Etsy is a great platform with thousands of trusted sellers. This trust is built on reviews of their stores, products, and their customer service. So if you find something that you fell other buyers need to know (either positive or negative) then you’re going to want to share it.
Unfortunately, some buyers find they can’t create reviews, which can cause a massive amount of frustration.
You’ve got the product, and had a bad experience, why can’t you warn others? Hold that thought for now, and lets look at the 4 reasons why you can’t leave a review on Etsy.
Reasons you may not be able to leave a review on Etsy
The main reasons for being unable to leave a review are:
- you haven’t bought the item through Etsy or the Etsy app
- the “review window” isn’t open – it’s too soon, or you’re too late
- you don’t have an Etsy account
- a case is open on the transaction
Lets look at each of those now.
You haven’t bought the item through Etsy or the Etsy app
Many sellers on Etsy can be found on many other platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and possibly even their own site. This can make things tricky if you want to share your review as you’ll need to leave it on the platform you bought from.
Did you buy the item from their website and not Etsy? If “yes” then this is the reason you can’t leave review.
Etsy only allows reviews from transactions on Etsy. this is done so that sellers can’t fake reviews.
What can you do about it?
If you purchased the item from somewhere other than Etsy, there isn’t anything you can do.
The “review window” isn’t open
Most buyers don’t realise that you can’t just add your review whenever you like. Etsy has a review window in which you can add your review.
This is make it fair on the seller – why should a buyer be able to leave a review before the item is due to arrive? Why should the buyer be able to add a review 2 years after they bought it?
Neither of these scenarios are good, and the review window means that reviews have a better chance at being fair and relevant.
How long until you can leave a review on Etsy? You can leave a review from the date the item is due to be delivered. This will be based on either:
- the delivery estimates provided by the seller
- the estimated delivery date provided by the shipping provider – but only if the item is tracked
From this point you have 100 days to leave a review. After the 100 days the review window closes, and you can no longer submit your review.
After the date your order should arrive, you have 100 days to leave a review or open a case.
https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115013293148-When-Can-I-Leave-a-Review-or-Open-a-Case-?segment=shopping
So your next check is to see when your order was delivered, if it was very recent, or a long time ago it is likely you are outside of the review window.
What can you do about it?
If you have tried to leave a review, and its only been a couple of days then the only thing you need to do is wait.
However if its been over 100 days since you’ve had the item there isn’t anything you can do. Once the window has closed you can’t leave a review.
You don’t have an Etsy account
Just like a review can only be made against a sale on Etsy, a review can only be left by a user on Etsy.
If you purchased your order as a “guest” (i.e. you didn’t create or login to an account) then Etsy will not let you leave a review.
What can you do about it?
If you want to leave a review from a guest order you can do so by connecting a guest order to an account by following these steps.
In summary you need to:
- Open your email inbox.
- Locate the email receipt you received when you placed your order. This email is sent from transaction@etsy.com.
- Select View your order.
- Follow the steps to sign in or create an account on Etsy.com. The account you link your guest order to must have the same email address that you used for your guest order. Your order is automatically connected to your Etsy account.
- Once you’ve claimed your order, you can choose that order and contact the seller for help.
It is important to note that guest orders can only be connected if they’ve been placed on the Etsy website. Guest orders on the Etsy app cannot be claimed to an Etsy account.
A case is open on the transaction
If something has gone wrong with your order you may need to “open a case”. Opening a case is basically reporting an issue with the order directly with Etsy.
In this scenario Etsy will prevent a review being added until the case has been concluded.
If you have opened a case against the seller, Etsy will stop you from adding a review intil either:
- the seller has rectified the issues raised
- they can confirm your issues
What can you do about it?
Once the case has been closed you will be able to leave your review.
Conclusion
Not being able to leave a review can be incredibly frustrating. If you have feedback – either positive or negative – that you want the seller to know, then you’d want to get it over to them as soon as possible.
However, there are often valid reasons why you can’t leave your review.
Hopefully after going through the 4 issues I’ve listed, you can see which one is preventing you.
