Etsy to Force Biggest Sellers into Advertising Service with a 15% Fee

On Etsy, there’s a world of opportunity available to you. Millions of shoppers come to Etsy looking for items like yours and running your business here is the only way to reach them.

But, how can you expand your reach even further? Advertising can help.

As an Etsy seller there are two ways you can advertise: on Etsy and across the web. Today we’re excited to announce two important updates, coming in April, that will help you increase traffic to your shop with advertising.

1. New: We’re introducing an updated advertising service, Offsite Ads, which uses Etsy’s budget and expertise to promote your items on multiple high-traffic sites including Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Bing. When a shopper clicks on one of those online ads for your products and purchases from your shop within 30 days, you’ll pay an advertising fee. You only pay an advertising fee when you make a sale—eliminating the risk you could pay for ads that don’t work for you. Offsite Ads is only available on Etsy—we designed it with the unique needs of Etsy shop owners in mind.

2. We’ve also made updates to our existing advertising tool, Etsy Ads. Now when you run an Etsy Ads campaign, your budget will only go toward advertising your listings to shoppers on Etsy. Google is now part of Offsite Ads, so we’ll no longer use your Etsy Ads budget for Google Shopping.

For most sellers, Offsite Ads is optional, but it’s a great opportunity to grow your business, so all sellers will be automatically enrolled. You’ll get risk-free advertising run by our experienced team of experts and you’ll only pay a fee when you make a sale, so there’s no upfront costs for you.

If you’ve made more than $10,000 USD in sales on Etsy in a 12-month period you’ll benefit most from offsite advertising. So, you’ll be required to participate for the lifetime of your shop and you’ll get a discounted advertising fee.

We’ll calculate your sales for the past 12 months as of February 19, 2020. You can see how much you’ve made in your Stats.

Offsite Ads

	Advertising fee	Participation
More than $10,000 USD in sales in a 12-month period	12%	Required
Less than $10,000 USD in sales in a 12-month period	15%	Recommended

The advertising fee is in addition to Etsy’s transaction and payment processing fees.

Here’s what that might mean for you: For most sellers, one in 10 sales—about 10%—will come from Offsite Ads. So, let’s say you make $1,000 a year on Etsy and 10% of your sales come from Offsite Ads, that would mean your advertising fees for the year would be just $15 based on a 15% advertising fee. If you sell $10,000 on Etsy each year and 10% of your sales come from Offsite Ads, you could expect to pay about $120 with a 12% advertising fee.

FAQs

How is this better for my business?

Advertising is essential to growing an online business, but doing it on your own can get expensive. Traditional advertising services make you spend money even when you don’t make a sale. With Offsite Ads, you only pay for advertising when it works for you. We know every penny counts when you’re a small business, that’s why with Offsite Ads, you only pay an advertising fee when you make a sale.

Why did Etsy create this service?

We partner with you to make your business a success. With Offsite Ads, Etsy takes on all the risk by covering the upfront costs to advertise your listings and the costs of ads that don’t lead to a sale for you.

When will I pay an advertising fee?

If a shopper clicks on an Etsy-funded ad featuring one of your listings on Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Bing and makes one or more purchases from your shop within 30 days, those sales will be attributed to Etsy’s advertising and you’ll be charged an advertising fee on the total value of that order.

If you make a sale from an ad featuring another seller’s items you don’t pay an advertising fee. You’re only charged when a shopper clicks on an ad for one of your listings and purchases from your shop. If a shopper clicks on an ad for your item but doesn’t make a purchase, you won’t pay a fee.

How much will it cost me?

Most sellers will pay an advertising fee on fewer than 10% of their sales, so it shouldn’t have a big effect on your bottom line.

Is Etsy’s offsite advertising optional?

All sellers are automatically enrolled in Offsite Ads. If you’ve made less than $10,000 USD on Etsy in a 12-month period you can decide if you want to participate in Etsy’s advertising.

How do I know if I’m making sales?

It’s easy to see how our ads are working for you. In the next few weeks, we’ll introduce a new Offsite Ads dashboard, where you can see how many sales you’re getting from ads paid for by Etsy and what sites those customers are coming from.

What about my current Etsy Ads campaign?

We’re removing Google Shopping from Etsy Ads, so if you’re currently running a campaign your budget will only go toward ads on Etsy.

Learn more

Check your email to get more information about these updates. Join Etsy staff in the Community Hub for a Q&A about this change and tune in to the Etsy Success Facebook tomorrow for a live video sneak peek of the new offsite advertising dashboard. We want to hear what you think. Share your thoughts on Offsite Ads or Etsy Ads with the team at Etsy through these surveys.

You can also read our updated Fees and Payments and Advertising and Marketing Policies, which go into effect March 27, 2020, for specific terms and conditions.

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