Etsy's 2025 Policy: The Final Blow to African-Based Sellers
As of August 5, 2025, Etsy will close shops for sellers in countries where Etsy Payments is not supported. Across Africa, only South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco have access. Payoneer, which Etsy already partners with, supports over 150 countries including Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and Rwanda. The infrastructure exists. The exclusion appears to be a policy choice, not a technical limitation.
2021: Etsy Payments becomes mandatory
In April 2021, Etsy made Etsy Payments mandatory for all new shops. For countries where Etsy Payments was not available, this meant new sellers could not open shops at all, locking out creators across most of Africa.
Only three African countries were included: South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco.
2025: Etsy ends support for PayPal
In a follow-up move, Etsy announced that as of August 5, 2025, it will no longer support standalone PayPal. All shops must now use Etsy Payments.
This affects legacy sellers in excluded countries who had been using PayPal as a workaround to receive payments. Without Etsy Payments, these sellers lose access to the marketplace, even if they have active shops, strong reviews, and consistent sales built over years.
The Payoneer inconsistency
Etsy has stated that it partners with Payoneer in specific countries to extend the availability of Etsy Payments. According to Etsy's official Payoneer policy, this includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, Georgia, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Peru, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates.
Yet Payoneer officially supports over 150 countries, including the majority of Africa: Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
So why does Etsy offer Etsy Payments via Payoneer in select countries, but not in African countries where Payoneer is available and operational?
This inconsistency suggests that Etsy's exclusion of African creators is not based on technical limitations, but policy choices. Etsy has the infrastructure and the partner to make inclusion possible, but has chosen not to activate it in key African markets.
What makes this more concerning is that Etsy itself states that partnering with Payoneer means they can "welcome many more sellers who had previously been unable to open a shop." Despite this, the benefits of that partnership have not been extended to African countries, even when Payoneer is fully supported there.
The business impact
African-based sellers stand to lose not only access to Etsy's global audience, but also product listings and SEO rankings built over years, customer reviews and shop trust, income streams developed over multiple years, and the legitimacy of being part of a trusted global marketplace.
With no Etsy Payments support and PayPal no longer accepted, there is currently no payment method available to keep shops in these regions active.
What affected sellers can do
Alternative marketplaces
Many affected sellers are turning to more flexible platforms that support global payments. Gumroad handles digital and physical products and accepts PayPal and cards internationally, with no upfront cost. Payhip supports global payments and email marketing tools. Creative Market is popular for design assets, though more niche-specific. Amazon Handmade offers broad reach but comes with higher competition and onboarding requirements.
Standalone shops
For creators seeking full brand control, standalone shops are an option but require more resources. Shopify is customizable and trusted internationally, starting at $39 per month plus transaction fees. WooCommerce on WordPress offers control and global payment options via Stripe and PayPal, but requires more technical setup. Ecwid is a lightweight alternative for embedding storefronts into existing websites or social pages.
A call for fairer platform policy
Etsy's mission is to "keep commerce human." But the current payment policy, which excludes entire regions where secure, proven financial infrastructure like Payoneer is available, appears increasingly misaligned with that vision.
It is important to acknowledge that global payments are complex. There may be regulatory or compliance-related reasons Etsy has not disclosed. Financial operations across borders often depend on government policy, tax structures, legal frameworks, and local banking regulations.
It is possible that some African governments have not provided the regulatory clarity Etsy requires. However, transparency matters. If Etsy is facing such hurdles, it should communicate them clearly to sellers and work with local stakeholders to address them. In the absence of such transparency, the current approach feels one-sided: limiting seller access without offering context or a path forward.
What Etsy should do
If Etsy truly wants to be a global marketplace, it must extend Etsy Payments via Payoneer to all countries where the infrastructure already exists. It must communicate clearly about the reasons certain countries are excluded, whether regulatory, legal, or operational. It should provide a roadmap or timeline for onboarding more regions. And it should offer temporary or alternative solutions to sellers currently facing involuntary shutdowns.
Otherwise, Etsy risks becoming a platform that celebrates "global creators" in name, but not in practice.