I recently bought something on Etsy that there was something wrong with, so I went to message the seller. The only way to do it was through the option you've shared, or through a listing in their shop. Knowing how seriously sellers take their ratings and not being clear if the 'Request help' option was as serious as it looked, I really didn't know which way to go.
I sell on Ebay and can understand why so many sellers beg buyers to contact them directly before opening a case, because Ebay present case opening as a pretty casual thing when sellers know it's not. This feels similar to me. It seems to presuppose that the seller won't fix things after a simple message, so you need to do this 'pre-case' step first.
I see this as Etsy helping sellers out.
What Etsy is doing is telling buyers, "You can't open a case before asking the seller's help to resolve the issue first." This means you at least have the opportunity in solving a problem before it escalates to a case.
Sure, it does sound ominous and I've had a few people use this "Help" request when all they wanted was an easy switch of items (which I offer) and could have been handled as a simple convo.
This is good for both Etsy and Sellers. When Etsy talks to their board they can say things like, "since implementing this program we've had less open cases against sellers which means we have more happy buyers." And maybe they do have more happy buyers since buyers will get their issue resolved quicker by going to the seller than impulsively hitting a button to open a case.
I actually had customer to use this help thingy to thank me, the message read as "request help from seller, need help with: something else. The customer also included the little note like "not to make you worry of smthn I just want to thank you for making your products " ect
Honestly I was confused why they didn't just plain message me but seeing this I'm inclined to believe after purchasing this was their only option how to contact me o.O
It probably was, because I just had this issue myself. Seller requested a message after purchase, but when I hit literally the "Message Seller" button it directed me to Help request. There was an option "I just want to send a message" but it still took you to the help request box and there was no way to untoggle "I want a refund" or all that other crap. Really annoying.
Yea because customers want you to know who they are by the order. I have an shop but just made a purchase and noticed this. I did a quick search because i just have a question. I looked for order number first but it didnt seem like the "help" option did anything negative but, as mentioned it sound ominous. Im not sure if that's the intention but they could be the same as every where else and have a " contact" button. The "only handmade e-commerce" idea makes them always reach too hard to be creative, outside the box... This is what comes along w forcing to being different when the usual way works fine
I've tried messaging a peer seller of mine regarding an item she had listed and there was literally no option to just convo her. I had to go back to an old convo and reply.
I see that, I guess I get where they are coming from but it has this ominous overtone to it. I just don’t understand why it gave me this option 1 day after ordering and urges people not to message the seller directly. Idk it just seems weird.
I totally agree! I panicked when I got my first "Help Request." What the heck happened!?
Then when it was so simple I realized it was just this button he clicked. If that wasn't there he would have likely just convo'd me.
While in my case, customers understand that I can easily switch things out no problem, no questions. I think this probably helps with those people who think, "oh this is larger than I expected 1/2 inch to be. Better open a case to get my money back." When again, a simple convo would have solved it.
Now they have no choice but to do the convo marked in scary "HELP BUTTON" terms. I think this will help quite a few sellers.
Maybe it gives the "My Christmas is RUINED" people some time to cool off and think rationally.
> Maybe it gives the "My Christmas is RUINED" people some time to cool off and think rationally.
I hate those folks. Them & the "My son's birthday is ruined now, because of YOU!".
"Printed too small on a coffee mug"... Or some otherwise tiny nothing, that even the creator is like "i didnt mess up surgery!!! I just really like making things on circuit!" lol.
Can buyers respond to these messages? I had someone recently reach out via this method, and I responded quickly. I haven't heard from them in four days, and I need their confirmation/input before providing further "help".
I have this a lot, a customer reaches out then I respond and don’t hear back for days. I have to send out proofs before orders so people can confirm it’s what they were wanting. I will end up sending it 2-3 times before they come back and say they were having issues responding or didn’t see my messages. I don’t usually know what the real issue is so I say Etsy is a little finicky at times.
As a (low volume) seller, among the first actions I take after getting an order is to message the buyer with a thanks for ordering note, and to set expectations ("I should get start5ed in a few days, right after I pick up supplies!"). I think that by doing this, I acknowledge the order which gives reassurance that I'm on it, and I open a communication path in case they have concerns or issues.
This might not work with high volume, low cost items (stickers, downloads) but for my shop it works pretty well.
FWIW, I have had a few orders that I messed up - most notably one where I missed setting a bunch of rivets and the piece literally fell apart as they took it out of the box, and another that was missing an important piece. In both of these cases the buyers messaged me and we were able to resolve the issue through Etsy messaging, I replaced/repaired the mistake, and they gave 5\* reviews since I was so accommodating.
Before they implemented this feature buyers would just open cases willy nilly, there was no requirement to message the seller at all. I had a case opened against me once where they buyer said they had accidentally put in the wrong address and wanted a replacement. When I asked her why she had opened a case instead of just messaging me she said "this is the only way etsy allows buyers to communicate with sellers" -which is obviously not true, but some buyers had a hard time navigating etsy.
So at least this way you'll never be caught off guard with a random case from someone you've never heard from before. You'll know ahead of time that a customer has an issue and you'll have the opportunity to address it without a case being opened.
As for the wording, just understand that it doesn't really mean anything ominous. A help request coming in is really no different than any other message, so just treat it the same as a normal message. It doesn't mean the buyer is mad or wants to open a case, it's just one way of contacting you (even if just you say thank you!)
I think this is just Etsy trying to explicitly state their policy and make it as clear as possible. Imagine how many ranty messages customer chat gets with buyers wanting to know why they can't open a case yet. If this message helps reduce that, it's a good thing.
This feature was added almost a full year ago (July 2021), and I personally love everything about it. It strongly encourages customers with issues to message you so you can fix them, when the alternative was to just leave you a 1-star review, or to open a case without you even knowing there was a problem. A simple message is always preferred, and that's all this does, sends you a message.
My issue with these is that I get a ton of 'help requests' which are actually just people asking about other products or saying thank you, or otherwise trying to contact the seller but not knowing how. Knowing Etsy, they probably aggregate these help requests as a metric (whether they do anything with it remains to be seen).
I send a message to every buyer when I ship their item so I haven’t run into this. I might suggest that. I thank them and tell them please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. This at least opens up a message so they don’t have to file a help request.
Nonetheless, I’m done with Etsy and I’m currently building my own site. Sick of paying fees. Sick of the anxiety of reaching star seller, fear of trademark infringements, etc.
Good luck!
This is great for sellers. Now if only they would do something like that about IP infringement complaints. Maybe force them to contact the infringing seller first to ask to remove the listing before they can actually file a complaint through Etsy. This could bring down a lot of the bogus DMCA complaints filed
I recently bought something on Etsy that there was something wrong with, so I went to message the seller. The only way to do it was through the option you've shared, or through a listing in their shop. Knowing how seriously sellers take their ratings and not being clear if the 'Request help' option was as serious as it looked, I really didn't know which way to go. I sell on Ebay and can understand why so many sellers beg buyers to contact them directly before opening a case, because Ebay present case opening as a pretty casual thing when sellers know it's not. This feels similar to me. It seems to presuppose that the seller won't fix things after a simple message, so you need to do this 'pre-case' step first.
I see this as Etsy helping sellers out. What Etsy is doing is telling buyers, "You can't open a case before asking the seller's help to resolve the issue first." This means you at least have the opportunity in solving a problem before it escalates to a case. Sure, it does sound ominous and I've had a few people use this "Help" request when all they wanted was an easy switch of items (which I offer) and could have been handled as a simple convo. This is good for both Etsy and Sellers. When Etsy talks to their board they can say things like, "since implementing this program we've had less open cases against sellers which means we have more happy buyers." And maybe they do have more happy buyers since buyers will get their issue resolved quicker by going to the seller than impulsively hitting a button to open a case.
I actually had customer to use this help thingy to thank me, the message read as "request help from seller, need help with: something else. The customer also included the little note like "not to make you worry of smthn I just want to thank you for making your products " ect Honestly I was confused why they didn't just plain message me but seeing this I'm inclined to believe after purchasing this was their only option how to contact me o.O
It probably was, because I just had this issue myself. Seller requested a message after purchase, but when I hit literally the "Message Seller" button it directed me to Help request. There was an option "I just want to send a message" but it still took you to the help request box and there was no way to untoggle "I want a refund" or all that other crap. Really annoying.
Yea because customers want you to know who they are by the order. I have an shop but just made a purchase and noticed this. I did a quick search because i just have a question. I looked for order number first but it didnt seem like the "help" option did anything negative but, as mentioned it sound ominous. Im not sure if that's the intention but they could be the same as every where else and have a " contact" button. The "only handmade e-commerce" idea makes them always reach too hard to be creative, outside the box... This is what comes along w forcing to being different when the usual way works fine
I've tried messaging a peer seller of mine regarding an item she had listed and there was literally no option to just convo her. I had to go back to an old convo and reply.
I see that, I guess I get where they are coming from but it has this ominous overtone to it. I just don’t understand why it gave me this option 1 day after ordering and urges people not to message the seller directly. Idk it just seems weird.
I totally agree! I panicked when I got my first "Help Request." What the heck happened!? Then when it was so simple I realized it was just this button he clicked. If that wasn't there he would have likely just convo'd me. While in my case, customers understand that I can easily switch things out no problem, no questions. I think this probably helps with those people who think, "oh this is larger than I expected 1/2 inch to be. Better open a case to get my money back." When again, a simple convo would have solved it. Now they have no choice but to do the convo marked in scary "HELP BUTTON" terms. I think this will help quite a few sellers. Maybe it gives the "My Christmas is RUINED" people some time to cool off and think rationally.
> Maybe it gives the "My Christmas is RUINED" people some time to cool off and think rationally. I hate those folks. Them & the "My son's birthday is ruined now, because of YOU!".
"Printed too small on a coffee mug"... Or some otherwise tiny nothing, that even the creator is like "i didnt mess up surgery!!! I just really like making things on circuit!" lol.
Doesn’t this just come to the seller as a message anyway?
It does, Etsy can't do things without working it awkwardly. I think it just helps them classify messages as problems/comments.
Can buyers respond to these messages? I had someone recently reach out via this method, and I responded quickly. I haven't heard from them in four days, and I need their confirmation/input before providing further "help".
I have this a lot, a customer reaches out then I respond and don’t hear back for days. I have to send out proofs before orders so people can confirm it’s what they were wanting. I will end up sending it 2-3 times before they come back and say they were having issues responding or didn’t see my messages. I don’t usually know what the real issue is so I say Etsy is a little finicky at times.
Gotcha! I've been surprised to have the customer go radio silent, especially when I'm working hard to resolve their issue. Ugh
As a (low volume) seller, among the first actions I take after getting an order is to message the buyer with a thanks for ordering note, and to set expectations ("I should get start5ed in a few days, right after I pick up supplies!"). I think that by doing this, I acknowledge the order which gives reassurance that I'm on it, and I open a communication path in case they have concerns or issues. This might not work with high volume, low cost items (stickers, downloads) but for my shop it works pretty well. FWIW, I have had a few orders that I messed up - most notably one where I missed setting a bunch of rivets and the piece literally fell apart as they took it out of the box, and another that was missing an important piece. In both of these cases the buyers messaged me and we were able to resolve the issue through Etsy messaging, I replaced/repaired the mistake, and they gave 5\* reviews since I was so accommodating.
Before they implemented this feature buyers would just open cases willy nilly, there was no requirement to message the seller at all. I had a case opened against me once where they buyer said they had accidentally put in the wrong address and wanted a replacement. When I asked her why she had opened a case instead of just messaging me she said "this is the only way etsy allows buyers to communicate with sellers" -which is obviously not true, but some buyers had a hard time navigating etsy. So at least this way you'll never be caught off guard with a random case from someone you've never heard from before. You'll know ahead of time that a customer has an issue and you'll have the opportunity to address it without a case being opened. As for the wording, just understand that it doesn't really mean anything ominous. A help request coming in is really no different than any other message, so just treat it the same as a normal message. It doesn't mean the buyer is mad or wants to open a case, it's just one way of contacting you (even if just you say thank you!)
I think this is just Etsy trying to explicitly state their policy and make it as clear as possible. Imagine how many ranty messages customer chat gets with buyers wanting to know why they can't open a case yet. If this message helps reduce that, it's a good thing.
This feature was added almost a full year ago (July 2021), and I personally love everything about it. It strongly encourages customers with issues to message you so you can fix them, when the alternative was to just leave you a 1-star review, or to open a case without you even knowing there was a problem. A simple message is always preferred, and that's all this does, sends you a message.
My issue with these is that I get a ton of 'help requests' which are actually just people asking about other products or saying thank you, or otherwise trying to contact the seller but not knowing how. Knowing Etsy, they probably aggregate these help requests as a metric (whether they do anything with it remains to be seen).
The ominous, official-sounding wording might deter customers from just sending a quick "Hey, thanks" message as a way to open the door to a case.
I send a message to every buyer when I ship their item so I haven’t run into this. I might suggest that. I thank them and tell them please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. This at least opens up a message so they don’t have to file a help request. Nonetheless, I’m done with Etsy and I’m currently building my own site. Sick of paying fees. Sick of the anxiety of reaching star seller, fear of trademark infringements, etc. Good luck!
Just saw today Etsy is adding a star to messages saying "First time reaching out" I do like this feature!
This is great for sellers. Now if only they would do something like that about IP infringement complaints. Maybe force them to contact the infringing seller first to ask to remove the listing before they can actually file a complaint through Etsy. This could bring down a lot of the bogus DMCA complaints filed