The Etsy Debacle

It's been awhile, I know. For now, let me just get past that and to the point;

Etsy has announced some drastic changes to the seller format, including hiking transaction fees from 3.5% to 5% (which also applies to shipping!) This really puts a halt on small business growth especially alongside the other listing and renewal fees. While I understand and did not mind paying fees for obvious services rendered by Etsy; fee hikes and premium package subscriptions for tools that might prove required for success are a different story and beast altogether. Taking chunks of bottom lines and punishing honest sellers for the shady behavior of fee-dodgers by cutting into shipping, is cruel and detrimental to the relationship not only with seller-platform but more importantly seller-customer relations....as prices for most shops on Etsy have to rise to make ends meet, the customer will sizzle and wonder WTF and either not buy anything at all or buy much less and less often. so I have been on the fence about what to do...I am leaning toward phasing out the Etsy store altogether and directing people to my website; it would help me to streamline my online sales anyway! I know Etsy is an online shoppers dream; with all the user history, shiny user interface, and hip items available; but for sellers, it's been an uphill struggle with Etsy corporate to meet the customer in the middle. Etsy just seems to like hovering around doing all the wrong things to pretend they're improving the experience, but in the end, Etsy wants to turn around and act as though the crafters and makers haven't built them a multi-million dollar, publicly traded company! Well, I'll be updating my website store with inventory and new items, so please check there soon and consider supporting small businesses no matter the platform they choose. http://www.branchandbeak.com