Petition ETSY! Free Shipping ISN'T FREE. Stop this campaign & support your small businesses. Chang

[SarahMars]

Have you guys see this change on Etsy about Free Shipping? What do you think of it? There is now a petition on Change.org by sellers trying to stop this update.

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Petition  ETSY! Free Shipping ISN'T FREE. Stop this campaign & support your small businesses Free shipping IS NEVER FREE. If the customer is not paying for shipping, it means your small businesses must pay the cost, thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in shipping per year. Most cannot afford this - they will have increase their product price to cover the cost. This means absorbing that shipping cost when an item is returned. And the practice may price some sellers out of their market. Free shipping has a high cost. Read full story

[MsRainesSewingRoom]

I have something to say on this matter, Shipping is never free, I offer free shipping on all my items, it's takes a big bite out of what I make and sell.
I do it mostly because it is easier to do, BUT what I don't like is having to use the phrase Free Shipping because it's not free and very misleading.
I want to say Shipping Included, and customer responsible for return shipping fees, I don't want to pay shipping twice on a return, I would be deep in the hole and would have to stop selling. Unfortunately because of the big retailers who can absorb the cost of shipping, we really have to offer it to compete, and for the customer having to pay shipping often makes the item to expensive, and cheaper to buy else where and they will.

Every time the cost of shipping goes up, I'm one step closer to not be able to continue. And on another note these new sales tax laws must have been enacted by idiots, when you visit another state and purchase items you pay that states sales tax, you don't go back home and pay sales tax on the items you bought elsewhere. So if you buy online the state where the online store is should be the only one that should be collecting and paying the tax.
Having to charge  a different tax for every state you ship stuff to is insane.
Back to the free shipping issue, if Etsy insist on it's sellers to offer free shipping maybe they should be paying for it.
Happy Crafting!!!

[LisaGold]

I agree, MsRaines! Etsy should absorb the shipping cost if they really want to offer free shipping to their buyers. I don't think it's fair to pressure sellers into this. There is always drama with Etsy, every time they make changes. I am sure some are good, but some, like this one, could cause people to leave or at least start looking for alternatives. There must be a better way to do this.

[SarahMars]

I think for major changes, like this one, marketplace should ask their sellers if they'd be ok with it - doesn't look like anybody asked Etsy sellers what they think. I can't imagine that anyone would've agreed to that.

[MsRainesSewingRoom]

Etsy stopped caring about what their sellers want a long time ago, only things they care about is their bottom line and share holders now.
That's why I'm here instead of there now, and believe you will see more and more sellers moving. There is no customer service over there, just quiet ignoring of sellers. Funny they want their sellers to pay for shipping, but won't stop charging their shipping fee for sellers.