UPDATE: I learned at 11:45am on May 16 that Etsy has pushed back the deadline so my shop stays open until May 31. Learn more here
I have sad news. My etsy shop, Missive Maven on etsy, will be closing on May 17 - indefinitely. Possibly forever.
Last chance to buy Missive Maven etsy goods!!
The short info: if you want any items from my shop - like my very popular mail-themed postcards or stickers, BUY THEM NOW. You may not have another chance after May 17. (It's also unclear to me whether the final ending will be May 17 or May 18, so the sooner the better, if you want to be careful.)
The longer story: for a huge host of business reasons, etsy is now requiring all its sellers to use their own "checkout" and payment system instead of PayPal. You can still use PayPal (though they are phasing it out) but sellers must opt in to using the Etsy payment system, which requires linking a bank account and sharing all kinds of personal information like forms of ID with etsy - things I wouldn't share with most people. I do not run my business as my living, it's very much a hobby shop, so I guess I can afford to stand on principles here... but it leaves a very bad taste in my mouth that etsy will effectively close down shops that do not comply with their new payment system (which has a whole host of other glitches, including witholding money from sellers, that I won't even get into).
I am researching other online selling venues including Amazon marketplace, Zibbet, and more - I would love your feedback! Do you have any suggestions for a great online marketplace? (I would prefer a marketplace that has its own traffic, like etsy or Amazon, to a standalone checkout system, but I am open.) Do you have strong feelings about any of this? I want to know!
It is possible that etsy is getting enough pushback on this issue - many, many sellers say they're leaving and taking their wares elsewhere - that they will change their minds. So I'm not saying I'm closing "forever," but that is certainly a possibility. The timing is good for me as I'm about to move to Maine for the summer, and this takes away my decision of whether or not to move my etsy stock with me: I won't. I may or may not reopen elsewhere, but if I do, it likely won't be until the fall. And I may not reopen at all... this may be the end of all the things I sell in my shop, Missive Maven original goods as well as vintage items. (That's another thing: I need a sales platform that allows selling of both new and vintage goods.)
Unanswered correspondence: Do it Now! postcard
So again, the big takeaway: if you want something, buy it now before it may be gone forever!
