Etsy’s Depop Shifts Most Fees from Sellers to Buyers

Following a new marketplace trend, Etsy’s Depop platform is eliminating selling fees and shifting them to buyers, who will pay up to 5% of the item purchase price plus a fixed amount of up to $1. (It does not affect Etsy’s other two marketplaces, Etsy and Reverb.) The announcement came on the 3rd anniversary of Etsy’s acquisition of Depop for approximately $1.625 billion (primarily in cash) in 2021.

Mercari made a similar move to its fee structure in the spring, announcing in late March it would no longer charge selling fees (except a fee for withdrawing funds), and would charge buyers a service fee beginning March 27, 2024.

But while Mercari also shifted payment-processing fees to buyers, Depop will continue to charge sellers fees for processing payments.

In writing about the news, Money Magazine said sellers on Depop already get lowball offers from users and said that behavior could increase and wrote, “Sellers may need to brace themselves for smaller margins on their sales, as price-sensitive customers will likely lower what they’re willing to pay once there’s a fee that they have to factor into their total cost.”

Depop CEO Kruti Patel Goyal said in Depop’s announcement on July 15:

“We want to invite as many people as possible into Depop’s circular fashion community, and we’ll achieve that by making the experience easier, more rewarding and more inspiring than ever.

“This change will give sellers more cash in their pocket from each sale, empowering our existing community – as well as those who may be new to resale – to list more, sell more and earn more while contributing to a more circular fashion system. Encouraging more listers and more listings means offering greater choice for buyers – helping them to find the items they love, at the right price.”

Depop said it had already removed selling fees in the UK earlier this year and said it has been working to continually improve the experience of buyers and sellers, including improving search – buyers are now 42% more likely to find an item they want to buy through search, the company said. Another improvement it cited: “We’ve driven a 40% improvement in resolution time for incoming support enquiries, and a 48% improvement in average support response times year over year.”

Depop is instituting the fee for buyers in the US on July 18, 2024.

Belgian collectibles marketplace Delcampe also shifted fees from buyers to sellers in the spring.