Why I Am Closing My Etsy Shop After THREE Years & 100's of Sales 

I heard about Folksy. Like an early Etsy from what I hear.

It should be worldwide and great customer service for both sellers and buyers

Absolutely true

Not just Etsy but eBay as well. They are horrible. You can’t rely on them.

@@someonewhoknows1891 You've got to remember that eBay isn't really for handmade, it's a platform to reselling mass-produced products.

You should have many more likes for your sensible comment. It’s all about money!

Not just Etsy, alot of online conglomerates double dip (invest) with owed money, hence waiting up to months to pay you, if they pay you at all.

good thing to know, i didnt know this, i had my funds withheld also

I literally had that thought and I have no financial background, but I was like "why would a company want to hold money..." they need it and are doing stuff with it...HMmmm smart unless well they REALLY NEED IT.

I was thinking this exact thing. The only way I can figure that a lot of established sellers are suddenly having funds put on hold is because Etsy, for whatever reason, is putting off paying them.

Then they'll block ur store with an AGREE (to abandon class action lawsuits button) like Roku et al., did before allowing u to continue using their products!

When a company goes public in the stock market, run, run, run!

Etsy should be investigated. I’ve read they’re doing a lot of ilegal things. Lately I been thinking about starting a small business. If I do it won’t be with them. It’s better off to have a website and make promotions on your own.

@@evarodriguezalequin5705 I got insider informations, and they really do ban for no reason at all and even the appeal can be closed down by a bot. Sometimes they do something like april cleansing and just ban randomly whatever.

where do I sign?

all my items are handmade by me. all my photos are mine. thrown under the bus because my IP was stolen from etsy and used on other sites!

Same. Happened twice. To 3 great sellling listings. Messed me up before Xmas. And took a month of emailing back and forth to get anything reinstated. 😖

Are you still using Etsy or have you found a better/different alternative? Sounds so scary

Wow, that’s crazy? And for “violating their handmade policy” of all things? What a joke. 99% of stuff on there these days is drop shipping mass produced crap. =/

@@ItsVesperArt Yes - it was insane. I've been on etsy for 17 years - you think they'd do a little background check and take a look at my shop and its history before doing something so drastic, right? Building my own website currently and also planning to stop Etsy entirely as soon as possible. Zero trust now. We all deserve a LOT better. Especially true artisans who work so hard for very little profit!

Yes! I had the exact same experience and closed my shop in January.

BBB is untrustworthy,at least where I live.

​@@davidr.wilson8194 BBB has helped me several times, like when Apple tried to cheat me out of a trade-in credit for a new laptop. The largest businesses will often cheat customers if they think they can get away with it.

@@davidr.wilson8194 They helped me out lol

BBB cant do anything, they have no auth.

You have no idea how the deep corruption is in this world.

Yep, ETSY is broke. They're holding/ stealing folks money to pay their bills

Hmm that is an interesting thought........I sure hope that isn't what they are doing lol

That's a good observation, some companies that hold onto money often do this, where they reinvest your money as a kind of interest free loan under the guise of, the account broke TOS so funds are frozen. And they often drag out the process to get an account reinstated for this reason. Rumor has it Paypal does this and you agree that they can do this in their TOS should your account be frozen.

@@MiteraMade It's clear it's them looking after their own cashflow, not the sellers, they know there are hundreds of new sellers joining every day, as you say, most aren't selling things they make, especially in your niche! Ebay does it too but it has the advantage of better customer service and they only stop funds for a short period, if something is odd about the account, for example to ensure funds are available for refunds, if you have a return requests pending.

These are the same tatics PayPal does. They have been sued many times for this.

Bite the hand that feeds them.... stupid business plan.

I’m so so sorry to hear that that happened to you, that’s awful! 😭I hope you’ve been able to start a website and continue your business 🥺💜 Thank you for your sweet words and encouragement. 🙏🏻🥲💜

I won't shop there anymore!

This sounds like it's an AI system operating... the same thing happened to me at a second hand website but I asked to speak to a real human and my account was reinstated immediately. They let these computers run the system and lots of errors happen....

Wow. Sounds just like what happened to me. Mine happened in September, though. I'm still pretty hurt but trying to get along without them.

Probably looking at your social media.

I’m really sorry to hear that Audrey! 🥺💔 I hope you can get back to what you love soon. 🥺

Thank you. But just like in simple life, you meet people who betray you. Then you simply blacklist such people and move on. There is no point in throwing ashes on your head or tearing out your hair, as we say. There are ordinary people, outside of politics, with whom you continue to work and do beautiful things. Just like you on your channel.

yeah this is disgusting. their sanctions are disgusting and the western world is going to pay the price for it sadly. Our leaders dont know anything about Russia, I am from France and I am stunned by the stupidity of our politics. Normal people love Russia here.

Thats unbelivable and pure discrimination. Can't believe in what times we are living 😠

@@user-kt6kh1zu7othat’s exactly why you are being sanctioned. Your society says “we are outside of politics”, and then you allow your government to establish dictatorship and invade other countries… until y’all become more courages and actually stop what your government is doing (murdering innocent ppl) that’s how it’s going to be. That’s like a German would be crying during world war 2 and complaining how the world treats him, when his government is committing a genocide. All of you are responsible.

Of course! I never want to discourage anyone from chasing their dreams, and if Etsy is your only means, DO IT, 100%. Something is better than nothing, but you at least should know what the risks are. ❤

They always sucked.

This is also why many Native American turquoise and silver artists don't allow photos of their displays, for fear of cheap Asian copies coming out later.

That's nothing new. That was going on over 10 years ago when I was on there. They suspended me when I wouldn't comply to their "only Etsy Pay" demands. Best thing I ever did.

Everyones experience is different. I have been on Etsy for 10 years and it's ok for me.

My experience there ended badly, but I can’t say it’s not worth the TRY if you aren’t planning on having a website. 💜 you could be like Mele and have a wonderful experience. It’s just worth it to know what can happen and what has happened to a lot of people. If you don’t plan on having a website, it’s worth going for it, hoping for the best, but being financially prepared for anything.💜 I hope you continue with your plans on whatever platform you choose and thrive! 💜💜💜

I’ve had a pretty good experience with Etsy but I do agree the customer service is horrible. They put my shop on vacation for the same reason and they said I only had 2 tries to get my information correct when there was nothing I could change. It was all correct. I sell supplies and they are around $3 so fees for Etsy are way too high. I started selling on Michael’s craft store. Some things are not perfect there but customer service is way better. They gave me a customer service person I can call or email for everything and it’s always the same person and I’m not waiting over 2 weeks for a response.

And after verifying all my info a couple years later they say it’s incorrect again when nothing had changed. Luckily this time they didn’t put my shop on vacation mode. I also don’t like that we only have 24 hours to respond to a message 7 days a week and they say they can take up to 72 hours and it’s been way more than that when I have contacted them.

Sitting at nearly 700 sales since opening December 2022. They froze nearly $1,000.00 of mine for MANY MONTHS (approximately 4 to be precise) a couple months after I opened.They just dribbled a few dollars OF MINE, NOT THEIRS, here and there my way for that amount of time. I had to pay out of pocket for shipping dozens and dozens and dozens of orders during that time since MY money was NOT available to ME. I SUSPECT they invested MY money to earn interest for themselves during the many months they froze my funds. I suspect they have done this hundreds of thousands of times. IT would be a mistake to EVER TRUST THEM.

I am so sorry this happened to you as well! 😭💔 I'm really interested in hearing your experience! I'll definitely keep an eye out for your video! 😭❤

I was also going to use Etsy and am so thankful to you guys for warning us all. Who do you strongly recommend we use now to start up an online store? Many thanks again! :)

Yes but the issue doing it on your own is you need to invest a lot of money in marketing for years to get a loyal customer base. That is the appeal of 3rd party platforms.

@@la6136 Thinking long-term, it's better to get that loyal customer base and worth investing the time and money. 3rd party platform customers are not loyal and probably don't even notice your brand. Not only that, you don't even control your cashflow from them and any customers you do have can be gone tomorrow without warning (including the whole site). I've had over 3,000 sales with 3rd party platforms (only 2nd hand goods, not my original work) and have had maybe 3 returning customers out of all those sales: around 1 in a thousand!

And the risk. Ow Etsy wants a selfie and a fee to open up shop. I gave had an account for years, but if they ever ask me for one of those two things then I’m out of there.

You will NEVER be in control of your business as long as the government regulates everything you do.

The only thing is TRAFFIC. Sites like Amazon and easy have well established customer base and name popularity. These sites do go rogue and oppressive with sellers to keep their bottom line. But, you are right mostly, but then the govt. Rules and regulations in countries like US are after your revenue and make restrictions to get their bottom line. But, still own site and authority over it is still a lot better, except for the marketing part. But, I feel this might be changing as more of us say goodbye to these oppressive monsters and switch to own sites and build customers trust.

Thank you so much! 💜💜💜💜. I tried Etsy ads and honestly I preferred not time use then simply because of how much they take from the sell. Hopefully you can find growth in just the natural progression of Etsy without having to use their ads so you can keep more of your money 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜💜

Definitely prioritise doing that. They literally remove accounts at the drop of a hat. They did that to my boyfriends account, no explanation.

I have to do it now too!

​@@SS-hl6ut yes it does!

Knowledge is power😭 hopefully they do better and they can be a force for good again one day lol.

Hopefully but won't hold my breath. When companies get greedy they don't change. @@MiteraMade

Oh my goodness….that HORRIBLE, I’m so sorry that happened to you 😭💔

This is a very common occurrence. It never goes in your favor as a seller.

Oh wow😂

I had exactly that happen to me on Etsy many years ago, and it certainly taught me back then that Etsy is never on the side of the sellers. Some woman bought a very expensive piece of jewelry that I had handmade, and then filed a claim, saying it wasn’t what she expected. I had a return policy, but she chose not to return it, and instead, Etsy refunded her the money and deducted it from my PayPal account. The only way I was able to rectify that was to contact PayPal and tell them I was being scammed. Apparently this Etsy buyer had been doing the same thing to a ton of people, there was a forum post about that and multiple people reached out to me to ask if it was the same person. It was! I have lost all faith in Etsy, and I am definitely motivated to start my own store. Driving traffic to an independent store isn’t going to be any harder than setting up listings on Etsy, considering you’re competing with problematic SEO, a flooded market place, and a BS market host that happily takes your money without cause.

@@phranne1234 Flooded marketplace is so right. I did not have one sale in 2023, after doing well during the covid years. I simply can't compete with foreign countries. Those folks are happy to make peanuts compared with US workers.

How are the orders coming in ?

@@Hayley-hb6vx for almost a month into it, I've made a little over 150 and that's great for me especially for Feb/Mar. I post everything in my Facebook and IG.

@@Hayley-hb6vx More than I thought it would do. I thought it was going to take longer to make sales but just for being with Shopify for a month, I've made a little over 150 and that's great for my small business. I post a lot in my Facebook and IG.

@@Hayley-hb6vx This is my third time trying to reply to you so I don't know where the other two have gone - I push reply and it shows up but then it disappears(?) 🤷🏻‍♀ Anyways, let's hope this time it stays. I've made about 25 sales since I opened up my own shop in February equaling to a little over $150. This is big for my very small shop. Two of my customers were returning customers and one was new. I posted my move in my social media including RU-vid. I then post my products through my Facebook and IG. My last item (Admin Gift Bundle) sold out withing 3 hours of posting it on FB and I have requests to make more. I was on ETSY since 2018 and sold a little over 1800 items so I believe alot of my followers come from already knowing me and my art. I'm currently using the starter plan on Shopify but if business keeps going the way it is, I'll be able to move to the next level.

they probably arent@@Hayley-hb6vx

Right! Good to hear from this as well. It is better to have diverce sources of income and places to have your shop. None of the platforms seem to be stable.

I'm not on Etsy at all but I take a similar approach on eBay for sports cards. It's a pain to set up listings of clearance items but I can't think of any place where you can sell common cards for 99c as that is the minimum price allowed for Buy It Now. eBay sellers drop their business card or some sort of note all the time directing the buyer off eBay where the real profits and customer savings are.

Absolutely! 🙏🏻💜

Wow, I’m so glad you found a solution! Hopefully they never do that to you again 😭🙏🏻

You're so welcome! I really do hope they can go back to what they used to be one day. I will say, if Etsy is something that fits your situation best, and you don't want a website, I never want to discourage someone from starting their business. I think as long as you know what CAN happen and prepare for that, it still could be worth it for some as some folks are very very successful on the platform. I wish you all of the best! ❤

@MiteraMade I made my decision after watching your video. In the last two weeks, I have watched 3 videos on the very same subject, from 3 different jewelry makers. I can't afford to have my money held back for that long. The prospect of having my money held for that long is scary and wrong. You're right about using your money for their selves. Thank you!

That’s awful!

Anytime 🙏🏻💜

Thank you so much for your advice! I wanted to start my business on Etsy and Shopify but I see more and more of these kind of stories about how crappy Etsy is treating sellers on their Platform, as you said I fear all the time that my shop could get suspended for the slightest error or any reason they think is legit to them without even explaining it. I still was thinking about not only betting on one horse, I am looking for different platforms and I already found few and I'll keep on doing my research. Am starting to warm up to an idea to open my own website too!

Welcome👍. You're headed in the right direction by conducting research. Research, research, and more research are the first steps to free yourself from this madness. When considering platforms, make sure they don't charge for listings, fees after sales, or any type of percentages to sell your products. Consider this: what can Etsy or any other platform that charges fees do that you can't achieve with your own website? There is a signup process, setting up the look and profile of your store, adding products, providing product information, and ensuring your titles are SEO-ready. Consider these steps; there's no difference with a website. You're still doing the main legwork with Etsy as you would for your personal online store. The difference with Etsy is that they charge you to do the legwork. I encourage you to take the leap with a website and nothing else. It doesn’t have to be Wix; GoDaddy is another excellent option to build your store. When setting up an online store, look for two payments and nothing else: hosting and credit card transactions. Start with a small budget website. As your business grows, you have the flexibility to upgrade with the hosting companies. I like Wix because it's the most user-friendly website to design and build your online store, and it provides additional 24/7 phone support. Plus, you can scale up when your business starts to grow with many rich features. GoDaddy also offers numerous business tools to help build your online store and attract traffic to it, along with 24/7 phone support. When looking for a website make sure to select e-commerce and not the basic, Wix or Godaddy. That said, cease betting regardless of the number of horses you're betting on; the odds are never in your favor😅. I wish you all the success with your online store.😎 Wix E-Commerce: www.wix.com/ecommerce/website Wix Learn: www.wix.com/learn/library/ecommerce/courses www.wixtrainingacademy.com Godaddy E-Commerce / Other Info: www.godaddy.com/pricing?category=Online+Store

@@LouRao Thank you! That's a lot of very useful information! I did the research on Gelato and Shopify they almost take the half of your earnings just because you use their platform! If I sell a t-shirt for 15 dollars I will only earn 6,44 or something like that, this is ridiculousl!

@@justynaschreuder8171Welcome! 👍 It is my pleasure giving advice when I can. I have another word instead of "ridiculous," but it would be inappropriate to say here 😆. Agree! Gelato and Shopify are no different than Etsy - fees. One way I’m glad you’re doing your research. But, on the other hand, stop the madness and take the plunge with no-fee websites I mentioned before. I would not recommend staying away from any hosting site that charges fees for listings, sales, or penalizes (eBay) with another fee if you don’t offer free shipping and use your own shipping methods. I have experienced them all in my 50 years of experience. Like many entrepreneurs, I've been there, from Arbonne to It Works, Agel, Rich Dad Poor Dad conferences, catering, and other entrepreneurial adventures, from selling my pasta sauce to helping others build their online stores. Between all those startups and investments, I was in IT for over 22 years. Using my IT background knowledge helped me assist others in building their entrepreneurial websites long ago when eBay or Amazon just got established. I was one of the first customers to join Wix in its beginning stages when their hosting was written in Flash and with just a few lines of HTML code. Many starts I had failed, and others succeeded. And failure is a good thing. Why am I sharing my somewhat experience with you? No other reason than to help folks like yourself not to get screwed or take the wrong path. It’s something I've done all my life, helping others to better themselves and succeed in whatever they may pursue. Regardless when I was young and now I always had a drive to lend a hand. Yeah, I pretty much had used all the most popular hosting for myself and others. And it wasn’t until the day I woke up and realized how much of my investments were being taken by these hosting sites I had mentioned. The wake-up call came from one of Robert Kiyosaki's entrepreneur conferences and reading his book Rich Dad Poor Dad, still one of the best sellers to this day. I highly recommend his book for anyone starting or already an entrepreneur. Robert Kiyosaki summarized in his book that you shouldn't give your money away. And those who do give their money away because they don’t know the meaning of money. Etsy, Shopify, Squarespace, and even eBay feed on those who don’t know the meaning of money. No different than credit cards companies handing cards like candy, people are in debt for that reason because they don’t understand money. Let’s be real, the argument could be made that many Entrepreneurs are making lots of money with any of the hosting I mentioned like Etsy, and true to an extent. Although, in their stupidity, they still lack the meaning of the dollar bill; 29% to 39% of their investments are going to unnecessary fees, and that is not how one should do business. Would you take advice from a successful Etsy seller making thousands a month or someone else who is making the same with their own private website? Hard decision. But, who is bringing in more income? On my RU-vid channel, I focused on product reviews. It wasn’t until I had some health concerns that I had to put the channel aside. Even though I will always reply to questions or comments, the channel was on hold for any new content. Now life is good, and I'm very blessed to be where I’m at; we’re coming up with a new format. There may still be some product reviews, but a lot of changes are taking place for our new content. One thing I will be doing is helping folks like yourself on how to start an online store. The pros and cons with Etsy and others. I really do believe there is a need for this type of information. Too many new or even already established entrepreneurs are just being led the wrong way. And too many RU-vid content Creators are promoting Etsy, Squarespace, or Webflow because 90% are sponsored. Dead wrong in my opinion. It doesn’t matter what is being sold; it is how the items are going about to sell and what is happening with their investments. And if this content I present can help just one person, I’ve done a good job. So, take the leap and start a trial on the websites I provided earlier in my last comments. If I can advise you no more research. Use the time you have to learn the website of your choice and get your product known. If you sell T-shirts, you're in a better position with a private online store than, say, Etsy. Why? Etsy (others) are oversaturated in this market for T-shirts. Use your time to build the online store and get familiar with all the features it has to offer before opening. Set up goals with dates. Each goal must be accomplished on the date you scheduled for. And most importantly, brand your name! Get your name known. 1. Do a trial on both hosting, GoDaddy or Wix (Wix has a free version but limited, use that just to get to know the Hosting). 2. Commit to Hosting. 3. Learn the format of the hosting. 4. Learn SEO and how it works with the hosting you picked. 5. Set up goals. 6. Part of the goals is to set up and design the store also get a website name of your store through GoDaddy. Important; if you don’t have a domain name (name of your company for the online store), make sure it is not long. Try to make the name as small as possible for anyone to remember. People’s retention is short, so you want to have something catchy folks could remember. No numbers or dashes. It’s going to take a long time to find a domain name, but it can be done. If you can, start with your first and last name and go from there when doing a domain name search. And only use .com nothing else - no matter what. 7. Where I said (5) set up goals, make sure they are realistic. You want to include your daytime job, family, and other responsibilities you have when setting dates to complete each goal. I hope this helps. Please do keep me informed. I would love to see what options you made and see your store when it is up and running. And if you ever need help, don’t hesitate to ask; I will be more than happy to assist. You can always contact me by email. You will find my email contact on my RU-vid channel.😎

@lourao Thanks for your advice. I have been struggling with Shopify myself. I find it to be not user-friendly for sure. I just discovered wix yesterday as a matter of fact and decided to start with them once I watched one of their how-to videos and saw how simple it was to use. I'll watch for your new content. I'm looking forward to it.

Hopefully it will be soon! 😊

It can be FOR SURE! I’m really glad it’s worked out for you, it does for many of people in the same situation! 💜💜💜 Thank you for your good wishes! 🥹💜

It’s not good for starting out either. I made one sale in 6 months and then got suspended when adding my EIN. Everyone should just steer clear.

Thank you, it's really not right. I hope they can go back to what they used to be one day. I will say, if Etsy is something that fits your situation best, and you don't want a website, I never want to discourage ❤someone from starting their business. I think as long as you know what CAN happen and prepare for that, it still could be worth it for some as some folks are very very successful on the platform.

You are likely right about the sudden urge in orders! I am sorry this happened to you too and am really thankful you were prepared! ❤

Hello Jill would love to connect with you. I have some e content I wsnt to start as a side hussle . If you could share some insight please

Thank you! Best of luck with Shopify, I hope you LOVE it! 😊

Plus Etsy have opened their doors wider to China, so it really bad naw.

@@chicfini yes Etsy is really hurting for their shareholders.

Thank you so much! 💜 I have not looked into brick and mortar stores 🤔 I don’t think it’s a bad idea at all, I’ll need to do some research on some shops that I think would be a good fit 💜 I wonder if it would be lucrative and how much I’d have to charge as a wholesale price and still survive🙈😂 hmmmmmm.

@@MiteraMade It's worth looking into ! Bricks & mortar stores are having a hard time with spiralling costs and crime, so are nervous of using cashflow on unknowns. But at the same time, they're an ideal venue for one-off products where the customer can get sold on them by seeing how amazing they are "in the flesh". If I could offer some humble advice, it's to avoid providing stock on consignment. It'll lead to disputes over who bears the cost if anything goes wrong. Instead, consider offering sale or return (but with payment up front or on delivery - some shops are notoriously bad at paying invoices !). That way, the shop doesn't risk cashflow if the items turn out not to be right for them, but you don't lose out if they fail to secure them properly. It's worth talking to them about safely displaying the products, leaflets, signage etc (all the marketing things that'll help their staff sell them !) With what you are making being one-offs or short production runs, it's worth photographing each item before delivery, and have you considered numbering them and adding certificates of authenticity ?