Etsy regulatory costs are going to be passed on to sellers to pay. This includes costs such as Digital Service Tax in countries such as the UK and France. It’s yet another example of a US based giant who pay all the taxes due in particular territories but don’t like taxes aimed at ensuring they pay what governments call a ‘fair’ tax based on their revenues from their operations in individual countries.
As of 1st July 2021, Etsy sellers in certain countries will charged a small Regulatory Operating fee in addition to current selling costs. This fee is a percentage applied to the item price and postage cost (including gift wrap and personalisation costs, if applicable) and will vary based on seller location.
It doesn’t matter that Etsy say this represents as little as 6p on a £25 order – the whole point of taxes such as the Digital Service Tax were that it was intended to tax large Internet companies. The tax was not intended to be a tax on small business but Etsy now join the likes of Amazon and Google who simply pass the tax intended for them to pay onto their SME customers. Dressing it up as fees to cover Etsy regulatory costs doesn’t disguise the fact that governments have failed in their efforts to direct the tax to Internet giants and that ultimately it’s small businesses and consumers that have to pay.
It’s worth noting that so far eBay are the only large Internet business that have vowed to pay the Digital Services Tax in the UK themselves, as was intended, and will not be passing it on to the SMEs that trade on the eBay marketplace.
Etsy Regulatory Costs by Country
Etsy sellers in the the following countries will be charged the following fees to cover Etsy regulatory costs:
| United Kingdom | 0.25% |
| France | 0.40% |
| Italy | 0.25% |
| Spain | 0.40% |
| Turkey | 1.1% |
“The cost of doing business in many countries has recently increased due to new regulations, such as Digital Services Tax.
In order to help cover a portion of these costs, sellers in the UK will see a new Regulatory Operating fee on their Payment Account. This 0.25% fee will be charged on each order* but is expected to be a small amount. (Ex: the fee on a £25 order would be just 6 pence.)
Through this fee, Etsy will be able to continue supporting sellers, allowing you to make a positive impact on your local community.”
– Etsy
8 Responses
They can fuck off.
“Through this fee, Etsy will be able to continue supporting sellers, allowing you to make a positive impact on your local community.”
What a load of guff. It’s not up to us sellers to pay YOUR taxes Etsy.
Morally and Corporately despicable (politely put) but it won’t make any difference at all to Etsy’s position.
Ecommerce is still the Wild Wild West, one day the big tech companies will not be in front of the governments/law, we can live in hope!
Our futures are being dictated and mapped out by the big tech firms. I think it is good that ebay have not passed on the DST, I find it disgusting that the others do not do the same. The laws need to be stricter and tighter to level the playing fields.
Were not fooled
Ebay will have some self gratifying reason for not passing it on, deep in the darks arts of tax evasion
Well what a suprise that is?!
Maybe we sellers should start passing on some of our tax responsibilities to the market places, to enable us to ‘continue to provide the very products that they require to be in business’…. After all without sellers, they will have no buyers.
Who didn’t see this coming? the govs of the world need to sit back downa nd find a better way of applying this, although i anticipate that any increase in tax will result in a increase in fees.
oh and as for ebay…. yeah, ebay not passing on costs? You wait, later int he year we will geta seller announcement telling us about fee rises to cover the vast efforts they are putting in to help us… the Premium service discount is over due to get slashed as well.
Come on everyone, who did you think was going to pay the tax? The very same people that already pay every penny of taxes the company is charged.
The people providing the income.
There can be no one else.
Sellers provide the company with income. Without that income it cannot pay any tax.
So the tax goes up, or costs go up, or wages go up, or whatever – and just like every other business out there the company eventually passes the increased costs onto its income stream. Customers / sellers.
Etsy doesn’t set your prices – its income is from providing a service.
Hence it has to increase its fee.
All you businesses out there – who pays the corporation / income tax on your business? The business does. How does it pay it? How does it pay any of its costs? From the income.
Etsy is acting exactly like other businesses.
And the people on here have a go at them for it.
What do others do when costs go up? Subsidise customers out of the owners own pockets? Or eventually (even if not doing it immediately) increasing prices?
Toby, ebay don’t need to pass on the cost. They have increased income considerably with managed payments. Now what people used to pay paypal, ebay gets. And ebay sure won’t be paying 2.8% in fees for the card processing bill.
Ebay is getting sellers to pay the bill, just like everyone else. Except not doing so by telling people about it, simply doing it.