I looked through the fees for all three marketplaces again and depending on your country, Etsy does charge a separate 3% + $0.25 payment processing fee. This is a standard fee that goes to banks and credit card companies, but looks to be included in the eBay and Amazon transaction fees. This makes Etsy's fees more comparable to eBay and Amazon, but it's still the lowest out of the 3. Thanks for those who brought this to my attention!
they are taking much more fees actually - 6,5% on the price for the item and on the shipping, often taxes (for customs) from the buyers which is not less and not every mail will land in the customs
As a long time eBay seller, when I saw everyone complaining about Etsy jumping 1.5% to HALF of what eBay took in fees from me, I was actually impressed that Etsy's fees were so low. Everyone is going to hate me for saying this but Etsy has the best fee package out of all the major internet marketplaces. Tim, thanks for deciding to make another video! I was starting to worry that RU-vid was off the table for you. Keep it up and I bet your channel will blow up because the quality of your videos and what you give us in return for our time spent watching you is unbelievably good! Looking forward to the next one!
@@yasminc.89 This. Even though if it is cheaper in fees than Ebay and Amazon- those websites are not comparable. But small businesses are not able to afford these, especially creators.
Another mistake in my opinion is that you count eBays listing fee as $0.30 while the first 200 or 500 or so listings are free on eBay. So for most sellers there's no listing fee on eBay. The Esty's fees are also not just on the product price but includes the shipping price. I'm not sure if this is the same for eBay and Amazon. (Although I expect that it's probably the same, otherwise you can just have a low product price and a high shipping price to avoid fees.)
Etsy was founded on being a platform for small artist owned businesses. They created a successful platform from the work we did and then handed it to drop shippers.
As a consumer, I find it extremely annoying to have to sift through all the dropshipping products when I specifically searched for vintage pieces. If Etsy is not going to regulate these listings, at least open a category for them so they don't clog up other categories. That would also give visibility back to the handmade and vintage sellers.
Etsy has a huge grey zone products. Etsy basically doesn't fight against it cos it brings lots of money to them. I already talked to customer support and offered them to legalize at least commercial hobby goods as long as millions of them are already on Etsy.
I was going to make the exact comment. It feels like it's turning into freaking eBay with all of the junk that's being sold on there now. They really do need to filter this stuff out or outright deny it on the platform.
Etsy was not working to stop drop shippers, small creative shops that make their items by hand can not compete with people selling trash made in another country with inferior materials. So the artisans leave the platform... tragic but tru
Hence why people need to start their own sites. You can't control these platforms. Spend time on your own platform and market yourself properly. You don't need to start using your own site...but once you've gained customers or social media followers you can start working on your own site.
Thanks Tim for your thoughts on Etsy. Etsy used to be a platform for quality hand-made items where there was a level playing field for sellers. Now more and more shops are reselling cheap items that are mass-produced overseas. As a small shop making items by hand, I can't compete with those shops. I make unique items, but the resellers are sucking up a lot of the Etsy sales that don't end up going to the small shops selling true hand-made items.
Etsy hasn’t been a handmade platform for years now. While this can suck it’s like most things in our ever changing world. The focus has to be on what you can do not what you can’t.
etsy want to become as big as amazon or e-bay , due to this they are taking all sellers with junks products from china where big manufacture produce them, so how a person who does hand made product can compete with that huge monters. so you are right Ken and you are wrong curvatude
@@florharmon2558 Facts are wrong? It’s simple. Etsy is a billion dollar business with stakeholders to answer to. Sellers either figure out where they can fit in and work it or whine about it & continue to lose out. I know plenty of small businesses helmed by individual creators that make etsy work because they know that nothing stays the same and you have to learn to pivot or expect your business to plummet.
Thanks for all tips u shared .I have been looking at different sites to sell& I do enjoy shopping on esty. I would love to learn more about selling on esty. Sounds like this really would be successful. Yes the world is expensive out there. U have a great positive mind. Thank u for video!!😊🧡💛💯
So true! I even noticed that some "hand-made" jewelry Etsy shops are sneaking in and mixing in some Chinese stuff that I found on Ali Express, with their "hand-made" items!
You forgot the processing fee, which is 4.5% where I am. So that's 11% + 20c per listing on Etsy. I think most people would not mind the increase in commission fee if Etsy had better customer service. They have no live chat, no support line. Their moderation of sellers is all automated, leading to many new sellers getting banned for no reason. In other words, they are increasing their fees while cutting corners wherever they can. It's difficult to make a successful business anywhere, but Etsy aren't doing people many favours right now. It's a shame because otherwise it's a great platform.
I actually started hating Etsy ages ago. Not as a shop owner, but as a shopper. I wanted a very specific type of handmade quilt. I would have paid just about anything, but my results were consistently drop-shipped cheap crap. Eventually, my MIL made what I wanted. Now this happened for several years and I gave up a year ago when my mother-in-law brought me my quilt that she made for me. So now that I am ready to have a shop, I really don’t want to open there, and recently I actually ran across some classes on Udemy on how to open a dropship business on Etsy. 😑
Yes, I hate the drop shipping stuff. I bought 2 items that were listed as coming from Michigan. When they shipped the tracking showed that it was actually coming from Turkey. When they arrived one item did not fit, the other did. So I had to contact the shop owner who was supposedly in Michigan, but the real maker was in Turkey. So they had to contact the maker in Turkey to ask what to do. I wanted my money back. They ended up not having me return the too small item but gave my money back anyway. I think they were afraid to make me pay return shipping to Turkey. I would have complained to Etsy and as a shopper I would have won because of their false statement about where they were shipping from.
I thought I was the only person going through this. My sales have decreased significantly. If it wasn’t for my recurring clients, I would have been closed/ broke already 😩
Yup, a much higher portion of my sales are from recurring customers now. Be grateful you have them! That means you have a good product and happy customers :)
ever since this year started my sales have decreased dramatically. last year usually get $600-800 a month on average but now i barely get $400. it's so frustrating honestly. 😭
Got problems? Unfair review? Bad buyers who want a freebee? Are you spending money advertising on etsy and getting only "bot" visits? Fact- Etsy does not care. Any phone numbers to contact etsy? Nope! There's no way to talk to a real person at etsy. Literally, small sellers don't mean anything to etsy anymore. And no seller protections for small artist/ sellers like me. And, it's just getting worse.
I’ve been so hesitant to keep pushing with my shop because I feel the same way. If there’s already a ton of established sellers offering what I have, how do I break through? And I’m a person that loves making everything, so choosing a niche has always been a major struggle. I’m going to try your 3 tips and apply each one to each listing, thanks for the information!
Tim. I really like your videos but this one just misses the mark. We are mad about the FEE's being charged. Etsy + every little thing (credit card, shipping supplies, postage, forced advertising or you are downgraded) factors into the price. There is just no room left for making money. Etsy's revenue is growing because they are charging us through the nose. Customers have the same mind set and pocket book (pay less) - - and we are in the middle.
There are a lot of shops reselling products from aliexpress and copyright products. I don't blame long time and/or true handmade etsy shop owners for getting upset. Etsy gets a lot of money from etsy sellers which should be going back into cleaning up their marketplace from untruthful and dodgy sellers. I've even seen yt videos promoting for their subscribers to resell products on etsy. It's like "what???" Thanks for the video.
The platform has definitely changed over time. I do see them shutting down stores that are infringing on copyright from time to time, but they definitely still exist. Remember, Etsy gained 4.4 million sellers from 2020 to 2021, so they might have the resources or technology to identify these shops at this scale yet. Hopefully they can invest more into this and make some changes in the future. Thanks for watching :)
I agree that making a unique product and branding help set you apart from your competitors. I have found that custom requests have opened my eyes. Those people are telling you what they want and they are not alone. I have created new listings based on these requests and they have turned into Bestsellers! Listening to your audience pays off, literally! Also, hard times come and go, sometimes you just have to ride the wave. Love your videos Tim! Don’t be a stranger!😀
Totally agree with you! I don't do custom orders exactly, like a one on one, only for that customer situation, but I have it stated in several places on my shop that I will take requests for items in general to go into my shop. People reach out all the time and many of those items are my best sellers. Listening the customers is key!
Awesome content!! Being angry won’t fix the issue!! Discover the problem Create a plan of action Implement the plan Assess the effectiveness of the plan
Thank you for sharing this. With so many things going on, recession and slow sales, we can take this time to focus on learning and improving ourselves &/or our products. I agree with you - we should not waste our energy on being angry. My Etsy shop has been slow but admittedly, its due to my inability to post items regularly, market etc. Your videos encourage me to keep at it. Thanks!
Accountability is a such an important attribute for entrepreneurs. I have to admit I haven't been putting 100% into me shop either. Thanks for watching! :)
I think a lot of the frustrations come from people who really work hard creating unique one of a kind stuff only to be drowned out by the thousands selling copy cat crap in an attempt to get rich quick. All the non artist, non artisan people just taking advantage of the market
Great to hear from you! I'd agree that its still worth it to set up an Etsy shop today - even though its slow going and kind of tough. I'm in the woodworking space, selling things like serving trays, tea displays/holders, valet trays, etc. The competition in that category is tough, too, and since a lot of wood products are 'one-of-a-kinds', its even harder to reach into whatever algorithm Etsy is using. I've tried carrying inventory, but the size of the items, space they take up, and sell through rate make that difficult. No matter what platform you are on, you will always have to adapt to however the market is changing. It can be a lot of work, but I like it, personally.
As a customer, I don’t like how Etsy became. For the last 2-3 years, it became a platform for mass produced items. They make it difficult to find small unique businesses.
Hi Tim, I really appreciate how grounded and level headed your videos are. They are such a beautiful balance of honesty and encouragement and I'm so glad I stumbled upon this video this morning. I needed it. Thank you for the reminder to do our best and loosen our grasp on the things we don't have control over. You're wonderful :)
Thanks for the great video! My shop has suffered since I got Star Seller back in Feb. Since then I've had low traffic, etc. One of the main reasons I went ahead and did my own site was because of Etsy's increase in site issues where customers couldn't place orders, etc.
YES! People complain about the fees and I always offer up comparisons. I would love to not have any fees at all, but I’ll take Etsy’s over other marketplace’s fees!
I do not mind the fees I am so uncomfortable with doing my own sales tax right now so I would rather have them do it. My shop is new and weird lol so I have very few sales. so I do not see selling on a platform that has monthly fees to sell that is more then I make a month.
There are easy ways to do sales tax , believe it or not. The way that I'm doing it is to hold out, from every sale, about 1% above the current actual sales tax rate in my area. Keeping proper track of all business inputs, expenses, sales, and tips is a MUST. Boring, but vital. By physically setting aside in cash the amount needed to cover sales tax, at the end of the year you will have what is required for state sales taxes, plus a 1% amount to pay for someone to double check your work, or to give yourself a head start on other taxes. I do the same in other areas. What I expect from every sale is enough to cover the costs of materials, overhead, labor, shipping, and marketing for that particular piece, PLUS 33-50% more to fund expansion of stock. Whatever is left after that, I take as profit snd sock away. Example: item X sells for $40. Sales tax is 7.5%. Total sale amount is 40 x 1.075, $43.00. From that I instantly stash 8.5%, or $3.66, for sales tax, leaving $39.34 to cover costs and laborxand profit. My cost to build that piece was $18, including half an hour's labor ($8). 150% of 18 is 27, so I set aside $27, leaving $12.34 as nominal profit. I now have three 'accounts': sales tax, reinvestment, and net income. If you want to ensure that your income tax is also covered, make another for that. And while you can do your own tax stuff at the end of the year, I choose to pay a pro to make sure mine are done right.. Hope that helps!
You must create a brand Not just a product A loyal customer base Not just chase prices Amaze your customers! I love Etsy Stop complaining and blaming, We don’t curse the winter ❄️ More competition but more customers- as Etsy grows, your sales base grows Grow yourself first as you are growing your business
Started with Etsy and quickly moved to Shopify. Only had good sales when I drove people to Etsy myself. On it's own despite trying all the SEO tricks, I couldn't get traction on Etsy. Quit Etsy to focus exclusively on my Shopify.
I will be very careful on etsy now that I received a package from one seller who decided to send a cross, candy, and christian information along with my order. Nope. Not what I paid you for.
Thanks for sharing and being transparent! I've wanted to start an Etsy shop for so long but scared about shipping, no buyers, etc. It's cool to see you go through the journey on YT and grow :D
I’ve been wanting to start a shop for a while now but have been letting all the negative hearsay make me hesitant. This video really empowered me. At the end of the day, it’s our mindset and our will that yields success! Letting others’ anecdotal chatter stop us from going for a goal is for the weak-willed. There are always circumstances that make any dream a risk; we should go for it anyway, or else live a life a dread, regret, and mediocrity. If what we were up to were quick & easy, everyone would do it.
One thing you might not have thought of was google recently changed their search priority to target the biggest companies rather than the most relavant item. This likely is always placing amazon, ebay, etc above you on products, especially if youre just starting out. The top search priority makes or kills companies.
Hi Tim, great video. I would also like to mention that their customer support is terrible. I had my account hacked about 1 week ago and the person was able to change the bank account on file and Etsy doesn't even respond to my emails. All of my is compromised and they don't do anything about it.
Very sensible! People can be too eager to quit rather than find solutions! It took me 6 weeks to get my first real sale. Then I got 3 in quick succession! Keep learning all the time 🙂
@@patsnationok1373 I try and face it rather than running away. Running away just postpones the anxiety. Facing it means I get stronger, and have a sense of achievement xx
Etsy has no way to connect to anyone when you need help as a seller!! The help center is not helpful at all!! For a multi-billion dollar company, customer service should be MUCH better!! Email responses are not helpful either, that is extremely frustrating.
I got banned, ...just because I sold digital art work for only 1$ which are downloadable, however I think they racist......many youtuber does it so why me, really etsy is not the only website so I don't really care
I'm angry with them because I just started a shop 3 days ago and they just shut it down for no reason! No email, no explanation, nothing! I had my first sale, then bam, suspended. I have no idea what I could have done, but it makes me mad!
I hear that you just have to contact Etsy, and that it happens to a lot of new stores because of I don't know some algorithm or something. But I hear that most people get it reinstated as long as there's no copyright issues or something like that.
I just made a very long post and for some reason it's gone. I think RU-vid thinks I'm a spammer for posting such a long comment LOL. Anyway, I have another unrelated comment. When I made my own site, the best marketing was free on Pinterest. I would make free stuff like lock-screen and background images and digital calendars. That drove a lot of traffic to my site and helped me to market without paying. Good luck with your new site. Also, I'd love to see a video on your new equipment!
I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on Pinterest, me included! Definitely need to look more into and try it out for myself. Will make a video on the new equipment as soon I figure everything out!
I have had my Etsy shop since 2016. Every year my sales went up 40-50% then in 2020 my sales skyrocketed and went up 200% from the previous year. It makes sense because of lock downs people were home shopping. 2021 was the first year sales went down from the previous year. As a parent who is spending money only on bare necessities. Growing as much food as I can. Praying that food prices don't keep increasing. I am projecting sales to be way down this year 2022 because I'm sure many people are in the same boat. No money for extras. Kids are getting oranges and a candy cane for Christmas this year.
What annoys me the most with Etsy is they will suspend or ban your account for copyrighted material while there are hundreds or other shops using the same material.
Oh, Tim! I have been waiting for your RU-vid video for such a long time. Couldn't describe how happy I was when I saw the notification of your video uploaded. Please keep producing and posting videos. :)))
Etsy is fine for starting out and getting a following. But You'll see how much money is being taken from your sales in the long run. Ive made $5,200 in sales this year, and have already had $325 taken from etsy related transactions. That money could have gone to covering my processing fees, or shipping labels, which is already at $600 this year. In The long run, you want to run off your own website. Far less money taken from your pockets.
Im still amazed they're allowing to MASS SELL same items Its supposed to be craftmaker selling website they should'nt be allowed to sell XX times the same product
I finally made my first sale after months and I only received 50% of the price the customer paid. It didn’t cover the cost to make the product which was lame. I decided that was ok cause hopefully the customer would leave feedback so I could make more sales! But alas they didn’t leave any feedback :/
My opinion is that etsy have a bad management and week trained employes. After 2 years of hard work with a store with products personalized,customized and completly my own work,almost 400 sales and 4 stars rating,etsy close my store with no reason.I try to contact them and they didn't know how to explain the reason,finally first time they said i manage 2 store wich is not true,In conclusion run away from etsy and start to make your own shop,why put money in their pockets and etsy to make fun of you
I have an Etsy shop, eBay shop and my own website. All are not doing well at all. When I first started it was great, I was getting great ebay sales. Not anymore. They are just draining my funds. I am just starting FB advertising on my own website. Sorry but Etsy and ebay are predominantly geared toward making the most money from you. Fingers crossed my own website will take off through fb advertising.
I feel etsy’s community has been overridden by “artists” that does minimal rather than true craft artists. People can start an etsy shop solely just by selling prints that they do not own, and sit back and watch their money grow. I feel like it’s a platform for copy & paste sellers that may produce more crap than genuine artists that produces quality, original pieces of art (general art and products) I apologise before hand if this opinionated claim by me hurts anyone in the process, but I believe it’s true.
Right, all my printed items are made by art I created, painted, or drew. But I can not compete with the copy and past shops that post more because it is fast to copy and paste than it is to create stuff to list. Shirts that have one clip art word and nothing else sell 1,000 when something that took time to create does not. I see so many beautiful hard-working artists and crafters on Etsy and you all should have more of the sales.
"most people [building their own website], because the journey is so long and so difficult...give up, before they even get their first sale" - YES. Been there and done with that! I made the mistake of thinking because I was a web developer plus a maker, I could do it. It's all about the audience - and that's how these guys get to name their commission.
I started selling my California photography prints in 2013. Didn't really take it serious until late 2019. I have made $20,000 each year since just on my prints. People shouldn't gripe about the fees. I used to have a booth back in 1997 that cost $170 per month PLUS 10% to the owner. People now can sell to anyone on the planet and they gripe about a small percent to Etsy.
Yeah , I think it's okay if they charge this much percentage. Because we sellers are getting a big consumer base which is in millions. I calculated all the fees few years back and it was not more than 10% ( for my products ) and that's totaly okay . Just giving a them a little piece of cake is not gonna make me poor when I have the whole left for me .
I will say the "shipping label required for orders over $10" kinda screwed over stickers shops offering free shipping. And thinking you're supporting a small artist when you're really buying from a drop shipper really blows. Bonus if it takes 1 month to get to your house too.
I closed my etsy shop. It was supposed to be for fun and I immediately felt pressure to produce things that would sell and stopped enjoying my hobby. I still shop on etsy but only from sellers that I know are making their items
For me as an Etsy seller at the time, it was the way the worded the email as well. They were basically like because we’re doing so well and making so much money we are going raise the prices for our sellers. And I was already not making much:/ but regardless I do think it is a good place to sell your craft goods because of who they are. It’s a good way to get your name out there. But I don’t feel like they care about me as a seller 🥺
Resellers of goods from foreign factories are squeezing out handmade. I have a screen cap of the exact same sculptures available from four different sellers. This one piece occupied 16 of the top 64 slots for abstract sculptures over Christmas. Etsy seems to be doing serious damage/repositioning of its brand.
Happy to see it’s not just me feeling a certain way about Etsy. My sales,views,shop favorites and visits have really declined this year to the point that I had to make sure that my shop wasn’t on vacation mode. It’s very frustrating to go from having some success to suddenly not being noticed or found.
I feel like 5% + $0.20 + payment processing fees were on the highest end of acceptable, so raising any of those pushes it into the unacceptable territory, even if it's a small increase on the surface. The most unreasonable fee IMO is that etsy charges you an ad fee when they use your item in their ads on other sites. They already get plenty of fees when that person makes a purchase so why are they making you pay their ad fees 😑 I've been on etsy for 11 years and I don't plan on leaving but I did start branching into other platforms especially with my digital items.
Many newer shops are folk who set up during Covid and were totally unprepared, ill advised by "experts" and we're in denial about the real work and skill needed.
@@Rctdcttecededtef Know your target market. Don't sell it if it won't make you a fair profit. Keep you costs down Always push with whatever is your exclusive USP. Working smart is less effort than working hard. Social media is not your saviour but it can help. Almost anything can be sold, it's how you sell it that counts.
Yup depending on your country, there is a separate payment processing fee which is actually included in eBay and Amazon's transaction fees. I made the correction in a pinned note. Thanks!
This is EXACTLY what I did. I saw someone who sells a ton of signs and copied it. Almost exact replica. Only difference is that I went hard on my brand identity. I named myself something so catchy and unique that people remember ME rather than my competitor. My competitor is more serious with a plain look while I have a fun brand that gives out FREE stickers with every purchase.
Great video! I’m in a similar boat as you. 2020-21 was stellar! I had a few items pop off and now dozens of copycats. When the barrier to entry is low, the market saturates FAST. People love easy money with minimal effort
Probably having to do with the pay to play attitude. You could post an item and do an exact word search for it and still not show up in the first 2-3 pages of results behind the paid promotions and those with 10+K in sales.
I guess the choice overload will also be a major disadvantage for major online markets. Consumers may subconsciously need some limit of choice to remain straightforward and non-reluctant to buy their stuff. It is important to know that people winning in your place is not necessarily a bad thing, and maybe someone was just worth the profit more than you (sounds painful but it’s very possible for all of us). I will give some keywords that may add value to businesses if you look them up and apply what you learn, though I’m still being theoretical myself but they are academically well considered: - Porter’s 5 forces - Buying personas - Value proposition Canvas I’m still researching markets and I’m happy for potential clean business competitors who succeeded and/or are on their way.
i run a little shop..ALL HANDMADE..and it seems etsy doesn't care about handmade anymore..so many cheap chinese stuff.. looks like the are only into $$$
I love your raw perspective. I personally don’t have issues with Etsy’s fees. I do think Etsy’s customer service to their sellers needs to be so much better. The fact they push the importance of so many things for sellers it should go for the support of sellers. Trying to send them a simple message seems like a mission. I think sellers see they are so easy to take but not so easy to give or be open to support for sellers. And your right there’s no use getting angry. But it could see a company go really well to crash and burning. I’ve also seen them allow non handmade products and also shut stores down for doing the same.
I want to open an Etsy shop. I'm an artist. My biggest concern is why prints are so ridiculously cheap? Is the artwork being sold coming from template websites for resale? Is anyone selling original art? And if so...why at "giveaway" prices?
Ko-fi is amazing about giving creators most of the money, but it has the same problem of it not being a place people will find you like on etsy, people wont really stumble upon you there, if you want people to buy from your Ko-fi, for the most part you'll have to direct them there from other social media.
Hi, I started my ETSY shop with a friend 2 weeks ago (we both live in Estonia), we were designing cotton canvas tote bags (Only using canva pro stickers). Yesterday we tried to purchase our own product to make some cool videos about them. Everything seemed fine after the purchase but in the morning our shop was suspended for unknown reason. We filed an apeal and got our shop back for about 4 hours before it was suspended again. This time permanently. We are not really mad about it since failing is a part of process. However, we don't know the reason why our shop was suspended so we don't know what to do differently in the future. I was hoping that you may have some ideas why we got suspended? Our shop's nice was pride (rainbow style) tote bags, vegan tote bags, some cannabis tote bags, and some palestine flag design tote bags. First I thought that maybe our designs are copyrighted but after some research I found out that Canva stickers are free to use. (we only used canva stickers on our designs). Now I'm thinking that maybe ETSY doesn't like our palestine themed bags since there's currently ongoing conflict in Palestine with Israel. What do you think?
Many good points, sadly, even in the comments, some choose anger over learning🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ But some complaints are legitimate. Just realistically focusing on solutions over wanting Etsy to be user friendly easy again, is easier to want than doing the harder work, that leads to true steady growth😅…😂~ Everyone wants the easy lottery win. Not everyone came endure the hardships of hard work and learning from failure, or hardships from competitors. But then people complain about monopolies. Indeed, wha is the solution, platform option? Your own website?
I had an Etsy account for almost 1 year, during that time I sold 1 product, I make tobacco pipe racks. On eBay, I sell dozens !!! Every week I would get a message from Etsy telling there had been 1 visitor to my shop, never 2 or 0, always 1. When I did sell a product, and not a pipe rack, by the time I'd counted up all the fees and taxes, plus the costs of the material, my profit was 0. Thus the end of Etsy for me !!!
I don't like Etsy for the following reasons: . Too many small fees, even for selling off site . Can't keep your customer emails if you leave the platform . Analytic tools are crap . Customer service doesn't exist . Too many stories of people banned or suspended without explanation from Etsy. Shopify is smaller but growing.
What is this cadence this RU-vidr speaks with? I don't care for it. Many "shorties" use this uptalk and peculiar cadence. Uff, I'm sorry to say I find it quite annoying and therefore difficult to listen to. I wish people would stop using this type of speaking.
Did you purposefully leave out Etsy's Processing fee and forced Advertising Fee?! Those are included with the 20 cents per listing and Transaction Fee! These are some of the reasons people are so angry. Not to mention that Etsy holds our money longer, takes recent listing fees and sale fees out of money that was already scheduled to go into our bank accounts. So if I sold something today, Etsy will take the fees from the balance that came from a sale I made 2 days ago before they send it toy bank. So they can keep more of my money. That is extremely shady and unfair. Also, they hold our money longer than they should in order to keep more of it.
One buying experience and never again. Item did not match picture, it smells, color is horrible. Emailed sellers multiple times requesting a return/ refund. The seller required pictures which I sent. I was told to keep or donate. I cannot post a review because my purchase was deleted. One and done. Buyer beware. Back to Amazon.
My wife's Etsy shop started last year and it is still struggling to get just a few sales per month. Her products are fairly affordable, but the wholesalers clog up search results. I think I'm at the conclusion that needs to focus on making what there's no wholesalers for.
I have manually calculated what they charge per each sale. They EVERY time charge way more than 6.5% The fact that Etsy is full of ready made fake goods- is terrible. I am thinking to close my shops completely.
As an ex-Etsy seller... Etsy now is skinning the sellers, demand insane things, manipulating reach and access, take a lot of money for basically nothing... do you want to know more? :)
People got mad not just because of their shops not performing as expected but in niches with tight margins fees seemed less and less reasonable. People doing creative jobs often underprice their stuff at the start - the work 'market' is saturated with creative people and psychological reasons can mean people undervalue their offer as a defence mechanism. .....plus those in "the west" with high value currencies are competing for buyers attention with lovely creative products made cheaply in low value currency nations, so it effects the mindset of both the creative seller and the buyer.
