Thousands of Etsy sellers recently shut up shop to protest against a rise in fees made by the online marketplace for independent artists, vintage sellers and craftspeople.

On April 11th, thousands of Etsy shops began suspending sales for over a week, and activists asked customers to follow suit, with 84,000+ signatures supporting the campaign.

The move is a response to Etsy, which hosts more than 5.3m businesses, as they’ve chosen to increase the fees it charges sellers from 5% to 6.5% – a 30% increase.

The new charges will apply to items sold on the site, including shipping costs, with Etsy taking a cut of every sale. Sellers who use Etsy Payments – the company’s in-house payment system – will also be charged an extra 3% fee.

The increases come as the US company faces criticism.

Etsy soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, with demand spiking for convenient last-mile delivery.

However, since lockdowns have ended, demand seems to have cooled. Shares have fallen 65.6% from its all-time high in November 2021, as Etsy’s valuation is adjusted for weaker revenue and tightening margins.

The Etsy Group has 4 marketplaces:

• Etsy
• Depop (Clothing e-commerce company based in the UK)
• Reverb (Marketplace for new, used, and vintage music gear)
• Elo7 (Brazilian version of Etsy).

According to The Guardian, Etsy (disappointingly) dropped its B-corp certification – a US legal designation under which companies undertake to maintain certain standards relating to employee benefits, charitable giving, and supply chain practices – in 2017 and went on to report record profits in 2020 and 2021.

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If you’re an Etsy seller, how has this impacted your business? Leave us a comment below and if we can help, please let us know.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash