Why is an Etsy account repeatedly favoriting and unfavoriting my listings?

Question

I run an Etsy shop with multiple active listings, and over the past couple of days one buyer account has been favoriting and then unfavoriting a large number of my items in waves (including some sold-out listings). It’s creating a lot of notification spam, and their profile doesn’t show many favorites, which makes me think they remove them afterward.

They haven’t contacted me or placed an order, but the repeated activity feels unusual. Is this something to worry about, and should I block the account or just ignore it?

Çağla Çağlar · Answer

Hi! This usually isn’t something to worry about—most of the time it’s just someone (or an automated tool) “window shopping,” comparing items, tracking prices, or a competitor doing quick research. Favoriting/unfavoriting in waves can look weird, but by itself it doesn’t give them any special access to your shop and it doesn’t hurt your Etsy listing.

A few common (non-scary) reasons it happens:
- They’re using favorites like bookmarks and cleaning them up afterward.
- They’re comparing lots of similar items (yours included), then removing the “losers.”
- They’re trying to trigger a sale/coupon (some buyers think favoriting might prompt an offer—some shops do send offers; some don’t).
- It’s a bot/script or browser extension that’s scraping or “tracking” listings (including sold-out ones if they’re still viewable).

**Should you block them?**  
Blocking on Etsy is pretty limited and often won’t stop someone from favoriting/unfavoriting anyway (and it won’t prevent them from buying). I’d only bother taking action if they start messaging you aggressively, making weird demands, or you see actual harmful behavior (copyright infringement, copying photos, etc.). Otherwise, ignoring it is fine.

**What I’d do instead (to stop the notification spam):**
- Turn down favorite notifications: go into your Etsy notification settings (app + email) and disable or reduce “favorites” alerts so you’re not getting pinged all day.
- If you’re using the Etsy Seller app, also check push notification settings there separately—those are often the main culprit.

**When it *is* worth reporting/escalating:**  
If they start contacting you with harassment, threats, or suspicious requests (off-platform payment, “send me your email,” etc.), or if you notice clear copying/infringement tied to that account, then report the messages/listings through Etsy’s reporting tools.

If you want, tell me whether you’re getting these notifications by email, push notifications, or both, and I’ll walk you through the quickest way to mute just the favorite spam without missing important stuff like orders and messages.