I come at this from two angles, as a buyer and as a seller on Etsy, having experience with both. Firstly, as a seller, I honestly would not expect too much from Etsy. It has become largely geared towards low value items, print on demand, digital downloads, etc... Things that are purchased on a whim and can be shipped immediately. With the introduction of their 'buyer protection plan' there is no guarantee that even if your tracking for shipments state 'delivered' that a customer won't lodge a complaint that they have not received their purchase and file for a refund. If that happens Etsy 'could' refund and you will loose your product and your money. UNLESS you happen to be one of the few who have and continue to meet the requirements for Etsy's Star Seller Program. This is not a program that is obtainable on a reliable basis for anyone living outside of the USA. While it was presented as a system to allow buyers to selectively purchase from a steadfast set of sellers, it turns out that two of the criteria not shown to the purchasing public are a minimum dollar value and number of sales in a given period. So, if you are a painter who only turns out 1 piece a month and you only sell 2 of those in a three month period, you won't get star seller status. Even if someone paid $1million for the 2 you sold and you met all other criteria. Once again, it would have you considering turning to selling digital download prints of your work. Not something every artist wants to do. In discussions with other sellers, I would frequently hear them say that 'You need to treat it like a business to be successful there.' This made me laugh. If you wrote up a business plan that included Etsy as your only or main sales channel and took it to a bank to obtain a start up loan, no matter how good things look on your end of things the bank would laugh in your face. Not because Etsy has such a lousy reputation but because it is what it is. A third party selling platform that is not beholding to anyone but their shareholders. What and how they operate can and has changed on dime without notice and this is clearly stated in their TOU's that sellers agree to when signing up. Looking at this singular point only, no one can even attempt to 'project' sales and revenue from an Etsy shop. Every sale there is and should be considered supplemental or a 'bonus' only. I get why some would say that though when I look at who they are. They have already established a 'business' outside of Etsy and use Etsy as one of multiple sales channels. But you can not and should not factor Etsy in to any part of a sane 'business PLAN'. or consider it to be anything more than supplemental. If Etsy was in the practice of including sellers in their operational decisions then that would be different. But they don't. You should treat it exactly as you would selling on a site like eBay, because no matter what clever catch phrase Etsy uses on it's branding it is just another eBay. Secondly, as a buyer. I used to purchase a lot from Etsy sellers and still purchase on occasion. Unlike others, finding things using Etsy search has not been much of a problem. The problem is that the sellers I frequently purchased from are no longer there. Most have now set up shop on their own web sites or with Shopify or similar and I'm happy to make my purchases from there. A big 'X' for me has been some rather unrealistic price increases I've seen on Etsy. I'm not sure if it's the sellers costs and ad's that are driving that up but I have absolutely no difficulty finding many of the things I shop for elsewhere for far less with the same or better service. The incentive to spend time looking on Etsy has naturally declined as a result. Their switch to more 'instant' gratification products like print on demand and digitals isn't what I usually look to buy and I'm left feeling like I am no longer part of Etsy's target market. Not being able to quickly access customer service when needed is also a big 'X' for me. Actually speaking with a real person knowledgeable in the workings of Etsy seems to come only after several attempts at navigating through a dimly lit automated series of tunnels leaving you feeling exasperated by the time you get to the one that may or may not be the right one. Bottom line here is that it is comically ridiculous. If your purchase was not too expensive, I can easily see buyers just giving up and going away. Like I do. The good news is, that with Covid now over and Etsy being a general mess, it has prompted me to explore and re-explore both local shops and other online platforms and owner web sites that I would not have considered even looking for before. So it has opened up a whole new world for me and I can now say that Etsy is no longer my target shopping experience.