A protest of Etsy pushing sellers to offer free shipping

[@neelsnprayer]

Sad that they are promoting deception! It's NOT free! I hope this blows up in Etsy's face!

[@rebekahsretrosfridayvintag7197]

At the least, I wish the folks at Etsy would listen to sellers' concerns. But I'm not holding my breath.

[@ellieisbusy]

Not only is it deceptive, if you’re increasing prices to accommodate for shipping you’re also doing something illegal. Even for those who don’t live in the US (like myself), if we sell to the US and raise prices due to shipping, we’re committing a crime...

[@JasmineJohnsonPsychicMedium]

I am not a vintage seller but I am saying NO to this farce. I am also going to phase out my shop and sell on a platform with more transparent business practices. Good luck to you and bless you for your charity work.

[@Bexyboo88]

Bless you, and good on you! I'm in the UK and there is not a chance I'm increasing my prices any more than I already have to give US buyers free shipping (I recently put UK free shipping on and a discount of 10% when 3 or more items are purchased). If my listings fall in the search on US market then so be it, I will just have to hope I get more sellers here and from other countries. The whole thing is truly farcical.

[@rebekahsretrosfridayvintag7197]

Farcical is a good word for what's happening. I checked cross country postage on a number of items today and in many cases, providing free postage would mean I would actually pay people for the privilege of sending them an item from Rebekah's Retro. Crazy!

[@ellieisbusy]

Wouldn’t it be a little nicer if they suggested we do free shipping in our country? I’m also in the UK and not only am I not increasing my prices or offering “free” shipping, I’m using this anger to fuel a change into my own shop in my website.

[@lynnbeaumont1612]

As an etsy seller also it's so disheartening :( Thanks so much for your insight! xx

[@rebekahsretrosfridayvintag7197]

Thank you for listening to my rant. It's good to know that other sellers share my concern. We stand together!

[@LollyPalooza]

Thank you for this. I have also uploaded a video on the topic and have been reading every comment I receive as well as watching other sellers' videos. Some are reporting that their postage varies from about $40 to $70 for shipping furniture based on location in the U.S.

[@pueblodove]

I will not be offering free shipping either unless its the occasional item for S.25 that's worth like $30.00 or something that I could afford to ship and still have a reasonable profit. I sell vintage, and its hard to get much profit after shipping you do charge. I often get charged more in shipping than I collected from the buyer. I would love to hear from some of the Etsy buyers on this subject.

[@Lisa_In_Canada]

Well said!!! That you for making this video and letting people know the truth about the new ( insane) scheme they having going on. I wish you many many sales, Lisa :)

[@rebekahsretrosfridayvintag7197]

The same to you, Lisa.

[@TheRavenLilian]

I don't sell vintage, I make miniatures, but I also won't be doing free shipping. Some of the smaller items I make I would have to double the cost of to include the shipping to make it look like "free shipping." Alternatively I'd have to eat the cost of the entire item or worse pay more than the item cost to ship things.

[@PaperCraneWishes]

Great video! I made a video about this issue too. Etsy is changing so much 😭

[@rebekahsretrosfridayvintag7197]

Thanks for alerting me to your video. Great minds think alike it seems.

[@kazoo990]

This is what I have done. I would like to announce that my shop will be on vacation for a while because Etsy has decided to punish sellers who will not offer “free shipping” on items that sells for $35.00 or more. If we DON’t HIDE the shipping cost into our selling price Etsy will put us at the bottom of the search and our listings will not be seen by you. Sorry for the inconvenience. Hope Etsy reconsiders this new change.

[@kazoo990]

I think we should all go on vacation for a week or so, this may shake things up.

[@rebekahsretrosfridayvintag7197]

It's been one month since I recorded this protest video. Check out my follow-up report-in on my determination not to give in to Etsy and the free shipping "suggestion." kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5yknYx8e7ungtE

[@mirandliz]

what is your link for your selling items?

[@joshplunkett2932]

I also have a Vintage Etsy shop. The day I got the email about the new policy I was so Frustrated. The way they want us to just "roll" the shipping cost into our items cost is very Deceptive and in my opinion Unethical. So I have decided to place my Etsy into Vacation Mode with an Announcement letting all of my Customers know about the new policy changes. Because they as the Customer need to know what Etsy wants Us the Sellers to do. So I have opened up a Mercari Shop and have moved all of my items over to there. I really like it better than Etsy. I feel I can list and Item in about a tenth of the time it takes to do so on Etsy. Also Mecari only Wants 3 "Keywords" per item as opposed to Etsys 13 ( which is crazy. You can only call a Coffee Cup so many things) I find it funny that some of my items that I have moved over have sold in less than 24 hours. Some of these had been setting in my Etsy for Months. So for now I am keeping my shop on Vacation. In my Vacation announcement I have a Link to my Mecari Shop.

[@judyperilstein9752]

I really wish the Etsy “powers that be” will watch your video “ and be ashamed of themselves. I also have small items but will not be offering the free shipping farce because of shops like yours in solidarity.

[@rebekahsretrosfridayvintag7197]

Thank you, Judy. So far I've not been hurt by not offering free shipping on items that weigh more than a pound. I can handle the shipping on items that ship first class, but beyond that, NO.

[@alotlater1905]

Etsy = greed