Unable to edit listings- "Shipping profile shipping service is set to Other"

[#1]

I'm unable to save changes to any of my listings. I keep getting the error message "Shipping profile shipping service is set to Other". I've had my shipping profiles set up the same way for years and haven't made any changes recently.

I need to use the "other" option to set my own timelines for international packages- Etsy's dates for First Class International tend to drastically underestimate transit time. It seems like the only way to edit any of my listings is to change my shipping profiles. Is anyone else having this problem? Any idea if it's a bug or intended behavior?

[ScottishWoodDesign]

@DejaVuDecors e need a sellers union as Etsy is walking all over us doing this, they did not even send a warning letter/email.

[cindylouwho2]

@ScottishWoodDesign Have you discussed this with the Indie Sellers Guild? They have had some luck getting media attention to Etsy wronging sellers. 

[ScottishWoodDesign]

@cindylouwho2 Have they successfully reversed a corporate decision by them though?

[cindylouwho2]

@ScottishWoodDesign 

1. Etsy rarely fully reverses a decision due to seller complaints. 
2. When Etsy makes those types of changes, it is never about just one entity complaining.

Anyone refusing to avail themselves of a possible way to get changes simply because that method isn't their perfect solution, is part of the problem.

Have you ever heard the phrase: be the change you want to see? It applies here. Etsy started this transition in May. The time to start raising a ruckus was May, by any method possible.  

(We aren't employees so we can't have a union, but that goes without saying, of course LOL)

[ScottishWoodDesign]

Since this started has anyone had any success with this?

I cant change my shipping prices without "pretending" to use one of the other shippers instead of selecting other and it is causing me to lose money on orders, 

[cindylouwho2]

@ScottishWoodDesign you only have to select the closest method, not that method's shipping prices. Zero reason to lose money. The buyer doesn't even see the method you select.

There have been numerous posts on this; check out my Tumblr for more explanation. 

[ScottishWoodDesign]

@cindylouwho2  Thankyou, but, why have they done this and what happens if a parcel is delayed? I'm in the UK and ship to Australia, EU and America, things don't always take the designated time, why isn't UPS an option, I don't want to change it to find out that I am later penalised or lose money for not matching the timings, 

[cindylouwho2]

@ScottishWoodDesign if you qualify for seller protection, Etsy pays the refund.

If you don't qualify, then you already had issues, even with the existence of Other. 

They've done this because they want buyers to be guaranteed delivery times. They've not bothered to give us updated options because they are too cheap to do so - it costs less to force the work on the sellers. 

I'm in Canada; many of Etsy's estimates are not accurate for me either. But I've dealt with managing buyer expectations for 15 years now, and have already prepared for when they take Other away from Canadian sellers. 

[ScottishWoodDesign]

@cindylouwho2  replying to your previous statement about "being the change" and "being part of the problem" 

1. Etsy gave no prior warning they would do this, it may have been going on since May but I've only just had it happen to me, no warning, and I am not in the forums unless I have an issue. 

2. Sellers hold all the stock for Etsy, we essentially provide the products, the customer service and do all the left work, if they change something that affects us financially or for timings, then we should absolutely have some sort of say in that, or at least be warned and we should know the motives for that change. 

This is a corporate move that will inevitably lead into another restriction  later on, 

Telling people to just go with it, or that it's too late to complain, in my opinion isn't good advise, under the circumstances, its apathy and "just going along with it" that allows this stuff to happen, where do sellers draw the line? 

That kind of speech makes it feel like you're an employee of Etsy, or some sort of affiliate, everyone else is massively unhappy about it, 

And yes you could absolutely self organise a sellers union, that's how these movements start, people would agree to work together to reverse decisions that affect everyone and there's ways you could do that, Amazon now has a union, all you do is start it, organise and get legal assistance, I'm sure plenty of sellers would be happy paying £20 a month to be able to push back against these one way top down decisions. 

[cindylouwho2]

@ScottishWoodDesign 

1. Etsy has given tons of warning, through all of the rule changes, Star Seller, reserves etc. They want predictable delivery times, tracking they can read, and the ability to update buyers when shipping is actually delayed. If you weren't paying attention because all of this was only harming other sellers up until now, that is definitely on you. Anyone who relies on their Etsy shop income should be following Etsy news; you don't have to come to the forum to do it. Plenty of us put this info out daily. 
2. Sellers' main "say" is to reduce their use of an abusive platform, and to educate others on how it really works. The number of people complaining, closing shop or reducing their listings here has led to Etsy modifying some policies recently. Speak with your wallet; don't give them money. My shop is now only about 20% of what it was 4 years ago. If more people did that, Etsy would have backtracked sooner. 

"Telling people to just go with it" - umm, I never said that. I told you to notify the Indie Sellers Guild and work with them. You don't seem to want to do that bare minimum, so I don't know what else to tell you. (I can tell you that your multiple posts here in the forum will do diddly squat.)

As I have repeatedly said here in the multiple threads, you need to get the word outside of this tiny echo chamber - to the media and to people who can help exert pressure on Etsy. The Indie Sellers Guild is really good at that. They are the self-organized "union" you are looking for. They even have legal assistance! 

"That kind of speech makes it feel like you're an employee of Etsy, or some sort of affiliate" - ah yes, the person who has been fighting this stuff for years, & educating Etsy sellers on why they shouldn't rely on Etsy, and about all the risks of this platform, is working for Etsy LMAO

(I have raised concerns about the removal of Other since it happened in May, as well as about Etsy's desire for complete control of our shipping for years now. None of this should be news to anyone paying attention to how Etsy operates. It's just another day in Etsyland.) 

[PaintedHouseCraft]

Choose a carrier with the longest shipping days (e.g. DHL Ground), increase processing time, save. 
That is advice I got from Etsy support call. They are working on this issue and hopefully will add more carriers.

[GamersCornerByJohn]

Thanks for posting their response.  Just want clarity here - by "chose a carrier" were they saying to actually use a carrier with the longest shipping times or to select that in the etsy dropdown menu regardless of which service you will actually use.  Not comfortable if it is the latter, deception is not a good business practice.  I would only consider doing that if I had a bona fide written communication from them that I should willfully lie on their menu selections due to the poor design.  If they are actually asking us to use the slowest carrier, that, well, words fail to convey the irony sufficiently...

[cindylouwho2]

@GamersCornerByJohn since the buyer doesn't see what class you choose, there is zero deception involved. 

[ScottishWoodDesign]

@cindylouwho2  Thank you for the time and effort you put into those replies, forgive me but it seems from my point of view that corporations are taking more and more without people standing up for themselves and it will get really bad for everyone if people don't start pushing back or self organising to try and find some way of showing these people that we should have a say, or at least some rights, I just keep hearing people say things like you said part of the problem or solution, or words to that effect, to me that sounds like, take whatever they dish out, or go with it, 

It is easy to misread what someone is saying in a message, you don't hear the tone, or see the expression, you cant tell if someone is being helpful, defeatist or arrogant, 

So I apologise for misunderstanding what you said, 

[cindylouwho2]

@ScottishWoodDesign thank you. My "part of the problem" comment was directly in response to your negativity towards the Indie Sellers Guild, nothing else. 

Taking advantage of the resources that already have some media clout is a good thing, IMO, even if those resources aren't perfect. 

[ScottishWoodDesign]

@cindylouwho2 Again though, you perceived me asking a question "Have they successfully reversed a corporate decision by them though?" as negativity, and then suggested I was part of a problem - because I asked if they actually had any success reversing any decisions, which you yourself admitted rarely happens, (in my experience never) - stating that people needed to organise an Etsy union of some description to make sure we had a voice with some ability to challenge things is actually a positive response. 

[cindylouwho2]

@ScottishWoodDesign You asked a question you could have answered yourself with some research, plus you set a high bar with that question that honestly is rarely going to be met by one group acting alone these days. Joint efforts are necessary!

And yes, in my experience, Etsy does at least partially reverse decisions; it has happened more than once this year, in fact. All easy to look up. 

And again, a demand for a union shows a lack of understanding of the issue. Employees get unions, and we are not employees. You are looking for a different sort of organization. 

My question is: exactly what have you done to fight Etsy on this issue, other than continuing to argue with me here? Have you joined up with the Indie Sellers Guild? Contacted media? Organized a social media event? Anything at all? 

(I have done quite a bit, even though this issue doesn't effect me directly at this time)

[GamersCornerByJohn]

I think this explains an issue I'm having - it won't let me duplicate a previously created shipping profile - and I was able to select "other" in that profile.  I'm doing POD, so I actually have no real control over what service is being used internationally.  My printer lists DHL and another service that (when I googled it) seems to be a good service for Europe - but that service (Asendia) is not listed as an option.  And while my printer says "DHL" is one service they use, they don't specify which DHL service is being used (there are 5 options in Etsy).  This is probably going to lead to me just picking one of the DHL's that seems to be the most logical - or getting rid of international orders altogether.  Or moving to Shopify.  I'm sure they want to "encourage" users to go with certain carriers for their business ends but it's really a shame as it makes just dropping international sales from their site the easiest thing to do for a seller.  Terrible choice on their part.

[ScottishWoodDesign]

Exactly that, I feel the same, I don't like the decision at all, I was not warned and since I have changed to DHL 8 day I haven't made any sales, 

[ScottishWoodDesign]

I changed the settings to the recommended settings as specified in this forum, set the shipper to the closest type & time frame. 

Since I changed those settings I have not made a single sale. Usually October is a busy month and prior to those changes I was selling 8 a day consistently. 

Seems unlikely to be a coincidence, 

[ScottishWoodDesign]

@cindylouwho2 

The thread is full of people asking questions very similar to mine, I came to the forum to find out why I had an issue and question it, you answered, so I asked more questions, that's pretty normal forum behaviour, otherwise why does the forum exist?

Not all answers are correct, so I often challenge those answers for more details, which considering the information can be wrong is a wise thing to do. 

When we first interacted, I had literally just found out about the issue, there was no warning - even if you "Told everyone" - I don't know you and you didn't tell me, I just wanted to know why it had happened, to what end they had done this, or if anyone else had figured out a way around it and I thought that Etsy should have a union. Standard conversation really.

My opinions on having a union are valid, since sellers have in fact on more than one occasion formed unions, regardless of being employees or not it is still possible - so my lack of understanding maybe isn't actually a lack of understanding but an informed question. 

Article title: Etsy sellers are starting a "union" to fight policies they say hurt merchants

Article link: https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/31/23330758/etsy-strike-boycott-indie-sellers-guild-union-fee-increa...

“Organizers modeled the Indie Sellers Guild after a union”

The arguing part was seemingly from your end, even after I apologised you seemed to continue to aim negative connotations about my questions, which kind of disproved the idea that I misunderstood you, and again you are kinda telling me to "look it up" like that's not why I am here in the forum? "What have you done to fight Etsy", like I said I literally just found out, so I am doing the same as everyone else in here, which is trying to gather information and figure out the above, 

Seems odd, you tell me you did a lot to fight and you told me to join the guild, and you have all the information, yet you did not know that the guild are in fact modelled as a union.

If you feel like this is an argument, then you do not have to engage, you can just stop replying. 

[cindylouwho2]

So, you've known for a week now, and have still done nothing. Okay then.  

I've been reporting on the Indie Sellers Guild since they started; don't need out-of-date articles on them LOL But I am glad you can now see that my suggestion was valid and should have been followed. 

I'll mute this thread now, and go somewhere to help people who want to take action instead of just complain, as my time is valuable and in demand. Have a great evening! 

[InfiniTokens]

I have this too, and it is a HUGE HUGE problem. I use a distributor for international shipping (they use SF-Express) and it saves my customers money on the products I give to the distributor. If I have to switch to USPS, UPS or FedEx it DOUBLES my shipping price. A $13 product will now cost $17-20 to ship instead of $10. People are already hesitant about the $10. I will lose thousands in sales. They need to turn off the requirement until they can offer more services!!

[photoshophelpp]

I m also trying to use the other but it's force me to choose  the option and not allowed the other to make the listing with it's so crazy i don't understand what to do now why etsy make alot of changes on itself it's become difficult to up to date with each change they make and it's deceased sales also please can anyone tell me how to choose other for my listing