r/EtsyCommunity

I've been on etsy for years and for my shops I always took a lot of time to try take accurate photos for listings to make sure the buyer knew what to expect for both our sakes.

After emigrating though I started fresh with a new shop 3 weeks ago and from doing market research it seems like now the meta is all ai generated backgrounds or products edited into faux showrooms.

I feel like as a buyer I don't trust those too-perfect setups and especially with ai ones I don't know if what I'm paying for is genuine or handmade. If ai is used for the listing's is the art also going to be ai? Is it even a real store?

So I haven't done any of it for my new shop and have stuck to just taking various photos of my prints in natural lighting with some close-ups. I'm doing okay with this so far and have 23 sales since May 1st, but what are your guys thoughts on the new mockup meta both from a buyer and seller perspective?
Do you find them a bit uncanny as a buyer?
Is it just a matter of convenience as a seller?

Hello everyone! 😊

I would really appreciate a small shop critique and some honest advice.

Our Etsy shop has been open for about 5 months now. At the moment we have around 85 listings, but only 20 sales so far. We’re trying to improve the shop step by step, but it feels like we’re getting very low traffic and not many views.

We create party and classroom games — both printable and interactive clickable games. One thing that makes our interactive games different from many others on the market is that they do not require any extra apps or programs to use. Customers don’t need Canva, PowerPoint, or any additional software — everything is simple and ready to play.

If you have a couple of minutes, could you please take a quick look at the shop and share your thoughts? Maybe there’s something important we’re missing — thumbnails, SEO, pricing, descriptions, branding, or product presentation.

Any feedback, even small tips, would mean a lot to us. Thank you so much in advance for your time and help! 💛

Our shop link

Hey everyone,

I recently started my own 3D printing shop and I would really appreciate some honest feedback and analysis from people here. I’ve been working hard on improving my products, photos, descriptions, pricing, and overall branding, but I’d love to hear what experienced Etsy/3D printing buyers and sellers think.

My shop:
3DShopSchoonhoven Etsy Shop

A few things I’d especially like feedback on:

• Product quality and ideas
• Store design / branding
• Pricing
• Photos and thumbnails
• SEO / titles / tags
• What makes the shop look trustworthy (or not)
• What products have the most potential
• Anything that could help me grow faster

Right now things are actually starting to go pretty well — I’m close to getting a bulk order of around 80 NFC tags, so I’m trying to take the shop more seriously and improve everything.

Please be brutally honest. I’d rather hear real criticism than fake compliments.

Thanks a lot!

Soy una artista latina, que he estado intentado poder vivir de mi arte y creaciones con la ayuda del POD, printify específicamente. La verdad me gustaría mucho que esto resultara, y creo que mi arte cumple con lo necesario...

https://www.etsy.com/es/shop/Entrebosquestudio

Esa es la tienda, espero sus comentarios y gracias de antemano! :)

So my husband purchased a vintage item for me. In the photos it looked perfect. All that was mentioned was some imperfections in the paint and some pins inside. It’s a sewing thing so that was no big deal, two pins were pictured. When it arrived, there was staining on the cloth part, a major function of this thing didn’t work and in the description it said worked perfectly. A piece of it was snapped off inside of the item. There were multiple rusty pins. Ones that I couldn’t even see and I poked myself which was sketchy. He ended up getting a partial refund(less than half of the item not including shipping. APPRECIATED) and honestly, it seemed like they were trying to avoid any accountability and really didn’t want to refund him half even though this thing at this point was kind of just old trash. The photos were also very bright and kind of seemed like they were washing out the product to make it look better than it was.
My question is should a review be left? Is it petty to leave an honest review? It was really upsetting. I’m glad they were responsive but all in all it was a crazy experience.

Hi everyone, I’m based in Germany and would really appreciate some advice and feedback on my shop. https://www.etsy.com/shop/SiYarnStudio

I started it about two months ago because I genuinely love the texture and aesthetic of crochet flowers. (Since I’m working alone and my production capacity is limited, and also considering shipping costs, I’m currently only selling within Europe.)

However, over the past two months, my shop has been getting very low traffic (mostly single-digit views).

I’ve also been trying to drive traffic through Pinterest and Instagram, but the results have been quite limited so far.

If you have any suggestions on how I can improve or get my shop off the ground, I would be very grateful!

Looking for someone who can make a cozy fleece hideout (or possibly 2) with a specific fabric I have chosen. I was trying to find it as a premade hideout, but have only been able to find the fabric.

In the last month, Etsy has been refunding orders marked as delivered out of my shop funds saying they are not eligible for Etsy’s Purchase Protection program.

• The orders were shipped on time
• Orders were given to the post office next day (after label purchase)
• The orders had tracking
• Tracking updated and showed as delivered
• Buyer opens case saying they didn't get it
• Etsy refunds out of my account rather than covering it under buyer protection (as they did previously)

The latest order refund happened today:

• Purchased Apr 30, 2026
• Label purchased Apr 30, 2026
• SHIPPED Apr 30, 2026
• Tracking shows it hit a processing facility May 8, 2026
• Delivered May 15, 2026
• Buyer opened a case May 20, 2026
• Case closed and refunded on May 20, 2026
• Got email it didn't qualify for Etsy’s Purchase Protection program

What am I missing here?

Edit - Some additional info for this specific order is:

• Estimated Delivery date was May 16, 2026 - so I didn't fall outside of that.
• My shop is in good standing and hasn't violated any policies
• I replied to the buyer’s "Help with Order message" the same day.
• Shop policies are filled out
• I shipped within the stated processing times and they are stated/listed on teh product
• It was shipped to the address provided on Etsy
• I use Etsy Payments
• I have an accurate “ships from” location + provided tracking

Edit because my reply to OnngoGablogian is being hidden for some reason when I view on my alt:

>Why do you have so many customers opening cases in the first place?

The cases are all for non delivered items that were marked as delivered when shipped - which has nothing to do with me? USPS has been horrible for the last 3 months.

I know we tend to blame sellers in this sub, but good lord. This doesn't help with my question at all. It is completely unrelated to my query at all and tries to refocus blame to me - I don't appreciate that at all.

Nobody talks about this but having 50+ listings matters more than having 5 perfect ones.

Prove me wrong.

https://preview.redd.it/j8t9r5qjza2h1.png?width=418&format=png&auto=webp&s=8154eb9af6af383d75f9d1fa54ed1fc8a15593d1

I cant send a message to no one how do I fix this?

I hate a love hate relationship with Etsy & I don’t know what to do. Background: I started my Etsy shop to see
If I could make it happen & as a passion project. I am at 2.6K sales in 9 months so I would say I was successful in setting it up & following through with my passion project. The problem…I hate it! I don’t like majority of the customers & I just want to close the shop but i am afraid I will go back to being bored. FYI…I don’t need to work but the extra money is helpful. I am majorly burnt out. Do i just need to take a break or pull the plug & end it all? What would you?do?

I purchased something on Etsy a month ago that said it does immediate shipping. I messaged them about two weeks ago asking for tracking. They said they didn’t have one because they didn’t use a tracking number. Then I messaged them maybe a week later saying I still didn’t get it could they reship it with a tracking number. Crickets. I know most of you are good but this is why sometimes buyers are getting frustrated with Etsy it can be a hassle to beg for your items. I do understand things come up or people drop the ball occasionally that’s why I thought ok maybe she forgot and can just reship it. I also do get informed usps delivery so I do not believe it is a delivery issue. Not an international order.

Hi, for context i ordered a £250 gold ring on etsy from a seller in USA, i am in the UK, the reviews are all amazing so i know the issue isn’t with the seller, i placed the order a couple of weeks ago and the actual item hadn’t left USA until a few days ago, today i woke up and it says my ring has been delivered and it hasn’t, i haven’t even gotten a tracking number or any delivery day message or anything, im extremely worried, i have messaged the seller but what do i do? i cant contact etsy as it keeps directing me to its help and support page and there’s only questions on there. I have checked all around my house incase someone put the parcel somewhere but it genuinely hasn’t been delivered, i got no notification or any delivery tracking number or anything to say its out for delivery.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Etsy clearly states in their policy that it does not allow for the sales of medicinal products, both internal and external. If that is the case, then why does Etsy ban some and not ban others from selling? There are clearly products that are selling medicines, it is even mentioned in their ads. Please enlighten me why this is happening.

Hello All,

I want to sell things on Etsy but I’m unsure of what. It needs to be a product that isn’t over saturated but is in demand… any suggestions? Or people with successful experiences?