Etsy To Block Most 3rd Party Shipping Applications Effective October 21, 2024
UPDATE 10-21-24
Questions remain about what Etsy's announcement really means as sellers report Pirate is now telling them the change shouldn't impact their integration and others who use the Etsy API are left wondering where they stand.
After last week's announcement, Etsy seller and ecommerce consultant Cindy Baldassi and GeekSeller Co-Founder Daniel Sodkiewicz discussed the changes on LinkedIn, with Sodkiewicz saying he was not sure where it left GeekSeller and thousands of other 3PL providers since as a developer, they had received no communication from Etsy on the subject.
As of today, sellers say their 3rd party shipping integrations are still working so unfortunately, as Sodkiewicz said, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
UPDATE 10-19-24
Pirate Ship is not taking the change lightly, sending an email to affected users saying they were just as surprised and frustrated as sellers and have been trying to contact Etsy to work toward a resolution but have received no response.
Etsy has announced big changes to their support for third party shipping integrations coming on October 21, giving sellers less than a week to make adjustments or alternate shipping plans.
Other providers, like Pirate Ship, may still be able to connect to your Etsy shop, but will not be able to access shipping addresses, submit tracking numbers or mark items as shipped, requiring manual entry for those actions instead.
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.
Other third-party shipping apps can still be integrated into your Etsy shop after this date. However, not all functionality will be available. This includes the ability to:
- Access shipping addresses
- Submit tracking numbers
- Mark items as shipped
While you'll still be able to perform all of the above actions, they will need to be done manually.
However, Etsy also says "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" - so if you want to use another service, you'll need to set up that integration before the deadline!
But as Etsy seller and ecommerce consultant Cindy Baldassi points out, that exception may not continue to work in the future and sellers need to be aware of the possible costs involved in using Shippo or ShipStation versus other options.
While Etsy says that existing integrations with other platforms will continue to work, anyone who has ever used a label integration knows that software updates sometimes break integrations and may eventually require reconnection. After October 20, that will only work in the US with Shippo and ShipStation.
For US sellers requiring a label platform that works across multiple marketplaces and website designers, note that PirateShip is free to use, while Shippo is only free for the first 30 labels a month, and ShipStation's lowest tier provides 50 labels a month for $9.99. So whatever deal Etsy is cutting with these two companies, the real cost is being downloaded onto sellers yet again.
Etsy Labels are still free, but Pirate Ship's international labels are much cheaper than Etsy's. So some people who only sell on Etsy will either eventually have to pay more, or do a lot more work manually to get the cheaper rates.
The move is likely part of Etsy's recent push to "encourage" sellers to provide cheaper shipping to help attract and retain buyers during difficult economic times, including making shipping cost a factor in the on site search ranking algorithm.
Liz Morton
How will this change to Etsy's third party shipping integration policies impact your business? Let us know in the comments below!
