An Etsy spokesperson confirmed that most buyers who shop with US dollars now have access to its new Make an Offer feature, as the marketplace had expanded the experiment to more buyers in recent weeks.
Etsy has sent emails introducing the feature to buyers where it included the following text: “Make an Offer is here! Collaborate directly with opted-in sellers across Etsy to find the perfect price for that special find you’ve been eyeing.”
The marketing email promoted four categories with links to its website accompanied by the following text:
“Suggest your own price for these special picks
“These small shops would love to receive your offers! Just tap the Make an Offer button to get started.”
The email also included a “Personalize your price” button that linked to an Etsy Editor’s Picks landing page featuring a curated selection of listings where sellers opted in to the Make an Offer feature.
Etsy began testing “Make an Offer” in March and added new features in mid-August. The feature is not without its critics, with some sellers fearing it diminishes the value of their items.
Earlier this month, a longtime seller who revived her Etsy shop a few weeks ago after having it in vacation mode since June remarked on how many messages she received from shoppers asking for discounts on single items.
“This never really happened before (and I’ve been selling on Etsy for 12 years!),” the seller wrote, “and I’m wondering whether Etsy’s encouraging shop owners to offer discounts on favorited items, items in the basket etc has created an expectation in buyers that they will be offered a discount? Should I price my items higher so that I can then offer a discount and make my customers feel like they’ve got a bargain?”
The post, titled, “Has Etsy created a culture of buyers looking for discounts?” generated much discussion among sellers including talk of the Make an Offer feature and of Etsy’s recent promotions, such as the $10 off a $40 purchase funded by Etsy.
One seller who said they didn’t have a problem with people making a reasonable offer of up to 25% off added, “but lowball offers can be rather insulting.”
I find it hard to imagine dealing with offers, because I’ve always tried to price based on the old standard of materials + labor + shipping costs, without any padding. And I find paying a high schooler for small stuff is about what I figure into labor for myself. So that’s a non-starter to consider 25% off!
Insulting is just the beginning for offers to “small shops” who apparently are excited to get an offer! That special find is no longer special. Haggling over a price at a flea market is one thing, if the seller is willing, but for something truly handmade? Only if I can raise my prices a lot. And then it’s just a game.
I guess it really depends on the kind of customer one has. After Oopsy started allowing hordes of re-sellers, dropping support for all sellers, not caring about seller “churn” and increasing fees to make more money off of the seller community, I had to switch to doing more in-person selling, from small shops to handmade fairs (which, btw, was a good choice). At least with fairs and pop-ups you can choose from quite a variety these days, even if there’s a cost there too. An interesting thing at fairs: My buyers are trying to find ways to cut costs for me. They used to be impressed with me being an etsy seller, now they already know all about etsy and have their own complaints about not being able to find the one-of-a-kind and really handmade stuff.
Is Etsy really trying to compete with Amazon and Ebay? If so, they might not be so happy in the end.
is there a choice to shut that feature off, or to ignore or decline those offers en mass?
I had an Etsy shop since 2007, but closed it several year ago–after they mandated off-site marketing. (It is mandated IF your shop had ever made the 12-month limit in their rules. Then, there was no opting out.)
Since going public the powers that be have deteriorated the brand name to the level of an auction site or a discount center. the only shop owners I can envision offering a Make an Offer are those who buy up commercially made goods from wherever and have no emotional investment in them as they have only invested cash.
I’ve said this before: Etsy has lost its way. Their customers used to be Etsy shop owners. These are the folks who pay the money they make. Now it’s a split between celebrities who have someone put a line of products together for them and mass marketers.
And back to the off-site marketing: since it’s impossible to tell is a potential buyer has come in through that link and the fees escalate how can a shop owner know if the offered price is going to cover their entire fee? What if they’ve already offered free shipping as well?
The site has gone so far down the rabbit hole. So sad.
Etsy keeps finding ways to drive prices down for buyers while simultaneously requiring $300 for 5 sales per month to be a star seller. That means every checkout needs to be at the very least $60 without any discounts. The general mood of the economy is not for buying $75 of things shoppers don’t need right now.
Once again, shareholder’s demands over common sense. The forecast is for Etsy stock not to recover in the short term (i.e. this holiday shopping season) so these conflicting strategies are just bad for everyone.
Sorry…but your data is a bit incorrect…
For “Star Seller” Etsy requires Sellers to make 5 sales worth $300 for the CURRENT PERIOD. Each period on Etsy is for the prior 3 months.
Five sales in the past 3 months for a total of $300 will not be difficult for most Sellers.
Not that I want this “feature”, but it is currently only available to US shops or possibly to shops that list in USD.