As planned, Etsy sellers are going on a virtual strike this month due to the unfair policies of the platform that were made recently.
These include the hiking of transaction cuts Etsy receives, forced spending on advertising, and other programs that put unrealistic pressure on sellers to meet goals. While it’s unknown how many sellers are participating in this strike, it’s said to continue until the 18th of this month.
Esty Sellers Strike in April 2022
Esty is one of the largest platforms for buying and selling vintage and handmade products, helping artisans to find item collectors directly. In February this year, the platform announced hiking the revenue cut it takes per transaction to 6.5% (up from 5%) and many other tweaked policies that may not appease the sellers.
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These include a mandatory Offsite Ads program that charges sellers for every good sold on their platform. Also, the Star Seller program forces sellers to meet certain shopping and support goals, like responding to a customer within 24 hours.
Sellers complained back that Etsy’s support with them doesn’t respond for weeks or months, besides the AI support which isn’t much help.
This alongside the hiked fee which grew more than double in last four years. All this led to a wide outrage in the community, who promised to go on a strike if Etsy doesn’t roll back. As Etsy didn’t, they’re now doing what’s promised.
As per Wall Street Journal, some sellers have set their shops in vacation mode for a week until April 18th, and are encouraging others to join, while also asking customers to boycott the platform. While it’s unclear how many sellers have joined this movement, a petition sent to CEO Josh Silverman has nearly 54,000 signatures in it.
