Etsy’s New Policy (during COVID-19 this policy has been put on hold)

If you are an Etsy buyer, I would like to make you aware of Etsy’s New Policy called the Order Dissatisfaction Rate.

I am all for great customer service, but this policy is going to hurt a lot of small businesses that made Etsy what it is today.

What is ODR?

It’s called Order Dissatisfaction Rate, and it’s supposed to ensure that shops offer reliable and solution-oriented customer service. Which I think is great, but not the way Etsy does it. Etsy wants you to maintain and ODR of below 1% in order to continue selling on Etsy.

For instance, I have over 1500 sales on Etsy, but the ODR is based on the now 200 plus sales I had since ODR was instated by Etsy in November of 2019. So according to their calculations I am only allowed to have 2 one-star reviews and if I have more than that my shop will be shut down. (this happened to other shop owners) What annoys me, is that they do not consider all the orders you fulfilled since you started your shop. No, the 1% is taken from orders received since November 2019, which I believe is terrible math.

What can the buyer do?

Next time you buy something on Etsy, please consider Etsy’s New Policy, before giving a shop a one-star rating. As your review could cost someone their livelihood. Before your hit that button, contact the seller and see if they have tracking, an e-mail might have gotten lost. It could also be that the seller had a family emergency and wasn’t able to communicate to you that your order is delayed.
Whatever you as a buyer do, please try and resolve the issue before you give a one-star review. Cause many Etsy sellers depend on you as a customer for their livelihood.

Why not your own website?

Take it from me, as I had my own website for a little over 7 years now. It is hard to get traffic to your website. You spend a lot of time on social media trying to convince people to buy your merchandise. Etsy pretty much comes with built-in SEO everybody knows about Etsy and cause it is a legit site. And building your own website costs money, which a lot of those smaller shops don’t have to spare. So this is not always the best solution.

In conclusion,

please don’t push that review button in a hurry and see if you can works things out.

As always, thank you for your support