UK-based sellers were fed up with the company's payment system which enabled the company to hold onto 75 per cent of earnings in reserve for as long as 45 to 90 days. The result was that Etsy businesses started to see their businesses destroyed by failing cash flows. 

While US Etsy were used to such treatment because suffering such treatment from their bosses is part of their protestant work ethic, the Brits never, ever, ever will be slaves and decided to overthrow the American tyrany.

Vendors switched their shops into "holiday mode" in protest of the payments policy and are leaving for rival sites like Shopify. The UK's Office of the Small Business Commissioner (OSBC), which has been flooded with complaints, has already contacted Etsy about its reserves system, as has the UK's Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Businesses.

Clearly they made some impact as Etsy addressed criticism of its policy in a blog post oand promised to "substantially" decrease the amount of funds held in reserve. Vendors have complained that the platform's policy.