KarenCheck empowers Etsy sellers by displaying data that Etsy itself does not display - the reviews a particular user has written. Etsy does not have a buyer rating system like most other e-commerce platforms. Seeing a user's review history helps put us on an even playing field.
Why is this necessary? So what if there are a few scammers here and there? Isn't this unfair to buyers?
Most selling platforms allow sellers to view previous buyer activity. For whatever reason, Etsy does not make this information easy to access, but does make it publicly available through their API. As online sellers, we know that customers won't always be happy, and most of us are committed to making things right when there's an error. We also know that some customers are completely impossible, which can be incredibly discouraging. For new shops especially, one early unjustified bad review can ruin the chance of success. My hope is that people use this tool in the spirit of fairness. There are plenty of bad sellers out there, and bad review are justified in some cases. A long history of negativity without any positivity or indication the buyer worked with the seller is a Karen red flag, and sellers have the ability and right to cancel transactions from these buyers.
Can we report a Karen to warn other sellers?
I have no way of ensuring that a reporting system would not itself be taken over by Karens. The data presented here is already publicly available and are the words of the customers themselves, not editorializing.
Whom does the donate button go to?
It goes directly to my personal account. KarenCheck isn't a business; it's just me, one software engineer/Etsy seller who rage coded for a few days and put up this site. My expenses other than the labor include the domain name and Heroku. If you find the service useful, a small tip is much appreciated, but feel free to use it for free.
Who tf are you?
Hi my name is Sue. I'm a software engineer, an Etsy seller, a rock climber, and horticulture enthusiast.
This website seems kind of mean!
On the contrary, people have been reporting a renewed faith in humanity after using this site, due to the overwhelming positivity they've seen in most review histories. We've all been pleasantly surprised at just now wonderful the vast majority of people actually are, adding perspective to our negative experiences with Karens. This perspective restores our ability to be generous and trusting, which results in an increase in karma all around. Our Etsy shops are businesses, but also almost always places where we share our creativity, passion, and vision. Negative experiences with Karens make us vigilant and suspicious. KarenCheck helps correct this dynamic and gives small businesses a fair chance at success.
The derogatory term, "Karen", is racist against white women
Ok, Karen. Seriously though, everyone I know named Karen happens to be really cool. The name of this site is in a playful spirit.