Meandering Mondays: How to Make Your Purchases on Etsy --Step-by-Step Instructions

Check out step by step
If you have recently made a purchase from a merchant on Etsy and you received a reminder email stating that you haven't paid for the purchase please do not be offended. Often new members to the Etsy community (and sometimes even us Etsy veterans) don't realize that their transaction is not complete until they reach the Etsy screen with a large green check mark beside the caption ' Paid using Paypal'  for items from each merchant they have chosen to purchase from. (You can see an example of this screen at the link in step 5 below).

STEP 1)
You can go back to the check out for your item when logged in to Etsy, click on the grey 'your Etsy' tab at the top of the screen when you log into to your Etsy account and click on 'purchases', in blue, at the top left corner.

STEP 2)
After you filled in your address you see an option with 'pay now with Paypal' That's the button you should click for both credit card or Paypal account payments (even if you don't have a Paypal account you still have to click on the 'pay now with Paypal' button because Paypal is also the company who processes all credit card transactions for the Etsy site). See it here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydesigns/385498824/in/set-72157594527812262/

STEP 3)
This takes you to Paypal. You'll see a screen where you can choose your payment method. If there's currently no money in your Paypal account, or you do not have a Paypal account, you can also choose to use your credit card in the bottom part of the screen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydesigns/365363424/in/set-72157594527812262/

STEP 4)
If you have a Paypal account, you click  'login' on the right hand of the screen as seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydesigns/365363424/in/set-72157594527812262/
when you click on 'Login' you will go to this screen,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydesigns/385502008/in/set-72157594527812262/
Now click on the orange button that says 'Pay $XX Now' and the amount of your transaction will be deducted from your Paypal account.

If you don not have a Paypal account then you should have clicked on the 'continue' option (in blue) on the left hand of the screen seen in Step 3:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydesigns/365363424/in/set-72157594527812262/
That will take you to this screen:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydesigns/365363426/in/set-72157594527812262/
Here you will enter all of your credit card and ship to information then click on the orange button at the bottom that says 'Review order and Continue'.

STEP 5)
After you click on either the orange 'Pay $XX Now' button when using a Paypal account OR the orange 'Review order and Continue' button when using a Credit Card, you should be redirected back to Etsy to this screen:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydesigns/385502011/in/set-72157594527812262/
Here you should see a large green check mark beside the caption 'Paid using Paypal' if you see the check mark and caption then your transaction has been completed successfully and payment has been sent to the seller. If you do not see the green check and the caption then no money has been sent to the seller and your items are not paid for yet. If you are still having trouble contact the shop owner that you are trying to purchase from for additional help in finalizing your payment. I am sure they would be more than glad to assist you.

A version of this was recently posted in the forums on Etsy in response to the number of non-paying buyers. (I did take the liberty of making a few changes to make certain points a little easier to understand) In the majority of cases, the buyers aren't intentionally not paying for their purchases but rather they are unsure of how to follow through with the Etsy checkout system to completion and payment finalization, particularly in the case of customers who are brand new to the Etsy community. I want to thank Kinchi for posting this for us in the forums as well as Starrydesigns for the great screen shots. I hope this will help others to get a working knowledge of how the Etsy process works. I know that it is a lot of steps but after you have successfully completed a couple of transactions you will have it down pat.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope it is of some help to someone. If you are a shop owner who knows people who are interested in your items but they are uncomfortable with the Etsy procedures please feel free to share this with them.