Email a copy of 'Etsy Rewards Sellers for Driving Traffic to Their Listings' to a friend
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Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.
this appears to be more of a “wolf in sheep’s clothing sort of offer. there is a thread on Etsy with posters much more knowledgeable than i on Etsy matters; here:
https://community.etsy.com/t5/Marketing-Your-Business/I-just-saw-this-quot-Save-on-Etsy-fees-quot-announcement/td-p/143275983
there seem to be two issues bubbling up that are concerning; arbitration and offsite ad fees. posters are questioning if Etsy is opting people back in to the arbitration by signing up for this “offer”, and vague wording possibly opting folks into offsite ad fees, even when opted out. and if an Etsy account is already opted INTO offsite ad fees, this “offer” may simply add to your fee woes.
the best post that illustrates this offsite ad fee penalty was posted by “Arcalliq”;
by Arcalliq Conversation Maker
yesterday
I might be completely wrong but this is where I see this problematic:
Imaginary situation:
– you post your magic 4% off link to your FB
– i click on and I like what I see but I’m ted busy so will buy tmrw /or i don’t have enough money right now to buy/ or I think I’ll buy it in couple of week for so and so’s birthday – trillions of options here why I might not buy immediately
-Etsy jumps in with retargeting ads
– next day I randomly open my e.g. yahoo mail box – and here it is! Etsy off side ad with your product
– This reminds me I wanted to buy it so I click on the ad – maybe to actually buy it or perhaps just to bookmark it for bit later
– few minutes, days, couple weeks later i might buy the thing
– you end up with off side ad fee for that sale
This can be particularly eye opening for people who would perhaps normally not post on social media. or perhaps not so frequently. But in their eagerness to save pennies, they might start doing it and end up being burnt by paying more fees than they ever did before.
*** Is This a Scam? ***
Within 30 seconds of reading the design of this feature, I came to the conclusion that Etsy could EASILY charge Sellers for “Offsite Ad Fees” instead of a reducing fees for Sellers.
SELLERS BEWARE!!
When Sellers send Buyers to Etsy, there is NO PROOF who drove that traffic. Etsy can EASILY claim it was their advertising dollars while charging Sellers an ADDITIONAL 12% for Offsite Ad Fees.
This new schema says everything…
I believe Seller growth on Etsy is beginning to wane, while more shops are leaving these high price ecommerce sites for their own website.
Meanwhile, the See’s Candies down the street is hiring at $20/hour with healthcare benefits. Within this past year Etsy’s biggest competitor is the strength of U.S. wages that have increased at a pretty good rate. Sellers will have no interest in Etsy if they can make more money, elsewhere.
Etsy got too greedy while Sellers make very little money. But hey! CEO Silverman keeps cashing out those stock options so it’s all good!
What a foolish company.
For once I’m excited about something new Etsy is trying. I work hard at promoting my shop off of the site and finally we will get some benefit for doing such work. I have been very reluctant to list new items on the shop this summer because of al the issues going on. I think I’ll get back to it this fall!