Etsy Ads

[DawninCal]

For those selling on Etsy, what do you think of their latest scheme to squeeze money out of their sellers?

If you haven't heard about it, they are going to start charging their sellers an additional 12 - 15% when they sell an item as a result of Etsy advertising. Everyone is automatically included, but sellers who sell less than $10,000 a year can opt out.

Personally, I don't like giving up another 12%, but when I was consigning the commission was 40%, so I guess I can live with this. Since last fall, my sales have dropped to almost nothing. If their advertising helps me get a sale, that's better than no sale.

What I don't like is their heavy handedness in implementing this, but it's their site to run the way they wish. I'm not interested in building my own website and there are no other selling sites that can compete with Etsy. Even if there was, I'm not really interested in going to all the work involved in setting up another shop.



Dawn

[togan]

So I've given this some thought after trying marketing on my own (promoting posts and such) for my direct website (shopify).
I still have mixed feelings about it, especially since they announced this right after I activated my Etsy shop again ...lol

Having fees forced on you is never fun or ideal...but at the same time, they're helping shops get promoted that otherwise wouldn't and they're doing it across social media/google/bing rather than just on Etsy. The current promotions on Etsy, make you pay for people just browsing....they click your ad and you pay for it even if it doesn't translate into a sale. (I personally hate paying this and definitely would prefer the new service as I understand it).

I've read a lot of comments from people who are ready to rage quit Etsy citing it forces more fees on them and takes away their freedom. I can understand how that would be unappealing...but they're also using someone else's platform and audience.
-Shoppers go to Etsy because it's a brand they trust. When we talk about our shop with others, it's "check out my ETSY shop"...not check out MY shop. The Etsy name garners interest since they trust the platform.
-Shoppers enjoy the convenience of having a profile with their purchase history from multiple shops (versus multiple accounts on various websites).

And with regards to running ads yourself...it can be a lot to keep track of and may not yield any results. At least Etsy isn't planning to charge if there isn't a sale. (If they change their stance on that, then that will really be hurtful!)

In order for Etsy as a company to be profitable...they need shops to be profitable. Perhaps this new campaign is one of the ways they are attempting to help shops with that. They see it as win-win I think.

[DawninCal]

If I had to pay an advertising fee whether I made sales or not, I'd be more upset about that.

Yea, Togan. Everytime Etsy makes a change, there is a big uproar in the forums, people threatening to leave and then things settle down and it's back to business as usual. Until the next change is announced...



Dawn