N.D. (KFYR) – A major policy change at Etsy is forcing independent furriers and vintage resellers to completely overhaul how they do business online
Following the e-commerce platform’s ban on real animal fur, small business owners are scrambling to rebuild their customer base.
Until this month, independent makers relied heavily on Etsy’s built-in marketplace traffic. Now, sellers have to push shoppers to independent stores or entirely new platforms.
Garrett Volk, a Sherwood, North Dakota furrier and trapper, created a new marketplace in response to the change.
“The Etsy fur ban has really caused an issue with small businesses like myself. We rely on the traffic that natively comes into Etsy,” said Volk, owner of Volk Furs and 7 Mile Mercantile.“So now what we’re gonna have to do is try and drive that traffic to our own websites, which the products that we do produce for everybody is a smaller market.”
Etsy’s ban officially went into effect on Aug. 11. In response, Volk launched 7 Mile Mercantile at shop7mile.com, which he hopes will become a dedicated hub for independent leather, fur and outdoor craftspeople impacted by the change.
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