Seller Handbook

Earlier this year, we shared how we’re investing heavily in trust and safety to protect our community’s creativity and ensure Etsy remains a safe and trusted place to shop and sell.

We work hard to balance keeping our marketplace safe, having our customers’ backs if something goes wrong, and helping sellers run and grow their businesses.

We understand that for small businesses, getting paid quickly is important. That’s why we typically make funds available for deposit as soon as a sale is made on Etsy, and the seller doesn’t have to wait until the buyer receives the item to get paid like they might when selling on other platforms.

As the volume of transactions taking place on Etsy has grown exponentially in the last few years, we introduced temporary Payment account reserves in 2021 as one way to keep the marketplace safe while maintaining this schedule for most sellers. Since then, Payment account reserves have helped us to deter fraudulent activity and ensure reliable shopping experiences.

Reserves are common across online marketplaces, and protect sellers and buyers during all the phases of a transaction—from when an order is first placed to when a buyer receives their item.

On Etsy, we use reserves to make sure there are enough funds in a seller’s Payment account to cover any unexpected refunds or charges from a sale. A few facts about Payment account reserves to be aware of:

1. If a temporary Payment account reserve is placed on a seller’s account, a percentage of funds from each new sale of a physical item is not available for deposit for a brief period of time, or until Etsy can confirm the order is in transit with valid tracking added by the seller. On average in 2022, funds held on reserve from most Etsy orders became available to sellers within 2 weeks of the order date.*

2. The money on reserve in your Payment account is yours and kept safe. If you don’t have any disputes or refunds during the reserve period, it will be available to deposit to your bank account (minus any applicable seller fees, which will be deducted from your reserve funds) after the reserve period.

3. As a seller, these short-term reserves help protect your Payment account balance from going into the negative, so we don’t have to charge your card on file for unexpected refunds or charges from a sale.

4. Even if a reserve is placed on your account, your shop and listings are still active and visible to shoppers and you can continue to make sales.

We look at a variety of potential account factors to determine if a reserve will be placed on a seller’s account. In this article, we’ll cover the most common reasons a seller may see a reserve on their account, when they can expect funds held on reserve to be released, and ways to avoid a reserve in the future.

Jump to a section

• Why would a reserve be placed on my Payment account?
• How can I get my funds released sooner?
• How do I avoid a reserve on my Payment account in the future?
• How does being a Star Seller impact whether there’s a reserve placed on my shop’s Payment account?

Why would a reserve be placed on my Payment account?

Temporary reserves are placed on accounts based on multiple factors, in accordance with the Etsy Payments Policy. We’ll email you from support@etsy.com if a reserve is placed on your Payment account. If you’ve recently had a reserve placed on your Payment account, it’s a good opportunity to review some of the most common factors that may have contributed, along with our tips for avoiding reserves in the future.

The two most common reasons why a shop might be placed on reserve are:

• Orders are consistently missing tracking information or tracking events—especially for orders over $100 (or currency equivalent)
• Orders aren’t shipped on time

While these are some of the most common reasons for an account reserve, our systems also look at a variety of other factors that could indicate that there's a high level of shop or transaction risk. A few examples are:

• A sudden, sharp increase in orders or refunds
• If you recently made your first sale on Etsy or made a sale after a long period of inactivity
• If your shop has a history of low reviews

An account reserve can be placed on your account at any time in your journey on Etsy, whether you're just getting started or you're an established seller, if we identify a potential risk.

How can I get my funds sooner?

Add valid tracking for all available orders. Reserved funds will be immediately released if Etsy can verify with the carrier that the order has been shipped or delivered. If you have a tracking number for your order, learn how to manually add it to the order here. Purchasing shipping labels on Etsy is a simple way to automate this step in the future, since tracking is included with most services.

Note: Etsy isn’t always able to confirm shipment progress based on the information provided by some carriers. If we can’t determine if an order is in transit or has been delivered, the funds will be reserved for the full period displayed in the Reserve section of your Payment account.

How do I avoid a reserve on my Payment account in the future?

These tips can help prevent a reserve being placed on your shop going forward:

• Add tracking or use shipping labels on Etsy. Sellers based in the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and India can purchase shipping labels for open orders right from Shop Manager. When you buy a domestic or international label on Etsy, we’ll fill in the buyer’s address and automatically mark the order as shipped. Plus, when you purchase a label with tracking on Etsy, we’ll automatically share the tracking number with the shopper and there’s nothing else you need to do to mark the order as complete.

  • If you purchase shipping labels through a different preferred carrier, learn how to add tracking information manually here.

• Ship within your stated processing times. Processing time indicates how much time you need to get an order ready to ship and get it to your shipping carrier. Update your processing times to accurately reflect your workflow and set clear expectations with shoppers. Building up inventory that’s ready to ship and stocking up on frequently used supplies can be helpful in streamlining your processing times ahead of a busy period.

• Mark orders as shipped only when they’re with the shipping carrier. This lets shoppers know their order is on its way and gives them a better estimate of when it will arrive. We make it super easy with shipping labels on Etsy—when you purchase your postage, just choose the date you plan to drop off the package (up to two days in the future) and we’ll automatically mark the order as shipped on that date.

• Stay up to date on seller policies to ensure your shop remains in compliance. Learn more about the policies that help us keep Etsy special, unique, and safe.

• Strive for good reviews. Positive reviews make it easier for shoppers on Etsy to know you have a proven record of providing an excellent customer experience. Read How to Get 5-Star Reviews for tips based on Etsy’s research.

• Qualify for Star Seller. When a shop has the Star Seller badge, they’re not subject to a reserve on their Payment account. Shops are automatically reviewed on the first of each month to determine whether they qualify for Star Seller and have met all of the criteria.

How does being a Star Seller impact whether there’s a reserve placed on my shop’s Payment account?

Star Seller is a way for Etsy to reward shops that consistently offer an excellent customer experience in the areas we know are important to buyers—responding to messages quickly, shipping and tracking, and average review ratings. On the 1st of every month, we determine if you’ve earned Star Seller by looking back at the last three months of your shop's performance (starting 90 days after your first sale on Etsy). If you earn your Star Seller badge by meeting all the criteria during the monthly review, any reserve in your Payments account will be removed within 24 hours.

You can track your progress towards Star Seller in your personalized dashboard, and earn badges for each of the main criteria areas along the way.

Learn more about Payment account reserves in the Help Center and the Etsy Payments Policy.

*Based on an internal analysis of orders in reserve during 2022.