The Etsy store has been set to “on vacation” mode for the last while. I’m considering stopping it altogether though.
While I like the idea of Etsy and think that the community of small makers fits the type of work I’m doing here, the company does not care to support the community. They make it more difficult to list and sell products, and their fees are some of the highest out there. It’s not what those small sellers need the most when building their brand.
Etsy charges a high fee for “marketing”, and it seems that a large percentage of my stuff sells through their ads which triggers the marketing surcharge. That is all fine, but my annual Etsy sales are a small fraction of what my other e-stores do without marketing, and the average fees have been around double. Last year for example the fees, taxes and marketing ended up being about 25% of total gross sales, compared to Ebay’s 13% or so.
The last straw was asking to constantly provide documentation in order to satisfy legal requirements in overseas markets that I do not want to be selling to.
I’d rather not maintain a 3rd e-store, sell less and pass the savings onto you guys.