We’re committed to nurturing our marketplace in a way that brings about success for our 5.3 million creative entrepreneurs. Over the past two years, the number of active sellers on Etsy has nearly doubled and, at the same time, sales per active seller have increased by 23% on average. In other words, we have grown the pie and given more people worldwide the opportunity to earn an income doing what they love.
Last week, we changed our transaction fee from 5% to 6.5%. While fee changes are never easy – especially for small business owners – this decision was based on a lot of careful thought and research, looking at the necessary investments to continue improving the experience for our customers (buyers and sellers).
We’ve heard our community ask for more details on how this change will ultimately benefit our sellers. Today, we are providing additional context and updates on efforts already underway.
Strengthening marketplace integrity: In 2021, we invested $40 million in trust and safety efforts. We’ll invest even more in 2022; enforcing our handmade policy and cracking down on resellers will be vital focus areas. Last month, we launched the Etsy Reporting Portal, making it easier for creators and brands of all sizes to protect their intellectual property. We have also created a team of 50 agents dedicated to enforcing our handmade policy. Once fully ramped, we anticipate they will be able to review an additional 50,000 listings each week.We know that this area requires sustained efforts over time, and we’re committed to providing the resources necessary to preserve our handmade ethos.
Optimizing trust signals: We believe the Star Seller program provides valuable insights on how to deliver a great customer experience. In recent months, we have collected feedback from buyers and sellers to inform how we can evolve the program. We’ve already begun incorporating changes, like making the program accessible to sellers with custom digital orders and testing individual badges so that sellers are recognized for great service, even if they don’t meet all of the Star Seller categories. In the coming months, we plan to update the Star Seller criteria, including review requirements, and introduce product improvements to make it more achievable for those who want to participate.
Bringing Our Sellers a Global Audience: Many people choose Etsy because our marketplace offers a built-in audience of 90 million buyers who are specifically looking for special, handmade goods. We have invested heavily in bringing more buyers to our platform. In 2021, our marketing spend reached nearly $600 million, almost quadruple what we spent just three years prior. We will deepen our marketing investments in 2022.
Through the Offsite Ads Program, so far this year, Etsy has covered over 40% of the costs for sellers to directly advertise their listings to shoppers off of Etsy. We take the risk out of advertising with a success-based model where sellers only pay a commission if an ad leads to a purchase. The program is optional for the vast majority of our sellers.
Listening to our sellers: Every month, we hear from hundreds of thousands of sellers through research groups, surveys, forums and social channels, support lines, and community events. As we work to maintain Etsy’s momentum and continue to offer a great overall value to our sellers compared to other marketplace options, we are committed to providing transparency around our decisions and path forward for our community.
What makes Etsy so special is you -- our sellers -- and your collection of unique, handmade, and vintage items. We are humbled to be the destination you choose to sell your creative goods, and we're excited for all of the incredible things to come as we grow our businesses alongside each other.
