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   From: scumbags@etsy.com   
      
   Thousands of Etsy sellers put their shops on vacation mode   
   Monday to protest a number of the e-commerce company’s policies,   
   effectively going on strike until April 18 with the goal of   
   forming a union to negotiate with management.   
      
   “The zoomed-out view of the situation is just people losing   
   their ability to make an income doing something creative,”   
   Kristi Cassidy, the strike’s organizer and an Etsy seller since   
   2006, told USA TODAY.   
      
   Over 17,000 sellers put their shops on pause Monday in a move   
   that is a culmination of weeks of organizing over grievances   
   involving changes to sellers the company has rolled out in the   
   last four years.   
      
   Most recently, in a report to investors, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman   
   announced the company was increasing its seller transaction fee   
   from 5% to 6.5%, effective Monday. The fee is a percentage of   
   the total order amount that Etsy charges, according to The Verge.   
      
   “We expect to invest most of the incremental revenue from this   
   fee increase in marketing, seller tools and creating world-class   
   customer experiences,” the company said in the report.   
      
   The fee increase comes amid all-time high pandemic gains for the   
   company, according to the petition Cassidy organized.   
      
   While she had been upset about other changes, the fee struck   
   Cassidy’s last nerve. So she published “We need an Etsy sellers   
   union” on the Etsy Sellers subreddit about two months ago.   
      
   Frustrated peers agreed with her idea. Sellers started   
   organizing on Reddit, created a Discord server and website to   
   help one another collaborate, and Cassidy published a petition   
   in support of the campaign that had over 45,000 signatures as of   
   Monday.   
      
   The organizers delivered a letter to Silverman Monday morning   
   listing their demands, which include ending the fee increase,   
   cracking down on resellers, eliminating a seller reward program   
   and other issues involving offsite ads and support tickets.   
      
   In an email statement to USA TODAY, an Etsy spokesperson   
   remarked sellers’ success is a “top priority” and said the   
   increased fee would create resources to allocate toward sellers'   
   pain points: “The new fee structure will enable us to increase   
   our investments in areas outlined in the petition, including   
   marketing, customer support and removing listings that don't   
   meet our policies.”   
      
   Etsy making 'change after change'   
   Cassidy, 39, a homemaker who crafts custom Victorian wedding   
   dresses and costumes, said she’s noticed Etsy make “change after   
   change,” shifting away from the company’s original focus on   
   helping creatives make a viable income. Given the company’s   
   changes and the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s lost over two-thirds of   
   her income since 2019. Etsy makes up about 90% of her income,   
   and while she’s able to survive despite the changes, she knows   
   that option isn’t possible for all sellers.   
      
   One of the most frustrating changes, she said, is Etsy’s Star   
   Seller program, which was announced in July 2021 as a way to   
   “reward shops that consistently offer excellent customer   
   experience.”   
      
   But the metrics that allow someone to qualify for the program   
   are more easily met by sellers who aren’t hand-making their   
   items, Cassidy said, punishing sellers like her who make one-of-   
   a-kind or made-to-order products.   
      
   Star sellers qualify partly out of their ability to ship orders   
   on time, but Cassidy said it's common for a customer to purchase   
   something and then ask for it to be customized. This extends a   
   seller’s service time, but they’re punished for taking longer to   
   make a unique item.   
      
   “These are not things buyers expect from independent shops,   
   these are things they expect from Amazon,” London-based seller   
   Joseph Fellstold USA TODAY. Fells has been on Etsy for over 10   
   years and hand paints t-shirts, designs enamel pins and   
   illustrates art prints in his store Bleached Bones.   
      
   Fells noted that Etsy isn’t clear how not achieving Star Seller   
   affects sales. And last year one of his stores was put on a   
   payment reserve for 90 days because their copyright system made   
   a mistake. In that time, he still had to pay for his materials   
   despite not making an income keep his business open.   
      
   Cassidy said other grievances include shutting down resellers,   
   people who sell mass-produced goods that they have not designed   
   themselves.   
      
   "Sellers are having to compete with those [resell] prices ...   
   buyers will buy those items and then they'll see it posted on   
   Amazon for like half the price," she said. "It's horribly   
   damaging to the platform because those buyers don't come back."   
      
   Computer-driven decisions also hurt Etsy sellers, Cassidy said,   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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