Checkout

Checkout is the moment the buyer commits - they enter (or confirm) payment, confirm shipping address, apply any coupon, and place the order. From there, the order lands in your Shop Manager and the clock starts on processing time.

What Etsy handles

• Payment processing through Etsy Payments. You can’t accept payment outside Etsy for an Etsy order - that’s a TOS violation.
• Sales tax in marketplace facilitator states (most US states now). Etsy collects, remits, and you don’t see that money.
• Multi-shop split. Each shop’s portion of a multi-shop cart is a separate transaction, separate fees.

What you handle

• Anything that requires production decisions (a personalization input, special instructions in “Note to seller”).
• The shipping carrier choice, label purchase, tracking entry.
• Refunds (initiated from your end after order placement).

Coupon timing

Coupons apply at checkout, not at cart. A buyer with items in their cart who doesn’t have a code yet won’t see discounted pricing until they enter the code on the checkout page.

Guest checkout

Buyers can check out without an Etsy account. They get an order receipt by email; you see them in your orders list with a generated buyer ID. Abandoned cart recovery doesn’t reach guest checkouts (no account = no email).