Unwanted, Unsolicited Marketing Notifications from Etsy Seller App

[TrinketDrawersUK]

As the title says being spammed by unsolicited notifications on the Etsy seller app again, only notifications turned on are for sales, messages and reviews. 

[audreytherese]

Yep. I deleted my app because of this and I hope others do as well. I feel like mass deactivations of their precious app is the only thing that might actually get their attention to fix this problem (feedback, support messages, reports have all been done already, to no avail). 

[audreytherese]

Other posts about it:

How to stop promotional marketing texts from the E... - Welcome to the Etsy Community

Ap notifications - Welcome to the Etsy Community

how to turn off spam from Etsy on app - Welcome to the Etsy Community

[UppNorthEh]

It's horrible.  I think we got two just in the last 24 hours.  There should be a link on those messages somewhere to hit Unsubscribe. 

[audreytherese]

There should be, but they are not listening. Many of those notifications take you to the monthly newsletters here. I've reported them over and over, saying we should be able to opt out. Also that this only started a few months ago, so obviously it was a recent change that was made that needs to be unmade. But they don't care. They'll just move this post to a different forum section like 'managing your shop' and mark it as solved, not solving anything and keeping us frustrated. Well, others. I am feeling much better now that I've deleted my app. As long as I log into my account at least once a day I'm not missing anything that I otherwise used the app for. 

[TrinketDrawersUK]

@audreytherese @Yes, instead finding more shoppers they're trying to milk the sellers, tempted to mark this post as the accepted solution lol.

[AnniebelloPaper]

I think these notifications are a direct result of too many sellers unsubscribing from Etsy's spam emails. They gave us the option to opt-out of emails. With the app, there seems to be no way to opt-out of Etsy spam notifications. I only have messages and sales notifications switched on because they are important. Definitely have general news and launch features switched off but I'm still getting them.

[audreytherese]

Which is BS. We should always have control over what push notifications we get on our phones. These articles are very much not important enough to warrant a push notification, thus SPAM. Giving us no ability to mark it as such or just turn them off is ridiculous. 

Maybe sellers wouldn't unsubscribe so much if they made them interesting and easy to read. Not everyone wants that much orange on their screens. The layout of the newsletters themselves are almost as obnoxious as the push notifications. 

[FancyTogs]

@audreytherese 

"The layout of the newsletters themselves are almost as obnoxious as the push notifications. "

Oh good, it's not just me that thinks that.

Lawrence

[TheHomespunLoft]

Agree-- I stop using the app last year about when the Cha-Ching stopped working for me. I use a browser window instead on all my devices and it works just fine. Don't see those ads. My email keeps me informed about things I want to know about like sales and convos.

[FancyTogs]

In the UK & EU laws it is possible for marketing to use a soft op-in. There are conditions, and the details of them varies between countries, but there must be an opt-out available. There are also differences in the rules for B2B marketing versus consumer marketing.

There are multiple laws involved. In the UK these include:

• GDPR (copied from EU to UK law)
• PECR, "The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003" (based on parts of EU Directive 2002/58/EC)
• Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, a new UK law effective from 19 June 2025, a minor tweak to GDPR, cookie consent requirements, and other stuff

For the UK, the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) website does a wonderful job of making it very confusing:
https://ico.org.uk

If you are annoyed by Etsy's latest marketing antics then read Etsy's Privacy Policy, it is linked at the top of the legal section: https://www.etsy.com/legal 

They have a variety of options in different languages, I looked at the UK version.

It includes information on which official authorities you can complain to (near the end of the Policy):

• Right to File a Complaint: If you are a resident in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK,
  you have the right to lodge a complaint about our data protection practices with the
  supervisory authority of your country or state.
  In the UK, the relevant data protection authority is the Information Commissioner's
  Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, +44 (0303) 123
  1113, casework@ico.org.uk.
  In Ireland, the relevant data protection authority is the Data Protection Commission,
  21 Fitzwilliam Square South, Dublin 2, D02 RD28, +353 017650100 / + 353
  1800437737, email: info@dataprotection.ie or by using this online form.

and who to contact at Etsy (at the very end of the Policy):

12. Contact Us
If you have any questions:
● Contact Etsy’s Support team via our Help Centre
● Chat Support (available on our Site)
● Send an email to Etsy’s Data Protection Officer at dpo@etsy.com
● Write to us at one of the following addresses:
In North America or South America:
Etsy Support Team – Privacy Policy
117 Adams Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
Outside of North America and South America:
Etsy Support Team – Privacy Policy
One Le Pole Square,
Ship Street Great,
Dublin 8
Ireland

Lawrence (Clare's other half)

[TrinketDrawersUK]

@FancyTogs There is an opt out button but it (deliberately?) doesn't work, submitted bug report twice now, I'm sure others have too, guessing the law allows them a generous time frame for fixing bugs. 

[EccentricHandbags]

I like the idea.  I have turned it off the notifications for this very reason, then I turned it back on last holiday season and never turned it back off.  I never thought about, but Etsy really won't know anything unless people delete the app.  I've never used it for anything other than to get notifications for a sale.  It made it fun, but I could do without it.

[LaRenaissanceGirl]

Oh my gosh, I literally came to the forum today to see if anyone else has had this issue. I installed the app on my phone last week when I went on vacation, just in case I got any messages (from a woman I’m creating a custom order for) while out of town. Just got back last night and I’ve had several of these spam notifications while on my trip. Kept thinking it was a message from the customer!!

Then I would check and make sure I only had notifications enabled for orders, messages, and reviews. That’s so dumb. We can’t opt out of it, so now I’m going to delete the app again. Bye Etsy app, good riddance!

[audreytherese]

Looking for something else, I came across this post saying how to subscribe to these newsletters. That seems to coincide with when those push notifications that we can't turn off anywhere started. There is a survey in the post about that new feature. I answered the survey with frustration about not being able to opt out of the push notifications (forcing me to delete the app) and I hope others do as well. 

Community Newsletter: January 9, 2025 - Welcome to the Etsy Community