In February, Etsy's CEO Josh Silverman announced that the platform would increase the transaction fees for sellers, as it will go from 5% to 6.5%. The increase will start on Apr. 11.
The decision to increase the transaction fees came after it was reported that Etsy's revenue and sales were at an all-time high, with the platform's stock soaring high in the first three months of 2021.
Etsy Raises Transaction Fees
The sellers expressed their dismay over the increased fee. The platform specializes in connecting sellers to customers willing to purchase handmade products. A lot of sellers were able to grow their business by selling made-to-order and custom pieces.
However, for the past few years, changes at Etsy have hurt a lot of sellers, from the rising fees, the mandatory marketing programs, and an increase of drop shippers. Etsy no longer felt like a platform where artisan products and hand-picked vintage items were prioritized.
Shortly after the announcement, sellers headed to the Etsy sellers subreddit, which was flooded with comments about the news. When the sellers decided to put their shops on vacation mode on Apr. 11, according to The Verge.
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Sellers to Go on Strike
On the said date, thousands of Etsy shops have committed to going into vacation mode and suspending sales for over a week in protest of recent changes on the platform.
The sellers are also asking customers to refrain from purchasing anything on Etsy. This is a campaign in support of the strike that has received more than 15,000 signatures in just a week, according to Engadget.
More than 5,000 sellers have signed on to strike, and the sellers can go offline for the full period or even a day, whatever they can afford to do. The sellers are hoping that the strike will allow them to organize their plans within the communities better.
The sellers stated that the strike is only the beginning and what they want to do for the future is form a solidarity support movement.
The customer support for the action has been overwhelming, and they understand why the sellers are shutting down. Several comments on the petition are from buyers, who said they shop on Etsy to support independent creators and businesses and would take the business elsewhere if the sellers can't make a living.
Longtime sellers on Etsy are just waiting for the other shoe to drop, as they believe that the platform will retaliate and may shut them down. If this happens, hundreds of sellers will be without income, and there won't be anything that they can do about it.
The campaign's list of demands centers largely on controversial policy changes that Etsy had made since 2017, when corporate shake-ups, which included layoffs and appointing a new CEO, had set the tone for a new chapter for the platform.
Some of the demands of the sellers relate to feelings, such as canceling the most recent round of increases and allowing massive sellers to opt-out of a mandatory advertising program loathed by merchants for the steep costs linked with it.
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Written by Sophie Webster
