How to Buy on Etsy

Here’s some basic information on how shopping on Etsy works.

My first times purchasing on Etsy were confusing because I got two emails with each purchase, one from Etsy saying I’d bought something and one from PayPal saying I’d bought something. I now understand that Etsy provides a store front and acts as a shopping cart. Basically, you “reserve” your items on Etsy so they can’t be purchased by anyone else. The Etsy shopping cart allows you to tell the seller that you plan to purchase the item, how you plan to pay, and where the seller should ship it. If you have chosen to pay via PayPal or credit card, you can do that right away or do it later. I suspect most of us just proceed directly to pay online, following the prompts. But you don’t HAVE to, and often sellers will allow additional forms of payment, such as money order or cheque. Bumbershoot Designs accepts all forms of payment (see our Policies page for more details). If you choose to pay using a credit card, PayPal generates an email receipt.

You don’t have to have an Etsy account to window shop, but you do have to have one to buy. The seller needs to know who you are, your email address for any communications about the order and where you want the order shipped. Etsy does not require or ask for any financial information.

You do not have to have a PayPal account to pay via credit card. If you don’t have and don’t want to have a PayPal account, here is what to do: At the end of the Etsy order, when you say how you are going to pay, click on PayPal. After you submit your order to Etsy, this choice takes you to the PayPal window. There, look for the option to continue to pay without creating an account. On my monitor, these instructions are in very small print. PayPal wants you to create an account - it’s their business, and that’s OK, but you certainly don’t have to. Under this option, PayPal is the processor of the credit card payment, but you have not set up a PayPal account.

You can find more information on how to make Etsy purchases on Etsy’s site, here. If you have any questions about purchasing from Bumbershoot Designs, feel free to contact Sharon (contact information is here).