Etsy purchase email privacy?

March 2, 2021 7:51 AM

If I purchase something on Etsy, does the seller automatically get my email address? Or just my username/address for shipping?

I use one email address for personal stuff and one email address for online orders to filter out spam.

I just purchased something from Etsy and realized too late my Etsy account has my personal email address attached to it. I've changed that now, but does the seller automatically have it from the purchase? I've found that once one company gets an email address, part of the problem is them reselling it to other companies/email lists, and it's like playing whack-a-mole.

posted by bluecore to Shopping (6 answers total)

I received an email from a seller's gmail recently, not sent via etsy (she'd been trying to contact me via etsy and I didn't respond, so she sent me a not-through-esty-email), so I assume she did get it from etsy somehow.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:56 AM on March 2, 2021

Best answer: I just checked on some completed orders and I can see the customer's associated email, though I can't tell if it will change when you update your account. It's not displayed as part of the order itself so it might not be static.
posted by brilliantine at 8:00 AM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

For future use, consider using "Google Plus Address" for every account you sign up, and which ones started getting spam, for better filtering, and so you know who leaked your address.

You can add a "+someword" to your email address and gmail will know to ignore it.

If you are [e-mail], the following email address will still reach you

[e-mail]

[e-mail]

and so on.

Two more tips are discussed here.
posted by kschang at 8:09 AM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

For future use, consider using "Google Plus Address" for every account you sign up, and which ones started getting spam, for better filtering, and so you know who leaked your address.

I've noticed some retailers have started blocking emails with a + in them, so this trick might be on its way out. It just happened again to me last week buying a shirt from primary.com.

I have also had an Etsy seller email me directly.
posted by phunniemee at 8:42 AM on March 2, 2021 [2 favorites]

I didn't know about the Google+ address thing, but I do use spamgourmet.com which is super useful for sites that require you to verify your email address, but who you either don't want to give your address to, or whom you never want to hear from again.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:03 AM on March 2, 2021

Best answer: Hey, I'm an Etsy seller! We don't get email addresses automatically. When I convo a buyer through Etsy, Etsy sends a copy to your associated email, but I don't actually receive your email address at any point.
Etsy really wants all buyer/seller communication to come through them (in case there's an issue) so that wouldn't be encouraged anyway. Some shops have recently started doing a (madly annoying IMO) thing where if you like an item they'll message you a discount, but it still comes through the Etsy convo system.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 4:40 PM on March 5, 2021