Why Are Etsy Sellers On Strike Yet Again?

 Etsy sellers launch a week-long strike over increased fees was written by Jaclyn Diaz and reported today at NPR.org. Many sellers have launched a week-long protest by closing their shops and other actions. This is in response to the recent in a long line of fee increases announced by CEO Josh Silverman. Seems like 59,000+ shop owners have signed the petition. A quick web search will show results for strikes during each of the past few years.

I don't feel that Etsy morale will improve for disenchanted handmades sellers. Somewhere along the way, during the past 12-15 years, Etsy management felt that to stay afloat they had to expand away from pure handmade support. They added a complicated fee system and have raised prices so often and by such a high percentage that it has crushed not only the bottom lines but the spirits of many handmade sellers. I closed my shops at Etsy a couple of years ago but not because of changes at the site. Sometimes I miss being there. It's at times like this that I'm glad I left though, which makes me feel sad. It was exciting to be a part of Etsy, back then.

Dwanda, Artfire and others folded and it seems like Etsy is having to take drastic steps every year to remain viable. These decisions have invited in questionable resellers and consistently driven away Etsy creatives. I was at Zibbet when years ago there was a mass exodus of Etsy sellers to that selling venue in response to insufferable changes. Most of them returned to Etsy when Zibbet did not deliver what they were expecting. Sellers need to seriously ask themselves if any selling website will fulfill their expectations. If not, what is the best course of action for their brands?

While the popularity of Etsy seems bleak for many, others are realizing what I had begun to feel some time ago. The best business practice for the future of creating and making is to learn how to market and sell from your own web spaces. There are still a few venues left where the income of the creative is not gouged. One of them is Payhip. Another is Meylah. Find Meylah store setup info here.

Learning to self-promote and sell from our own blogs and online shops will provide peace of mind to start, which will go a long way in generating income. It is difficult to focus on creating good products and effectively marketing them when there is misery about the selling platform and constant fear of what will come next. It can be bad for the creative psyche to be in an atmosphere that has become increasingly riddled with controversy.

Will this strike matter to Etsy management and ownership? Will it bring about the desired changes? According to many sellers' comments at the forum, no it will not. Many of them say it's the low-sales-volume sellers who have organized and are signing on to the strike. My heart goes out to the makers and designers who feel a need to boycott Etsy. If the majority are low-volume sellers, then my suggestion to learn to market and sell from their own shops is even more crucial. If being at Etsy is not paying off, shouldn't those sellers be expending their efforts and funds elsewhere? That would build invaluable marketing experience and generate more lasting assets for the sellers.     

Google Domains Discount For New Users

Google Domains is extending a discount for new users. If you're looking for a place to host your domain, I got an email today saying: 

 

Invite Your Fiends. Have a friend who hasn’t tried Google Domains yet? New users can enter code FRIENDSOFDOMAINS at checkout for 25% off** a new domain or transfer-in.

I've been using Google Domains for a few years now. I pay $12 a year each for my two domains and they are .coms. I found them through my free Blogger blogs so it was easy for me to make the transition from sub domains to my own domains by following the instructions.

If you don't know a lot or very little about launching your own domain for a blog/website that you want to start, just start by opening a Blogger blog. It will be easier from there to buy your own domain. Blogger and Google Domains offer lots of help articles and groups. There are many Youtube videos on starting a Blogger blog and buying Google Domains.

 

Searching on the internet brings up a plethora of help about these subjects. So, you can have a blog that you use to share content and sell products and services. You can design your blog as a website with pages. It is possible for you to do what you've been putting off, even if you have very little understanding. I don't know a lot about websites and domains but I took time to search, read and follow instructions. You can too!

I am not an affiliate of Google Domains or Blogger.

Dropbox And Onedrive Pros & Cons

I've been using Onedrive for some time but have known about Dropbox a long time, as well. I've had to download some files at Dropbox that I purchased. Both cloud storage systems offer free accounts with Onedrive being more economical for the value. Both services are also affiliated with Microsoft and Onedrive is free with a Microsoft account. I've been a longtime user of Outlook, so my Onedrive is through my email service.

I'm going to continue with Onedrive for now. Since Dropbox offers a free account, I'm going to sign up. It's such a popular cloud storage platform and I may need it in the future.

Casey Schmidt at Canto breaks down the pros and cons here:

Dropbox vs OneDrive – Which should you choose?