Etsy Compels Sellers to Offer Free Shipping with New Initiative

by: pace306

eBay junior strikes again!

by: The End

Well.......
It's time to retire anyhow.

by: The End

ALSO : Josh is LYING when he says people get a shipping charge surprise at checkout.
It's right there next to the item on the right in the listing.
Josh Silverman is a LIAR.

by: maxmad

On our Website, We offer free shipping on any order over $50, but at checkout the customer will also see options for paid shipping, with delivery dates

We found that even when the purchase qualifies for free shipping, more then 60% actually pay for shipping.

Why ?

"Free Shipping" to some also means Cheap, Not Good, Damaged Package, Long Delays. Lost in the Mail,

Etsy will most likely boost the China sellers even more,

by: The End

If we roll shipping into the price,
ETSY TAKES MORE.
That's the ONLY reason LYING JOSH wants this.
The little BASTARD.

by: Flying Childers

What about people like me who offer CHEAP shipping?

I sell small, light items including vintage jewelry and scarves, that cost under $3 per package.  So I charge $1.50 for shipping and eat the rest.

Does that mean they will show my items even LESS than they do now??  How is that even possible?

At some point in time this wholesale mugging of the sellers is going to have to stop.  

by: iheartjacksparrow

So what are these great tools and resources they are offering? And once again, a marketplace is demanding sellers implement an onerous policy so their items will be seen in search.  

by: purpleiris

Just another example of a bunch of inexperienced and apparently poorly educated fakers at work. The comments that come out of their mouths alone speak volumes to that effect. "Seller-facing launch"? She didn't even answer the question posed.

There has to be something illegal about this. Etsy is essentially putting small businesses at serious risk. Either they offer free shipping or they won't be seen in search? Isn't that a form of extortion?

I'm so glad I shut down my shop after reading the comments of their CFO about "seller churn". Etsy knows no bounds when it comes to its stupidity and greed.

by: The End

It IS illegal.
Known as "Pay for Play". Payola.
It has been reported.

by: Silver Ice King

Josh Silverman got his training at Ebay, but now Etsy appears to be so desperate for cash that he has actually one upped Ebay.  I am so glad that my items do not qualify to be sold on Etsy, but even if they did, with this stupid new policy there is no way that I would continue selling on their site.  These idiots are so concerned with how to please Wall Street so that their stock price continues to rise (most of their salaries are determined by the stock price and is issued in stock instead of cash).

Good luck to those that decide to try and stick it out with Etsy (the new Ebay).  Time to start looking at ECrater and other sites that are not as popular yet.

by: pace306

"It isn't mandatory to offer free shipping, but unless they do, sellers' listings may be virtually invisible to shoppers in search results."

Sure, you dont HAVE TO pay us the protection money, but then its possible that your store will burn down.

Invisible listings (ala the great scam artist eBay) and burnt stores ... and they say Al Capone was the bad guy!

The fees we pay should cover "visibility" - just like on Amazon or anywhere else that you pay for advertising, PERIOD. Anything else is fraud.

by: OnlyPollyPocket

Seems to me that if one agrees to pay a platform $X to list one's items and $XX if the items sell, one is paying for a service.  

Why should I have to submit to this extortion to receive that service FOR WHICH I HAVE PAID?

I guess the argument can be made that I AM receiving the service (again, for which I have paid) just not as good as the next guy even though we are paying the same amount.  

by: Life During Wartime

The Etsy shop owners that stay on the site, and go with the free shipping, may not benefit from doing so.  Unless their items already rank on the first few pages of results for whatever they sell, there is little chance their listings will be more relevant.  

No matter what I search for on Etsy, even if there are fewer than 10 pages of results total, over half of the listings shown have NOTHING to do with my search terms.  Seller generated keyword misuse has wrecked search.  Etsy's game-playing only slightly rearranges all those items you aren't interested in seeing.

by: Writings on the Wall

Sellers unite! You have the power to resist!
I agree "free shipping" connotates cheapness and desperation. Buyers are not stupid and appreciate transparency--item price is item price and shipping cost is shipping cost, and they know how to do the math themselves. Shipping is not free and USPS raises rates continually. It's actually good for buyers to know how much shipping actually costs.
Etsy is full of cheap tricks to fool investors, and that's what this is-the latest trick they pulled out from up their sleeve. They want investors to think a good payout is coming. ha! The emperor has no clothes.
I left this site long ago.  New selling sites are out there.

by: purpleiris

"Sure, you dont HAVE TO pay us the protection money, but then its possible that your store will burn down."

Bwa-hahahaha! That's a good one! It's a good thing I wasn't drinking anything at the time I read that. LOL =)

by: purpleiris

Sorry, but I can't get over those words...''seller-facing launch.''

Why would a marketplace need such a term, much less a need for a seller-facing launch? Although, I guess they would if they're in the habit of knowingly defrauding their customers (the sellers) to please investors and improve their own individual bottom line.

I sold there for over 5 years. The first year was great and the second even better, but the third saw my shop going a solid 8 months without a single sale there (when they were hijacking my Google links to redirect my clicks to their marketplace page).

With the way they manipulate search, they are basically violating fair trade laws on some level. Especially since they're manipulating it in a manner that benefits them more than it does their customers -- or even their customers' customers (because they can't find what they're looking for).

eCommerce is supposed to be a level playing field, so all search engines used for that purpose should be filtering search results based on relevant factors, which is what SEO and the all important keyword is for. What payment options are offered, what policies are used, free shipping offers or anything of the sort are completely irrelevant unless a customer uses those search terms or filters. Google has already been under fire in Europe for its past machinations.

Etsy sellers are paying rent for their space and the service Etsy claims to provide. Yet, Etsy continually and seemingly intentionally fails to do so while putting some sort of spin on it that they hope investors will fall for, but KNOW that most sellers won't.

Hence, the need for such terms as ''seller-facing launch.'' Since my third year there, there hasn't been much that Etsy has done that has actually helped sellers. Quite the contrary. It would seem that Etsy further disconnects itself from its customers with each change they make and it gets increasingly worse for their customers.

So, here's a marketplace term for you...mass exodus.

by: pace306

If FREE SHIPPING is such a great thing - why doesnt eBay and Etsy pay for it themselves ... ???

Answer: cause its NOT "such a great thing" unless the seller is paying for it.

Of course the others above who said "since you pay FVF on shipping" (total fraud since its not a service they provide theres no reason to pay for it) so yes its another scam.

I dont sell on Etsy but my wife does (artsy stuff) ... so I feel for her, as I felt for other sellers when eBay pulled this cr@p way back when.

Yes purple - its criminal - the play book is right out of your standard Mafia code of ethics. You charge for a service, dont provide it, then charge for it again and call it something creative. Thats why most of eBays BOD are lawyers. They are there to provide cover/shade to eBay for the sleezy things they do.

Its shameful - and yet both sites crow about it.

BTW - the BOD does nothing because eBay takes its cash and repurchases stock to up its fake value.

eBay stock is worthless (should be a penny stock) - but "its value" comes from the BS that DW tells investors about the mountains of cash that he gets/is getting from sellers via advertising.

Etsy should be ashamed it resorted to railroading sellers into this scam

by: The End

DO THIS :
In the FIRST LINE of your Shop text write :
"My item prices HAVE NOT gone up. You're paying the same price you always did. But Shipping is now INCLUDED in the price."

by: The End

Better yet, START OFF EVERY LISTING WITH THESE WORDS :
"My item prices HAVE NOT gone up. You're paying the same price you always did. But Shipping is now INCLUDED in the price."

by: The End

TAKE DOWN JOSH SILVERMAN.