Throwaway email addresses - customer vent

Selling on other Platforms Etsy
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Just a vent - I hate (hate) when people use throwaway email addresses to order (yahoo, hotmail, me dot com, etc.) and it happens SO OFTEN.

$400+ order placed yesterday to Canada. I have in my listings that I only ship up to a certain small size there, but the profit on this one is enough that I’ll take the hit and ship it UPS Ground.

BUT - no way I’m sending it until the customer acknowledges they’re familiar with duty/import fees, because they’ll have to pay quite a bit. Sent two messages already, nada. it’s me dot com, so just an apple cloud email - which means they probably aren’t seeing it.

Hate to lose this one, but I foresee a cancel in my future. :confused:

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Hey now, I still regularly use and check my yahoo mail account that I’ve had since 1996 or so.
Yes, it gets used more for ordering pizza and other lower priority things these days but it is still functional.

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Lol! I mean when they intentionally use it for eCommerce to avoid messages - which I GET, but sadly not checked frequently enough to answer a question about an order. :slight_smile: I do assume, though, that if your pizza didn’t show up you’d be urgently concerned! Ha!

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If I am ordering something, I DO want to see the emails associated with that order.
I understand those that hate getting the potential follow up junk mail, but I don’t understand the people that order and ignore all messages.
I spent my hard earned money on something, I want to make sure I get it.

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I’m not sure that is allowed…

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It isn’t

Amazon wants to ensure that each product detail page represents a unique product, which may include variations such as size, color, or pattern; each variation will have a unique ASIN and grouped under the same product detail page. A single page enables shoppers to explore buying options on one page and reduces confusion.

In order to make this possible, a product detail page is considered a shared space.

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This is the Etsy forum :wink:

This is Etsy. :slight_smile:

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I have never seen it this way, I have always assumed, that was the email they used years ago when the account was set up, and have never bothered to change it.

Honestly Amazon as a buyer is 10000% functional without a functioning email. I mean it shouldn’t be!

Not sure how it works on Etsy.

Yep it is!

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image

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Guess I am unawares. What email addresses are NOT highly potential throw-aways?
or not answerable. Google, proprietary?

I think the biggest issue is spam, the volume of emails received, and just the way people communicate these days… ie. messages, whatsapp, etc.

Just polling a few friends and family, I think you will find that they average literally 1000’s of unread email messages. My wife has 10,000. She is hopeless.

Crazy, but true.

Might want to think “out of the box”. If a phone # is available, then call, or text message. If not, then a postcard, or a flat rate priority mail letter? If a $400 order and great margin, then that could be worth it.

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I ended up (as I often do) emailing her directly from my email rather than via Etsy message - thankfully that one got through to her. :slight_smile:

Also guilty! HA!

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True, but unlike Amazon, Etsy customers see and response to messages often and quickly. It’s very rare to have a “convo” go into a black hole. they also have a notification to see when they browse Etsy unlike here, where I would have to go look for my messages as a buyer.

Hope the order works out LR72, but, like you, if my gut says trouble ahead, I’d take the cancel on E.

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All good - I had to email her directly and since she used an apple email address they didn’t show up on her phone (ugh). She confirmed she knows about Duty and I shipped her order yesterday. As slow as things have been, I was happy for this one!

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You are looking for trouble if you ship UPS Ground to any individual in Canada.

The UPS customs clearance fees are usurious and often result in refused deliveries. You may not be getting an answer because the customer is angry at you.

IMO the email domain is irrelevant. I use my yahoo address for most purchases without any problems, and have for over 20 years.

I have not used my ISP email address in years.

I use my gmail address for purposes which I will never read an incoming message, and have a mailbox full of spam, which I empty every 6 months.

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We thought most providers had defaults that emptied spam folders on a rolling 30 day period.
:thinking:

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30 days is the new normal (as of 2023). 6 months was the normal before that

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Providers do not catch all Spam. Google is particularly poor at it because they derive revenue from spammers who pay them for targets.

There is nothing but Spam coming to my Gmail account, and most of it makes it past the filters.

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Fortunately she already got back to me that she’s aware and is expecting it. I’ve found that USPS can often be worse since they won’t call - they’ll just leave a note that the customer may or may not see.

In my (somewhat lengthy) experience, I’ve found that customer messages (via Etsy) that go to gmail are answered…but if their account was set up with Yahoo or Hotmail, notsomuch. I wish all of my customers would be as responsive as you are. :slight_smile:

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I’ll speak as an Etsy seller and as a Canadian: As soon as I notice the order, I always send a copy of my convo to the e-mail address simultaneously if there is a problem.

My processing time on Etsy is 1-3 days: If I don’t get an answer within a day, I send another one (both convo and e-mail), with the added information that I’d have to cancel their order if I don’t get a reply until the next day. My third and last convo&e-mails mention that I have to cancel their order right after sending this message, info about the next steps, and that they are welcome to shop again when they see these messages.

Most of the time, I receive a reply within 2 days and I can ship the order on time.

Most Canadians know about the duties, taxes, and handling fees. AFAIK, this is the latest about the De Minimis Thresholds:

De Minimis Thresholds
De Minimis Thresholds2316×948 436 KB

Where I live, UPS/Fedex/DHL arrives quickly and I pay every penny through my accounts, most of the time automatically, before the package is delivered.

When a package is shipped with USPS, Canada Post takes over after the border and I pay Canada Post for duties, taxes, and handling fees. To be honest, sometimes Canada Post doesn’t charge for these if the value is under CAD200. Probably, when they are too busy… So, if I order something small from the US and it’s not urgent, and if it is under CAD200, I prefer USPS. The shipping cost is less than the others and there is a chance that Canada Post might not bother to collect the duties, taxes, and handling fees and just leave the package in my mailbox :wink:

I’ll object to this though:

Yes, Canada Post does not call but the note they leave either at the doorknob or in the mailbox is enough, and they leave another note if the package is not picked up within 15 days IIRC.

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Yeah, this was over 540 CAD so they’re definitely going to charge her. I just wanted to make sure she knew. The shipping via UPS was about half the cost of USPS for this one, strangely! I use USPS for my Canada shipments typically - but I guess for large things (this was 25x21x3 and about 8 lbs) it’s cheaper via UPS.