More than 18,000 Etsy sellers sign on to strike over 30% fee increase
BNN Bloomberg
More than 18,000 Etsy sellers have pledged to join a strike protesting a 30% increase in fees that takes effect today.
More than 18,000 Etsy sellers have pledged to join a strike protesting a 30 per cent increase in fees that takes effect today.
In a petition signed by nearly 50,000, the organizers are demanding that Etsy CEO Josh Silverman cancel the fee increase to 6.5 per cent from 5 per cent. About 18,400 people who signed the petition as of Monday afternoon identify themselves as sellers, the method organizers are using to track participants. They are asking sellers to go on vacation mode and buyers to boycott the crafts website from April 11 through 18.
According to Etsy’s website, sellers can start a shop for free but must pay fees for listing, transactions and payment processing. The company last raised transaction fees in 2018 to 5 per cent from 3.5 per cent. Meanwhile, Etsy’s shares have quadrupled in the last four years, closing at US$116.58 on April 8 in New York.
Strike organizer Kristi Cassidy, who sells handmade wedding dresses on Etsy, said the platform can charge sellers more than 20 per cent on items sold with hidden charges.
“It's been one thing after another on the Etsy platform that just gradually makes it a worse and worse place to try to run a unique business,” Cassidy said. “The fee increase was the final straw.”
Etsy says it’s using the fees to make improvements for its 5.3 million sellers.
