Something screwy has been reported by numerous Etsy sellers; Shipping "too fast" resulting in the buyer getting a refund and the merchandise.  Here's the details:

Every customers loves to see a tracking number arrive in their email only hours after they made their purchase, however, Etsy sellers across the USA are reporting that shipping to quickly has opened an opportunity for scammers.  These sellers all claim that they have experienced the identical issues, and they go something like this:

Buyer places order at 9am

At 9:45am, Seller gets an email from Etsy stating the funds are on the way to their bank account

Seller prints postage at 10:30am

Seller hands carrier the parcel at noon

At 1pm Seller receives an email from Etsy saying the order has been canceled and the buyer has been refunded in full.  Keep in mind, when Etsy refunds a buyer, they place the charge on the sellers credit card, so as of 1pm the seller still does not have the funds from 9am, the seller does not have the inventory because it's in transit and the seller now has a credit card charge for the full amount of the order.  

To make matters worse, this identical issue is being reported as occurring on Mercari! 

To add insult to injury, buyers are reporting receiving infuriating replies from the marketplace that look like this: 

If you cannot read the email above, the marketplace is telling the seller that the solution is for the seller to try to get the parcel back from the carrier!  If you are forced to perform a parcel intercept, it is NOT FREE through USPS.  You can learn how to stop transit on a parcel by reading our blog post How to Stop Transit AFTER It Has Shipped. Last we checked, the USPS intercept cost was $14.  It's possible the price may have changed since 2021.  

Additionally, no carrier can guarantee successful intercept.  However, you only pay for the intercept if they can stop transit and return the parcel to you.

Anyways, Etsy sellers are sounding the alarm on super-fast shipping.  These sellers are warning that sellers should at LEAST wait until the following day to ship.