Is this considered fee avoidance?
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Original Post
I do tons of wholesale, with several accounts originating from Etsy. Most of my customers are repeat customers and place regular orders. They all have my business email and quite a few have opted to place their repeat orders with me directly rather through the Etsy convo system. If a customer originally FOUND me through Etsy, am I obligated to continue selling to them through Etsy? Or once they are directly emailing me the orders, is that now a private transaction? I'm only talking repeat customers here. It's about a million times easier to just send them a PP invoice, and then I also don't have to worry about my wholesale pricing being public and seen by the rest of the Etsy (non-wholesale) buyers. Thoughts?
Posted at 11:42pm Jan 29, 2010 EST
Responses
I don't know the official ruling, but it seems to me that you can do whatever you like outside of Etsy. Now, if they were placing the orders through the Etsy convo system, that would be different.
Posted at 11:46pm Jan 29, 2010 EST
I don't think it should be, but only admin would know for sure.
In a similar situation, I actually requested that they go through etsy just so I have the backup in case shipping or something went wrong. I guess it was worth the fees to me.
Posted at 11:48pm Jan 29, 2010 EST
I think it's fine; etsy does not own you :)
Also, etsy is designed for 'retail', your comment on the privacy of wholesale prices sounds good to me.
If you were actively requesting customers circumvent etsy, that's maybe another thing, but it sounds like you're talking about the natural evolution of a wholesaler relationship
Posted at 11:49pm Jan 29, 2010 EST
I think you would be fine. Like you said they are repeat customers, if you are sending new customers off Etsy to purchase when they found you on Etsy, that seems like fee avoidance. I also agree with you on the wholesale pricing not being public, that might open a can of worms.
Posted at 11:53pm Jan 29, 2010 EST
I do the same thing. Often times, the buyer has requested a wholesale catalog or something from me, and I prefer to do just conduct business direct outside of Etsy.
Posted at 11:55pm Jan 29, 2010 EST
You can continue selling to someone outside of Etsy when the new or ongoing sales have nothing to do with a listing in your shop.
Posted at 11:59pm Jan 29, 2010 EST
My understanding is that if you list the item and pay the $0.20, then if you sell THAT item through the normal Etsy process, then Etsy is entitled to the fee.
The scenario you present, to me is definitely not fee avoidance. Just because someone originally found you on Etsy doesn't mean Etsy gets a commission every time you sell something to that person.
Here is a perfect example. For some of my items I will make more 3 or more of it. One gets placed for sale on Etsy, one on another online venue, and one on my website. I might also have one for sale at a local shop. Now, IF someone were to for say, visit my website and see the same item, and then decide to buy it from me there (rather than Etsy), it is not fee avoidance because the item I sold is a different item (even though identical) to the one listed on Etsy.
Does that make sense?
Posted at 12:01am Jan 30, 2010 EST
If the buyer is purchasing something from your Etsy shop (or you are having to remove it from your shop to sell it) then that is considered fee avoidance if they are not completing the transaction through Etsy.
However, if the items you are selling are NOT in your Etsy shop, there shouldn't be any problem with selling directly to your customers.
From the Do's and Don'ts
- You may not use Etsy to direct shoppers to another online selling venue to purchase the same items as listed in your Etsy shop, as this may constitute fee avoidance. This includes posting links/URLs or providing information sufficient to locate the other online venue(s).
- An Etsy account may not be used for the purpose of redirecting traffic to another web location. This includes shops in Vacation Mode. Please contact Support to have your account closed if you are no longer using it.
Posted at 12:10am Jan 30, 2010 EST
Etsy doesn't own you. You are able to conduct your business as you see fit. Any wholesaling I do is done off etsy.
Posted at 12:13am Jan 30, 2010 EST