‘Bleed us dry’

In this file photo taken on July 8, 2021, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman walks to a morning session at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. - New York-based Etsy, which boasts sales of $5 billion a year from around five million sellers and 90 million buyers, drew fury for hiking the fees it charges its small traders. More than 10,000 of its sellers closed their shops for a week from April 11, in effect going on strike. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/ AFP)

Paris: When Jak found online marketplace Etsy, it seemed like the perfect match: a tech platform for small traders to sell handmade items that promised to be a creative outlet and bring tidy profits.

Five years later, Jak is one of thousands in open rebellion against the place they once saw as a safe haven –part of a growing trend of users rising up against tech platforms.