Something my customers might not know about Etsy's ads

[elisem]

If you're already a customer who buys a shiny or two here and there, and a Beads of the Month package every month or so, please don't be misled into thinking you will help me by clicking on offsite ads you may see for my stuff. The ads you see outside Etsy that feature my stuff are part of Etsy's mandatory Offside Ads program, which I am not allowed to opt out of and must participate in for the lifetime of my shop.

Some well-intentioned buyers think clicking on offsite ads for us is a way to support us. IT'S NOT. What clicking on an offsite ad actually does is give Etsy an extra 12-15% off the top of anything* you buy from us after clicking on that ad.

Please be aware of this.

Thank you.


*Not just that item. Anything. And not off the net. Off the gross.

Comments

[china_shop]

Oh no! Did they borrow the Amazon playbook? :-(

[elisem]

Does Amazon do that too?

I wouldn't mind so much if it were optional. Some people probably find that advertising package a great bargain and a very helpful thing. But mandatory doesn't make me happy.

[china_shop]

Oh, I don't know, exactly. I meant more that Amazon seems to use every trick they can think of to take money from their suppliers/authors. Sorry to be unclear!

[elisem]

Ah! I see what you mean.

There does seem to be a lot of it going around.

[sine_nomine]

Very helpful info. Thank you!

Are you participating in the Strike?

[elisem]

I am not participating in the thing they are calling a Strike which is actually a Boycott.

:-)

(I am a customer of Etsy's brokerage and record-keeping services, and therefore could boycott, but not being an employee of Etsy, I can't strike against them, if I understand the relevant parts of the National Labor Relations Act correctly.)

More verbiage from me on this can be found in this post.

[sine_nomine]

What an interesting point; I - who is all about semantics - totally missed that one. I suspect my spoon usage is being eaten by other things.

[dantesspirit]

Not enough know about this. And that's deliberate. :/