“My cat got very sick and I was getting veterinary bills from the roof and I could not afford to pay them,” Robinson said. “So I created an illustration that was inspired by him and sold it.” It was then that Robinson realized that he could use the platform to sell more of her work and actually make a living from it. But after receiving her first payment from Etsy, the Montreal-based artist says she was impressed by the difference between her sales and the amount deposited in her account. It was then that he paid attention to all the charges that Etsy charges to the sellers on the platform. At first, it was okay with that. Tricia Robinson has been selling her work on Etsy for nine years. Now it plans to boycott the site due to Etsy’s pay rise. (CBC News)
“It’s kind of like that, okay, I make money as an artist. I have access to this online market. It’s very nice for the most part,” he said. Etsy was founded in 2005, offering an online marketplace for artists and craftsmen selling handicrafts and vintage items as well as craft supplies. The site has attracted millions of buyers and sellers and provides a platform for artists to become entrepreneurs.
But over the years, Robinson says she began to see her margins shrink as Etsy grew. A policy introduced in 2019 encouraged sellers to offer free shipping on purchases over US $ 35, promising to optimize these stores for US buyers. Robinson initially refused to choose, but eventually backed down as she saw her US sales disappear. The free shipping offer boosts at least half of its profit margin, he said. That’s when things started to go downhill for Robinson.
“[Etsy] “It was a really great market celebrating handmade and local small businesses,” Robinson said. “But it is not like that anymore.” Now, Robinson is one of thousands of sellers who have said they plan to boycott the site from April 11 to 18, after the site announced it would increase transaction fees from 5 to 6.5%.

The increase in fees triggers the application

This comes after Etsy’s strong fourth-quarter earnings, which exceeded expectations. The announcement led Kristi Cassidy, a seamstress from Westerly, Rhode Island, to start a report after posting on Reddit calling for an Etsy sales union. Cassidy told CBC News that more than 11,000 vendors plan to join the boycott. “The post was basically asking when it ends because it just gets worse and I do not think it will end if we do not do something,” he said. The petition also lists other requests, including allowing sellers to opt out of off-site advertising, which generates sales for which Etsy charges more sellers. In Cassidy’s case, she says she was charged $ 100 by Etsy for selling a dress that came from an off-site ad. In a statement, an Etsy spokesman said the increase in the charge would help boost their marketing investments, support customers and remove registrations that do not comply with the company’s policies. “The revised structure of our fees will allow us to increase our investment in each of these key areas so that we can better serve our community,” the statement said. Montreal-based illustrator Tricia Robinson used Etsy to sell her artwork. (CBC News)

The company is facing pressure from shareholders to increase profits, says the expert

Etsy has historically had an open and honest relationship with its vendors, says David Clough, a professor at the University of British Columbia. However, Clough says it has become tense over the years. “Since 2018, they have doubled their pay, which suggests they may be trying to profit at the expense of their sellers in the market,” he said. Etsy became a publicly traded company in 2015, making it sensitive to shareholder pressure. With more than five million salespeople on the site and 90 million customers, Clough says raising transaction fees is a new way for the company to boost its profits. “As they expand their user base, it becomes more difficult for them to increase revenue by adding more users. This makes them look for other sources of revenue.” Kristi Cassidy designs gothic wedding dresses and suits that she would sell on Etsy. A petition has been launched calling on Etsy to cancel its planned pay rise. (Christy Cassidy)
However, continuing to raise fees could jeopardize Etsy’s reputation as they deviate further from the company’s core values ​​that allowed small businesses to make money, he says. As for the potential impact of the boycott on Etsy, Clough says it could spur more dialogue between the company and sellers as a collective entity. “If they face the push from sellers for this increase, then it makes them think twice about raising fees below the line,” he said. Cassidy says it has not contacted Etsy about the request and the boycott. And while she does not expect Etsy to reinstate its fee increases, she says she is excited about creating a community of salespeople who want to support better pay and company policies. “The things we could do together are limitless,” he said.