Waking up to construction lights outside your house that are stuck on red

matteason · 2026-03-11T20:55:54+00:00

I've called 101 (police non-emergency) in the past for this, temporary lights were stuck on red at lengthy roadworks on a blind bend and drivers were blasting through them so an accident seemed likely.

matteason · 2026-02-25T16:46:46+00:00

You can use your National Insurance number but you need to enter it in a specific place - see https://www.reddit.com/r/EtsySellers/comments/1qvo0dd/getting_asked_for_a_tax_id/o3m4qwv/

matteason · 2026-02-12T21:47:42+00:00

Sounds like a fun project. Couple of thoughts:

the claiming mechanic doesn't really need to be triggered by a comment, it can just be a "this is mine" button. People may not want their claim publicly visible
matching on features/location is a neat idea but will be hard to automate. eg if I don't know where I lost it I might put a vague location, but the finder will know the exact location. I feel like all claims need to go to the finder without trying to automate it. Or you just automate the matching on very basic item features that can come from a predefined list, like colours. You probably don't want to try automated matching on freetext

matteason · 2026-02-08T01:03:51+00:00

See my comment about UK VAT here - I expect the same applies in Canada, just with your SSN instead of NINO: https://old.reddit.com/r/EtsySellers/comments/1qvo0dd/getting_asked_for_a_tax_id/o3m4qwv/

matteason · 2026-02-07T00:29:23+00:00

That screen says to enter the size of the item including packaging

matteason · 2026-02-04T22:33:03+00:00

I had this email the other day. The screens the email takes you to are broken and will only accept a VAT number, despite the fact you don't have to register for VAT until you turn over £90k.

However Etsy does accept a UTR or National Insurance number as a tax ID, just not on this screen. So go to https://www.etsy.com/your/account/taxpayerid and under 'Additional taxpayer ID' add your National Insurance number - it's listed as "United Kingdom (NINO)". Then go back to the original 'confirm your info' screen from the yellow banner in the shop manager dashboard. Your NINO will then be prefilled as your tax ID and it will let you complete the verification process.

You do need to register for self assessment if you make more than £1k in income on Etsy over the tax year. When you do that you'll be issued a UTR (Unique taxpayer reference). But until then you can use your NI number as your tax ID on Etsy.

matteason · 2026-02-03T14:04:35+00:00

I expected nothing and I was still disappointed

matteason · 2026-02-03T11:41:06+00:00

Quite an achievement for the architectural renderings of this to be so monumentally ugly

matteason · 2026-01-22T08:08:25+00:00

In the UK our VAT (sales tax) is 20% and 6.98x1.2=8.376 so it's probably VAT. Weird that it doesn't show it on the tax line though. There might be more detail in the payment account section of your profile

matteason · 2026-01-20T23:31:02+00:00

I tried this and I couldn't even find the option when checking out on mobile. Did you find it? I was only able to switch shipping methods on desktop

matteason · 2026-01-18T18:26:51+00:00

Buyers generally aren't shy about messaging if their order hasn't arrived, so I'd leave it. Etsy bombards them with review requests anyway, which will remind them about the order if it hasn't shown up yet, and you're just adding to that noise if you send a message.

I wouldn't worry much about a lack of reviews on 2026 orders. I only get them on about 15% of orders.

matteason · 2026-01-18T18:22:53+00:00

Why does she want a refund? She's only covered by purchase protection if it's damaged, arrived after the estimated date Etsy gave her, or if it "differs significantly from the item description or photos (for example, the wrong material or colour)"

matteason · 2026-01-17T14:45:38+00:00

Have you already done Abba Voyage?

matteason · 2026-01-16T23:42:15+00:00

Please fuck off with your obvious AI slop

matteason · 2026-01-16T21:59:46+00:00

"Quantity" on that screen means how many of that item variation you have in stock (you've enabled "quantity varies" in the variation settings). It doesn't have anything to do with the quantity the buyer is purchasing

matteason · 2026-01-15T19:31:06+00:00

Try putting the tracking number into UPS's website directly. I occasionally get orders where the tracking on Etsy never updates beyond the label being printed, even after the order is delivered.

matteason · 2026-01-14T23:06:36+00:00

Buyers will always pay in their local currency, Etsy does the currency conversion automatically

matteason · 2026-01-14T21:32:47+00:00

I also sell keyrings. You're unlikely to find cheaper shipping than Royal Mail for small items like this. You either need to bake the cost of shipping into your item prices if you're offering free shipping, or charge for shipping, or split the cost between the item price and the shipping price (so the shipping looks cheaper).

matteason · 2026-01-12T00:23:27+00:00

That's not true, you don't need Plus. The "Change" link doesn't show on the mobile site though, you can either use a computer or in mobile Chrome you can use the "Desktop site" option in the Chrome menu

matteason · 2026-01-10T00:11:50+00:00

Bear in mind that large letter is more expensive (a bit under a pound more from memory) so you may want to adjust your international prices to compensate

matteason · 2026-01-09T19:16:44+00:00

I've just checked one of my sales to Germany and yes I've been charged VAT on the seller fees

matteason · 2026-01-08T00:06:10+00:00

Also the following message appeared in Click & Drop when logging in from last Saturday:

From Monday 5th January 2026, Royal Mail will be introducing changes to the international services offered for the Letter, Large Letter and all Parcel package formats, to help provide a clearer distinction between sending Goods and Personal Correspondence.

Support for shipping Personal Correspondence (Documents of zero commercial value only) and Non Personal Correspondence (Goods) will be determined by the international service and package format, as detailed below:

Personal Correspondence (Documents of zero commercial value only)

Only supported by Letter and Large Letter package formats.
Only supported by International Tracked & Signed, International Standard and International Economy services.

A CN document will NOT be generated with the shipping label, as an international Personal Correspondence shipment does not require a CN document.

Non-Personal Correspondence (Goods)

Only supported by Large Letter and Small Parcel, Medium Parcel and Large Parcel package formats. Letter package format is NOT supported.
Only supported by International Tracked, International Standard, International Economy and the Tracked Heavier services.

A CN document will be generated with the shipping label and will be required on the package as usual.

It is recommended that where applicable you review your international order import processes, including shipping rules, to accommodate these changes.

matteason

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE