In this Storque article from Oct 5, Etsy explained their policy for overdue payments.
Starting in January of 2008, accounts with fees that are 3 months overdue will not be able to list new items, and having fees 4 months overdue (or greater) will lead to account suspension. We’ll always contact anyone with overdue fees several times beforehand to make sure things are OK and see what we can work out.
Please see the handy chart below for a reference guide to overdue-ness.
notice the “overdue x3″ period begins when you are 2 months and 1 day overdue (61 days), NOT when you are 3 months overdue.(90 days)
by this chart, April 15 is paid on time. (for fees incurred in March)
May 15 is 30 days overdue.
June 15 is 60 days overdue.
June 16 is 61 days overdue and your ability to list is suspended.
July 15 you are 90 days overdue
July 16 (91 days overdue) your account is suspended. This is not 4 months overdue as the text states. 4 months would be 120 days.
so even their original statement was wrong, according to the chart.
this policy has drastically changed, without any announcement that I am aware of.
In the CURRENT ( NOV 3, 2007) billing page, it states:
What are the consequences of not paying my bill?
As soon as your bill becomes overdue, we will send you and email to let you know. If your account is between 1 and 30 days overdue, you’ll see a notice on Your Etsy Bill and will not be able to enroll in Auto-Bill until your account is current. (Note: Auto-Bill is not currently available.) If your account is between 31 and 60 days overdue, your ability to list new items will be suspended automatically and you will receive an email to let you know that your account is overdue. If your account becomes more than 60 days overdue, your account may be suspended.NOTE: Because we’re playing a bit of catch-up with this new billing system, all sellers have until January 1st, 2008 to pay all their fees before any action will be taken by Etsy.
so according to this new policy, now you would be suspended from listing on May 16, and banned on June 16. (for unpaid March bills)
Also note the change of “will be suspended” to “may be suspended”.
edit Nov 14 by JB
the policy has changed again, without notice. Today the billing page states
If your account becomes 2 months overdue, your ability to list new items will be automatically suspended. After 3 months, your account will be suspended entirely
So now, it says you are suspended from listing new items if you are 2 months overdue (60 days) and your account is suspended when you are 3 months overdue (90 days). This is more lenient than the Nov. 3 policy and more strict than the Oct 5 policy. It still doesn’t start being enforced until January 2008, but the policy may change again by then.
previous coverage of the billing issue
http://etsynews.com/457/what-will-happen-if-your-etsy-bill-is-overdue/
November 4th, 2007 at 12:00 am
editorial: don’t mess with the money.
November 4th, 2007 at 7:46 am
*head spins* … No wonder life is passing me by so quickly with four months really being three!
November 4th, 2007 at 9:30 am
It’s almost like no one thinks these things through before they advise the public of the changes. They don’t have someone who they go to and say, “Does this sound right? Did we calculate this wrong?”
It makes my head spin. People with brains in their heads, who don’t think things through before they do them. Argh.
November 4th, 2007 at 11:56 am
…. and how many etsy members will go completely ignorant of this?
November 4th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
until they can’t list or something. i thought nothing was happening until after christmas tho?
November 4th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
… and what happens if the etsy billsbot completely f*cks up and sends you account overdrawn messages unchecked like it has in the past?
where is the beloved human element in this little system? (did anyone get an answer about human error checking?)
November 4th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
JB,
I sized the gif so it doesn’t overflow into the next column.
November 4th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
thanks soap, for shrinking the graph. Can everyone still read the writing?
rita n. says:
That is correct. One part of the policy which has not changed, is that the overdue penalties will not be enforced until January 2008.
That is what they said in the Storque on Oct 5, and that is what it says in your bills section.
However, the actual penalties and time frame for WHAT will be enforced in January is what has changed without notice.
When my credit card company changes their policy on fees, penalties, due dates, etc., they have to notify me by mail. I think it would be prudent for Etsy to notify sellers of this change by email. The policy has changed drastically in less than a month- the grace period just went from 3 months down to one month.
I have no opinion on the actual policy- they can make the grace period whatever they want, but it isn’t cool to change it so much without telling anyone. Plus I am not sure which statement is even correct, I am assuming the most recent one in the “my bills” section is correct, but who knows for sure? When it comes to money issues, this vagueness is just unacceptable.
November 14th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
[...] more information about billing and overdue penalties, please see this article http://etsynews.com/500/etsy-changes-policy-about-overdue-bills-unannounced/ The policy has changed three times in the past 6 [...]