When most people think of buying or selling handmade crafts online, they turn to Etsy. Recently, Etsy has begun strongly encouraging its sellers to offer free shipping. The company is now making it possible for sellers to provide free shipping on orders of at least $35. Instead of just announcing the feature, Etsy is pushing sellers to take advantage of it.

The Free Shipping Details

Etsy announced early in July that it would give sellers the support and tools they need to give customers this free shipping on any order of at least $35. To encourage sellers to take advantage of this, Etsy’s search results in the United States will prioritize the merchants with free shipping. This change starts on July 30. By September, Etsy plans to start actively marketing the free shipping to potential buyers. Although the extra encouragement via prioritization will just take place in the United States, sellers around the world can take advantage of the free shipping tools and support.

Part of an Ongoing Shipping Race

The offering of free shipping from Etsy comes when other retailers are ramping up their shipping offerings. Target, Walmart, and Amazon have all made major advances in their free shipping, offering it more quickly and at times without membership requirements.

What Etsy Says

Josh Silverman, the CEO of Etsy had previously stated that Etsy does not want to try to copy Amazon. Instead, it wants to excel at what it does. Etsy likely sees the elimination of shipping costs as a way to compete with other online retailers and platforms. In a more recent statement after the announcement regarding free shipping, Silverman mentioned that Etsy is well aware that high costs of shipping can frequently deter shoppers.

The company has its own buyer data indicating that buyers have a significantly higher chance of making a purchase if there is free shipping compared to when there are extra shipping fees. Etsy hopes that by offering free shipping, it will improve the conversion rate on the marketplace as well as the value of orders. It should hopefully also drive sales for the Etsy sellers and encourage repeat visits.

What Others Say

Some sellers have expressed concerns about this announcement from Etsy, specifically the priority to those who offer free shipping. This essentially requires merchants to offer that option or face being lower in listings, which will likely translate into lower sales. Merchants are not happy that they have to either eat the cost of shipping and lower their profit margins or raise the price of their products. Etsy, however, feels that this step is necessary with changing buyer expectations.

Source:

https://www.retaildive.com/news/etsy-pushes-merchants-to-adopt-free-shipping/558372/

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