Local Etsy sellers strike over fee increase

(ABC 6 News) – If you shop on Etsy, you might have noticed your favorite sellers stepping away from their shops this week. Well, there’s a reason.

This week Etsy sellers are striking because the company raised its seller fees from 5% to 6.5%. This isn’t the only fee sellers have to pay. There are listing fees, advertising fees, and transaction fees.

"Whether it’s worth putting more of my energy into building my Etsy shop and be like a part of that community and help build it to wherever it needs to grow. Or, whether I just need to completely invest, in you know, take the short-term hit and try to build something else," said Kara Prior, a seller out of Iowa.

The fee increase isn’t the only reason for the strike. There’s another issue that has sellers frustrated.

"The other reason for the strike is that people used to only sell handmade, now there are a lot of people who buy, cheap, mass-produced, online stuff and resell it on Etsy, and trying to pass it off as handmade," said Debbie Lampi who is based out of Rochester.

So far Etsy has not directly responded to the strike.