I greatly appreciate the article “Local sellers sound off on increasing Etsy fees” (July 3). One correction I'd like to make is the fact that there was never a problem with the fees themselves rising but the shipping being included in those fees. I think that was completely missed in the overall point.

In multiple comments to other sellers and letters to Etsy/The Day, this was the issue. Most to all of us sellers have accepted there will be fee increases; our problem is accepting shipping being included into those fees. We are constantly trying to explain our shipping costs to buyers, make no money off shipping, and usually end up losing a few dollars in the end, due to the fact we cannot compete with sites such as Amazon. It is also not so easy to just "make our own websites." There are algorithms and traffic flow through Etsy that already ebb/flow our exposure and sales. Redirecting that traffic is almost an entirely new start, which would lead to the choice of closure for many shops.

Courtney Zarkos

Groton