Sellers on Etsy's clothing resale app Depop are facing payment delays. Over the past few months, more and more sellers have reported delayed payment dates multiple times, but have received little response from Depop's support team.
Depop, which Etsy acquired for $1.6 billion in 2021, is like an Instagram for pawning used items. Sellers can post photos of the clothes and accessories they want to sell, and buyers can see hashtags and algorithmic recommendations. The buyer makes an offer and, if accepted by the seller, payment is made two days after delivery, minus Depop's share.
A streetwear seller named @fentoozler791 told TechCrunch that his $200 payment for multiple packages was delayed for more than a week. Initially, the Depop app said the payment would be made on Wednesday. The app postponed the payment date by a day every day, and several attempts to contact Depop's support team yielded no results.
“Depop didn't actually give me a written response until I sent another request threatening to not use the service anymore and that I would lose my money on all the fees they charged me. They didn't seem to care until I noticed,” @fentoozler791 told TechCrunch. “I'm lucky that my long pleas finally convinced them, but I didn't get a direct answer as to why this happened.”
Several other sellers have also reported similar issues on the r/Depop subreddit, X, Facebook, and Instagram. Payment dates are repeatedly postponed one day at a time without any explanation.
“I sold an item last night and dropped it off at the post office today, and I'm worried I'll have to contact Depop again after it's delivered,” said @fentoozler791, who has been selling on Depop for over a year. “I don't know if I'll sell it on Depop anymore after this.”
When TechCrunch first raised the issue of payments to these sellers with Depop last week, a spokesperson said the company's support team's ticket lines were longer than usual, but sellers were not getting paid. He said he didn't know why he couldn't do it. After being asked for further comment, Depop told TechCrunch on Wednesday that it had discovered an issue that caused the payment delays.
“We are very sorry to hear that some sellers have been experiencing payment delays over the past week. We identified an issue with our automatic payment system, which has now been fixed and all pending payments are no longer affected. sent to the receiving seller,” Depop said. “These should arrive within a few days, depending on your bank's processing time.”
Depop said sellers who contacted its support team should receive a response by today, and the company will proactively notify high-volume sellers.
In addition, Depop may charge additional fees without notice as a “Buyer Service Fee.”
When TechCrunch asked Depop about the fees, a spokesperson suggested this may be a test. But the test is being applied unevenly across apps, meaning some buyers will pay a few extra dollars while others won't. Depop's Zendesk account used to have a page explaining the pricing, but it's now private.
The now private help page states that “feature upgrades, security improvements, and performance optimizations” come with an additional 5% fee.
“What's our 10% if we also need an additional 5% from the buyer?” YouTube creator Just Old Things said in a video. “There is no speed run that will blow up the company faster than what Depop is currently trying to do.”
Depop isn't as popular as other resale sites like Poshmark, but some people prefer the smaller platform because it takes a 10% cut of sales as opposed to Poshmark's 20%. Vinted is also becoming more popular as Poshmark is no longer available in the UK.
Despite recent seller woes, Depop's daily active user (DAU) numbers are increasing, according to data from Apptopia. Global mobile DAUs increased 30% year-over-year in the quarter. Depop told TechCrunch that it gained 5 million registered users last year, bringing its user base to 35 million.
“We know that fast payments are important to sellers, and as our community grows, we're making changes to our system to help us process larger volumes of payments faster,” Depop said.