Tuesday, May 16, 2017

UPDATE: Etsy changed deadline, my shop open until May 31

BREAKING NEWS: Etsy pushback has worked. Enough sellers have shown anger and planned to leave over the new Etsy forced payment system that Etsy has pushed back the deadline. My sincere apologies for the dire "my shop is closing today" warnings, because I only learned five minutes ago that they have moved the deadline from May 17 to May 31.

If you want the backstory on all this, please see my post about why Etsy's changes are forcing my shop to close. This has all been very sudden, and my very cynical mind is that Etsy is seeing the bump in sales over sellers who are doing "shop-closing" sales just like I am, and has decided that two more weeks of delaying the forced changes will get more money for them. And they're right. And perhaps they are weighing the words of so many people, who just like me have said they will quit spending their money at Etsy over these changes. I can't speak for others, but any small profits I make from my shop (and after the materials, shipping, time, etc, the profits are tiny indeed) go right back into other purchases at Etsy. If you don't want to read my post about why Etsy's changes are forcing my shop to close, let me just say that much of the issue hinges on use of PayPal, and word on the street is that Etsy may be planning to phase out PayPal altogether - for buyers as well as sellers. So from me, they'll lose their profits from my listings and sales, AND the profits from my purchases based on those sales. Sigh. I'll get off my soapbox now, but if anyone has questions or comments, please let me know. I'm happy, and even eager, to have a dialog on this.

So, this means my shop will stay open for two more weeks. I will continue to work hard to get the word out. To those of you who have already placed orders thinking they're the last, I cannot thank you enough for your support (and hey, if your items arrive and you love them and decide to order more, there's still time).