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"Etsy, the handmade and vintage marketplace that lets anyone set up their own online shop, has finally introduced its own, direct checkout. Prior to this, buyers were directed to a third party payment processor, such as\u00A0Paypal.\r\n\r\nConsidering that the handmade giant is processing over 2 million items a month, you'd think that the site would have shifted gears a lot earlier. To give you a glimpse at the sheer mass of transations flowing through the independent shops, know that the Etsy community sold\u00A0$46.4 million of goods this past September alone.\r\n\r\nAs far as fees go, direct checkout will cost a 3% of the item plus a $0.25 USD payment processing fee. Originally, Etsy\u00A0charged a fixed transaction fee of 3.5% of the item price, so it's nice to see a slight drop that will be noticeable on costlier items.\r\n\r\nUpdate: According to Etsy, the fee process operates differently. &amp;quot;When using direct checkout as a payment method, Etsy will charge a payment processing fee of 3% + $0.25 per transaction. This amount will be applied to the total sale price including shipping and sales tax. It will also be in addition to the existing transaction fee (the 3.5%). The cost of using Etsy's direct checkout is comparable to what Paypal charges for their payment services.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nFrom Etsy:\r\nBeginning today, we are rolling out\u00A0direct checkout\u00A0for US-based sellers. This is a new and optional way for shop owners to accept and manage credit card payments from buyers directly on Etsy.\r\n\r\nDirect checkout is currently enabled for a limited number of shops, including the\u00A0EtsyStore.\u00A0Direct checkout, in addition to simplifying payment, lays the groundwork for many more payment and checkout improvements, including Etsy-wide gift cards and enhanced international payment options.\r\nEtsy\u00A0has quickly become the eBay for artistic makers, and it's a good sign that it is taking over its\u00A0transactions, since this will add a whole new level of\u00A0professionalism\u00A0to the online stores.\u00A0You can see the full announcement here.\r\n\r\nhttp://vimeo.com/36116479"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/02/07/etsy-sidesteps-paypal-builds-own-payment-system-for-its-2m-monthly-sales/>