Tracking is not updated, result no funds

[VintagePosterQueen]

Hi all,
I sell reproductions of Vintage posters that I restore myself. I work from the Netherlands.
Etsy would like you to use tracking. Customers can then see where their package is and Etsy can see if the package has been delivered.
When completing an order, you can enter tracking. You fill in the carrier trough a drop-down menu and the tracking code.
If the sender is not in the list, you can indicate "other" and manually enter the name of the carrier in a third field.
This is where it's going wrong. I use print on demand (POD's) for my posters (I have set up production partners in my shop).
If you specify Australia as the delivery address, my poster will be printed and shipped in Australia, or in Europe or USA if that is your delivery address.
A poster for a customer in Australia is sent by Australian Post. If this order has been shipped and change the status to completed, I can't choose Australian Post,
only Carriers that are active in the Netherlands. So I choose "other".

The problem with this is that the status is not updated once the package has been sent. Most orders are on pre-transit (while they are delivered).
I manually send a tracking link to the customer so they can follow the status of the order via the carrier's site.
Because the status is not updated via the Etsy order screen, according to Etsy, the order has not yet been delivered. As a result, Etsy is putting my order in reserve.
Which means I don't get paid. They keep my money in reserve to cover any returns or complaints.
I understand the idea behind it but in this case the orders have been delivered, there is proof of delivery via the tracking link.
There is nothing I can do to prevent this from happening in the future. If I understood right, all my future orders will be put in reserve for a period of 90 days.

I am a ewbie shop and just started to see an increase in my orders.

I changed my shop status to holidaymode and made created a call at Etsy support. Unfortunately no response yet.

I can start production in the Netherlands, but this means longer delivery times and higher delivery costs.
And, the status of our own National Carrier POSTNL is not supported by Etsy at all, how about that.
As a result, these orders will also be put on reserve.

Is this only a problem in the Netherlands?

I would love some advice.

Thanks.

Chris

[SunnytyDE]

The German postal system „Deutsche Post“ doesn’t update tracking with Etsy correctly. On their own website it shows as delivered but on Etsy it never does. Etsy knows about this and they said they are working on it. So my guess is they are working on other countries/tracking problems too. 
The 90 days will be over eventually

[VintagePosterQueen]

Hi SunnytyDE,

Sounds similar. I hope this will be fixed soon.

Thanks!

Chris

[FeinerUnfug]

Hi.

»There is nothing I can do to prevent this from happening in the future.
If I understood right, all my future orders will be put in reserve for a period of 90 days.«

No, they will be put in reserve for 45 days.
90 days is the total time the reserve is put on your shop.

There are comparable problems with Royal Mail in UK und Deutsche Post in Germany right now.
Most of my sales from november are in reserve right now, although a few of them were released today.

More infos about the reserve:
https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058722214-What-is-a-Payment-Account-Reserve-?segment=sell...
https://www.cindylouwho2.com/blog/2021/10/22/etsy-payment-account-reserves-what-every-seller-needs-t...

Peter

[VintagePosterQueen]

Hi Peter,

Do you mean after 90 days the reserve will not be applied at all?

Thanks for replying. I appreciate it.

Chris

[FeinerUnfug]

@VintagePosterQueen 

Every new seller (since 2021?) gets the reverse.

»If you have a reserve on your account, for each subsequent sale you receive, a set percentage of the sale amount will not be available for deposit for up to 45 days from the sale date. This reserve will be removed from your account in 90 days, unless there are additional policy infractions with your account.«

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

Peter

[VintagePosterQueen]

@FeinerUnfug I read the article from cindylouwho2, It was very helpful,
Thanks!
Chris

[SunnytyDE · Accepted solution]

I also hope it will be fixed soon too. What I did do was contact Etsy and showed them screen shots of the delivered items from the postal website that showed up on Etsy as still in transit. They then released the funds they were holding in account reserve for those items. I did this a few times but then got really tired of writing for every item and I stopped doing that. But Etsy does respond and is really nice and helpful about it. 

[VintagePosterQueen]

@SunnytyDE 

That's a good idea, I'll try that. I think eventually Etsy will respond and solve the issues.

Thanks

[Lolashiddentreasures]

Where did you write too? I have been on etsy since 2014, I released a refund for shipping and this happened to me.

[SunnytyDE]

They will probably respond with a generic email but on the bottom it will say if you need more help answer to this email. After you do you get a real person answering. 

[VintagePosterQueen]

@SunnytyDE @FeinerUnfug 

Hello,

After our conversation yesterday, part of my funds where released. Etsy really made an effort.
In my support case, I had tracking links to the carriers with status delivered.
Thanks for helping out and have a great weekend!
(I favoured your shops

[CraftyCraftsCorners]

Seems they are aware of the problems with tracking and not being updated check here https://community.etsy.com/t5/Technical-Issues/RESOLVING-Missing-tracking-data-impacting-orders-held...

[VintagePosterQueen]

@CraftyCraftsCorners Yesss, That's the same issue. Glad they are resolving it. Thanks

[VintagePosterQueen]

@Lolashiddentreasures

You can create a new support request at Etsy Support. Hope you'll find a solution.

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/requests/new?segment=selling#issuelist_selling_on_etsy

Have a lovely day.

[InterStore]

For last a few years etsy tracking does not work. You have to manually trace yourself and send link to buyers. 

But some years ago It used to work and at least showing tracking for usa destined packages.

I can generally say etsy programming capabilities are very weak.

There are so many online shipping tracking sites it is really frustrating etsy does not have capacity to give the same level of tracking to users

[VintagePosterQueen]

@InterStore

Yes, it is very frustrating. Thank you for your contribution. Hopefully it will change for the best in the future. Have a lovely evening.

Kind regards,

Chris

[VintagePosterQueen]

SunnytyDE:

They will probably respond with a generic email but on the bottom it will say if you need more help answer to this email.

After you do you get a real person answering.

I did get this generic email and answered it. After that a real person answered my email.

SunnytyDE

What I did do was contact Etsy and showed them screen shots of the delivered items from the postal website that showed up

on Etsy as still in transit. They then released the funds they were holding in account reserve for those items.

I did show them screen shots, as attachment, of the delivered items with a link to the carrier. They released my funds after that.

Etsy wrote:

You may wish to use a carrier whose tracking we can support. Please refer to our partner Aftership's list of supported carriers here:

https://www.aftership.com/couriers

You can also use this link to for track and trace.

It took some time but I am satisfied with the way Etsy handled it.

Happy Holidays!

Chris

[ELGRECOjewelry]

I have same problems with tracking updates.

I send them email and they answer to my problem that i have to read an article.

so i went to this link and was all about OPEN API v3 !!!

Oh my God, this is for programmers and developers, this is not for me, how i supposed to change the carrier i send parcels from "No" to "Yes" in tracking progress?

[CraftyCraftsCorners]

@ELGRECOjewelry  This is a old thread post. Start an new one in Technical issues or All about Shipping,  about your problem and get better help. 

[VintagePosterQueen]

@ELGRECOjewelry I am sorry to hear you have the same problem. I hope it will be solved soon. You can create a new thread. Good luck, You have a lovely shop.