Thousands of Etsy sellers to strike over rising transaction fees
Thousands of Etsy sellers are shutting up shop this week to protest against a rise in fees made by the online marketplace for independent artists, vintage sellers and craftspeople.
The move is a response to Etsy, which hosts more than 5.3m businesses, from Monday increasing the fees it charges sellers from 5% to 6.5% – a 30% increase.
More than 20,000 Etsy sellers have joined the strike after organising via Reddit, with many putting their online shops in to “vacation mode” for the whole week and some just on Monday. Other Etsy vendors are keeping their stores open but have added imagery explaining their opposition to the fee hike to customers.
In a letter sent on Monday to Etsy’s chief executive, Josh Silverman, the strike organiser, Kristi Cassidy from Rhode Island, called the move “nothing short of pandemic profiteering”. Etsy has yet to respond.
Speaking to the Guardian, Cassidy said: “We gave people multiple options for how to participate, depending on their financial situation.”
Cassidy said more than 22,500 Etsy sellers had joined the protest.
As well as anger about the increased fees, Etsy vendors are also opposing other changes, which they argue have cheapened the brand and eaten into their profits. Sellers with an Etsy turnover of more than $10,000 a year are charged an extra mandatory 12% fee for offsite marketing.
Noemie Kenyon, a British seller, said: “I’m unhappy about the forced marketing – or what they call ‘offsite ads’. I find that quite outrageous as the seller doesn’t have a say on what will be advertised.”
As well as asking for the fee increase to be cancelled, the strike organisers want sellers to be able to opt out of offsite ads.
Etsy dropped its B-corp certification – a US legal designation under which
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