Update as of May 21, 2012: We have started to roll out this change. When the new fee structure is live for your shop, you’ll see a notice on your listings page.

Today we’re excited to announce a highly-requested change to fees for listings with a quantity greater than one. This change will roll out the week of May 21, 2012. Sellers will only be charged $0.20 USD to list or renew an item, regardless of quantity. Fees for additional quantities will only apply when an item sells. It works like an auto-renew feature — when your item sells and you still have quantity left, your listing automatically renews for $0.20 USD. If your listing sells out, the total fees are effectively the same. If your listing doesn’t sell out within four months, your fees will be lower because you won’t pay for unsold quantities.

Currently when sellers list their items on Etsy, they pay $0.20 USD per quantity up front when the listing is published. (For example: I have six handmade mugs. If I list with a quantity of six, then my listing costs $1.20 USD right away.) Many sellers instead choose to list a quantity of one to avoid fees for unsold items, and to reduce the cost of renewing. This can confuse shoppers (maybe they want to buy six as part of a wedding registry but only one is listed!), and sellers are stuck manually watching and renewing sold-out listings. With the new system, sellers can add as many items as they have in stock or are able to make, and shoppers can check out easily and add their desired quantity to the order. We hope this will be a time-saver for sellers: you’ll have to renew your items less often!

Our Fees Policy is being updated to reflect these changes, which will roll out to shops over the course of the week of May 21, 2012. When the new fee structure is live for your shop, we’ll notify you in the shop management area of the site. Be sure to check out our lovingly-illustrated FAQs for details about how the new structure works!