Why We Left Etsy After More Than 5 Years
This wasn't an easy decision.
For over five years, Etsy helped build Lily Llama Prints into what it is today. We started small, worked incredibly hard, and eventually grew into one of the Top 250 Etsy sellers in 2023. We hired an amazing team, expanded into larger production spaces, invested in equipment, and poured everything we had into creating the fastest sticker company we possibly could.
But somewhere along the way, Etsy stopped being a place where our business could sustainably grow.
The Numbers Just Stopped Making Sense
Over the years, Etsy's costs kept climbing.
Between marketplace fees, payment processing, offsite advertising, and other charges, there were times Etsy was taking close to 40% of every order. Add in the expectation of free shipping, and the margins became incredibly difficult to sustain.
We built our reputation on being both fast and affordable, but eventually we realized you simply can't be the cheapest, the fastest, and still build a healthy business.
Something had to give.
Something Changed
Around October of 2023, something happened that we still can't explain.
A brand new sticker shop appeared almost overnight and suddenly captured what felt like nearly 60% of our daily orders.
We honestly have no idea how.
We had more reviews, more sales, faster production, next-day shipping, and years of history on the platform. Yet almost overnight, our sales began a slow decline.
Maybe Etsy changed its search algorithm. Maybe customer behavior shifted. Maybe it was something else entirely.
We'll probably never know.
More Messages... Fewer Orders
Over the last year, another strange trend appeared.
Our sales continued to decrease, but customer messages exploded.
We went from answering around 20 conversations a day to well over 100 messages every single day.
Most were asking the same questions over and over.
Meanwhile, orders continued to slow.
It reached the point where our customer service workload was growing while our revenue wasn't.
It simply wasn't sustainable.
The Month That Changed Everything
Then came October 2024.
Without warning, Etsy simply stopped sending our payouts and held our payments for nearly a month.
To this day, we were never given a reason.
No explanation.
No warning.
No email telling us what happened.
No one could help us.
We spent weeks trying to reach someone. Eventually, after one incredibly emotional phone call where I honestly broke down in tears, someone finally looked into the account.
The response?
"Your payments are working now."
That was it.
No explanation.
No apology.
No acknowledgment that holding a small business's cash flow for nearly a month could have devastating consequences.
That moment changed how we looked at our business.
We realized we couldn't have our entire company dependent on a single marketplace that could effectively shut off our income overnight.
Taking Back Control
That experience pushed us to diversify.
We launched our own Shopify website.
We expanded onto Amazon.
We stopped sending our marketing efforts toward Etsy and instead focused on growing platforms that we actually owned.
One of the biggest challenges with Etsy is that you don't truly own your customer relationships.
Thankfully, because every customer approved their artwork through our own website, many chose to receive updates directly from us during proof approval.
Without that, we would have had almost no way to reconnect with customers outside of Etsy.
That became one of the smartest decisions we ever made.
The Hardest Decision We've Ever Made
Before Christmas, everything came to a head.
Between payroll, rent, insurance, equipment, printers, materials, and the constant pressure of keeping everything running, it simply became too much.
One of the hardest things we've ever had to do was let our incredible team go.
Today, it's just me and Lily.
We're here every single day doing what we've always done—printing stickers and trying to build something we're proud of.
When It Rains...
Owning a print shop has a funny way of testing you.
The moment you finally get caught up...
A printhead dies on Saturday morning.
Or a printer goes down for an entire week because it takes three separate technician visits to fix it.
Or supplies arrive right when equipment decides it doesn't want to cooperate.
It's just part of manufacturing.
Some days you laugh.
Some days you don't.
Saying Goodbye to Etsy
On June 1st, we placed our Etsy shop into Vacation Mode.
On July 1st, we officially deleted it.
After more than five years...
It was over.
Oddly enough, one of the biggest feelings afterward wasn't sadness.
It was relief.
Not answering over 100 repetitive Etsy messages every day has given us time to focus on what we actually love—making stickers.
What's Next?
This isn't the end of Lily Llama Prints.
It's a new chapter.
We're making changes that allow us to build a healthier business instead of simply chasing volume.
That means our pricing will increase.
We can no longer afford to be both the cheapest and the fastest.
We're introducing pricing that allows us to continue investing in better equipment, better materials, and a company that can actually grow again.
Our standard production time will now be 2–4 business days, giving us the flexibility to maintain quality without constantly running in crisis mode.
We're also changing how we schedule very large production jobs.
Orders like twenty separate 200-quantity sticker runs can consume an entire day's printing capacity. When that happens, hundreds of smaller customer orders are delayed through no fault of their own.
Going forward, larger production runs may have longer processing times so we can keep turnaround times fair for everyone.
Thank You
If you've supported us over the years, thank you.
Whether you've ordered one sticker or a hundred thousand, shared our business with a friend, left us a review, or simply followed along on this journey—we truly appreciate you.
Lily Llama Prints wouldn't exist without you.
This next chapter may look a little different.
It may be a little slower.
It may cost a little more.
But it'll be healthier, more sustainable, and built on something we actually own.
Here's to the next version of Lily Llama Prints.
We think you're going to like where we're headed.
