Etsy's new policy wins praise from sellers

  Etsy's new policy: The platform allows buyers to organize their Uplift Fund orders

Recently, in order to increase the stickiness of buyers and sellers on the platform, Etsy allows buyers to organize orders for its Uplift Fund , which is provided to nonprofit organizations across the United States that are committed to eliminating barriers to entrepreneurship, such as lack of digital education and training , funding , lack of access to health insurance and paid leave .

Etsy said: "Starting today, customers who purchase from sellers using Etsy Payments in the U.S. can round up their order total to the nearest dollar and donate the remaining change to Etsy’s Uplift Fund . "

The platform illustrates the policy by saying that if a consumer 's order totals $25.55, they can round up their order to $26 and donate $0.45 , and all of that change can be added up to contribute to the Raising Fund for nonprofits that are dedicated to creating entrepreneurial paths for all sellers .

Etsy told sellers that consumers will see the order total and donation amount when checking out, but the policy will not affect the seller's earnings . This type of order is the same as a normal order, and the order total (excluding donations) will be shown in the payment account after deducting the fees that sellers generally have to submit .

In response to questions from sellers about whether they must pay a payment processing fee for the total amount (including the "spare part change" portion) , and whether that fee will appear on their 1099- Ks , a spokesperson for the platform said: Consumer donations are a completely separate fee from the order total , and sellers will not pay any fees for the donation amount.

If a consumer makes a donation when purchasing an item from your store , nothing changes for you. All applicable seller fees will be calculated based on the usual order total. As with other orders, the order total (excluding donations and any applicable fees) will be available in your payment account .

It is reported that this policy will improve the bonding between the platform and buyers and sellers to a certain extent . Since it will not reduce the sellers' income, sellers who are eligible to donate can better attract consumers' attention, and consumers can also choose to donate on their own. However, due to the existence of this policy, consumers are more inclined to consume on the platform. The funds raised by donations will eventually be given back to sellers who want to start a business.

Etsy has transformed itself into a potential stock and strives to attract more sellers

In the United States, Etsy is considered an old e-commerce platform, but only a few domestic sellers have entered . According to data , among the sellers behind Amazon's top 2000 best-selling products, Chinese sellers account for 59.3% . 62% of the sellers on the Etsy platform are from the United States , and data from Statista shows that apart from the United States, China is not among the top 10 countries with the most Etsy sellers.

Data also shows that the top-selling products on Etsy are also the hot-selling products of Chinese sellers on various platforms , and domestic sellers have a strong advantage in purchasing channels. However, despite this, Etsy is still not the preferred platform for sellers, and many sellers even ignore it.

Many sellers said that the main reason for not choosing Etsy is that the platform's traffic is relatively low compared to Amazon, Wish and other platforms. According to data from SimilarWeb, in December 2020, Amazon's US site had 3.1 billion visits, while Etsy had 510 million visits, almost one-sixth of Amazon's.

However, judging from Etsy ’s growth last year , there are actually quite a few consumers in the US market who pursue niche products . The rise of e-commerce platforms like Etsy reflects some new characteristics of overseas consumers: they are increasingly pursuing personalized products and the combination of ornamental and practical values ​​of products .

In the new year, whether Etsy can attract more sellers and consumers through more favorable policies, sellers can still have expectations for this very promising platform.

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