Etsy sellers angry over Plaid verification error & frustrated by the company’s confusing approach to the new sales-tax law; Etsy set to drop $600 million on marketing this year, and much more…
Etsy Insight issue 20
Happy Thursday, everyone! 👋 and welcome to issue no. 20 of the Etsy Insight newsletter!
In this week’s Etsy Insight newsletter, we start the news with a couple of things that affected a lot of sellers in the past few days: a Plaid verification error that left their funds in limbo, and Etsy’s apparently confusing approach to the new sales-tax law. In other news, Etsy’s CEO announced that the company is set to drop $600 million on marketing this year, so yeah, there’s that too.
This and much more, along with our usual weekly nuggets: 3 new videos, 3 new articles, 1 new success story, 3 new podcast episodes, and 3 new social media posts, all highlighting the Etsy universe.
Let’s go!
Etsy Sellers Lose Their Collective Minds over Plaid Verification Error
Sellers who had just suffered waves of anxiety over a new verification requirement got a shock today when Etsy notified them their accounts were not verified and discovered they were unable to activate a button to re-verify their accounts, leaving their funds in limbo.
Etsy sellers frustrated by company’s confusing approach to new sales-tax law
For nearly a decade, Margaret Maringgele and her husband Hubert have sold handmade wooden Christmas ornaments from their home on Vancouver Island through the online marketplace Etsy.
Before she retired, Ms. Maringgele worked in banking and accounting. But even with that background, she said, recent changes that Etsy has made to comply with a new federal sales-tax law have suddenly turned selling on the platform into a serious bookkeeping headache.
Etsy set to drop $600 million on marketing this year, CEO says
After years of pandemic growth, Etsy (ETSY) is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into its platform, even against the backdrop of a difficult macroeconomic environment, as the company prepares itself and its sellers for the upcoming holiday season, according to its chief executive.
"We're investing more than $600 million in marketing this year to make sure that we're front of mind with buyers at a time when they need us most," CEO Josh Silverman said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). "While a lot of other people might be pulling back, we think this is a great time to be leaning in and gaining share."
Ecommerce meets collective bargaining: How a Philly crafter helped organize the Etsy strike and create a new sellers guild
Online marketplace Etsy recently made changes that sparked resistance from the independent sellers that make up the platform, and a Philadelphia craftsperson played a considerable role in helping merchants start to push back.
Eighty thousand sellers signed a petition ahead of a 30,000-seller strike in April, demonstrating that while they create their products independently, they don’t want to deal with the ecommerce company alone.
Now the strike’s organizers have cemented that fact by creating the Indie Sellers Guild.
The Ultimate Guide to Holiday
With the holidays approaching, it’s time to stock the shelves, add some seasonal shine to your social media, and embrace even more opportunities for one-of-a-kind connections with customers. In our latest ultimate guide, you’ll find everything you need to know to help you have a successful 2022 holiday ecommerce season—from ways to help increase your shop’s visibility to delivering the best customer experience to keep buyers coming back.
“You Should Sell this on Etsy!”
A small critique of the pressure to monetize your hobbies.
Admit it, you’ve heard this before. Either for a friend or for yourself, you’ve at least had the thought of using talent to make extra dough.
It just makes sense: you’re putting time aside during the day to do something you love, so you might as well be paid for it. Making candles with no intention of selling them after would be, in this world, a waste of time.
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Meet Calla Jarvie of Luverne
Hi Calla, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Calla Bjorklund Jarvie, and I am the library director at the Rock County Community Library in Luverne, Minnesota. I am also a jewelry designer. I have loved libraries for my entire life – I grew up going to the library 30 miles from me, which was paradise. I began working in a library at age 24 and have been in a library ever since. I became a library director in 2018 and received my Masters’s Degree in 2019. I have been making jewelry since I was a child, but I opened my Etsy store in 2016. I began making jewelry from beach glass found at Lake Poinsett, South Dakota. Since then, I have expanded my jewelry designs. They are always rooted in nature and found items.
That’s all, folks! Have a great one and we’ll see you next week!