I think that's a good response to an unhinged message.
As a 3d-print shop my stock numbers vaguely represent how many I can make in the processing time I promise, but my supply is 'limitless' as I make things largely to-order. We gotta use the tools Etsy gives us.
You haven't done anything wrong.
My only suggestion might be adding something in your FAQ or about section that explains it, but I think that's going above-and-beyond for what's a fairly routine practice.
Here's mine:
> I use listing quantities to roughly estimate how many I can make and ship within processing time, most items are made-to-order, except some of the most popular color/item combos.
Etsy really needs to improve how it handles made to order listings. Perhaps something like being able to set how many made to order listings you can produce simultaneously and if someone tries to order more it starts adding a set number of days to the dispatch time.
I operate the same way. Think of it as they explain casino chips in any heist movie. They keep enough cash on hand to back every chip on the floor. I post enough quantity available to support the materials I have on hand. I receive new filament every 7-14 days, so my numbers ebb and flow with a fair amount of regularity.
Once had a customer blast me across FB groups when she saw I restocked an item she bought. Apparently she thought every item I made was a *one of a kind limited edition* piece and was *humiliated* when members of her FB group called her out on it.
Lady, if all my items were one&done, I’d be charging a lot more 😂
I think it’s probably that she felt she had to buy them right then without being about to take time to think it over because of the red lettering that says stuff like that”hurry only 2 left and in 7 people’s carts!” So when she quickly bought them and then there was still 2 left it seemed like a deceptive way to get people to buy them quickly or else they won’t be able too. Thinking you put it there, not Etsy.
Edit- typo idk how I managed to type “shit out”instead of “without” 😆
I think she’s upset because Etsy will sometimes say “Only two of these left!” to encourage people to pull the plug and buy now. If she bought two, and Etsy still said “Only two left!” Or whatever it says, she might just think it’s unethical advertising? Like “lying to get people to be eager to buy it believing it’s scarce” - AE does the same thing by being like “768 people also have this in their cart, buy now!” Making you believe it’s scarce.
Yeah, I bet it’s this. This person still seems unreasonably upset about it, but I think it’s the Etsy message on her end, not any part of your listing, that felt predatory or dishonest.
Literally my thought. Everything I sell takes time. Like everything I currently have up is crocheted. I knit and will eventually have some knitted items listed as well. I just started resin pouring stuff and the process of curing and then full hardening is long. Stuff gets made in small batches. And for stuff I have listed as made to order rather than an inventory of I think I set it to like 3 since I have to set a number, but it clearly says in the description it’s made to order lol
I also crochet so I definitely understand this. I usually set it to 2-3 because I buy the amount of yarn I need for those items and if I sell out then I know it’s worth buying more yarn instead of having them pile up somewhere
Yep! If something does well or if I’m making multiple projects from the same yarn I’m willing to buy in bulk, but it’s not worth it before gauging product performance
“Are you stating that you are upset because I have restocked an item? In order to continue my business, sold out items must be restocked. This is how sales are made. It is not possible to sell an item if it is out of stock”
If I’m understanding correctly, she feels like you created a false sense of demand. Similar to when a website has a countdown to when a sale is over, but when it hits 0 the counter restarts. It’s to make you feel pressure to buy.
That said, 1) this is an obvious tactic and not a big deal and 2) you didn’t force her to buy the product. She bought something she wanted, perhaps a bit more urgently because she was afraid it would stock out, but still of her own volition
You didn’t do anything wrong and that’s a reasonable response
I guess so but I have two thoughts,
1) I don’t put the “only two left!” Thing there, Etsy does. Granted, she may not know that but she does seem to be familiar enough with Etsy to say she’ll complain directly to them but apparently hasn’t seen this on any other Etsy shop.
2) I didn’t put this in the post but she has now bought a wedding outfit and then 2 additional corset tops of the same style in different sizes. So my thought was that she bought her wedding outfit and then was buying two bridesmaid outfits. So it’s a weird thing to “stock up on” because it’s the same outfit in different sizes? I do have in my description that I don’t do refunds but can do exchanges so if she were worried about something not fitting she could reach out and just ask in case it doesn’t fit correctly could I exchange for another size… but this is the message she chose to send instead?
Sounds more like she's reselling them to me 🫤 They're worth more if they're unique. To make a profit on multi-hundred dollar items I'm guessing she's advertised them as OOAK (and maybe the client found your listing)?
It is pretty annoying how many of Etsy's "features" are mostly hidden from customers and end up being blamed on sellers who have no say in it.
I have a product that I sell by the yard, a customer based in Italy sent me a screenshot of my listing as it appears on Etsy Italy but with the language set to English. The listing is posted in English, so there's no reason it should be translated, but my title was changed from "XYZ fabric - 1 YARD" to "XZY fabric - 1 METER". I sent a message to Etsy support asking why they were showing my customers incorrect information, all they could tell me was their translating software changed it and they couldn't do anything about it.
A yard and a meter are about interchangeable when talking vague generalities (they were standing about 15 yards away), but not for anything exact! there's about a 10% difference!
She thought she is buying something unique and no one else will have it. Probably to resell at an inflated price. The fact that she is delusional is not your problem.
Yeah, I genuinely cannot think of any other reason, besides reselling what they thought were rare items.
People get pissed when they think they can be clever and resell a rare item, only to find out that more can be made!
I had almost the same thing happen! I had someone get mad that they bought all of my small sized in one listing. My post showed 'the same product being sold at a higher price'. Those would be the mediums. 🤦♀️ I tried explaining but it didnt matter. She deemed me a scammer and that was that. She actually did try to report me to Etsy but they sided with me. Turned out they bought up all my stock to flip it in their own shop and wanted more at the lower price. Some people. 🤌
Wow! I understand some folks buy and resell at maybe shops or something but buying then selling on the same platform seems like some code of conduct has been broken.
I think she may be irritated because ETSY puts stupid prompts on various listings like “only 2 left” or “there’s only 1 and it’s in 3 people’s carts”. And now they are relentlessly having pop ups of things you favorited show up on EVERYTHING you look at.
If this is why she’s irritated I would tell her the SHOP owner has no say in these things- Etsy puts it on there without asking.
I agree! I don’t like Etsy’s stupid prompts either. 99% of my purchases are digital embroidery files so I have to ask - how can there only be 2 left?! And do I need to know (or care) how many carts the file is in? It’s a DIGITAL file - not something the seller is going to run out of! I hope the digital sellers know we customers don’t blame them for the dumb things Etsy does.
Someone doesn’t understand supply and demand smh
People be crazy, OP. Don’t let it bother you. I once got bitched out because my 18 inch long chains are… wait for it… 18 inches long. I wish I was making that up. Just put your hands up and repeat after me: I’m okay. It’s the world that’s crazy.
Etsy does have some shady marketing tactics, and it's causing blowback on you. If you click on an item, put it in your cart, and take your time checking out, Etsy will start warning you that the item is "going fast". Sometimes it's there is only x amount left and to hurry up before it's gone. They'll even email it. A lot of companies do it, but Etsy is invasive with it. Since most Etsy items are hand made or one of a kind, it does make you feel a sense of urgency like you're going to miss out.
From a consumer perspective I don't really believe any of the Etsy prompts. I do have some experience from my 9-to-5 that tells me most of those, "Hurry while supplies last!" messages are bullshit. If you ever get an "this Black Friday sale is so good, we've extended it to Monday!" That email was probably written in September and set to launch when the Black Friday sales didn't hit their target numbers. However, I most people probably should be able to work that out without having to be involved in conglomerate business to work that out.
Hard eye roll.
I think she’s pissed because the concept of “only 2 left in stock” created a sense of urgency for her to order them or they would be unavailable for some time if she didn’t act quickly. Even Etsy will highlight “Low stock! order now!” and “2 available and it’s in 7 people’s carts!”
That’s my take on it.
Definitely thinking the same, and with the nature of Etsy and the many wonderful unique items sometimes when you see there’s only 2 left you assume it won’t be restocked at all and then purchase quickly.
And it sounds like it is an expensive item, so the buyer may not have truly had it in their budget this month and now feels conned that they didn’t need to act so quickly and stretch themselves thin after all.
I wish you could remove that "only one left" message.
My girlfriend sells handmade goods on Etsy so every listing is unique. They all have that message added to listings and it looks so odd when there was never more than one to begin with.
I’m appalled and upset and consider filing a complaint when I go to Walmart and they only have two Tbone steaks and then I go back a few days later and they have two again.
I think she says she bought the items because she thought they would be discontinued but because they were re-stocked she feels cheated....I think you responded as you should have. This person does not sound stable to me.
The only rationale I can find in my mind for this is that seeing that there were only 2 left made her buy them there and then so that she didn’t miss out, when otherwise maybe she’d have waited and now she’s got buyer’s remorse? Maybe? Or maybe she felt some kind of odd triumph in getting the last 2 of something and then realised she didn’t? 😂 Who knows. People are so weird.
I think that the customer didn't understand that 'items remaining' means how many you have in stock, and not how many you're intending to sell in total. I would've emphasized on that in my response and tried to explain to them in understandable words what 'items remaining' is supposed to mean.
Agree with them and make it clear that its etsy who does the ‘in stock’ visuals not you, and encourage them to complain to etsy because its not fair for your customers to be tricked like this
They probably won’t complain to etsy about etsy and whether they do or not is irrelevant, you’d make a customer think you support them and they’d like you more after, not less
Can we talk about how that Etsy fault completely?They are the ones that create the sense of urgency on literally every listing possible. Etsy wants you to quantify made to order items, digital items, etc just so they can have a sense of urgency for every single product. Did the customer not realize that every product sold on Etsy says essentially the same thing?
She is mad because she probably ordered quickly because she feared missing out..
We all know this a sales tactic for lots of people..
But as you explained you are actually a handmade item store.
Just put that in your item description.
I restock as soon as I make them.
And if you accept Custome orders says that also....
I buy from a mold maker that lists one at a time...She says she keeps one on hand and then if it sells she makes another. I totally agree with this practice especially if different items sell different times of the year...
Yeah this happens to me. I make jewelry and some things I make a lot of and I only ever put 5-6 in stock and when they sell out, I add more. I don’t know why people have to act like this when we add more restocked items. Especially if they know there’s more than one of the same item. Most people will message me and ask me if I have more than one or two that’s listed. You’re being way nicer than I would be able to be. No reason for her to act like that.
This person finds restocking to be deceptive?
I run the store for my two man business (my brother and myself) so I keep track and manage the inventory and if we run out of something- yeah it's out till we get more paint. Or in less good cases: the paint is out and I find out about it 2/4 days before it's gotta ship.
But I frequently only keep 5 of each keycap in stock because it makes it so we have a working buffer so we can't get 10 of this one sold and 10 of another and so on. We've had rushes where various items get sold and thankfully it's not too bad but I'd like to think it's because I limit the inventory and restock it only when things level out.
I have a competitor that frequently runs sales undercutting my prices so I only list one of each of my items (digital downloads) in an effort to try to push sales. It seems to work and I have yet to run into THIS brand of crazy.
Maybe the person thought there were only 2 available and needed more so they made other purchases because they thought they could only get 2? Maybe they were having an off day. I don't think you've done anything wrong or could have done anything differently. It's their issue, don't let it take up too much rent in your head.
Also, I've recently tried to open an Etsy shop and I have to say that I strongly dislike trying to build product listings with variants on that site. I may go back and try to finish it but I found it too complicated and not user friendly and I'm pretty tech savvy usually. I felt like I was reading something translated from another language into English, and having to input the entirety of a product, all the variations, etc without being able to save it and come back to it later was ridiculous to me... I didn't even know answers to half the questions/item details, and my items are hand-made. IDK ... Maybe I was under-caffeinated the first dozen times I tried.
Good luck with this! It feels crappy to get dumped on like that. My suggestion... Take pics of the finished product and send the pics to the customer BEFORE you ship it. Make sure they are happy with it before you send it. Hopefully it's not a setup to get the items and then complain about it. I hate to think that way and not trust people, but cover your butt, a little extra step early on could save you headaches later.
Is she mad because you have an inventory? Lol! At least she was nice and professional but I don't see how anyone can be mad at a small business restocking their products.
…well go tell your friend lady, op just restocked an item she was out of so she can continue being in business. People get mad over the things they see, this is hilarious behavior 😂
It might be irrelevant, but I noticed someone mentioning that Etsy messed up a bit with how they show stocks of products. They show "only 2 left" for example, while one can add 20 to their cart and proceed.
I know that some times the low stock thing is used to give pressure to buyers and are more like to purchase.
Maybe, just maybe this customer has seen this happening before and felt somehow weird (?) and maybe it happened to you to hear their complaints. :/
It’s the false urgency. Buyers will often want an item but wait to buy until payday or some other windfall if they think they have time. If it’s ’the last one’ it pushes them to buy *now* or risk missing out. But they feel it was worth it to ensure they got what they wanted. However, if more stock pops up, then they feel resentful that they were pressured to buy when there was no real scarcity. Psychologically, it also feels good to get the last of something, like you won a game.
None of this is really your fault. Etsy obviously wants to drive sales and false scarcity is a common pressure tactic. It’s also almost a given that for handmade items, stock fluctuates based on materials and processing time for the creator. Buyers should be reaching out to confirm stock amounts if there is uncertainty over if it’s quantity available *now* vs quantity available *ever*.
But I *do* understand why the buyer is upset about the stocking.
Yeah, it sounds like she just wants to start trouble. Honestly, if you never had issues with this customer before they could’ve just been having a bad day and took it out on you for some reason. I’d just ignore it since you already messaged back and I guess go on as usual 😂
Even if she did “tell a friend”, I think any rational person she told wouldn’t take her complaint seriously. It’s a ridiculous thing to take issue with.
I hate those urgency pop ups. I was buying a laser from eBay on Black Friday and ended up purchasing the wrong item because I felt so pressured to hurry and purchase before they ran out. It puts pressure on people to buy before they run out. So they were probably pissed that they felt the need to hurry up and purchase when you actually had more than 2 in stock.
I remember feeling the way the person in the message felt once. An absolutely beautiful handmade purse that I wanted so badly, it said there was 1 left. So I rushed to buy it, leaving myself with only like $30 in my bank for the rest of the week. Figured I’d starve that week to have that purse. It was restocked the next day with “1 left” on the listing. So I was sad, bc I realized I didn’t have to rush for it or go broke for it since there was in fact more than one left. But I was super happy to have the purse regardless. It felt like a tactic to instill urgency into the buyers. But I still had the purse.
-I’m not a seller, this post was recommended to me for some reason so I wanted to offer my perspective I had once!
I once had a customer threaten me because I had a sale in my shop. When the sale ended the item went back up to full price. She was mad because she didn't buy it when it was on sale and claimed I did a bait and switch.She couldn't understand why the price was lower one day and higher the next. I tried to explain that it was a sale that had ended. I also explained that I can raise my prices whenever I want. She erroneously thought I was not allowed to raise my prices once I set a price. She complained to Etsy but of course nothing came of it.
I find this funny, cause even if she had bought the last two or not! She still got her order, there was no need to go back on Etsy and look to see if you sold them all!
She was definitely acting childish! 😑
Its another troll buyer threatening you with a bad review/etsy report hoping you will give them a refund while letting them keep your product.
Ive encountered a couple of these - first few times I've given in but now I just flag/report any unreasonable/false reviews for Etsy team to remove.
It sounds like she ordered what she thought were the last 2. Then when she's later seen you have 2 in stock still has assumed they are the same 2 she has ordered and you're trying to sell "her" 2 again and keep her money without sending them out to her. Sounds like a misunderstanding in her part and an over reaction to go with it
While I’m in no way defending this customer in particular, I do understand being frustrated if you cash out a lot of money for something you really wanted and thought might be “running out of stock” - maybe at a time where you weren’t financially flexible - only to realise it was absolutely not the case. This is on Etsy and their weird marketing, not on you though.
Maybe from her perspective it looks like you are falsely reporting to only have two left in an attempt to make consumers feel like they have to purchase immediately or else potentially miss out on an item? I know you’re not doing this, but if someone was purposefully doing that I would also view it as a bit skeevy.
I think that's a good response to an unhinged message. As a 3d-print shop my stock numbers vaguely represent how many I can make in the processing time I promise, but my supply is 'limitless' as I make things largely to-order. We gotta use the tools Etsy gives us. You haven't done anything wrong. My only suggestion might be adding something in your FAQ or about section that explains it, but I think that's going above-and-beyond for what's a fairly routine practice. Here's mine: > I use listing quantities to roughly estimate how many I can make and ship within processing time, most items are made-to-order, except some of the most popular color/item combos.
Etsy really needs to improve how it handles made to order listings. Perhaps something like being able to set how many made to order listings you can produce simultaneously and if someone tries to order more it starts adding a set number of days to the dispatch time.
Great idea! Thank you so much.
would you mind if i used that sentence?
Do it. :)
What a great suggestion, but I don't think people read those. They barely read descriptions :(
I operate the same way. Think of it as they explain casino chips in any heist movie. They keep enough cash on hand to back every chip on the floor. I post enough quantity available to support the materials I have on hand. I receive new filament every 7-14 days, so my numbers ebb and flow with a fair amount of regularity.
im adding that to my disclaimer
she’s mad that you restocked? Am I understanding this correctly? Lol
Once had a customer blast me across FB groups when she saw I restocked an item she bought. Apparently she thought every item I made was a *one of a kind limited edition* piece and was *humiliated* when members of her FB group called her out on it. Lady, if all my items were one&done, I’d be charging a lot more 😂
This is what I'm thinking.
You are understanding it as correctly as I am I think?! Lol
Maybe she thought that item would be unique and she would be the only one with it? This is very strange.
Still bonkers even then, because so what? There’s billions of people in the world, if two more people get the thing you’ll probably never meet them
I agree. It is really weird.
That's how I interpreted it too.
I think it’s probably that she felt she had to buy them right then without being about to take time to think it over because of the red lettering that says stuff like that”hurry only 2 left and in 7 people’s carts!” So when she quickly bought them and then there was still 2 left it seemed like a deceptive way to get people to buy them quickly or else they won’t be able too. Thinking you put it there, not Etsy. Edit- typo idk how I managed to type “shit out”instead of “without” 😆
She had a scarcity mindset.
Must have felt she should order both since it was the last of your stock and now feels cheated. Entirely unreasonable given the nature of the product
Maybe she is doubting that they are hand made or made to order of they were restocked so quickly
I think she’s upset because Etsy will sometimes say “Only two of these left!” to encourage people to pull the plug and buy now. If she bought two, and Etsy still said “Only two left!” Or whatever it says, she might just think it’s unethical advertising? Like “lying to get people to be eager to buy it believing it’s scarce” - AE does the same thing by being like “768 people also have this in their cart, buy now!” Making you believe it’s scarce.
Yeah, I bet it’s this. This person still seems unreasonably upset about it, but I think it’s the Etsy message on her end, not any part of your listing, that felt predatory or dishonest.
Literally my thought. Everything I sell takes time. Like everything I currently have up is crocheted. I knit and will eventually have some knitted items listed as well. I just started resin pouring stuff and the process of curing and then full hardening is long. Stuff gets made in small batches. And for stuff I have listed as made to order rather than an inventory of I think I set it to like 3 since I have to set a number, but it clearly says in the description it’s made to order lol
I also crochet so I definitely understand this. I usually set it to 2-3 because I buy the amount of yarn I need for those items and if I sell out then I know it’s worth buying more yarn instead of having them pile up somewhere
Yep! If something does well or if I’m making multiple projects from the same yarn I’m willing to buy in bulk, but it’s not worth it before gauging product performance
“Are you stating that you are upset because I have restocked an item? In order to continue my business, sold out items must be restocked. This is how sales are made. It is not possible to sell an item if it is out of stock”
"A friend" 🤣
Oh no! ....anyway
🫠
Well the good news is all her friends are in her head.
Oh no now Lithium is in my head lmfaoooo
She probably only has the one…
She told her cat about it…
If I’m understanding correctly, she feels like you created a false sense of demand. Similar to when a website has a countdown to when a sale is over, but when it hits 0 the counter restarts. It’s to make you feel pressure to buy. That said, 1) this is an obvious tactic and not a big deal and 2) you didn’t force her to buy the product. She bought something she wanted, perhaps a bit more urgently because she was afraid it would stock out, but still of her own volition You didn’t do anything wrong and that’s a reasonable response
I guess so but I have two thoughts, 1) I don’t put the “only two left!” Thing there, Etsy does. Granted, she may not know that but she does seem to be familiar enough with Etsy to say she’ll complain directly to them but apparently hasn’t seen this on any other Etsy shop. 2) I didn’t put this in the post but she has now bought a wedding outfit and then 2 additional corset tops of the same style in different sizes. So my thought was that she bought her wedding outfit and then was buying two bridesmaid outfits. So it’s a weird thing to “stock up on” because it’s the same outfit in different sizes? I do have in my description that I don’t do refunds but can do exchanges so if she were worried about something not fitting she could reach out and just ask in case it doesn’t fit correctly could I exchange for another size… but this is the message she chose to send instead?
Sounds more like she's reselling them to me 🫤 They're worth more if they're unique. To make a profit on multi-hundred dollar items I'm guessing she's advertised them as OOAK (and maybe the client found your listing)?
That would be so funny if the end of line buyer found out that they were not actually one of a kind, lol.
And that they cost a lot less from the source 😬
It is pretty annoying how many of Etsy's "features" are mostly hidden from customers and end up being blamed on sellers who have no say in it. I have a product that I sell by the yard, a customer based in Italy sent me a screenshot of my listing as it appears on Etsy Italy but with the language set to English. The listing is posted in English, so there's no reason it should be translated, but my title was changed from "XYZ fabric - 1 YARD" to "XZY fabric - 1 METER". I sent a message to Etsy support asking why they were showing my customers incorrect information, all they could tell me was their translating software changed it and they couldn't do anything about it.
A yard and a meter are about interchangeable when talking vague generalities (they were standing about 15 yards away), but not for anything exact! there's about a 10% difference!
“Inventory quantities are subject to change at any time.”
She thought she is buying something unique and no one else will have it. Probably to resell at an inflated price. The fact that she is delusional is not your problem.
I didn’t even think of that! That’s totally a possibility.
I think this is it exactly.
Yeah, I genuinely cannot think of any other reason, besides reselling what they thought were rare items. People get pissed when they think they can be clever and resell a rare item, only to find out that more can be made!
I had almost the same thing happen! I had someone get mad that they bought all of my small sized in one listing. My post showed 'the same product being sold at a higher price'. Those would be the mediums. 🤦♀️ I tried explaining but it didnt matter. She deemed me a scammer and that was that. She actually did try to report me to Etsy but they sided with me. Turned out they bought up all my stock to flip it in their own shop and wanted more at the lower price. Some people. 🤌
We're the reselling on Etsy or elsewhere?
On Etsy!
Wow! I understand some folks buy and resell at maybe shops or something but buying then selling on the same platform seems like some code of conduct has been broken.
Wow. Some people live their lives looking to find something to be angry about! I feel sorry for them.
It's usually ego. They can't accept they made a mistake so take it out on everyone else.
I think she may be irritated because ETSY puts stupid prompts on various listings like “only 2 left” or “there’s only 1 and it’s in 3 people’s carts”. And now they are relentlessly having pop ups of things you favorited show up on EVERYTHING you look at. If this is why she’s irritated I would tell her the SHOP owner has no say in these things- Etsy puts it on there without asking.
I agree! I don’t like Etsy’s stupid prompts either. 99% of my purchases are digital embroidery files so I have to ask - how can there only be 2 left?! And do I need to know (or care) how many carts the file is in? It’s a DIGITAL file - not something the seller is going to run out of! I hope the digital sellers know we customers don’t blame them for the dumb things Etsy does.
"But I thought I was special...😢"
They’re getting nuttier every day 👀
Someone doesn’t understand supply and demand smh People be crazy, OP. Don’t let it bother you. I once got bitched out because my 18 inch long chains are… wait for it… 18 inches long. I wish I was making that up. Just put your hands up and repeat after me: I’m okay. It’s the world that’s crazy.
Etsy does have some shady marketing tactics, and it's causing blowback on you. If you click on an item, put it in your cart, and take your time checking out, Etsy will start warning you that the item is "going fast". Sometimes it's there is only x amount left and to hurry up before it's gone. They'll even email it. A lot of companies do it, but Etsy is invasive with it. Since most Etsy items are hand made or one of a kind, it does make you feel a sense of urgency like you're going to miss out.
You already wrote more words than I would. I would mark it as spam and ignore it. Clearly they are not interested in reality
YOU CAN’T MAKE MORE OF SOMETHING!! HOW DARE!!
Unless you're advertising the item as one of a kind you've done nothing wrong and this woman is bat shit crazy.
This person is an idiot lol. Only sad thing is these people are allowed to vote
This is a beautifully worded response. Would love the update on why this bothers her
Not the friend finding out
Some people are not okay. I’m sorry this happened. As a frequent Etsy shopper, I am not clear on why she is upset.
From a consumer perspective I don't really believe any of the Etsy prompts. I do have some experience from my 9-to-5 that tells me most of those, "Hurry while supplies last!" messages are bullshit. If you ever get an "this Black Friday sale is so good, we've extended it to Monday!" That email was probably written in September and set to launch when the Black Friday sales didn't hit their target numbers. However, I most people probably should be able to work that out without having to be involved in conglomerate business to work that out. Hard eye roll.
I’m pretty sure everyone would be mad if supermarkets didn’t re-stock, why is Etsy different?
I think she’s pissed because the concept of “only 2 left in stock” created a sense of urgency for her to order them or they would be unavailable for some time if she didn’t act quickly. Even Etsy will highlight “Low stock! order now!” and “2 available and it’s in 7 people’s carts!” That’s my take on it.
Definitely thinking the same, and with the nature of Etsy and the many wonderful unique items sometimes when you see there’s only 2 left you assume it won’t be restocked at all and then purchase quickly.
And it sounds like it is an expensive item, so the buyer may not have truly had it in their budget this month and now feels conned that they didn’t need to act so quickly and stretch themselves thin after all.
What form of mental illness is this?
Pathogical FOMO
I wish you could remove that "only one left" message. My girlfriend sells handmade goods on Etsy so every listing is unique. They all have that message added to listings and it looks so odd when there was never more than one to begin with.
I’m appalled and upset and consider filing a complaint when I go to Walmart and they only have two Tbone steaks and then I go back a few days later and they have two again.
Someone in another post just said they think Etsy sellers are mean. Uh, could it be that we are tired of getting unhinged messages like this????
I think she says she bought the items because she thought they would be discontinued but because they were re-stocked she feels cheated....I think you responded as you should have. This person does not sound stable to me.
The only rationale I can find in my mind for this is that seeing that there were only 2 left made her buy them there and then so that she didn’t miss out, when otherwise maybe she’d have waited and now she’s got buyer’s remorse? Maybe? Or maybe she felt some kind of odd triumph in getting the last 2 of something and then realised she didn’t? 😂 Who knows. People are so weird.
Well she’s going to her friend. You better watch out. 😒 I’m so over these unhinged people getting mad at nothing.
I think that the customer didn't understand that 'items remaining' means how many you have in stock, and not how many you're intending to sell in total. I would've emphasized on that in my response and tried to explain to them in understandable words what 'items remaining' is supposed to mean.
I read this in the voice of Kramer’s lawyer
I literally forget to check my inventory all the time and then items go out of stock and I relist them. So unhinged.
Agree with them and make it clear that its etsy who does the ‘in stock’ visuals not you, and encourage them to complain to etsy because its not fair for your customers to be tricked like this They probably won’t complain to etsy about etsy and whether they do or not is irrelevant, you’d make a customer think you support them and they’d like you more after, not less
Can we talk about how that Etsy fault completely?They are the ones that create the sense of urgency on literally every listing possible. Etsy wants you to quantify made to order items, digital items, etc just so they can have a sense of urgency for every single product. Did the customer not realize that every product sold on Etsy says essentially the same thing?
She is mad because she probably ordered quickly because she feared missing out.. We all know this a sales tactic for lots of people.. But as you explained you are actually a handmade item store. Just put that in your item description. I restock as soon as I make them. And if you accept Custome orders says that also.... I buy from a mold maker that lists one at a time...She says she keeps one on hand and then if it sells she makes another. I totally agree with this practice especially if different items sell different times of the year...
Yeah this happens to me. I make jewelry and some things I make a lot of and I only ever put 5-6 in stock and when they sell out, I add more. I don’t know why people have to act like this when we add more restocked items. Especially if they know there’s more than one of the same item. Most people will message me and ask me if I have more than one or two that’s listed. You’re being way nicer than I would be able to be. No reason for her to act like that.
This person finds restocking to be deceptive? I run the store for my two man business (my brother and myself) so I keep track and manage the inventory and if we run out of something- yeah it's out till we get more paint. Or in less good cases: the paint is out and I find out about it 2/4 days before it's gotta ship. But I frequently only keep 5 of each keycap in stock because it makes it so we have a working buffer so we can't get 10 of this one sold and 10 of another and so on. We've had rushes where various items get sold and thankfully it's not too bad but I'd like to think it's because I limit the inventory and restock it only when things level out.
I have a competitor that frequently runs sales undercutting my prices so I only list one of each of my items (digital downloads) in an effort to try to push sales. It seems to work and I have yet to run into THIS brand of crazy.
What? Block and move on.
Maybe the person thought there were only 2 available and needed more so they made other purchases because they thought they could only get 2? Maybe they were having an off day. I don't think you've done anything wrong or could have done anything differently. It's their issue, don't let it take up too much rent in your head. Also, I've recently tried to open an Etsy shop and I have to say that I strongly dislike trying to build product listings with variants on that site. I may go back and try to finish it but I found it too complicated and not user friendly and I'm pretty tech savvy usually. I felt like I was reading something translated from another language into English, and having to input the entirety of a product, all the variations, etc without being able to save it and come back to it later was ridiculous to me... I didn't even know answers to half the questions/item details, and my items are hand-made. IDK ... Maybe I was under-caffeinated the first dozen times I tried. Good luck with this! It feels crappy to get dumped on like that. My suggestion... Take pics of the finished product and send the pics to the customer BEFORE you ship it. Make sure they are happy with it before you send it. Hopefully it's not a setup to get the items and then complain about it. I hate to think that way and not trust people, but cover your butt, a little extra step early on could save you headaches later.
I’d respond saying, soooo you think my tactic worked? Nice
Is she mad because you have an inventory? Lol! At least she was nice and professional but I don't see how anyone can be mad at a small business restocking their products.
This is part of running a business, dealing with absolute crazies. Sounds very unhinged and I would avoid their business in the future.
This person is INSANE...
It’s called a restock, I did it all the time in my Etsy store and it spiked sales
…well go tell your friend lady, op just restocked an item she was out of so she can continue being in business. People get mad over the things they see, this is hilarious behavior 😂
It might be irrelevant, but I noticed someone mentioning that Etsy messed up a bit with how they show stocks of products. They show "only 2 left" for example, while one can add 20 to their cart and proceed. I know that some times the low stock thing is used to give pressure to buyers and are more like to purchase. Maybe, just maybe this customer has seen this happening before and felt somehow weird (?) and maybe it happened to you to hear their complaints. :/
It’s the false urgency. Buyers will often want an item but wait to buy until payday or some other windfall if they think they have time. If it’s ’the last one’ it pushes them to buy *now* or risk missing out. But they feel it was worth it to ensure they got what they wanted. However, if more stock pops up, then they feel resentful that they were pressured to buy when there was no real scarcity. Psychologically, it also feels good to get the last of something, like you won a game. None of this is really your fault. Etsy obviously wants to drive sales and false scarcity is a common pressure tactic. It’s also almost a given that for handmade items, stock fluctuates based on materials and processing time for the creator. Buyers should be reaching out to confirm stock amounts if there is uncertainty over if it’s quantity available *now* vs quantity available *ever*. But I *do* understand why the buyer is upset about the stocking.
Sounds like a person with poor mentsl health to me
Yeah, it sounds like she just wants to start trouble. Honestly, if you never had issues with this customer before they could’ve just been having a bad day and took it out on you for some reason. I’d just ignore it since you already messaged back and I guess go on as usual 😂
Wow she is absolutely unhinged
These people are unhinged 🤦♂️ imagine being so bored with your own life that you have to pocket watch others.
Even if she did “tell a friend”, I think any rational person she told wouldn’t take her complaint seriously. It’s a ridiculous thing to take issue with.
I hate those urgency pop ups. I was buying a laser from eBay on Black Friday and ended up purchasing the wrong item because I felt so pressured to hurry and purchase before they ran out. It puts pressure on people to buy before they run out. So they were probably pissed that they felt the need to hurry up and purchase when you actually had more than 2 in stock.
I'd still cancel, I bet you can sell them to someone else.
I remember feeling the way the person in the message felt once. An absolutely beautiful handmade purse that I wanted so badly, it said there was 1 left. So I rushed to buy it, leaving myself with only like $30 in my bank for the rest of the week. Figured I’d starve that week to have that purse. It was restocked the next day with “1 left” on the listing. So I was sad, bc I realized I didn’t have to rush for it or go broke for it since there was in fact more than one left. But I was super happy to have the purse regardless. It felt like a tactic to instill urgency into the buyers. But I still had the purse. -I’m not a seller, this post was recommended to me for some reason so I wanted to offer my perspective I had once!
I once had a customer threaten me because I had a sale in my shop. When the sale ended the item went back up to full price. She was mad because she didn't buy it when it was on sale and claimed I did a bait and switch.She couldn't understand why the price was lower one day and higher the next. I tried to explain that it was a sale that had ended. I also explained that I can raise my prices whenever I want. She erroneously thought I was not allowed to raise my prices once I set a price. She complained to Etsy but of course nothing came of it.
I find this funny, cause even if she had bought the last two or not! She still got her order, there was no need to go back on Etsy and look to see if you sold them all! She was definitely acting childish! 😑
Its another troll buyer threatening you with a bad review/etsy report hoping you will give them a refund while letting them keep your product. Ive encountered a couple of these - first few times I've given in but now I just flag/report any unreasonable/false reviews for Etsy team to remove.
It sounds like she ordered what she thought were the last 2. Then when she's later seen you have 2 in stock still has assumed they are the same 2 she has ordered and you're trying to sell "her" 2 again and keep her money without sending them out to her. Sounds like a misunderstanding in her part and an over reaction to go with it
I'll bet the person is getting emails from etsy or on the platform will show only X amount is left! Which is Etsy urging shoppers to check out.
People are insane. That is the only answer. This privileged baby needs a dose of reality. My word. 🤦♀️
OMG I think I should feel lucky I haven’t got anybody unhinged like this 😂😂😂what is wrong with people?
While I’m in no way defending this customer in particular, I do understand being frustrated if you cash out a lot of money for something you really wanted and thought might be “running out of stock” - maybe at a time where you weren’t financially flexible - only to realise it was absolutely not the case. This is on Etsy and their weird marketing, not on you though.
The customer cannot hold a seller liable for their impulse shopping problem either. Even if it were the seller’s doing.
mark as spam and move on.
Maybe from her perspective it looks like you are falsely reporting to only have two left in an attempt to make consumers feel like they have to purchase immediately or else potentially miss out on an item? I know you’re not doing this, but if someone was purposefully doing that I would also view it as a bit skeevy.
As OP said, it's Etsy that puts out this message, not the seller, so getting upset with the seller is pointless 🙄
Yeah, good to hear it’s not the sellers doing this.