Why am I getting strange Etsy messages that disappear and won’t send?

Hi! What you’re describing is usually Etsy’s spam/scam filtering at work: those “weird” buyer messages often come from spam accounts (or phishing attempts), and Etsy may automatically block the thread or move it out of your main inbox—so when you try to reply, the send fails and the conversation “disappears” because it’s been filtered/removed or refiled.

A few common reasons this happens:

• It’s a scam/spam message and Etsy auto-filters it. These often ask unrelated questions, push you to email/text, include links/QR codes, or sound like “support/account verification.”
• The sender account gets restricted/deactivated quickly. If Etsy bans/restricts the account after the message lands, the thread can vanish or become non-replyable.
• You’re viewing a filtered inbox (Unread/New) and the thread gets moved. It can look like it disappeared when it was actually moved to Spam (this is easiest to confirm on desktop).
• Less common: your account could be temporarily “muted” from sending messages by Etsy’s systems (then replies won’t send for a period of time).

How to handle them (safe + simple):

1. Don’t reply with any contact info (email, phone), don’t click links/QR codes, and don’t agree to offsite payment. If the message is odd, treat it as suspicious.
2. Check your Spam folder on desktop (and your “From Etsy” system messages folder). If it’s spammy, mark/report as spam rather than replying.
3. If it might be a real buyer, reply only inside Etsy with something like:
   “Thanks for reaching out! Just to confirm, which item are you asking about? Please use the ‘Message seller’ button from the listing or tell me the item name.”
   (If Etsy won’t let you send at all, that’s another sign it’s being filtered—so don’t chase it off-platform.)
4. If this keeps happening a lot, take screenshots for your records and consider contacting Etsy Support to report a spike in suspicious messages (no need to share any private buyer details).

If you want, paste a sanitized example of one of the messages (remove names, emails, links, order numbers) and tell me whether you’re using the Etsy Seller app or desktop—I'll help you spot the red flags and the best next step for your specific case.