Why I've Left Etsy & Where We're Heading in 2025
Those of you who have been following me for a while, know that, like just about everyone else who does or has sold on Etsy, I've had serious issues with the platform over the years. I'm not going to go through all of the nitty gritty in this blog post, I have YouTube videos that cover some of the biggest issues. I did however want to make a post to just generally address that Divination Death Witch is taking a new direction in 2025 and outline why and what that direction is going to look like (at least what I'm envisioning so far).
I started selling on Etsy because it was a convenient point of sale for me given that I'm a chronically ill, disabled person. I don't have the health to do massive social media marketing campaigns to draw business to myself AND then still be able to do the work that I do. In the beginning, Etsy was truly a marketplace that brought clients to me. That was the case through about 2021, but after that, Etsy started making changes that resulted in them bringing fewer and fewer clients to my shop. Etsy knows they aren't driving shops traffic anymore, they aren't bringing the clients into shops, which is why they started the Save & Share program. This program results in Etsy giving shops a link to use on their social media etc. so that when the seller (myself in this case) brings business to their own shop they pay a penny or two less in Etsy fees for that sale. They did this because Etsy needs sellers to bring in the business that they are failing to attract. The thing is, my whole purpose of using Etsy was for them to find clients for me. If I have to bring the clients to Etsy then why would I direct clients to Etsy where I never see a large chunk of the money clients are paying for my services?
Here are my reasons (in a nutshell) for leaving Etsy:
~ I have to bring my own clients now.
~ Etsy fees have become outrageous.
~ I was competing with cheap AI readings.
~ Etsy doesn't give sellers the ability to decline sales from trolls or those exhibiting spiritual psychosis without negative repercussions.
~ Etsy says they will remove reviews that contain "hate speech" or that promote other people's products. They actually won't though and this was the absolute final straw for my shop.
~ Even though I'm in the top 8% of Etsy shops, I was still a "small" shop. This meant that just one bad review tanks your shop and your sales for at least three months. Realistically, it takes you about six months to recover. The math of how Etsy calculates star sellers makes it impossible for smaller shops to absorb the impact of one bad review, whether that bad review was made in good faith or not.
~ Etsy also doesn't care about the safety of sellers.
~ Etsy's new expectations of sellers make them unworkable for chronically ill, disabled people, such as myself.
This leads us to where Divination Death Witch will be going in 2025
Spirit had been giving me nudges that it was time to move on from Etsy, but I was trying to still keep a toe or two in, lol. That's when Spirit made it very clear through those recent events that I was to take the leap and be done with Etsy altogether. If I'm going to need to devote that much time and energy to bringing in my own clients, I might as well do so on platforms where more of my ideal clients hang out, like YouTube, and be able to keep all of my earnings.
~ Going forward, I'm going to be doing my best to post more content on the Divination Death Witch YouTube channel. This will hopefully include more Lives!
~ I'm going to be rolling out a three tier Patreon. This is subject to editing but as of my writing this; tier one will be a monthly newsletter, tier two will be a monthly Dark Moon ritual video and subliminal, and tier three will be all of that plus the monthly online live event Death & Co. Coffee Talks. I'm hoping to officially begin the Patreon in February, but I'll be doing a free version of it in January so that those curious can check it out and it gives me a chance to make sure there are no bugs to work out.
~ I'm also going to start offering online classes on various divination, witchcraft, and other spiritual practices. This will likely not happen until February or March if I'm being realistic. I need to decide on what platform or platforms I will be doing this. I've used Udemy in the past, but I only get a dollar and change per student who purchases the class. It's been years since I've taught on there, I think there are situations where I earn more but on average that's what I was getting. The pro is that people can discover me through Udemy but I make very little to what Udemy makes off of the classes. I do have a Gumroad account and I'm exploring if I can format the classes the way I want on there and I need to go over their new terms to see what percentage they take of my earnings. If anyone knows of a really good platform for offering online classes please let me know.
The other barrier to that is that because my Etsy shop is closed and I won't be rolling out the Patreon until February, Divination Death Witch will be creating NO revenue until then. Yes, I am offering readings etc. through my website but people aren't used to that yet so I'm not anticipating a lot of sales for the month of January. In order to record the classes, I need some new equipment. Most pressingly, a ring light, but my webcam is also showing signs of needing to be replaced. I can't purchase these items until DDW becomes profitable again.
If you'd like to help support the YouTube channel and the new direction Divination Death Witch is going in you can help in the following ways:
~ Subscribe to the YouTube channel, like, share, and comment on videos. The more engagement my YouTube content gets the farther its reach which helps out in many ways.
~ Binge-watch Divination Death Witch YouTube videos. I'm so close to the 500 subscribers I need to unlock the join feature on YouTube, but the real barrier is that I need to reach the public watch hours as well. I'm going to be providing more content but the more you watch the more it helps. So check out any videos you haven't already watched and rewatch your favorites. Remember to engage with any videos you haven't already.
~ Purchasing readings and services through this website.
~ Join the Patreon when it becomes available.
~ I have created an Amazon wishlist where those who have the ability to do so and feel called to do so can purchase the specific items that I need or other items that will be used to create YouTube content. This is completely optional. As a thank you to anyone who purchases an item for Divination Death Witch that is on the wishlist I will be providing them with a free reading from me. Just send me the purchase confirmation to claim.
~ You can tip by "buying me a coffee" through ko-fi.com
This is a huge leap of faith, but at the same time, I'm really excited for this. Not devoting so much time to Etsy and not having the restrictions of their platform allows me to produce content and offer services that I couldn't when I was tied to Etsy. I hope that you'll enjoy this journey with me!
Blessings,
Rayne