Can Etsy remove a review complaining about shipping cost when I offer free shipping?

Hi! In most cases Etsy won’t remove that review just because it’s “inaccurate” (Etsy generally won’t referee differences in opinion or fact-check a buyer’s statements), so your best move is usually to leave it alone or message the buyer privately to clear up the misunderstanding—then only post a public response if you truly need to reassure future shoppers.

A few practical options:

1. Message the buyer (best first step)
   Keep it friendly and curiosity-based, because buyers can edit their review during the review window (as long as you haven’t posted a public response yet). Something like:
   “Hi [Name], thanks so much for your review—I’m really glad you liked the item. I noticed the note about shipping being expensive, and I wanted to double-check: your order should have had free shipping at checkout. If something looked off on your end (or if you were charged any shipping), I’d love to understand what happened and make it right.”

Why this works: it gives them an easy “out” to update the review, and it also helps you spot issues like them confusing the item price with shipping, seeing currency conversion, import taxes, or a separate upgrade/custom fee.

1. Can Etsy remove it?
   You can report a review, but Etsy typically only removes reviews that violate policy (for example, harassment, private info, extortion, spam, or a review that’s solely about something outside your control like a shipping carrier named specifically). A “shipping is too expensive” comment—even if you offer free shipping—is usually treated as the buyer’s opinion and often won’t qualify for removal.

2. Public response: use sparingly (because it “locks” the review)
   A public response can help future buyers, but the big downside is once you respond, the buyer can’t edit their review anymore, even if they later realize the mistake. So I’d only do this if:

• the buyer doesn’t respond to your message, or
• you’re confident you don’t need/want them to edit it, and
• the review is likely to confuse other shoppers.

If you decide to respond publicly, keep it short, calm, and written for future customers (not as a correction). Example:
“Thanks so much for your feedback—I’m glad you loved the item! Just a quick note for future shoppers: all items in my shop ship free at checkout.”

If you want, paste the exact review text here (just the wording—no names), and I’ll help you choose whether to respond or leave it, and tighten up a public reply that sounds professional and not defensive.