etsy strike
Apr. 14th, 2022 07:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spacefemThere's an etsy boycott this week but I didn't participate. I kept my shop up and I'm pretending I didn't hear anything about it.
Etsy raised their transaction fee price from 5% to 6.5% and sellers are mad.
I am not. I guess this means I'm a capitalist.
Sellers said if Etsy raises prices they will find another venue, dammit! Uh, well... that's what you do then. shrug. a one week blackout isn't going to make them change their mind.
Shopify charges a monthly fee to set up shop and sell things. Etsy charges 20 cents to list something, then doesn't charge you anything else unless it actually sells, then they charge the 6.5% transaction fee and a 3% + $0.25 processing fee if the buyer pays through etsy. if they pay through paypal, then paypal charges something similarly annoying. The processing fee likely goes to credit card companies... we can't pretend we don't know how that works.
It sucks, but I'm someone who has made my own website, with my own paypal buttons, and that sucks too. In fact I did that as a job way back when I was in college, charged people hundreds of dollars for website setup. So that's the alternative! Etsy doesn't have a monopoly. We can sell through ebay, amazon, facebook marketplace... so how will they set prices?
My dad used to say "they charge that much because they can".
This is just how the world works.
If I sell a $10 thing, I used to pay $1.05 in fees, now I pay $1.20. If I'm mad about it I'll raise my price to $10.15. As a seller we have to make sure we price our items so we're making enough money to justify our efforts. We tell ourselves that all the time. But when Etsy wants to raise a transaction price, it makes the news?
Etsy raised their transaction fee price from 5% to 6.5% and sellers are mad.
I am not. I guess this means I'm a capitalist.
Sellers said if Etsy raises prices they will find another venue, dammit! Uh, well... that's what you do then. shrug. a one week blackout isn't going to make them change their mind.
Shopify charges a monthly fee to set up shop and sell things. Etsy charges 20 cents to list something, then doesn't charge you anything else unless it actually sells, then they charge the 6.5% transaction fee and a 3% + $0.25 processing fee if the buyer pays through etsy. if they pay through paypal, then paypal charges something similarly annoying. The processing fee likely goes to credit card companies... we can't pretend we don't know how that works.
It sucks, but I'm someone who has made my own website, with my own paypal buttons, and that sucks too. In fact I did that as a job way back when I was in college, charged people hundreds of dollars for website setup. So that's the alternative! Etsy doesn't have a monopoly. We can sell through ebay, amazon, facebook marketplace... so how will they set prices?
My dad used to say "they charge that much because they can".
This is just how the world works.
If I sell a $10 thing, I used to pay $1.05 in fees, now I pay $1.20. If I'm mad about it I'll raise my price to $10.15. As a seller we have to make sure we price our items so we're making enough money to justify our efforts. We tell ourselves that all the time. But when Etsy wants to raise a transaction price, it makes the news?
no subject
Date: 2022-04-15 09:35 pm (UTC)I do not have a shop. The full time job selling is a dream... but Etsy never came with healthcare so not an option. I do jewelry and ceramics. There are tons of jewelry places...and many people want free shipping so the ceramics would be priced out of existence. A Ceramic Christmas tree that I price at $65 is sold by others on etsy at almost $200 for that free shipping. I just stayed away from it.
The best I have heard is to use etsy at first and then pimp the heck out of your self and point people to your own webpage. If successful you can ween off etsy when you have your audience.
For there to be another venue then someone has to make it. Maybe someone will? Who knows.
no subject
Date: 2022-04-16 03:53 pm (UTC)