Chapter 6

Safe Word: Maintaining Privacy and Safety on Etsy

In This Chapter

Understanding Etsy etiquette

Keeping your privacy intact on Etsy

Outsmarting scammers and staying safe in the Etsy community

Alerting Etsy to abuse

On Etsy, as in life, safety is paramount. Just as you wear a seat belt when you drive, a helmet on your bike, and knee pads during roller derby, you must take the appropriate steps to remain safe on Etsy. In this chapter, you discover the precautions you must take to ensure your security and maintain your privacy on Etsy.

Oh, Behave! Adhering to Etsy’s Do’s and Don’ts

Every Etsy member must make it a point to peruse the site’s DOs & DON’Ts. This page spells out everything you need to do to avoid committing a potentially embarrassing gaffe on the site. To view this page, click the Help link that appears in the upper-right corner of every Etsy page, click the Site Policies link, and click the DOs & DON’Ts link.

In brief, the DOs & DON’Ts page covers the following:

Membership: This section of Etsy’s DOs & DON’Ts outlines how members must behave on the site, specifies whether members can transfer ownership of an Etsy account to another party, clarifies the ins and outs of maintaining multiple accounts, specifies the scenarios under which collectives may be formed (see Chapter 18 for the scoop), and more.

Conversations: This section pertains to the use of conversations, or convos (which we discuss more in Chapter 17). Although members may use convos to build friendly relationships with each other, they’re intended primarily for communicating about transactions. Under no circumstances should you use convos to send spam, harass another member, or interfere with a transaction.

Transactions: Here, Etsy defines what a transaction is, clarifies its own role in any transaction, and spells out policies relating to transactions for both buyers and sellers. This section also indicates what to do when the buyer doesn’t pay up, what happens when a seller doesn’t deliver, what recourse a buyer has when an item isn’t up to snuff, and more. (Brush up on the basics of transactions in Chapter 5.)

Feedback: As you find out in Chapter 5, Etsy members rely on feedback to gauge a buyer or seller’s reputation. This section indicates the rules regarding leaving feedback and cites situations in which feedback may be removed or altered.

Marketplace Criteria: To get the skinny on what is — and is not — acceptable for sale on Etsy, peruse this section.

Advertising on Etsy: Many Etsy sellers advertise their items on the site to increase the number of eyeballs that see it. This section spells out a few of the rules with respect to this practice.

Flagging: Members can use Etsy’s flagging features to alert the site to potential problems. This section explains when flagging is appropriate and what happens when someone or something is flagged. You find out more about flagging later in this chapter.

Community: In this section, members discover what Etsy deems appropriate behavior on the site’s various community features, including its forums and teams (see Chapter 19 for more about these features). This section takes special care to remind members that these areas are public, meaning that people need to use common sense when sharing personal information on them. It also emphasizes the importance of treating everyone on the site with kindness and respect.

Private Party: Guarding Your Privacy on Etsy

Just because you’re on Etsy doesn’t mean you want everyone there all up in your business. Fortunately, Etsy takes your privacy seriously. You can take several steps to guard your privacy on Etsy.

If you’re particularly concerned about maintaining your privacy, consider using a post office box as your address when conducting business on Etsy. That way, even if you buy or sell an item on the site, your home or work address remains private.

Privacy, please: Understanding Etsy’s Privacy Policy

Like all reputable websites, Etsy maintains rigorous standards with respect to privacy. These standards relate to the following:

How Etsy collects and treats personal information

How Etsy handles service-related announcements and administrative messages

What types of tracking technology Etsy uses

How Etsy uses cookies (small bits of data from the site that are stored on your computer’s hard drive)

Measures Etsy takes to ensure that transactions on the site are secure

To view the highlights of the Privacy Policy, click the Help link that appears in the upper-right corner of every Etsy page, click the Site Policies link, and click the Privacy Policy link. To view the Privacy Policy in its entirety, click the Read Etsy’s Full Privacy Policy link on the Private Policy Highlights page.

Leave me alone! Changing your privacy settings

By default, anyone who visits your Etsy page can view your favorites. However, you may prefer to keep this information private. Maybe you use Etsy to buy gifts for others, and you don’t want them to be tipped off to gift ideas that you’ve hearted if they visit your page. Or maybe you don’t want to alert your atheist boyfriend to your secret guilty pleasure: Touched By an Angel–themed soaps. Whatever your reason, you can easily change your privacy settings to keep your favorites on the down low.

You can also limit your “findability” by hiding your info from other Etsy members who use Etsy’s Find Your Friends feature to find real-world friends on the site. (Chapter 21 has more on finding friends on Etsy by importing your contacts into the site.)

Here’s how to do both these things after you log in to your Etsy account:

1. Click the Your Account link along the top of any Etsy page.

2. Click the Settings link on the left side of the Your Account page.

3. Click the Privacy tab at the top of the page.

4. In the Favorites section of the Privacy tab, shown in Figure 6-1, click the Only You (Private) option button to select it.

5. In the Findability section, click the No option button to prevent other Etsy members from finding you when they use Etsy’s Find Your Friends feature.

6. Depending on your settings, you may also see an option for preventing others from finding you via your Facebook account; if so, choose the desired setting.

7. Click the Update Privacy Settings button.

Figure 6-1: Change your privacy settings.

Close sesame: Choosing a strong password

When you set up your Etsy account, you’re prompted to select a password to prevent others from accessing your account (see Chapter 2 for details). Unfortunately, many people opt for decidedly lame passwords — their birthdays, their kids’ names, the word password, or something equally easy to guess.

To ensure that no one accesses your account without your authorization, you need to set a strong password. A strong password is at least eight characters long; doesn’t contain your username or your real name; doesn’t contain a complete word; differs from passwords you’ve used in the past; and contains a mixture of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, symbols, and spaces.

Don’t use the same password on multiple sites. Otherwise, if someone figures out your password for one site, that person will have access to all your online accounts. For an added layer of protection, you need to periodically change your password — ideally, every 30 to 90 days.

To change your password, log in to your Etsy account and follow these steps:

1. Click the Your Account link along the top of any Etsy page.

2. Click the Settings link on the left side of the Your Account page.

You should land automatically on the Account tab, but if you don’t, click the Account tab at the top of the page.

3. In the Password section of the Account tab, shown in Figure 6-2, type your current password in the Current Password field.

Figure 6-2: Change your Etsy password.

4. In the New Password field, type your new password.

5. Retype your new password in the Confirm New Password field.

6. Click the Change Password button.

If you're worried about forgetting your password, you can write it down — but make sure you store it somewhere safe and private. If you forget your password and where you wrote it down, you can enter the e-mail address you used to set up your account on this page: www.etsy.com/forgot_password.php. If you forget your password and where you wrote it down and the e-mail address you used to set up your account, you have to contact Etsy at [email protected] to ask for help (after upping your daily dose of Ginkgo biloba, of course). Ditto if you forget your username.

If you’ve signed on to your Etsy account using a public computer — for example, one at your local library or in an Internet cafe — be sure you log off when you’re finished. Otherwise, the next person who uses that computer will be privy to your account information.

Safe Passage: Keeping Yourself Safe on Etsy

The good news is, since its inception in 2005, the Etsy community has grown like Shaquille O’Neal in the ninth grade — a lot. Unfortunately, that growth has made the site all the more attractive to scammers and other flimflammers, not to mention just plain jerks. In this section, you find out how to keep yourself safe on the site.

Scam I am: Avoiding scams on Etsy

Etsy isn’t just home to artists and crafters; it’s also a congregation of con artists and shafters. As you use Etsy, be on the lookout for scams.

On Etsy, most fraudulent activities involve the use of money orders or cashier’s checks. For example, if someone contacts you with a vague offer to buy something in your Etsy shop via money order or cashier’s check, but offers to pay more than is necessary to expedite the item or includes some other weird request or instructions, beware. This interaction is typically an attempt to relieve you of your merchandise.

Some of these scammers operate by purchasing an item — usually something expensive — and indicating that they’ll pay by money order or cashier’s check, but they tack on a substantial amount along with a request to, say, buy them a new notebook computer and ship it to them along with your valuable piece. The catch? The money order or cashier’s check is really a forgery. The end result: Not only does the scammer effectively steal your item, but you reward her by buying her a computer!

If anyone asks you to front him some cash or some other expensive item, pronto, your answer should be a polite but firm “N to the O, no.”

Sometimes people do have gift emergencies. They need one of your kitten-soft hand-knit scarves, like, yesterday. But sometimes people will foster a sense of urgency in an attempt to prey on your kindly nature — for example, begging you to ship an item right away, even though their cashier’s check or money order hasn’t cleared. Don’t be reeled in by this tactic!

Given how many scams involve the use of cashier’s checks and money orders, you may reasonably choose not to accept those forms of payment for items in your Etsy shop. (We discuss forms of payment in Chapter 9.)

Beyond these very obvious examples, how do you determine whether the person you’re dealing with on Etsy is on the up-and-up? If she has engaged in countless transactions and received reviews as glowing as Kate Winslet’s skin, then you can probably proceed without fear. (For help with checking a seller’s reviews — or, in Etsy parlance, her feedback — refer to Chapter 5.) But trust your instincts. Assuming that you’re not Billy Idol, those hairs on your neck are standing on end for a reason. Pay attention to them.

So, what do you do if you get taken on Etsy? First, contact your financial institution, on the double. Second, report the situation to Etsy. (See the next section for details.) You may also opt to alert your local law enforcement.

Safety dance: Staying safe in Etsy’s public places

As any regular Etsy user will tell you, one of the great things about using the site is its robust community of interesting, arty folk. But as with any community — especially online — not everyone on Etsy is on the up-and-up. For this reason, it’s critical to take steps to keep yourself safe on Etsy’s public places, such as its forums and teams (which we describe in detail in Chapter 19). Keep a few points in mind:

Lurk before you leap. Before jumping into a forum or team discussion, monitor it for a while. See whether the Etsians engaged in the discussion are people you want to interact with.

Don’t hesitate to exit left. If a discussion goes south, simply disengage. Life’s stressful enough — why embroil yourself in a conflict on a site that’s supposed to be fun?

Limit personal information. Don’t share your digits or other personal details, such as where you live or work, on Etsy’s forums, teams, or other public spaces.

Avoid oversharing. Although participating in the Etsy community can foster a sense of closeness among members, avoid the temptation to overshare. If you wouldn’t be comfortable sharing something with, say, your boyfriend’s grandmother, then it probably doesn’t belong on Etsy, either.

Think before you connect in real life. Although using Etsy is certainly a great way to pick up a new BFF and even fall in love (for proof, search for the Etsy Love Stories series on the Etsy Blog at www.etsy.com/blog), take care before you agree to connect with other Etsy users in real life. If you do decide to meet in person, pick a neutral public place — somewhere you'll feel comfortable. Make sure a friend or family member is hip to your plans, and be sure to bring a cellphone.

Be nice. If you’re kind to others online, chances are, others will be kind back. Not only is it bad karma to knowingly insult or harass another Etsy member, but it’s against the site’s rules. Abusive behavior can get you kicked off the site for good.

Buyers — as well as fellow sellers — read the forums. Not being on your best behavior can cast a shadow on your shop and your business!

Security guard: Making your account more secure

In case you’re extra concerned about security, Etsy offers a few optional features to make your account more secure:

Full-Site SSL: Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) adds a layer of security on the Internet. Certain pages on Etsy — ones that contain sensitive information, such as your credit card number or your actual weight (kidding) — are already SSL enabled. If you want to apply SSL to all the pages you view on Etsy, simply enable this feature. (You can tell when pages are encrypted with SSL by their URL, which starts with https instead of http.)

Two-Factor Authentication: This security feature adds a layer of protection above and beyond your password. Here’s how it works: You receive a text message or phone call with a super-secret code, which you must enter in addition to your password to log on to Etsy. You’ll receive a new code every 30 days or when you attempt to log in using a different browser.

Login History: Enable this feature to track when and where you sign in to your Etsy account. This is handy if you’re concerned that someone else may be logging on to your account. As an added bonus, it enables you to sign out of any open sessions — for example, if you signed on to Etsy using a public computer (say, at the library or at an Internet cafe) and you forgot to log off when you were finished.

To access these features, follow these steps:

1. Click the Your Account link along the top of any Etsy page.

2. Click the Settings link on the left side of the Your Account page.

3. Click the Security tab along the top of the page.

The Security Settings page, shown in Figure 6-3, opens.

4. To enable Full-Site SSL, click the top Enable button.

5. To enable Two-Factor Authentication, click the middle Enable button.

Etsy prompts you to enter a mobile phone number and to indicate whether you want to receive your two-factor code via text or phone call. Do so, and click the Confirm Phone Number button. Then obtain your code from your phone and enter it in the field that appears.

6. To enable Login History, click the bottom Enable button.

Figure 6-3: The Security Settings page.

Always use protection! Using Etsy’s Seller Protection program

Try as you might, not every transaction will be as smooth as Mick Jagger with the ladies. Fortunately, Etsy offers Seller Protection. Seller Protection guarantees that your account status will remain unaffected if a buyer reports a problem with a transaction with your shop.

To be eligible for Seller Protection, you’ll need to do the following:

Publish your policies with regard to returns, exchanges, and custom orders on your shop’s Policies page.

Communicate with buyers via convos (rather than, say, e-mail or carrier pigeon).

Accurately photograph and describe the items you list. Descriptions should include such details as color, size, materials, conditions, and the like. In the case of custom orders, it’s critical that you confirm the details of the order via convos. (You’ll learn about photographing your wares and writing good descriptions in Part III.)

Using the tools supplied by Etsy, provide buyers with a “ships-by” date — that is, the date by which the item(s) will ship, or the amount of time you need to process the order — and ship the item(s) as promised.

Ship your item to the address listed on the Etsy receipt (or to a different address, as agreed upon with the buyer via convos).

After the item is sent, mark it as such on Etsy.

Provide proof of shipping and, for items shipped within the United States, proof of delivery.

If your item is priced above $250, use a trackable shipping method that allows for signature confirmation at delivery.

Respond to dispute cases and to correspondence from the buyer involved in the case within seven calendar days. In addition, you must respond to requests from Etsy for more information about the case within seven calendar days.

As an added bonus, Etsy’s Seller Protection program fully covers items purchased via Etsy’s Direct Checkout tool (that is, via credit card or gift card), up to $1,000. So, if a good transaction goes bad, you’ll be in the clear.

Note that Seller Protection doesn’t apply across the board. For example, it isn’t available for transactions that involve digital goods or other items delivered electronically. The same goes for items that aren’t shipped — for example, items delivered in person or workshops or classes.

Brooklyn, We Have a Problem: Reporting Issues to Etsy

Suppose you run across a problem while using Etsy. For example, perhaps you’ve stumbled across an item that shouldn’t be sold on the site (in other words, it isn’t handmade, vintage, or a craft supply). If so, you can report it.

To report an item listing or shop that appears to be in violation of Etsy’s policies, click the Report This Item to Etsy link (at the bottom of the listing page) or the Report This Shop to Etsy link (on the left side of the page, under the Actions heading). A dialog box appears, asking you to specify why you’re reporting the listing or shop; click the appropriate option button, add any pertinent comments, and click Submit Report.

To report something else — say, a sketchy or harassing convo — contact Etsy Support. To do so, follow these steps:

1. While logged in to your Etsy account, click the Help link that appears along the top of any Etsy page.

The How Can We Help You? page opens.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Email Us link.

The Email Etsy Support page opens (see Figure 6-4).

3. Click the Select a Topic drop-down arrow.

The Select a Topic drop-down list opens.

4. Choose the option that relates most closely to the issue you want to report.

5. Type a subject for your message.

6. Type your message.

7. Click Submit.

Etsy notifies you that your report has been submitted; it also sends you a confirmation e-mail.

Figure 6-4: Reporting a problem on Etsy is easy.