Etsy Review Guide

Who uses Etsy

Independent sellers and small brands running Etsy shops, and the buyers who purchase from them. Only orders placed through Etsy.com or the Etsy app can be reviewed, so sales made in person through Square cannot.

Claim your profile

1. There is no listing to claim: reviews attach to an Etsy shop that the seller opens.
2. Sign in to or create an Etsy account, then go to Etsy.com/sell and choose Get started. Etsy says shops must be set up in a desktop web browser.
3. Set the shop language, country and currency, and choose a shop name of 4 to 20 characters with no spaces, special characters or profanity.
4. Connect a bank account to receive payments and add a card for Etsy bills; the payment setup steps vary by country.
5. Etsy does not require a business license to sell, but sellers must follow the laws that apply to them. After setup, the shop can be run from the Etsy Seller app.

Official guidelines: help.etsy.com

Replying to reviews

On Etsy.com, open Shop Manager, select your shop name under Sales Channels and choose Reviews. Find the review and select Post a public response. The response appears in the Reviews section of listing pages and on your Shop Reviews page.

• You have 100 days from the date the buyer last edited the review to respond publicly.
• You can respond to each review only once. A response cannot be edited; it can be deleted, but then you cannot post another.
• Once you respond, the buyer can no longer edit the review or rating, even if you delete the response. Buyers cannot reply to your response.
• Etsy suggests messaging the buyer privately first, from the order in Shop Manager, because a buyer can still edit an unanswered review within 100 days of the estimated delivery date.
• Responses must follow Etsy's review policies and may not include tracking numbers, external links or private information, or Etsy will remove them.

Official guidelines: help.etsy.com

Review rules

In our own words. The official page is the rule that applies.

• Buyers have 100 days to review an order, starting from the delivery date or estimated delivery date; for digital items the window starts when the buyer downloads the files.
• A review cannot be left or edited while a case is open on the order, and canceled orders cannot be reviewed.
• Buyers can change the rating, photo and text any number of times during the review window, unless the seller has already responded.
• Etsy removes reviews and responses that contain identifying private information, obscene, racist or harassing language or imagery, threats or extortion, prohibited medical drug claims, or content that is only advertising or spam.
• Reviews only about things outside the seller's control, such as a named shipping carrier, Etsy or another third party, can be removed; a review that also covers the item or service may not qualify.
• Shilling or other attempts to inflate a shop's review score break Etsy's policies, and Etsy says it scans messages for review manipulation.
• A shop's review score is a recency-weighted average, with ratings from the past 12 months weighted most.

Official guidelines: help.etsy.com

Reporting a review

Etsy's own process, step by step.

1. From Shop Manager, choose your shop name under Sales Channels and scroll to the Reviews section, or use Report this review under the review on Etsy.com or in the Etsy Seller app.
2. Choose Report, add any details Etsy might need and submit. You can report a review, its photo or video, or a seller's response.
3. Reports can be made until 100 days after the item's estimated delivery date. Reporting is confidential, and a review only needs to be flagged once.
4. Etsy's team checks whether the review breaks its policies; if it does not, no action is taken. Etsy Support cannot remove a review at a seller's request.
5. Do not use review reports for intellectual property concerns; Etsy handles those under its Intellectual Property Policy.

Official guidelines: help.etsy.com

Tips

• Message an unhappy buyer from the order before responding publicly, since a public response locks the review.
• Write a public response for future shoppers: keep it short, professional and focused on the item and service, not the reviewer.
• Set realistic processing times, because Etsy uses them to estimate delivery dates and the review window.
• Never ask friends or other accounts to review your shop; Etsy treats shilling as a policy violation.