Seller ArtfulMarket is the latest shop to be shut down under confusing circumstances, according to this forum thread started by ArtfulMarket using another account. ArtfulMarket is one of Etsy’s most successful sellers, with close to 15,000 positive feedbacks, and who makes regular appearances on EtsyTools top sellers lists. At the time of this article’s publication, the ArtfulMarket shop is the “brick wall” indicating a closed account.
lynn61056 says:
I just wanted to let everyone know that I am trying to find out why my shop is gone. I have tried to contact Etsy about it and they sent me an abuse report from a customer who says they never received their order. Funny thing is I can’t find any record of the order in my PayPal account. So it appears they may have shut me down over an order that was never paid for. To all of my loyal customers I will continue to get all of your orders out from the invoices in my PayPal account until I can get this resolved. I am in shock that Etsy would shut me down considering I have almost 15,000 positive feedback. It appears there has been a BIG misunderstanding. I have sent several more emails to Etsy and have not received any response. Please be patient…I am still around!
Please note that Etsy’s version of this incident is not currently available, and ArtfulMarket’s post cannot be verified by UEN at this time.
edit by JB February 25
artfulmarket’s Etsy shop has been reinstated
As well, earlier today, seller Whatyoumacallits reported on the forum (via another account) that her shop had also been closed without warning. Their shop has since been reinstated. Whatyoumacallits has over 140 positive feedbacks and no negatives.
Edit:
A THIRD shop has been reported as closed without prior notice: Thatsmycharm, according to this thread posted by the sellers’s girlfriend (who is a top seller herself). As of February 11th, Thatsmycharm had over 1300 positive feedbacks and no negatives.
Thatsmycharm’s shop was reinstated on Saturday.
According to a statement by admin Kfarrell in this thread, this is Etsy’s notification process:
kfarrell says:
Transaction report emails go out automatically whenever a customer files a nondelivery report. The seller receives an email to let them know a report has been filed, and the buyer receives an email advising them to contact the seller directly. The emails do not assign blame to either party.If you get a notice of a nondelivery report filed against you, contact both the buyer and support ASAP with any information on when you mailed the package, how it was shipped, where it was shipped from, etc.
for previous coverage of this issue of shop closures without warning, please see these previous articles:
http://etsynews.com/584/two-seller-accounts-deleted-under-strange-cicrumstances/
http://etsynews.com/73/unwarrantedaccidental-shop-suspensions-sellers-be-warned/
http://etsynews.com/75/another-case-of-erroneous-shop-suspension/
http://etsynews.com/80/how-does-admin-handle-shop-suspensions/
http://etsynews.com/312/etsy-says-no-double-billing-has-occurred/?cp=5
(see comments, not main article)
Edit by Serena 2/22 1:30 ET:
Etsy admin daniellexo recommends the following steps to ward off surprise account closure:
1) Please make sure your email addresses are correct on file. If this address isn’t correct - we can’t contact you and neither can buyers.
2) Add support [!at] etsy.com, abuse [!at] etsy.com and billing [!at] etsy.com to your address book. This way it will not be forwarded to your spam/junk mailbox.
3) Keeping open lines of communication with Admin. We will try to contact you numerous times.
Source: Fora.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Some should make a “what would swimmy do” spin chart similar to the “what would a unicorn do” version.
February 29th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I’ve been thinking about Etsy’s non-response for a few days now. I’m assuming everything is quietly being swept away and allowed to die a death as far as they are concerned. Heck - there are new sellers joining every day now, especially after the appearance on Martha which will bring in even more crafters.
But surely they must be thinking “What would Swimmy do?” in this whole big mess? Why not just fall back on the business plan and go read thru (or watch) it in this hour of darkness?
This is surely what they are doing exactly, Swimmy quietly slips in among all his friends, lying his way into the centre of the shoal to safely sit it out until the big bad grumpy fish hater is on its way.
Swim on brave fish, swim on!
February 29th, 2008 at 9:37 am
that’s an excellent point. the most incompetent ones do all sound like Mr. Swimmy, himself, and this is no coincidence. Swimmy is dead, and when a fish stinks, it stinks from the head, you know.
he’s got to take responsibility for this crap, because he’s the one who set things up to work this way. when you read this thread (recently revived by DM) you can see that nothing at all has changed in the better part of a year.
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5081030
February 29th, 2008 at 6:46 am
anonfornow Says:
actually brepettis’ post sounds abit like the way rob would speak.
————-
Strange, isn’t it, how so many of these Etsy people use the same phrases, the same logic, the same ideas… almost like they’re cult members?
The Cult of Kalin…. he GAVE HIS LIFE FOR ETSY.
Don’t forget that.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:41 am
ohmyohmy Says: “and the brick wall NEEDS to go.”
Of course, it shoud be replaced with something much more sophisticated as far as account closings.
Even worse, it’s not a brick wall - it’s a damn screen from Legend Of Zelda. Can you get more in-joke, unprofessional, cutesy, winksy, we’re-so-cool than using something like that on your commercial website used by thousands of people?
Elizabeth, good point. You’re so grumpy, though, and such a public hater… I don’t know…
February 28th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
http://consumerist.com/361759/find-your-attorney-general-or-better-business-bureau
“Bookmark this: MSNBC has a nice interactive map you can click to find your state Attorney General and/or Better Business Bureau. If a company is being really bad, it’s important to file an official complaint so it’s on the record. If a company gets enough complaints, it can move an AG’s office to investigate. The BBB will sometimes open a hearing in the event of a dispute, and your complaint goes into a publicly searchable database, although the anecdotal evidence supplied by our readers doesn’t paint a very encouraging picture of their dispute resolution process.”
February 28th, 2008 at 12:45 am
I know in California it is taken seriously because it was in the news recently how that state was cracking down on employers who did that.
February 27th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Yep this does sound like discrimination against you for being pregnant. I am not sure if the ADA covers that? (not that pregnancy is a disability but it is a medical condition)