Is The Etsy Strike Really Having An Impact?
The Etsy Seller Strike kicked off yesterday with a whirlwind of social media activity and major media attention!
The strike organizers sent an open letter to CEO Josh Silverman as well as several other executives and board members.
The letter reads, in part:
Over the past few years, our perception as members of Etsy’s seller community is that Etsy is shifting away from its handmade, vintage and small business roots. From the flood of illicit drop-shippers and resellers onto the market, to recent policy changes and fee increases, Etsy has become a downright hostile place for authentic small businesses to operate. For both full-time and part-time sellers alike, the changes on Etsy have brought many of us to the brink of financial ruin.
We realize that Etsy has to generate a profit, and that Etsy provides a service to sellers for which it is entitled to seek a payment. But, without sellers, Etsy couldn’t even exist! After giving Etsy two years of record profits under the most difficult circumstances imaginable, we’re tired, frustrated and ready to fight for our seat at the table.
Our demands are not unreasonable. In fact, we believe they’re the best way forward to get Etsy back on track towards fulfilling the promise of “Keeping commerce human.” We are confident that Etsy sellers and management can work together to make the platform live up to its potential...
...We invite you to speak with us – really speak with us personally, not through an anonymous spokesperson in the media – in good faith about helping Etsy fulfill its promise to sellers and buyers. We don’t want a long, drawn out struggle, but our movement will only continue to grow unless these issues are addressed.
Thank you for reading our letter,
Sincerely,
The Etsy Strike Team & the growing thousands and thousands of sellers who stand with us
No response has been forthcoming, yet.
The Etsy Strike Petition has over 81,000 signatures!
Media coverage is too numerous to list them all, but notable mentions are the Wall Street Journal, Time, USA Today, NPR, and Fortune. 😲
For those who say this group of determined sellers represents a small fraction and is hardly a blip on the radar to Etsy HQ....I wouldn't be so sure about that. While the strike itself may not financially impact the platform in a big way, the media attention and public scrutiny just might.
Etsy seller and blogger Cindy Lou Who has done some very interesting analysis showing the total number of listings on the platform shipping to the US has dropped at a greater rate this week than previously averaged.
There could be multiple reasons for this of course (some sellers may simply be on vacation with kids on Spring break or closed for the upcoming Easter holiday) but even accounting for normal fluctuations, it's an interesting figure to track and definitely one to keep an eye on throughout the week.
#EtsyStrike Day 2 - the total number of listings on Etsy continues to drop at a far greater rate than the previous few weeks' average - it's around a 1% drop since April 7#EtsySellerNews #EtsyBoycott #ecommerce
— CindyLouWho2 (@CindyLouWho_2) April 12, 2022
5/x pic.twitter.com/A8lKEosSs2
Good morning on Day 6 of the #EtsyStrike: again a slow normal increase in the number of listings available to ship to the US, but still nearly 1.4 million down from the pre-strike peak.
— CindyLouWho2 (@CindyLouWho_2) April 16, 2022
Will be interesting to see how many come back Mon & Tues!
10/x #ecommerce #microbusiness pic.twitter.com/u7XqouvaKd
And what better way to measure the impact this movement is having than a tweet from Etsy founder Rob Kalin showing his support?
I support @EtsyStrike. This is getting ridiculous. Time to build a better marketplace for handmade goods?
— Rob Kalin (@rokali) April 11, 2022
The strike will be running through April 18th - you can get details and follow the action on their website and across their various social media channels.
