Etsy is one the best ways to sell photography prints to strangers over the Internet. Changes to the fees they charge sellers were announced today and go in effect next month. Here’s what you should know.
In an update posted to its website, Etsy said it will increase transaction fees from the current 3.5 percent to five percent starting July 16. In addition, the fee will also apply to shipping costs, which currently have no fee applied to them. Etsy explained that by raising the transaction fees, it will be able to build up better tools for shop owners and invest more in attracting buyers to the website. By including the shipping cost in the new fee, Etsy said it hopes to remove the “incentive for a seller to ‘hide’ part of their pricing with a low price and high shipping costs.”
The current listing fee — $0.20 in the U.S. — is to remain the same.
Etsy also announced new monthly paid packages for sellers. “Etsy Plus" will include tools to help businesses grow, and “Etsy Premium” will be aimed at large-scale businesses. Etsy Plus, debuting at $10 per month, will be offered in July, and Etsy Premium, pricing to be determined, will come in 2019. The Etsy "Standard" seller platform we use today will still be offered for free.
To counter the fee increases, changing prices in your shop is easy enough. I used the batch price editor for all listings and then added five percent to my shipping profiles.
Batch updating Etsy Shop prices.
How will you react the new fees?
Wait, didn't they just get a 14 percent reduction in the corporate tax rate? Greed, that's all it is. Plain and simple.
I'm surprised they didn't do it sooner. I was enjoying the lower fees compared to other sites even though they are hard to find quickly in your account. I hope this doesn't ruin the platform when everyone has to reactively raise their prices. I use an app to help me figure out my sales and expenses (payment processing fees, etc). Luckily I've been already tracking my fees before Jul 16, 2018 so I'll have to see where I'm at pretty soon compared to the new ones. If you are low-volume, Greenback is free for Etsy Sellers unless you need the bulk export tool. I can see my eBay sales and fees too all together so I'll be able to compare marketplaces too.