Thousands of Etsy sellers are going on strike after platform raises fees once again

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If you have the funds to access goods by small makers and small businesses, it’s a really great way to shop. That said, not everyone is lucky enough to have a space for local artists to sell locally that are actually affordable for their budget. Etsy is perhaps one of the biggest sellers in the game, in that small businesses can sell their products on an already well-established and widely used platform. Provided you’re okay with longer waits or paying more for shipping, you can order from (pretty much) anywhere.

This sounds like a win, but according to Etsy sellers, the platform is taking advantage of the vulnerable position many artists are in. This is a source of income, and, according to sellers, the platform has gotten too used to taking a chunk of their survival money in fees. Now what? Etsy sellers are going on strike from April 11 to April 18. 

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More than 14,000 Etsy sellers are asking shoppers to stay off of Etsy for the week. Some are making themselves unavailable on the platform for this time to strike and get the company’s attention after the platform increased its transaction fees from 5% to 6.5%. In recent years, for perspective, the company already increased this fee from 3.5% to 5% back in 2018.

In addition to this fee, Tech Crunch reports that Etsy can advertise products from sellers making at least $10,000 per year—and take a cut of the sale from the referral, coming in at 12%. On the one hand, having your shop or item shows up in a Google search is great advertising, but on another, it’s fair to see why sellers are frustrated they can’t opt out of this and not give even more company to the platform. 

In an interview with Yahoo, Kristi Cassidy, an organizer for the strike, told the outlet those on strike want to get the platform’s attention and spread the word. Cassidy, a seamstress based in Rhode Island, circulated a petition addressed to CEO Josh Silverman that now has close to 50,000 signatures of support from both buyers and sellers. 

“Rather than rewarding the sellers whose hard work has enabled Etsy to become one of the most profitable tech companies in the world, Etsy gouges us, ignores us, and patronizes us,” Cassidy writes in part in the petition.

Now, there are more than 5 million sellers on Etsy, so clearly the majority are not striking. As reported over at The Cut, some sellers aren’t striking because they simply can’t afford to take their shop offline for the week. But organizing—these folks organized by gathering on Reddit—is inspiring, impressive work and should be celebrated and respected, especially when it comes to these decidedly murky online spaces.