Etsy is surveying sellers about their reaction to this week’s fee hike. The new fees are getting a lot of media attention as some sellers went “on strike” after petitioning the CEO to walk back the fee increase and institute more seller-friendly policies.

Etsy noted in the survey, “On April 11, 2022, we increased our 5% transaction fee to 6.5% to support our fast-growing marketplace,” and it said, “This change will support our plans to make significant investments in marketing, seller tools, and creating a world-class customer experience,” pointing to an article about the fee change.

It then asked sellers, “What is your overall reaction to this change,” giving them choices from which to select ranging from “Very negative” to “Very positive.”

It then asked sellers what planned investments was most important to them and would provide the most benefit to their business, giving them the following choices from which to select:

• Keeping Etsy unique – We’ll build on last year’s roughly $40 million investment in the teams and technology that help make our marketplace a safe and secure destination for handmade, vintage, and special items. This year we’ll expand our efforts to remove listings that don’t meet our policies and help you resolve issues with buyers.
• Seller tools and features – We’ll support seller growth by making investments in new and improved seller tools to make it easier and smoother to grow your business.
• Investing in marketing and buyer growth – We’ll make major investments in the TV commercials, influencers and tastemakers, podcast advertising, and email marketing that bring even more buyers to Etsy shops.
• Seller support – We’ll grow our support team by more than 20% so you can get help more quickly and easily, including faster email responses, expanded access to live chat, and prioritization of your most urgent requests.
• Something else (Please Specify)

Etsy didn’t say if it would share the results of the survey, but it is clear it serves as a vehicle to get its talking points across to sellers about what’s in it for them, though it never committed to spending the entire fee increase on those investments.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She’s a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of “Turn eBay Data Into Dollars” (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, “Blogging Heroes” (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 – present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 – present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.
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