Etsy Is Removing Buyer Email Access For Sellers - Here's How You Can Still Collect Emails
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- Опубликовано: 4 янв 2024
- Etsy buyer emails are going away on Feb 5th, how do you get email addresses on your list then?
Etsy announced that effective Feb 5th, 2024, 3rd party tools like Aweber, eRank, Everbee, and others are affected. These software tools used Etsy's API access. This was always permitted in the past, but Etsy is now removing email access by 3rd party tools. This means even if you are using something else, it will no longer be available in the API.
This video gives you some solutions for continuing to collect buyer emails from your Etsy customers. This will keep evolving, but this is why email marketing should only be ONE of the methods you use for getting customers. Be sure to subscribe to get eCommerce marketing methods with a heavy emphasis on automation.
Thanks for the info
There was a question that popped up in my notifications that is not showing up in the comments yet, so I'm going to address that for anyone else that has a similar question. The question was, "If we need an email for Canada Post in case of a lost parcel, will there be some kind of anon email we can share in this case." I'm not too familiar with Canada Post, but if it's like the USPS, lost packages are technically still the responsibility of the seller (that's Etsy's rules, by the way). So, you should put your email in if you need it in advance. In the US, the US Postal Service has re-defined the term "delivered" to include not-yet delivered packages (I will keep my opinion to myself for now). Once the package shows as delivered, the USPS will then only work with the BUYER because the package shows as delivered (they claim privacy - and yes, I am aware that some USPS workers violate this and will work with the seller...but that's a different discussion). In the case of a lost package that shows delivered, the buyer reaches out to the US Postal Service and provides their own contact information. More than likely, we will still have access to buyer emails for a period of time while there is a transition...but we will NOT be permitted to use those emails. Etsy was very clear in the email they sent that they want buyer-seller communication to be inside Etsy through the Etsy messaging system (but not marketing - so, you need your email list for marketing). I believe Etsy still permits email addresses to be sent through the messaging system, so a buyer could also provide an email address for the purpose of shipping if needed (for now). We may also see this shift to mandatory shipping purchases through the Etsy system. Etsy's integrations have expanded and once they have encompassed the majority of the shipping options, they will likely shift to requiring the purchase through their system and lost packages would be managed through whatever they set up. This will probably take a while considering Etsy's speed in changes. Not too long ago, Etsy changed the seller protection with wording that suggested that shipping purchased through Etsy had seller protection but shipping purchased outside of the Etsy system would not necessarily have coverage. This is another indicator of the direction Etsy is heading with required shipping through the Etsy system. This would not be a big surprise since Etsy most likely receives a type of "kickback" from the shipping companies. As a public company, Etsy's job is now to make money for the stockholders - so this makes sense as an easy way for Etsy to increase more money to them. I'm not saying I agree with this - just that this seems to be the direction they are going.
Thanks for this. What do you think about manually getting emails from recent etsy customers and sending them an email giving them a discount coupon if they sign up for newsletter?
Etsy made it pretty clear they want communication in the Etsy message system. If Etsy permits access to emails after Feb 5th, they likely will not permit emailing for any type of marketing purposes. If you word it correctly (not taking them off Etsy to purchase, but just to sign up to your email list), then I think Etsy would permit a message to them through the Etsy message system...for now. I suspect they are headed in the same direction as Amazon where sellers do not have access to email addresses and they do not want sellers to message anything except about the order. The main way around that on Amazon is for people to "register" the purchased product. For now, there appears to be no major restrictions except that Etsy did clearly say in the email that Seller and Buyer communication should be through the Etsy message system. So, there may be a grace period where sellers can get away with that (after Feb 5th), but most likely Etsy will close that window IF they even include emails after Feb 5th.
Hey, thanks for the info, do you know of any method to keep emails for order tracking purposes? A lot of our customers are international and require email communications for parcel clearance/exceptions etc. Seems like a backwards step for us :( Perhaps an improved verification system to access said emails would be a better option?
Etsy has been very vague on details for what kind of email address access we will have starting Feb 5th. I suspect that is because they are not sure if whatever solution they are working on will actually work. I suspect they will either permit access to email addresses for those purposes or offer an alternate solution through the Etsy system. When Amazon removed emails, they did it in stages. Etsy will probably do this as well over time. Considering this appears to be a rushed solution (since they had no communication with 3rd party tools that have been partners with them for years), it is highly unlikely they will get far enough to completely remove emails by Feb 5th. Unfortunately, Etsy isn't giving us info yet, so it will either be a surprise or they are going to give us a last minute update.
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