Etsy

What: Sell crafts, art and hand-made goods

Commissions & Fees: 20 cent listing fee, plus 6.5% +  25 cent, transaction and payment processing fees (for U.S. sales/sellers; fees vary in other countries)

Husl$core: $$$

Review: Etsy is one of the oldest and most widely used sites to sell crafts, art and hand-made items, which is both a benefit and a detriment. It’s helpful, of course, because they have a community of shoppers to view and, possibly, buy your goods. It’s a problem because it also means that there are a lot sellers competing for page views and there’s no guarantee that you are going to make a single sale. You can pay extra to advertise, but there are no guarantees there either. That said, the site charges just 20 cents per listing, so you can list 5 items for sale for just $1. If you sell anything, additional fees will kick in — a 3.5% transaction fee; a 3% plus 25 cent payment processing fee; plus shipping.

The biggest complaints that sellers have is that Etsy sometimes boots people off the platform without warning or appeal. When it does so, it can also hold buyer payments for up to 6 months. (This is spelled out in the terms and conditions.) This is particularly painful if the seller has orders outstanding that need to be filled while their pay is being held. While this is a legitimate issue, it appears to hamper only a small fraction of the site’s sellers. Etsy was ranked as the second-best sales site by eCommerceBytes, and the site sellers were most likely to recommend to a friend. That said, when sellers have a problem, Etsy’s customer service appears to be lacking.

Other sites to consider: Ruby Lane, for crafts, antiques, art and collectibles; Society6 or RedBubble, which are print-on-demand services that print your art on t-shirts and coffee cups; and, of course, Craig’s List, where you can sell almost anything. 

What their sellers say: (from ConsumerAffairs.com)

“Today Etsy sent me an e-mail stating that My Etsy shop of over ten years is being suspended because they believe I am not making my items I sell. Further they are freezing $158.00 in my account for 180 days in-case they get any requests for refunds from orders. Understand that this home based business accounts for a significant amount of my retirement earnings. I do indeed have always made my leather products by hand and consider each order a custom made product which includes the customers name and customer stamps they want included. I don’t know how much more hand made one can get! Of course I requested both a phone call from them and a reply to my email as to WHY! After reading all the other similar problems with etsy on this site, I do not believe to expect a reply. THEY JUST PUT THIS OLD GUY OUT OF BUSINESS. Anyone want to start a class action lawsuit against Etsy? HOW CAN THEY HOLD MY MONEY I EARNED FOR 180 DAYS?”

“I had a shop on Etsy for over 12 years with stellar reviews. My husband joined Etsy 6 months ago. Etsy sent him an email notifying him that he was violating copyright for listing a sign with a movie. Although there are literally 23,000 other items with the logo, and although he removed it, a week later he was shut down. My complaint is that my shop was also shut down even though I was never notified and my shop is independent of my husband’s. I have separate bank account, credit card, etc. The only thing in common was we had the isp because we are on the same server. I sent Etsy countless emails to explain and sent proof that my account was separate but all I got was boilerplate messages that appeared computer generated. I requested a phone call and an appeal. 5 days later, I got an email that said decision was final and now I am suspended forever. No one at Etsy will hear you so thousands of good people are getting banned for life for no reason. I have never been so unfairly treated in my 57 years. Etsy treats sellers like chattel.”