Etsy 'Not as Described' Digital: How to Avoid Cases

01How does Etsy's Cases Policy work for digital downloads?

Etsy's Cases Policy, in force since 9 July 2026, lets a buyer open a case when an item they received does not match how it was described (source: etsy.com/legal/policy/cases-policy). For physical goods that usually means damage or the wrong item. For a digital download there is nothing to inspect in a box, so the whole question collapses to one comparison: does the file match the words on the listing? The policy draws a line that works in your favor. An item that accurately matches its description but merely disappoints the buyer is not eligible for a 'not as described' case on those grounds. In plain terms: if a buyer wanted a different color, expected editable text you never offered, or simply changed their mind, an accurate listing holds. If your listing claimed '300 DPI, 5 files, 8x10' and the download delivers exactly that, the description did the work. That single distinction is why the rest of this guide is about precision, not persuasion. Every vague or inflated claim you make widens the gap a case can slip through; every verified specification narrows it. You are not writing to impress the algorithm here, you are writing the record Etsy reads when a buyer disputes the sale. Treat the description field as a contract you can actually keep.

02Why your listing description is your legal shield

Think of your listing copy as a contract you have to honor to the letter. Everything a buyer can reasonably infer from it becomes a promise Etsy can hold you to, so the goal is a description that is complete and true, never one that oversells. Start with the concrete, checkable facts: what the buyer receives, in what formats, how many files, the finished print sizes, and whether anything is editable. Etsy's own title guidance from April 2026 tells sellers to state plainly what the item is and to say it once (source: help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015628707), and the same discipline belongs in the body. Ambiguity is where cases are born. Be equally clear about limits. If a template is not editable, say so. If the file prints beautifully at 8x10 but not at 24x36, name the sizes it supports rather than implying infinity. A boundary you disclose cannot become a surprise the buyer disputes. The counter-intuitive lesson: a modest, exact description is safer than a glowing, loose one. 'High resolution' means nothing; '300 DPI, prints crisp to 16x20' means something a buyer can verify and you can defend. When the words match the file precisely, a disappointed buyer has no accurate-description gap to stand a case on, which is exactly the protection the Cases Policy grants you.

03Should you write 'all sales are final' on instant downloads?

Instant digital downloads deliver the moment payment clears, and there is no way to 'return' a file a buyer already has. That reality is worth stating plainly in your listing, because clear expectations prevent disputes far more effectively than fine print does. A short line such as 'This is an instant digital download, no physical item will be shipped, and because files are delivered immediately, all sales are final' does two jobs. It confirms the nature of the product, and it tells the buyer, before they pay, that they are buying a file rather than a mailed print. Etsy delivers digital purchases through the buyer's account and, for guest checkout, through the order confirmation email (source: help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115013328108), so 'no shipping' is a genuine expectation to set. One caution: a 'final sale' line is a clarity tool, not a force field. It does not override Etsy's Cases Policy, and it will not shield a listing whose file genuinely fails to match its description. If you promise a layered PSD and deliver a flat JPEG, no disclaimer saves you. Use final-sale wording to frame the transaction honestly and cut down on 'I changed my mind' messages, then rely on accurate specifications to handle the cases that actually matter. Honesty up front and precision in the details are the two halves of the same shield.

04What is the 7-day rule for made-to-order digital items?

Not every digital listing is instant. The moment you offer personalization, a name added to a print, a custom date on an invitation, a monogram, you have created a made-to-order item, and a different rule applies. Under Etsy's Cases Policy, made-to-order and personalized digital items must state a processing or delivery window of 7 days or less (source: etsy.com/legal/policy/cases-policy). This is not optional wording; it is a condition of selling personalized work on the platform. Set the window honestly at something you can always meet, and many sellers choose the full seven days rather than promise 24 hours and miss it during a busy week. The window matters for cases because it sets the clock a buyer measures you against. Promise delivery in two days, disappear for five, and you have created a genuine mismatch between listing and reality, precisely the kind of gap a 'not as described' or non-delivery case is built to catch. Meet the window you published, and the buyer has nothing to dispute. Keep personalization instructions unambiguous too: state exactly what you need (spelling, dates, color choice) and what you will send back. A personalized order that arrives on time, spelled as requested, in the promised format, is a case that never opens. The 7-day window is a promise, so treat it as one you will always keep.

05How do you pre-empt the 'it won't download on my phone' complaint?

One of the most common digital complaints has nothing to do with your file's quality. A buyer taps their purchase on the Etsy mobile app, sees no download, and messages you convinced the item is broken. It is not, it is a platform limitation many buyers do not know about. Digital downloads are not available in the Etsy mobile app; buyers must download their files in a web browser (source: help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115013328108). Guest-checkout buyers receive the download link in their order confirmation email. Neither fact is obvious to a first-time digital buyer, and a confused buyer who cannot find their file is a buyer halfway to opening a case. Pre-empt it in the listing and in your automated thank-you note. A single line, 'Downloads open in a web browser, not the Etsy app; guest buyers get a link in the confirmation email,' turns a support ticket into a non-event. If your product is a cut file or anything zipped, add that unzipping generally needs a computer rather than a phone, so buyers expect to switch devices. This is expectation-setting, not spec-writing, but it belongs in the same shield. A case opened out of confusion still costs you time and puts your metrics at risk. Telling buyers where their file lives removes the single most avoidable trigger.

06Why you should never mention tax in a digital listing

Here is a rule that surprises many sellers and quietly causes trouble: you should never state tax amounts in a digital listing. Etsy automatically calculates, collects, and remits VAT or sales tax on digital items for the roughly 40 countries that require it, and sellers are instructed not to state tax amounts in their listings (sources: help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014483627 and help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015587567). Why does this touch cases? Because a listing that promises 'no tax' or quotes a specific tax figure creates a claim that Etsy's own checkout will contradict. A buyer in a VAT country sees tax added at checkout, remembers your listing said otherwise, and now has a genuine description-versus-reality mismatch, the exact gap the Cases Policy hinges on. You would have manufactured the problem the rest of this guide works to avoid. The safe move is silence. Say nothing about tax, let Etsy handle the calculation and remittance it is designed for, and there is no claim to contradict. The same discipline applies to pricing gimmicks: Etsy's title guidance also warns against putting sale or discount language in titles (source: help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015628707), for the same reason, a price promise the platform does not honor becomes a dispute. When it comes to money, the accurate description is the one that stays quiet and lets checkout speak.

07How wrong DPI or file counts quietly create cases

The subtlest cases come from specifications that are almost right. A listing says '300 DPI' but the file was exported from a social-media template at 96 DPI; it promises 'five files' but the buyer counts four; it advertises '8x10' when the pixels only support a crisp 5x7. Each of these is a real gap between listing and download, and each is fully preventable. 300 DPI is the print-industry standard for crisp output, and a file below it can print soft at larger sizes (this is a print standard, not an Etsy rule). Canva's social exports commonly land at 72 to 96 DPI, so a printable built there needs a deliberate 300 DPI export before it matches the claim. File count is just as literal: Etsy allows up to five files of 20 MB each per listing (source: help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015628347), so promise the number you actually upload. The trouble is that these facts live inside the file, where you cannot eyeball them. That is exactly what ListifyAI's /generate-digital tool checks: it reads your actual file and measures the DPI, the true print size, and the page count, then writes listing copy around the verified numbers instead of your best guess. When the specifications in your description are read from the file itself, the accurate-description gap the Cases Policy needs simply is not there to exploit.

List from verified facts, not guesses.