Etsy sellers protest fees by halting their sales for a week

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Some vendors on Etsy say they are halting sales of their items on the site for a week to protest a hike in the fees the crafts e-commerce marketplace charges them. Starting Monday, Etsy sellers must pay a 6.5% commission on each transaction, up from the 5% in place since 2018. A protest organizer, Kristi Cassidy, said thousands of Etsy vendors _ a fraction of the 5.3 million vendors on the site _ have temporarily halted selling their items. An Etsy executive says the new fee structure will enable the company to increase investments in marketing and customer support.