Etsy is an online marketplace where people can buy and sell handmade items or vintage wares, but since the company hit sellers with a 30% transaction fee, the vendors are pushing back. They're even eyeing a union.
More than 80,000 people have signed a petition demanding Etsy cancel the fee hikes among other charges. There's also a call to crack down on reselling mass-produced goods in a marketplace originally launched for individual artists. Etsy would not make anyone available for an on-camera interview, but a spokesperson tells Newsy the fee increase will be used to improve marketing and customer support for their sellers as they grow their businesses.
"Everything has skyrocketed," Esty Wood Art Seller Dave Stencil said."The price of wood has probably doubled. The price of my glue is probably up 30-40%. The price of my shop in the past seven years is up 50%."