Storque articles by bernsweeney

Customer Care: Improving Etsy Support

2009-11-12T12:30:00-04:00

Etsy's Support Team is committed to providing the best possible service to the Etsy community. We are delighted to announce that we are launching a brand new Help section and a new set of internal tools for Etsy's Support Team.

As we have with other recent features, we are going to roll out use of the new Help system over the next few days instead of all at once. We appreciate your patience and participation as we get the new Help system up and running.

Here are the highlights:

Searchable Help. Wave goodbye to those long, clunky, list-style Help pages. For the first time, Etsy's Frequently Asked Questions knowledge base (FAQs) is searchable! View FAQs by topic on Help Home, or quickly find answers by searching for a keyword or phase.

Contact Etsy Support. The new Help site allows you to contact Etsy's Support Team via a web form, instead of leaving Etsy to use email. Super convenient! (Note: You must be signed in to your Etsy account to use this feature, and we're gradually rolling this out to members. Until you your account comes up in the queue, this section will direct to the old FAQ.)

Help History. You can view and update your questions to Etsy's Support Team — and see our responses — right from the Help site using the My Help History page. In addition, a copy of the response from Etsy's Support Team will be sent to the email address on file in Your Etsy > Account Info. (Note: You must be signed in to your Etsy account to access My Help History, and we're gradually rolling this out to members. Until you your account comes up in the queue, this section will direct to the old FAQ.)

Submit a Suggestion. Have an idea to make Etsy even better? Want to offer us your point of view about Etsy? Use this handy form to let us know. (Note: You can alternatively discuss your ideas with other members in the community Ideas Forum.)

Teach Etsy How to Help. The new Help site allows members to rate the helpfulness of each FAQ. This provides us with valuable information so we can continually improve our resources for you. The Help site "learns" which FAQs are the most popular and automatically keeps these near the top for easier access.

Better Admin Tools. Etsy's Support Team has a new set of internal tools that integrate directly with the Help site to better serve our community. Every message sent to Etsy's Support Team is read and responded to by a real person. This human touch is vital to provide personalized assistance to every member who needs help. As we ramp up to full speed with these new tools, we have the ever-present goal in mind of improving the quality and timeliness of our customer support.

You may notice this week that emails you receive from Etsy's Support Team will look a little different. You can now easily see both your question to Support and our reply as a discussion thread. In addition, you will receive a reference number for your issue to improve correspondence tracking.

If you've recently sent an email to Etsy's Support Team, don't worry! You do not need to resubmit your question through the new Help site. We will respond as usual. Currently, you can still contact Etsy's Support Team by email to support@etsy.com, abuse@etsy.com, billng@etsy.com or content@etsy.com. We will forward emails to these addresses into our new Help system. (Be sure to send your message from the email address on file in Your Etsy > Account Info.) Over time, we will phase out the use of these email addresses and transition to using the Contact Etsy Support web form to contact the different areas of Etsy's Support Team.

P.S. If you would like to receive breaking, vital Etsy news as it happens — delivered straight to your email inbox — then sign up for Etsy News Alerts emails. Read more about it here. Expect this as an Etsy Alert email in your inbox if you already subscribe to the list.

You can also get an RSS feed of all TechUpdates here.

Clarifications and Changes: Updates to Etsy's Site Policies

2009-10-27T18:45:00-04:00

Last week we let the Etsy community in on a "sneak peek" preview of the proposed updates to our site policies in the DOs & DON'Ts of Etsy. During this preview week, we received lots of feedback and discussed the policies in the Forums, by Conversations and email with members of the Etsy community. After a rather positive reception and a few tweaks, we're ready to put the updated DOs & DONTs into effect today. In addition, we have updated the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy to complement the revised DOs & DON'Ts. These are important changes that every Etsy member should review, so we're sending out an email notification to all members (with millions of members in our community, it may take a few weeks for the emails to reach everyone).

For the most part, the core of the policies are still the same. Our aim was to address concerns expressed by members over the past year, and we made several clarifications and a few additions to the policies. For your convenience, we've summarized the highlights below, but we expect every member to read through the updated DOs & DON'Ts and Terms of Use in their entirety.   The updates below will look familiar to those who participated in the preview last week. Please follow the links to see the specific sections where these policies are defined.

Membership: A few notable policies that apply to all members have been moved up to the Membership section, like our policy for linking from a shop or profile to another selling venue. Collectives (seller accounts involving multiple people) have been further defined with the categories of Collaboration, Sharing a Shop and Shop Management Help. We clarified our rules for younger Etsians; collectives that include minors under the age of 18 may not utilize community features unless otherwise stated by Etsy.

Conversations: You may not use Conversations to interfere with a transaction (with details on this in the Transactions section, too). We've also elaborated on the definition of "spam" as it relates to Etsy Convos.

Transactions: We’ve added information to the Transactions section, describing the roles of the seller, the buyer and Etsy in a transaction. Keep in mind that in addition to these basic expectations for a transaction, each seller has their own Shop Policies and the policies of third-party services (for example: PayPal, shipping services) may be a factor. Additionally, we’ve outlined in detail various concerns or scenarios in which a transaction may be disputed, including: non-payment, non-delivery, refusal of service, dissatisfaction and interference. We’ve clarified the circumstances in which a transaction may be canceled. In general, the additions to this section outline in greater detail the processes and policies already in place for transactions.

Feedback: To better accommodate custom orders and international transactions, we will be increasing the time frame for submitting feedback from 90 days to 120 days. Additionally, we’ve clarified the circumstances in which Etsy will review feedback for removal, and we've lifted the 30-day limitation to requesting review of feedback for a policy violation.

Shops and listings: Formerly called “Selling,” this section has been expanded to include detailed policies about shop set-up, listing items, tagging and specific rules for handmade items, vintage goods and supplies. The section on Tagging is entirely new to the DOs & DON’Ts, but most of this information was available on Etsy’s Help site or through guides posted on Etsy’s blog, The Storque. Expanded sections of rules for handmade, vintage and supplies items should help sellers understand what can be sold on Etsy and how to list items for sale.

Charitable shops and listings: Etsy appreciates the spirit of giving back. Due to some laws and the existence of unsavory individuals who may try to take advantage of this spirit, we have added some policies for shops and listings that use charitable fundraising as a promotional tool. Etsy does not intend to limit your ability to donate to the charity of your choice; these rules merely apply to members who wish to promote or advertise charitable giving as a reason to purchase from their Etsy shops.

Prohibited Items: In response to a variety of community concerns, we have clarified our prohibited items list. These items — though they may be handmade, vintage or a crafting supply — are not allowed to be listed for sale on Etsy.

Showcase and Treasury: Making a first time appearance in the DOs & DON'Ts are specific sections for participation in the Showcase and the Treasury. We have gathered information from other areas of the site about these interactive features to formalize as policies in the DOs & DON'Ts.

Terms of Use: In general, the Terms of Use and DOs & DON'Ts complement one another. Notably, we added an arbitration clause and an idea submission clause. To explain the idea submission clause in plain language: if you submit an idea to improve Etsy, Etsy may use the suggestion to better the site. If you have a secret idea to improve Etsy, simply do not share it with Etsy, on the community spaces or via email. We truly appreciate all members and your feedback to improve the site. Both Etsy and the community benefit from these ideas.

The policies are live and in effect as of today, October 27, 2009; therefore, all your activities or content on Etsy from today forward must be in line with these new policies. As we mentioned in the post about the sneak peek, we are allowing all members a grace period to bring their existing content (for example: account information, shops, listings) up to speed with any changes in the policies. We also wanted to take into account the timing with the busy holiday season. All members have until the end of the day on December 31, 2009 to edit their content created prior to today's date (October 27, 2009).

Thank you for your input over the past year and during the policy preview week. By keeping our policies clear and up-to-date, we help preserve the integrity of Etsy.

If you have questions or comments about Etsy's updated policies, please join the discussion in this Forum thread or email support@etsy.com.

PayPal Workshop in Etsy's Virtual Labs

2009-09-17T10:22:00-04:00

On August 31, 2009, PayPal customer service representatives Deb and Tim hosted a live Virtual Labs chat to answer sellers' questions about PayPal and walk Etsy sellers through some of the features and tools that PayPal offers. If you missed the workshop, you can watch clips below and check out the links that were shared by the PayPal team.

1: Verifying Payment

How do you know you received payment from a buyer? Tim walks you through the multiple ways to find out. You can even use PayPal's download log feature to view your transactions in a spreadsheet or in software like Quicken or Quickbooks. For more information: Downloadable History.

2. Shipping and Seller Protection

Tip: When shipping on your PayPal invoice is incorrect, it's often a problem in your PayPal account settings. If you need to revise the invoice for the customer, go to your PayPal account and click on "request money."
Then, be sure to enable transaction-based override:
    1.    Log in to your account at http://www.paypal.com/.
    2.    Go to My Account > Profile > Shipping calculations (in the Selling Preferences column)
    3.    Select the Shipping Method and click Edit
    4.    Select Yes for "Use the shipping fee in the transaction instead of my calculator's settings" and press Save Changes.
Please note that if you have not set up any Shipping Calculations in PayPal, the default is to override shipping methods per transaction. (You should not need to change anything.)

3. Types of PayPal Accounts

Ever wonder whether you should upgrade to a Premium or Business PayPal account? Tim explains the benefits of each account. Helpful Links: PayPal Account Types & Which account is right for you?

4. Refunds

Want to know how to send a full or partial refund through PayPal? Or how fees work when refunding payment? Watch the video above. Helpful link: How to Send a Refund.

If you have another PayPal question that wasn't answered here you can probably find an answer in one of three ways:

PayPal Help Center
Ask Sarah — an automated PayPal customer service rep
Contact PayPal by phone or email

Want to attend a Virtual Labs workshop? Learn more about our online meeting space here.

Listen to the audio podcast of Deb Popek's last PayPal Virtual Lab here: Seller How-To: PayPal Coming to Etsy Virtual Labs!

Etsy's PayPal FAQs | PayPal Tips for Sellers | Etsy's Seller Handbook

About Us: Bernadette a.k.a. bernsweeney

2009-06-26T14:10:00-04:00

Bernadette Sweeney, a.k.a. bernsweeney, heads up Etsy's Support Team. Before starting at Etsy in May 2009, Bernadette worked for companies such as Community Connect Inc. (now Interactive One) and 1-800-Flowers.com. She brings with her a wealth of professional experience and also her warmth and concern for our members. Please join us in officially welcoming Bernadette!

Fun Facts:

Bernadette, KC, Ahmed and Tara share Queens as their hometown.
She's a Mets fan.
Bernadette is a first-generation American. Both her parents are from Ireland, and many of her relatives still live in the Motherland. Lucky for Bernadette, she gets to visit them every other year or so. Unlucky for Bernadette, they get to come visit her, and consequently, she's taken the tourist trolley around Manhattan more times than she can remember and will be taking the Sex and the City tour with her cousins visiting from England this week.
She has kissed the Blarney Stone which is supposed to give you the "gift of gab." She says this could explain why she "can't stop talking."
She adores Bono and is so excited to go see U2 in the fall. Her first concert was Molly Hatchet, but she wishes it had been U2 or Bruce Springsteen or the Police.
After college, Bernadette backpacked for three months in Australia. She blew her life savings and had to move back in with her parents. She still loves to travel and recently went to a wedding in Spain.
Facebook lost some of its cool appeal for Bernadette when her 70-year-old mother joined. But that said, her mom is pretty cool.
"She completed her doctoral research Performing the Body in Irish Theatre" at the University College in Cork, Ireland. Oh. Wait, I think that's a different Bernadette Sweeney.
Tim says she was named after the song "Bernadette" — not The Four Tops one, but the gospel song about St. Bernadette. ("Bernadette!")
She took part in a special task force on internet safety held at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
Bernadette is very sporty: She rides her bike, kayaks, and hikes.
She bribed the Support Team with cookies after her first interview at Etsy.

Family photos by the Christmas tree. Classic! Bernadette's mom is an expert knitter and made those cabled Irish fisherman's sweaters!

First Communion Bernadette looks like a little angel. But what is with that guilty look and that imprisoned baby crying for help in the background, hmmmm?

Etsy has had quite a growth spurt in the past year, and we have the awkward pictures to prove it. We've been posting a series of About Us pieces to help you get to know the Etsy admin (and since many of us work remotely, for the admin to get to know each other!). You've seen the admin badge, and maybe you're a bit curious about the person behind it! For more on Etsy's mission and about the company, please see our About page (the link is in the little blue footer of every Etsy page).

Some favorite shops below...