Should I buy Etsy Plus to avoid the setup fee, and can I cancel later?

Hi! You can subscribe to Etsy Plus during onboarding and then cancel later, but be careful: in many cases that “waived setup fee” is actually a promotion where Etsy gives you a credit only after you keep Etsy Plus for a minimum period (commonly 6 consecutive months). If you cancel after a month or two, you’ll typically just lose the promotion and you won’t get that setup fee back (the setup fee is one-time and non‑refundable once charged).

If you still want to try it, here’s what to expect when canceling Etsy Plus:

• You can cancel anytime in Shop Manager → Settings → Your subscription.
• You’ll generally keep Etsy Plus features until the end of your current billing cycle, then your shop reverts to Etsy Standard.
• No special “cancellation fee” is expected, but the monthly subscription fee itself isn’t usually refunded mid-cycle, and applicable taxes can still apply on the subscription charge.

A few “downsides” to keep in mind if you cancel quickly:

• Any Etsy Plus perks stop when the cycle ends (like listing credits and Etsy Ads credits), and unused credits don’t roll over.
• If you used the Etsy Plus custom domain discount (through their partner), the discount is typically only for the first year and renewals later are at normal pricing with the provider—canceling Etsy Plus doesn’t magically cancel that separate domain registration.

If your main goal is purely avoiding the setup fee, I’d only do Etsy Plus if you’re genuinely comfortable paying for it for the full promo requirement shown in your onboarding screen. Otherwise, assume you may end up paying the setup fee anyway and treat Etsy Plus as “worth it only if you’ll use the features/credits.”