Thousands of Etsy sellers — artists who make money from selling their handmade goods on the website — are closing their (online) shops for the …
Thousands of Etsy sellers — artists who make money from selling their handmade goods on the website — are closing their (online) shops for the week and going on strike. Earlier this year, Etsy’s CEO Josh Silverman announced that starting April 11 the company would increase the 5% transaction fee for sellers to 6.5%. This was done to fund improvements in marketing, and seller tools, among other changes, Silverman said. The sellers are fed up with new transaction fees and other Etsy-imposed costs. Many sellers feel like Etsy is intent on squeezing the platform’s independent artists with these new policies. In response, Etsy sellers banded together and launched a campaign, urging other artisans and their customers to abandon the site for one week in protest. Organizers said more than 5,000 shops pledged to participate this week. In a letter sent to Silverman on Monday, Etsy strikers said: “Etsy has become a downright hostile place for authentic small businesses to operate. For both full-time and part-time sellers alike, the changes on Etsy have brought many of us to the brink of financial ruin.” “After giving Etsy two years of record profits under the most difficult circumstances imaginable, we’re tired, frustrated and ready to fight for our seat at the table,” they added. This isn’t a strike in the legal or traditional term. So, there won’t be any physical picket lines. The sellers aren’t workers, Etsy isn’t their employer, and they aren’t covered by the National Labor Relations Act. But to Lori Peterson, a seller on Etsy, the setup feels very similar to a traditional employer-employee relationship.
