Hi All,
I have some important information from the Canadian Competition Bureau to share regarding Etsy's "Free" shipping policy.
I've been persuing the free shipping fiasco from the legal aspect in Canada. After Etsy's (frankly) pathetic response to me that it's up to each individual 'business' (ie: us) to comply with our 'local laws' (they say it like we are all in tiny countries or something...) I have been very concerned about people loosing their businesses or having major problems with the Canadian law. For example; if you work without business insurance on the basis of a sole prioritership (my scenario) because you bring in less than $30k a year then you could stand to loose everything if you were to be sued by someone or the government were to fine you. Your personal assets are not protected unless your business is incorporated or a clear separate entity.
Anyways, below is what the competition bureau has said about Etsy's 'free shipping' policy and adding the cost to the overall price of the item. It is clear to me and a few others who've read this response this morning that it is illegal to add the cost of shipping into our item prices and then claim we have 'free shipping'. I've talked with others around the world and for sure the EU and Mexico have this same law. (in fact it looks like most countries do... except the USA...) Based on the response below I will be investigating USA law next...
I will be filing a complaint against Etsy itself with the Competition Bureau; but I'm concerned they will tell me that Etsy is not the 'business' doing the illegal selling as they are not selling anything and that it's our indivudal businesses on the hook. *sigh*
Interestingly since my persistent pushing of the issue on Canadian law my shop has dropped completely from all searches it used to be in. I've received no new customer orders since July 16. 70% of my core business is out of the USA. I have had some long-time customers order; but I know they don't look for my items in search; they have my shop bookmarked instead. To say I'm frustrated is an understatement. All that said I share the below email information because I am very concerned about sellers unknowingly breaking Canadian law (because Etsy is telling them to) and then being reported by someone. :(
Please forgive the bad formatting that is just too much effort to try and get rid of. Thanks!
-----------------Email from Competition Bureau below---------------------
Competition Bureau / Bureau de la concurrence <IC.CBCompBureau-BurconcurrenceBC.IC@canada.ca> | Mon, Jul 29, 2019 at 6:11 AM | ||||||||||||
Reply-To: IC.CBCompBureau-BurconcurrenceBC.IC@canada.ca To: Epicstitching@gmail.com Cc: IC.CBCompBureau-BurconcurrenceBC.IC@canada.ca | |||||||||||||
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Thanks for the heads up! I've been trying to come up with a way to add free shipping to US customers without stiffing Canadian ones, but after reading this I think I'll give it a hard pass. Best to play it safe.
Thanks for doing this. I've always thought this Free shipping thing was always shady on Etsy's part. I don't know what they're thinking.