  :  If you have not yet done so, you might want to read https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling and https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000338067-How-to-Offer-Local-Pickup-or-Delivery?segment=s...

Will local pickup orders be part of my evaluation for a Star Seller badge?

All physical listing orders must include a valid tracking number or a shipping label purchased on Etsy to be considered for a Star Seller badge. At this time, we’re unable to make exceptions for local pickup orders.

This also applies to delivery orders.

[luxcrafter]

Etsy had promised at the outset that it would provide both a hand-delivered and picked up by seller option for sale completion so as to not muck up the star status count, but that was never done and from others, seems if you are in the USA you are expected to ship tracked regardless of distance etc.  IOW no accomodation for pickups or local deliveries.  

I am in Canada so not fully bound by that requirement, but I adopted the policy that every etsy sale had to be shipped.  Where someone is close by I make the sale via square as I will know them.

[GieseDeseiGns]

There is no way to prove tracking so yes you are dinged for hand delivering, it’s been that way for a year now, unfortunately we are supposed to provide exemplary service to get the badge, and we get dinged for going the extra mile for delivery.

[MississippiSpoon]

For the next time I get a local order to pickup, I set up in my shop like I would set up at a craft show. Tell the customer to do the order on Etsy, print it, pull it and delete the order. Then they can pay me.

[DesertChains]

That’s fee avoidance, which is against Etsy policies.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

Now ....that's certainly one way to "avoid" more than a SSP ding!

[BagmakerSupply]

@MississippiSpoon  :  But Etsy could consider your method fee avoidance rather than enhanced customer service.

[MississippiSpoon]

Don't know. I 'm not trying to avoid fee's, just trying avoid star seller problems.

[AntiquEclectic]

In each case the sale is large vintage art behind big glass.  The buyer saved big $$$ in unnecessary shipping costs.  So Etsy prioritizes fees over customer service?  That would not be compatible with the Star Seller philosophy. 

[AntiquEclectic]

Wow.  I get it, but I'd almost rather take the ding than have the buyer go through that. 

[Adorabilities]

There's always the send-a-receipt option through Etsy labels. Everyone has their opinions on that, though.

[AntiquEclectic]

I'm not familiar with the send-a-receipt option.  It will satisfy Etsy tracking requirements and allow hand delivery?