10 Etsy Shops To Avoid: High Number of Bad Reviews

In 10 Etsy shops to avoid: high number of bad reviews we’re not trying to crush the small business world. Instead, we want our readers to know that small businesses are important to us, especially the ones on Etsy. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few that could step up their game. And buyers, who also like to support small businesses, shouldn’t have to sacrifice the quality of their purchases to do it.

So, if you own an Etsy business, no matter how many five star reviews you have, we applaud you. You started something to encourage creativity and learning, great job! But even the best shops can improve, so use this list as an inspiration to grow!

When it comes to shopping online, many shops could send you something opposite that you ordered and you should be very careful while purchasing something online. If you are interested, you can also check our list of 11 high margin convenience store products to avoid as well.

First, we’d like to explain a little about the Etsy review system. On Etsy, each review of each item counts towards or against the entire shop, so they’re not specific to the item. Customers can rate their items between one and five stars, and leave a comment about their purchase. These reviews can be found by clicking on any item for sale, scrolling down and clicking on the second tab with stars on it. Here, the ten most recent reviews are listed along with their dates, ratings, comments and even a picture if the customer has provided one. If the shop has received more than ten reviews, the rest can be found by clicking on the number of reviews found in parenthesis.

To give you the Etsy shops with a “high number of bad reviews,” we first had to define “bad reviews.” So we came up with a scoring system which we could use based on those first listed ten reviews. Shops who had more than 1 one star review out of that 10 received two points. Shops with five or less five-star reviews out of that ten also received two points. Lastly, shops with less than 50 total reviews received two points (we thought a number of reviews, as well as quality of reviews, was an important factor).

This means the “worst” Etsy shop received that total of 6 points (since points in this case count against you). We randomly selected shops whose reviews gave them at least 2 points and listed them here from best to worst. But even the worst Etsy shop on this list could still sell you a great item with great service because our score system is rather harsh (especially for shops with thousands of reviews). The odds are just less likely it’ll happen that way.

One last note: The pictures in this article do not necessarily coincide with the shops and the items sold there. They are merely generally related pictures for visual appeal.

Now without further ado, here are Etsy shops to avoid: high number of bad reviews.

10. SpicePerks

One Star: 1

Four Stars: 2

Five Stars: 7

Total Reviews: 21

Points: 2

The so called “Purveyor of Fine Spices” sells spices that apparently aren’t so fine. Their lack of reviews is the only thing that hurt their score, but they’ve been selling since 2013 which is plenty of time to have racked up some reviews.

9. HeirloomsDressCo

Three Stars: 2

Four Stars: 3

Five Stars: 5

Total Reviews: 281

Points: 2

With only five perfect five star reviews out of 10, this flower girl dress shop can’t be that great (no matter how cute those dresses looks in the pictures).

8. NBDandE

One Star: 1

Three Stars: 2

Four Stars: 1

Five Stars: 6

Total Reviews: 29

Points: 2

This North Carolina print shop, next on our list of Etsy shops to avoid: high number of bad reviews designs invitations and other goods for various types of events. They’re a relatively new shop though, so with time their amount of reviews may increase.

7. DropDeadSimpleBags

One Star: 1

Four Stars: 1

Five Stars: 8

Total Reviews: 27

Points: 2

You have to admit, the bags in this shop are adorable. But the small amount of reviews makes one skeptical.

6. TheApplewoodLane

One Star: 2

Four Stars: 1

Five Stars: 7

Total Reviews: 3,532

With the crazy amount of reviews this embroidery shop has acquired, you wouldn’t think a few single star reviews would matter. But it mattered enough to land this list of Etsy shops to avoid: high number of bad reviews, and no one wants to be the one who ends up with 1-star service.

5. BridalCrystalex

One Star: 2

Four Stars: 1

Five Stars: 7

Total Reviews: 18

Points: 4

Beautiful bridal accessories are sold here, but not extremely successful. Since the shop has been open since 2013, it should have more than 18 reviews by now. And 2 one star reviews out of only 18 isn’t very good odds.

4. Lovaple

One Star: 3

Five Stars: 7

Total Reviews: 10

Points: 4

This shop’s page is extremely aesthetically pleasing, and it’s in Paris, which also, unfortunately, means only French speaking people can understand what those 3 one star reviews actually say. It does appear to sell mainly party supplies.

3. Helloohbaby

One Star: 2

Five Stars: 7

Total Reviews: 9

Points: 4

This baby clothing shop that ranked 3rd on our list of Etsy shops to avoid: high number of bad reviews has only four items for sale and nine reviews, but it was just started in 2017, so we’ll give it a break for that.

2. NewTribeNewTradition

One Star: 2

Four Stars: 4

Five Stars: 4

Total Reviews: 483

Points: 4

This unique shop sells graphic tees and other printed apparel items and has been since 2011. They could work on upping the quality of their reviews, though.

1. PatriciaGambis

One Star: 3

Three Stars: 1

Four Stars: 1

Five Stars: 5

Total Reviews: 14

Points: 6

Patricia appears to do embroidery and sewing for children, but Patricia clearly needs to step her shop up, since she’s the only one to score 6 points on our list of 10 Etsy shops to avoid: high number of bad reviews. Work harder, Patricia!