A shipping service popular with Etsy sellers called Pirate Ship was blindsided when its customers received a notice on Wednesday that Etsy was partnering with two US-based shipping services: Shippo and ShipStation. Sellers were unclear how their use of Pirate Ship would be impacted, and as it turns out, Pirate Ship is uncertain as well.
Etsy’s notice to sellers last week stated in part: “For sellers shipping from the US, as of October 21, 2024, Shippo and ShipStation are the only third-party shipping apps which, when integrated into your Etsy account, will automatically import and export all shipping-related data between your shop and the shipping partner.”
However, Etsy added, “If you’re a US seller and you’ve integrated a third-party shipping service other than Shippo or ShipStation before October 21, 2024, these services will continue to function as usual, with shipping data being automatically imported and exported.”
To be clear, sellers can continue to print shipping labels on Pirate Ship, and if their Pirate Ship integration with Etsy breaks, sellers can manually input information to print the shipping label on Pirate Ship and update the status on Etsy, as sellers pointed out in the comments section of Wednesday’s AuctionBytes Blog post.
The seller who forwarded Pirate Ship’s email to EcommerceBytes on Saturday said that as an Etsy seller, they were infuriated by the decision and said “it looks to me like it’s just another money grab for them,” adding, “Who will be next eBay? Anything to make it difficult for sellers.”
Interestingly, online marketplace Bonanza just announced it would stop charging sellers a $2 fee that it had instituted a year ago as part of an initiative to get sellers to print shipping labels directly on its platform.
Pirate Ship sent a notice to sellers on Saturday telling sellers it was as surprised as they were at the decision, and it said Etsy has not responded to any of its outreach. It recommended sellers integrate any of their Etsy shops prior to Monday if needed and included a link in its email, which follows below:
Subject: Etsy will stop allowing new Pirate Ship connections on Monday
Ahoy (Redacted)!
We’ve always prided ourselves on making shipping as simple as possible for small businesses, especially when it comes to integrating with platforms like Etsy. Thousands of shippers depend on Pirate Ship’s integration with Etsy to ship their orders every day. Unfortunately, Etsy just surprised us with an unexpected change that will limit this functionality.
Beginning Monday, October 21, 2024, Etsy has said they will remove the ability for shipping software like Pirate Ship to access your orders’ shipping addresses, submit tracking numbers on your behalf, or mark items as shipped automatically.
Etsy says that any connections that were made before Monday “will continue to function as usual,” but since existing connections sometimes require reauthorization, it’s unclear if you will be able to continue importing orders from Etsy in the future.
If your Etsy integration needs to be reconnected, or if you want to connect any other Etsy shops to Pirate Ship, we recommend doing that now.
This change came without any notice to Pirate Ship, and we’re just as surprised and frustrated as you probably are. We know how important efficiency is for running your business, and realize how much manual work Etsy’s decision may create for you.
Please know that we’re actively attempting to contact Etsy to understand why they did this and try to restore the effortless service you deserve, but unfortunately Etsy has not responded to any of our outreach.
In the meantime, if you find you’re unable to import orders through our Etsy integration, there is a workaround:
It’s easy to copy/paste addresses into Pirate Ship, as explained in this article.
You’ll need to copy the tracking number and paste it back into Etsy to mark your order as “Shipped.”
Our crew is here for you if you need any help, just reply to this email or chat with us on Pirate Ship.
Thank you for sticking with us as we navigate these stormy seas—we’re always here for ya matey!
ARRrrr,
The small business lovers at Pirate Ship
sounds like someone is getting a cut, those 2 plans cost to use unlike pirate ship. Or will it be free to use their service.
Let me guess – Shippo and Shipstation are going to pay Etsy a perc and percentage to have them exclusive to Etsy Sellers? I stopped using Etsy labels when they took away my Paypal, and took all fees including shipping out of MY sales before I ever saw a penny. I have had a reasonably successful shop on Etsy since 2007. I do have my own website, but sadly it doesn’t get near the traffic as Etsy I’ve hated 90% of the changes they’ve made, but eventually learned to adapt, and develop my own work-arounds. BUT, NO WAY on God’s green Earth will I EVER purchase labels from Etsy again, or pay Shippo or Shipstation!!!! I LOVE PirateShip!! If I ever have to copy/paste order information in to PS then that’s just what I’ll have to do.
This whole issue is just sooooo maddening!! If I didn’t know better, I’d think Etsy really does HATE their sellers. *insert sarcasm here*
Another suicidal move….
Isn’t it time to vacate your Etsy shop?
Just how much are you willing to put up with?
Go ahead, let them die on the vine. They’ve been trying for years now.
They are so far from their original mission statement.
It’s tough to understand what caused this move. It breaks work processes for the most professional sellers using dozens of good software solutions. It is hard to believe users should choose between 2 companies when there are many proven solutions in the market.