Actually, the numbers don't seem too bad at all to me, judging by what must go on here on eBay. Only 1 out of 400 sales resulted in a case and only 1 out of more than 100 buyers filed a case in 2014 -- pretty good odds for a seller.
"In 2014, a quarter of one percent (0.25%) of orders in 2014 resulted in a case. Less than one percent (0.73%) of buyers who made a purchase in 2014 filed a case."
Unlike eBay, Etsy also doesn't make it ridiculously easy for a buyer to inadvertently or frivolously open a case, so the numbers quoted represent deliberate, purposeful complaints by buyers. A buyer on Etsy can't just accidentally turn an innocent inquiry or follow-up question after a sale into a case; the buyer/seller communications system is quite separate from the complaints system. EBay could learn a few lessons there.
Incidentally, does eBay regularly publish "transparency data" reports as detailed as this? I can't recall ever having seen one.
