Shop closed after purchase and asked to pay through PayPal
When a shop closes or gets shut down after a purchase, sellers sometimes ask buyers to cancel and pay through an alternative method like PayPal. This leaves buyers questioning if the request is a scam while dealing with unresponsive support and withheld funds.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Marking the email as spam
- 2Requesting a refund directly through Etsy
- 3Refusing to pay the seller elsewhere
- 4Filing complaints with regulatory bodies like the FTC
- 5Attempting to file with the Better Business Bureau
- 6Posting public warnings on social forums
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Last night I got an email saying their shopped closed and asked me to refund and pay through PayPal business for buyer protection instead.”source ↗
“I checked Etsy and the shop no longer had any items up so that part at least checks out.”source ↗
“Is this suspicious to anyone else?”source ↗
“On Sept 7, they permanently closed it, citing a policy violation I'm not disputing. But they're also withholding $365.04 that was already earned and due for payout on Sept 3 — four days *before* the closure.”source ↗
“I've emailed them 5 times over two weeks asking them to release it or explain why. I've gotten nothing but automated "ticket received" replies — no human has answered a single question.”source ↗