Ecommerce Sellers Catch Fraud After Money Is Already Gone
Ecommerce sellers are experiencing frustrating account suspensions, often related to compliance regulations like the INFORM Act, leading to significant delays and reactive troubleshooting. Simultaneously, they're battling fraudulent activity like bracket buying and returns, resulting in substantial financial losses and requiring manual auditing to identify and address. These issues highlight a lack of proactive protection and support.
SOURCES (60)
“Looks like a scam to me but what would y’all’s opinions be? My first time looking on Etsy and it just seems to good to be true because of the price and new account. submitted by /u/raggedyraccoon7879 [link] [comments]”
“I'm not sure what I should even do at this point, or if I'm overreacting and just need to wait. I bought two items from a seller on July 25th/26th. Both were art pieces and I expected them to take a minute to make, originally the delivery date was supposed to be August 12th-13th, and the seller updated the order to deliver on August 17th-18th, which I was totally okay with, I was prepared to wait. The shipping information never updates again, stuck on "getting ready to ship." T”
“There are Shopify apps that validate addresses immediately after a sale. It show customers the suggested addresses vs theirs, and alerts them of any errors while they’re still on. It also sends them emails to correct them asap.”
“Hi everyone - what are your thoughts on this? I sell prints of my artwork. A customer ordered a framed print. when it showed up, fedex apparently left it in the middle of the driveway rather than under their front porch on a rainy day. (Also - why would FedeX leave it on the driveway in general?1) ugh. i protect my art with plastic wrap, but i can understand from the customer's perspective that they don't want an item that sat in a wet box all day. that said...they haven't actually s”
“A buyer opened a non-delivery case and Etsy refunded them through Purchase Protection and closed the case. Does anyone know if the buyer can still leave a review after Etsy issues the refund and closes the case? submitted by /u/Pancrelin [link] [comments]”
“I wouldn't lump all support agencies together, but I do think “tickets closed” is a terrible metric for ecommerce support. A ticket about a failed payment, cancellation or product issue can be worth very different amounts to the business, so I'd want to see things like recovered payments, saved cancellations, refunds avoided and customer satisfaction alongside response time. Automation can handle a lot of repetitive stuff, but I'd be nervous about letting it make judgment calls on re”
“I’d definitely test this before launch with a few fake orders. Same account twice, new account with the same address, and guest checkout if you allow it. Whatever rule you use, those three tests will show pretty quickly where people can still get around it.”
“Been doing this a long time, and this still baffles me. I create custom items and every so often after someone orders, I really need clarification on what they entered into the order. It's either incomplete info, an obvious typo, or I just want to double check something before it is created & shipped. I send an Etsy message, no reply. I find the email associated with the order/account and send a direct email from my business Gmail account to their email address (even though the Etsy mess”
“Even IF the customer would want to fix their order, it may ship out without the fix. So at least make it that orders are shipping within 24 hours, or something. Do you offer next-day shipping? If not, let orders sit for 24 hours before you fulfill them. That way any fixes/changes can be done, with or without an app.”
“There's no native way for a customer to edit their own address after purchase, which is the annoying answer, but you can kill most of these before they happen. Catch it at checkout instead. Most missing apartment numbers come from browser autofill filling address line 1 and skipping line 2 entirely. Address validation at checkout, the kind that flags "this looks like a multi-unit building with no unit number", stops the order being placed wrong at all. That's by far the highest”
“Use an app that requires each customer to verify their information by email , and if they need to change it again after this there's an admn fee. That makes sure they read the email confirm carefully and make changes.”
Use an order editing app. Let the customer fix it. It's what we did
“This drives me nuts! I keep fixing addresses on peoples accounts and the next time they place an order it is effed up again! Why?!?”
“Hi! I ordered on Jan 15. The delivery estimate for the order at the time was "Estimated: Mar 21-May 1." It's now Sept 3 and I've received nothing. Etsy support is telling me that the "180-day window for this order" has elapsed (that's true!) and that I'm not eligible for a refund. I'm just confused.... what incentives the seller to ever fulfill anything? It just seems so obvious to me that I would be a good candidate for a refund??? I'm just curious if”
“Fedexed a small 6x4 mailer. Customer: it says delivered but was not. I go to Fedex tracking. It says "Duplicate tracking numbers". One is marked as delivered. The other is marked in transit. Customer: On our camera it shows a Fedex truck stopping, fedex guy getting out with no package in hand, approaching our porch, then leaving. I call Fedex. They try to figure it out for 20 minutes or so. Then assure me it will be delivered the next day. Next day: nothing. I call. They promise to &qu”
“Have had to this several times. I usually provided an invoice from these brands as proof.”
“Hi everyone! I’m a small Etsy seller who sells vintage clothing, and I’ve never had to deal with a return or refund on Etsy before, so I’m really confused about what to do in this situation. A buyer purchased a vintage clothing item from me in early August , and today, September 3rd , they contacted me saying that the item arrived damaged. They claim that some rhinestones have fallen off and that there is damage to the clothing, and they are asking for a refund. The part I’m having a hard time u”
“On the 14th of August I made a purchase from a seller for a button with custom artwork, that was meant to ship by the first of September and arrive the 18th (via time estimate). However, the artist was supposed to show sketches & whatnot but they never even acknowledged or replied to any of my messages. I checked in yesterday, and decided okay- I'll wait until the 14th, a full month, and message them again. Upon checking the page for the button again though, I saw that it says that they”
“So, a customer has just placed a repeat order, $197.99 larger than their previous order. With there previous order, the delivery & billing address was Cowes, Victoria, along with the same “Jeremy” delivery/billing profile. This new order however for some reason, has a completely different billing name and address, almost 2 hours from each other. They paid via card so chargeback is potential. Should I fulfil? The only items marked as risk was the address and distance; everything else was low”
“email limits are easy to get around, they just make a new one. shipping address is what actually catches people, so plan on sorting by address after the drop and cancelling dupes by hand rather than trusting an app to be airtight. put the limit in the product description and at the cart, not just your terms page. nobody reads terms, but they do read the line right above the buy button, and then a cancellation email doesn't feel like a gotcha.”
“The biggest red flag to me is the checkout drop-off. At €149–€349, I’d want strong reassurance right before paying—clear delivery dates, returns, dimensions, materials, and especially close-up photos showing exactly what arrives,,, If those are already clear, I’d investigate checkout friction and payment failures before changing the product page.”
“PayPal's pretty strict about verification cause they're tied to real IDs and bank accounts, buying one off someone is a great way to get scammed or flagged for fraud You're 18 so you can just open your own, link”
“Ill notice that once & a whike I get a notice saying tge customers order has been changed & updated, but it will be after I pock up the order? Sometimes I get thr notice after paying but before I deliver, and sometimes its way later. What does this mean? submitted by /u/Conscious-Music-8688 [link] [comments]”
“Ship to the AVS match billing address and ask the courier to not allow pickup in store or changing the address. I've had some weird orders like this where they ship to the stolen credit card owners house then ask fedex to pickup in store. Also ask for signature on delivery”
“Filed a formal notice for dispute arbitration today after Etsy is refusing to release the hold on funds after making a change to my bank account. They completed the account verification process but after over 7 days now they will not lift the hold. Contacted support 4 times already regarding this to get an exact date and each person I speak to gives some random date in September every time. They have absolutely no clue what they are doing. In fact one support member just kept copy and pasting th”
“Small shop side: we pay 2-4 new suppliers in a normal month, and the checks that actually caught things for us were boring ones. Call the vendor back on a number you found yourself (their website or the invoice you got at first contact), never the number in the email asking for the wire. Any change in bank details = treat as fraud until a voice call confirms it. Ask for a business registration number and check it against the public registry in their country, and look at how old the domain is - a”
“One extra lever if that warehouse should never touch online/POS orders at all: Settings > Locations > open the location and uncheck "Fulfill online orders from this location". It stays active for inventory and manual fulfillment, but order routing (including POS ship-to-customer) stops picking it. Downside is it's global, so if you still want it filling non-US orders, the shipping-profile origin/zone approach is the one that actually region-locks it.”
“I bought a knitted wool stomach warmer from WoolLoveCrafts , based in Ukraine. Shop looked genuine, pics looked genuine, all seemed well. Product arrived today, very dirty with strange bits and pieces with occasional hay strands and yellow-y thing that looks like livestock food knitted in for extra bonus. When washed, smelled like actual living sheep. Bit worried about bed bugs etc now, but overall am very happy. It feels nice to touch after the washes and handpicking out the ecky stuff. It'”
“Tried to accept an order. Got a float message saying something went wrong. Order wouldn't load then got a temporary suspension. Why? This app is such dog 💩 sometimes. submitted by /u/ADHDDDDDDDD [link] [comments]”
“Hi everyone, I’m a bit confused and hoping someone here has had the same issue. My Etsy shop suddenly shows “currently not selling on Etsy.” I can still access Shop Manager, but I can’t really see any clear reason for what happened. I also never received any email from Etsy about a suspension, violation, or anything like that. I already contacted Etsy Support, but so far I haven’t received a real answer. They basically told me that they would get back to me later, and I’m still waiting. Has this”
“No payment is done after buying product from us .. all i have is just WhatsApp chats ( they have blocked us after telling that they would pay tomorrow since banks are closed)from our side all the delivery is perfectly done (since delivered we do have their location of their house and name too).. when we ask for payment they told us to remind us on WhatsApp and never replied us ( blocked us) what can i do? This is very first time incident for us after starting this small hustle and we don’t know”
“If med/high risk, leave payment uncaptured, usually CC payments can be left uncaptured for 7 days. Auto-email immediately: Subject: Action needed - Verify your order #BB5564 Hi Sarah, Your order needs to be verified before we can dispatch it. This is a quick secrity check to confirm that you're the cardholder and protect you from fraud. To do this, we will need the statement code {image example} This can usually be found on your Credit Card transactions list in your online banking/app. If we”
“I bought something that didn't come right. After some discussion with the seller she said "I'm going to issue a refund to you" I said thank you. But then that's it. There was no message from Etsy or anything. I assume it takes a few days to show up in PayPal, but I would have thought there is a way to actually see if the refund is coming on Etsy? Otherwise she could just say she is going to do it and forget to do it and I never see it. Thanks! submitted by /u/Ma”
Pick up the phone and call them. If you get a feeling, cancel the order.
“Hi! Just looking to hear from other sellers who may have gone through something similar. We had an issue with one of our listings, and the party involved contacted Etsy's legal team directly about two months ago to let them know the matter had been resolved. We confirmed that they contacted the correct Etsy email, but we haven't seen any changes on Etsy's end yet. Has anyone been through a similar process? How long did it take Etsy to update things on their end, and did you eventuall”
“is it a freight forwarder :? sometimes these orders come in and look weird, if its low risk and address checks out you can email for a confirmation but id ship it”
“Hi! Just looking to hear from other sellers who may have gone through something similar. We had an issue with one of our listings, and the party involved contacted Etsy's legal team directly about two months ago to let them know the matter had been resolved. We confirmed that they contacted the correct Etsy email, but we haven't seen any changes on Etsy's end yet. Has anyone been through a similar process? How long did it take Etsy to update things on their end, and did you eventuall”
“Hi! I have a buyer that I’ve messaged 3 times about a correct shipping address and they haven’t responded to me. They didn’t put a house number in the address. The ship by date is today and Etsy support said to cancel and refund the order if I haven’t heard from them by the end of day. Is there anything else I should do? And is there anything I can do to protect my shop in case the buyer becomes difficult/ leaves a bad review etc. I’ve never had a buyer not answer my message and I’m low key stre”
“Numbers you asked for, since I pulled them: the cheap tier is about 62% of orders, and the complaints come from the 3-4% of those that hit 7+ days, so roughly 8-10 emails a month plus 2-3 goodwill refunds. Price gap to the next tier is only about $3.20 on a 1 lb parcel, which is why I've been tempted to kill it - but the two people here who actually removed a cheap tier said cart abandonment cost them more than the refunds did, and my AOV is low enough that I believe it. So the plan is your”
“Hi, so I bought an expensive desk, over $2000. I wanted something solid wood and great quality and found one on etsy I thought was beautiful. I was super nervous to spend that much without seeing it in person, but the shop had lots of great reviews and looked really nice. Before buying, I messaged the seller some questions about the desk and each time they responded within minutes. I then bought the desk, and since I'd been messaging with them, I sent them a message saying that I decided to”
“The thing the help doc never covers is which kind of duplicate you've got. Open both orders and compare the source and the timestamps. Two online store orders seconds apart, each from its own checkout, is a double submit or a retry following a payment error. One checkout that turned into two orders is the platform's problem. Putting that question in the ticket, with the case ID from the closed-ticket email, is what gets past the help-doc reply.”
“I hardly ever use Etsy, is this a normal thing? The estimate originally said September 10th -23rd. I placed the order Aug 28th. The seller has been on Etsy for 5 years, had 300 reviews, many with pictures, and various feedback. As far as 2023. Some reviews also this year. I reverse imaged searched, and it all pretty much only comes up as this shop. I am a bit paranoid from a friend getting scammed. Is this a red flag, what should I look for specifically? I paid directly to Etsy. submitted”
“I assume you’re using the post office parameters for delivery meaning they say ”2-5 days”. I would make a note “actual shipping times may be 7-9 days”. The regular now takes 8-10 days. Don't remove the cheap shipping option or it will cut into your sales.”
“Hi, So...I need some help on what could be done or what to do next. I bought a product, and I waited for it to arrive but it never did. To explain further: unfortunately I had to go to a short trip so I got confused about the amount of packages (everything else artived), and when I noticed this one package was not there. I called my Postal office, checked everything, and then I had the idea (too late, should have first) to check my Etsy, and it said that it was "Shipped" but it hasn”
“Hi everyone, My Etsy account was suddenly suspended, and I’m honestly confused about what caused it. I received the suspension message when trying to access my account, but I have received no email from Etsy explaining why. I checked my inbox, spam, junk, trash, promotions, etc., and there is nothing. A few details: My first shop sells digital printables that I created using AI as part of the creation process. I did not disclose the use of AI in my listings. I’m wondering if this could be the is”
“Hi gang - I’ve been selling for 15 years on Etsy and my own external website. Digital download, craft supplies (patterns). Etsy’s automated system is taking down my listings in batches every night, and I’m at wits end. Contacted Etsy support (human finally) who told me to refer to Etsy Seller Handbook, but all my listings comply with Etsy Policies? They are zero help and refuse to escalate for manual review. Does anyone know: \- how to request a manual review? \- if having my own site with the s”
“Hi gang - i have 200 listings, selling for 15 years on Etsy and my own website. Digital download, craft supplies (patterns). Etsy’s automated system is taking down my listings in batches every night, and I’m at wits end. Contacted Etsy support (human finally) who told me to refer to Etsy Seller Handbook, but all my listings comply with Etsy Policies? They are zero help and refuse to review or escalate to Trust team. Does anyone know if: - having my own site with the same listings is causing thei”
“Good evening, everyone! A few weeks ago, I made a post about a message I received from Etsy regarding the number of cases affecting my shop. I had five cases, opened between June and July. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, I want to make something clear: I'm not trying to avoid responsibility for what happened, nor am I looking for judgment or criticism. Sometimes life happens, we make mistakes, and all we can do is learn from them and try to do better moving forward. I'm specifically”
“Hello! I use Etsy very rarely and have never had to return anything. Unfortunately my dad naively purchased what was advertised as natural gemstones from India but on arrival they turned out to be cheap synthetic stones. He spent around 180 euros total. I raised an issue with the seller who has agreed on a return at our expense (asking we describe the content as artificial, a gift, and with a value of 10$ for custom purposes). I've been reading Etsy's return policies but have found them”
“Hi everyone, I’m hoping someone here may have experienced something similar and can advise me what to do. My Etsy shop has been suspended since July 3, 2026 , without warning and without any explanation of what caused the suspension. The suspension happened shortly after I changed my bank account. Since then, the new account has remained stuck on “Pending verification” in Payment Settings. There is no button or option for me to complete the verification myself. I have contacted Etsy Support seve”
“For the second time in four months I received a past due notice for 20 cents when Etsy stated the charge could not be processed. Both times I had a valid credit card on file, but the letter threatens to suspend the account. The first time, the only option to contact customer service was using the AI chatbot. The bot did not deny or check for a valid credit card on file for automatic billing. The AI bot gave non-specific answers, like how to make manual payment or updating an expired card. I requ”