Star Seller and Local Pick up is a JOKE

[TimsHandyWorks]

As with the HUNDREDS of other sellers who have said something, I have been getting dinged for having local people come pick up their orders rather than have me ship them.

Even though Etsy provides a local pick up option in the order completion process, and even though local pick-up is addressed NOWHERE in the Becoming a Star Seller article the chat agent reading from their script pointed me to, we still get dinged on our Star Seller for it?!

So what Etsy is saying is that if you want to appear to be a good seller, you shouldn't build up a strong local presence and local business?  That makes no sense whatsoever!  Based on the experience I've had today, I have come up with a plan for local pick up orders:

I will message my buyer and inform them that Etsy is punishing me to have them come pick up the order locally, so instead of transacting the order on Etsy, I'll cancel the order, and inform the buyer to come pick up their items outside of the realm of Etsy.  If they need to pay by credit card, I'll simply run their card through my Square store instead.

Seems like a really convoluted way to make a local sale, and doesn't seem like it would be that hard for Etsy to fix, especially given the high volume of complaints about this issue.  Based on that and doing some critical thinking, you have to ask, WHY?  Must be a reason for simple fix not being implemented...  The only thing Etsy really gets from us as sellers is money.  Listing fees, transaction fees, processing fees, and postage fees.  The ONLY thing I can think of is that Etsy doesn't want to lose out on whatever additional money they make on shipping labels, so they are trying to incentivize us to ship everything rather than do more local pickups.  If I'm off base, anyone else have a good suggestion on why this would be happening?

[HollysCollageCorner]

Yes, that's it. They want sellers to say to themselves- " I can save $8.00 on shipping because X can come get his item from 3 streets away."  Next thought- But I will lose out on my star seller status.  OK - seller purchases a mailing label through Etsy.  So manipulative!  

[NanaLetha]

It is addressed in the criteria: 

At this time, orders that don't have tracking because they are delivered or picked up in person will be considered shipped without tracking, and will not meet the Star Seller criteria for shipping. 

[TimsHandyWorks]

Can you point to the link with that verbiage?

This is the link that Chat gave me, and I could not find it here:

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

[CappuccinoLace]

even though local pick-up is addressed NOWHERE in the Becoming a Star Seller article

This Become a Star Seller Article?

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

Underneath On Time Shipping and tracking:

"What if I offer local pick-up or delivery for my items?

At this time, orders that don't have tracking because they are delivered or picked up in person will be considered dispatched without tracking, and will not meet the Star Seller criteria for dispatch. "

[TimsHandyWorks]

Ah, I see, they don't have it in the initial text.  YOu actually have to click on the down arrow to reveal the text that says local.  When I did a keyword search for local in the article the URL brought it, it was not found.

Thanks!

[Vintorious]

If you search the forums for "local pick up" you'll find answers. According to Etsy policy, there is an opportunity to indicate "local pick up" as a reason for not having a tracking number, and this shouldn't be counted against you in stats.

[PriddeyThings]

Not true. Etsy is very clear that it will not count towards star seller. 

"What if I offer local pick-up or delivery for my items?

At this time, orders that don't have tracking because they are delivered or picked up in person will be considered shipped without tracking, and will not meet the Star Seller criteria for shipping."

[Vintorious]

What isn't true? I just did the search myself, and it's the first item that pops up.

[audreytherese]

It's not true that it's not going to count against you in the stats. 

It might not count against your shop's score, as you are allowed to mark something as local pickup, but it will absolutely count against your Star Seller score. And since the OP is specifically talking about it in regards to the SS, then the local pickup will absolutely be held against them in those stats. 

[HollysCollageCorner]

It might be addressed but that doesn't make it right.

[OwlAlwaysKnit]

sorry but it is mentioned in the Star Seller article

What if I offer local pick-up or delivery for my items?

At this time, orders that don't have tracking because they are delivered or picked up in person will be considered shipped without tracking, and will not meet the Star Seller criteria for shipping. 

What if I offer local pick-up or delivery for my items?

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

[audreytherese]

"Seems like a really convoluted way to make a local sale, and doesn't seem like it would be that hard for Etsy to fix, especially given the high volume of complaints about this issue."

Based on the number of sellers and number of sales each day, I think their opinion of what constitutes a 'high volume of complaints about the issue' is much different than yours. I don't believe there is actually that many local pickups happening, as compared to the amount of shipments going out, to justify being addressed as a priority. 

Also, you are in the US. Buy an Etsy label for a letter for $.63 and mail your customer a receipt or thank you card, and that will satisfy the tracking requirements.

[TimsHandyWorks]

Buing a $.63 letter is actually a really good idea!  I hadn't thought of that and may do that in the future!

[audreytherese]

Just make sure you do it through Etsy labels, that's the only way that satisfies their requirement (even though it's not real tracking). 

Personally I think that's a better option than cancelling the order and telling customers they must buy through your own site for pickup orders (as some had suggested). Even ignoring the risk of getting in trouble for fee avoidance, there is a chance the customer will not repurchase. 

[BootifulLabels]

Last paragraph in @audreytherese response above is the best solution, although it only works for US sellers.  Also, to protect yourself from both NAD and INR claims, print two copies of a receipt, and have the buyer sign both.  Post one to the buyer after the pickup, and keep the other.  You then have proof that they did in fact receive the item, and as for NAD the signed receipt shows she personally took possession of the item, and raises the question of why would she sign the receipt if the item was NAD.

Of course, like so many things on Etsy, this only works for US sellers.

[dorothydomingo]

@audreytherese I did this a few months ago when my husband's work colleague bought something.

Before Star Seller he would hand deliver any orders from co-workers and I could refund their shipping costs. But now sellers can't do that or we get punished by Etsy for good customer service. 

A couple months ago someone in his office bought something before I could arrange a different method of payment, so I purchased the cheapest tracked shipping label possible and mailed that to her. The order was hand delivered as usual.

This week she is buying something and giving him a check when he brings it to the office.

Etsy is cutting off their nose to spite their face here. They should have been working out a method to mark these local delivery orders as received by the buyer, but it's just easier to punish us and wash their hands.

[timelapse]

@TimsHandyWorks - Sadly, in today's world there exists an element of scammers always looking to get something free. If there is no tracking on an item, they can easily claim they never received it, and get a refund on your hard work. Those refunds may or may not be covered by Etsy. 

And even sadder is the fact that even if you mail a receipt with tracking to cover that aspect of a sale, they can then say it was not as described. Because what they received with tracking is not the same as what they picked up in person.

It truly sucks, I agree, but many people out there today do not believe the old saying that Honesty is the Best Policy....I really wish they all did. I was raised that way, and definitely still believe it in my life and work.

[TimsHandyWorks]

That is a good point and true.  Even better reason for me to go through with my plan of just having local order pick ups cancel on ETSY and pick up in person.  Then there can be no confusion as to whether they received the item or not.  Have made a pretty good number of sales, and can say that so far, have not run in to anyone who I think was trying to scam me (knock on wood!)  Good points though and it does stink that there are people out there with ulterior motives!

[irmaKdesigns]

If local customers want to pick up their orders, I tell them I'll have to cancel their order and they'll have to order through my website. If they don't want to reorder, I don't give a pick-up option. I ship. 

[LastCentury]

That would be considered fee avoidance,

https://www.etsy.com/legal/fees/?ref=list#avoidance

[TimsHandyWorks]

I think that's a good idea.

[TimsHandyWorks]

@LastCenturyso could I just tell Etsy the same thing they told me about having my Star Seller rating drop even though the customers picked up locally and have their items?

I'm sorry, I understand this is a pain point for you, but until we have a better solution, we'll just have to do things the way we do.  After all, we do let you drop to 95% of items with tracking before we truly punish you and remove your star seller status.........

[BagmakerSupply]

@irmaKdesigns: "I tell them I'll have to cancel their order and they'll have to order through my website." But be careful because Etsy could consider this fee avoidance.

[TimsHandyWorks]

Truly a shame, since Etsy tells me, "We understand this is a pain point for sellers and will be working on a solution."

Seems I found a solution. Sorry it may be a pain point for you Etsy.  I'm not trying to avoid fees, I'm trying to avoid being punished for having a good local customer base.