Why I Am Closing My Etsy Shop After THREE Years & 100's of Sales

we need to start a new handmade platform. Etsy is done.

I worked as an auditor in the automotive industry for over 20 years, and it reminds me of a troubling situation we would see often. We called it ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’. It was a way for a dealer to use funds from one bank to pay another, because they were, technically, insolvent and didn’t have enough funds at one time to cover both. It sounds like Etsy is doing something similar. By holding funds, it allows them to invest (gamble) some of their sellers $$$, while they pay others. Likely, they don’t have the revenue to pay everyone on time, so it’s a good way to stay afloat and not expose their insolvency. Essentially, it’s a warning sign of a sinking ship.

I’m sensing a class action lawsuit is going to happen with Etsy.

My 7 year old best-selling item was delisted saying it 'violated their handmade policy'. My images, I discovered, had been stoled and used on other mass-production sites. It wrecked my income for 2 months. Eventually they re-instated it with a mild 'sorry' but zero compensation. It's scary. They can literally do anything to your shop and you have zero control over it. I've sold handmade on Etsy since 2007. Made them probably tens of thousands of dollars in fees. This is how they can treat us...

Unfortunately Etsy doesn't care about their sellers 👎

I have been watching a lot of these types of videos lately, and a few people got exactly what they needed, because they contacted the Better Business Bureau and filed formal complaints against Etsy. I think you all should do the same, it will force Etsy to stop this crap.

This just confirms that my decision to leave Etsy months ago was the right one. This is all yet another sign that Etsy is dying, it's getting more and more desperate for revenue and it's getting it by screwing over the artists, this is a death spiral.

My Etsy account was permanently suspended last week. They initially suspended me without sending an email explaining why, and once I filed an appeal, they were asking questions like what would I do differently to restore my account. I told them I wouldn't change anything because I don't know what I did wrong, and within 30 minutes of me sending my appeal, they permanently suspended me. I am Extremely disappointed in their business practices. I hate that at that moment, I was caught with all of my eggs in that one basket, but I won't let that be the end for me. Your jewelry is absolutely beautiful, and I wish you success.

ETSY held nearly $1,000.00 of mine for nearly 4 months. I was forced to front money to ship dozens and dozens and dozens of orders out of pocket that whole time. I SUSPECT they invested MY money for 4 months while they were "holding" it. I wouldn't be surprised if they have done this with hundreds of thousands of sellers.

It just takes for all of the business owners to shut it down for 48 hours, they will get the message. You are not helpless when you stick together. It’s a reciprocal relationship and they must understand that.

I absolutely hate etsy. They have the worst customer service. They shut my shop ("suspended it"), refused to tell me what I'd done wrong (pretty sure I'd not done anything wrong. I've read all of their rules and guidelines, when I appealed, it came back in less than one minute with it being rejected. And pretty much then saying they don't need to tell me why, they won't reply to messages about it, and their decision is final. They're a frigging joke. Also they seem to be untouchable. There must be some body who can hold them accountable (but I can't find anyone). And they've kept my listing fees, even though they've unlisted my items. So that's a breach of contract right there. I'm sure their terms would say they're allowed if someone breaches their rules... but they refuse to tell me what they claim I did. Man I hate etsy. If you look at videos of their headquarters, you can see how much money they're p*ssing away on that. Spend some of that money on customer services!

Thank you for sharing this information. You just saved some newbies from a heartache. 😊

Thank you for the information. My wife and I were just about to open an Etsy account…not now. We appreciate your respectful comments.

I believe the whole corporate world is trying to squeeze every cent they can from consumers. They're taking the easy money vs the Craftsman. Ads and bloatware. Just found your channel, doing great job explaining everything; I'm learning. Thank you for your content.

I'm hearing more and more stories about Etsy like this. It started off with being a genuine site for small makers but now it's pushing all those legitimate makers out and caters to ppl who buy wholesale from fast fashion sites and pose as makers. I don't buy from them anymore. I only go to artist's personal websites to buy now. Keep going and keep promoting your site, and ppl will come ❤️

ugh, listening to your story made my blood boil. I can relate so much. I left Etsy a while ago and the final push was also a total lack of professionalism and support from Etsy. It was ridiculous and left me disgusted as an honest seller that has been making them money for years. And I agree - their customer service is garbage, that's almost an understatement. I wanted to share my story for a while and you've given me the push to finally do it! While I agree with you that Etsy is great to start and experiment, there's so much, that small makers and business owners need to know, to avoid massive disappointments and problems with this platform. Excellent video, thank you for sharing! <3

So true, my designs have been ripped off by numerous Etsy sellers, they suck these days!

I never knew this about Etsy. Damn. I was going to start up a company there in the near future. I will never deal with a company where there is no control over what is yours. This information needs to be spread far and wide.

I have been on there ten years. It's been a struggle since day one. Absolutely have your own website

I was contemplating on whether or not to keep going with Etsy. I sell digital products. I decided to do Etsy ads. I made a sale, and from that sale, I only made $2.19. After uploading a couple of images, I'm now having 1 cent going into my account. I stopped the ads and made another sale, but if I upload any more images, I will lose most of the money from that sale, too. I feel like it was meant for me to find this video because I was stressing about it. I wish you a tremendous amount of success in all that you do.