Etsy

Infobox Website
name = Etsy



caption =
url = http://www.etsy.com/
commercial = yes
type = Shopping
registration = Optional
owner =
author = Robert Kalin and others
launch date = June 18, 2005
current status =
revenue =

Etsy is a website which focuses primarily on providing the general public with a way to buy and sell handmade items. The site follows in the tradition of open craft fairs, giving sellers personal storefronts where they list their goods for a fee. cite news | first= Rob | last= Walker | coauthors= | title= Handmade 2.0 | date= 2007-12-16 | publisher= New York Times | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/magazine/16Crafts-t.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=magazine&pagewanted=all | work = New York Times Magazine | pages = | accessdate = 2007-12-17 ] It has been compared to "a crafty cross between Amazon and eBay" and "your grandma's basement"cite news |first= Michelle |last= Slatalla |title= Rooting Around Grandma's Basement in Cyberspace |date= 2007-01-18 |publisher= New York Times |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/fashion/18Online.html?ex=157680000&en=8b334fa53f7dd9da&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink | accessdate= 2007-12-19 ] .

History

The site was launched on June 18, 2005 by iospace, a small company composed of Robert Kalin, Chris Maguire and Haim Schoppik. Later Jared Tarbell joined the team. Noteworthy employees include Matthew Stinchcomb (formerly of the French Kicks) and Bre Pettis (a video blogger known for his work with MAKE). Former NPR executive Maria Thomas joined as COO in 2008 and is now CEO cite web | title=New Roles at Etsy Inc | date=2008-07-22 | url=http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/etsyNews/article/etsy-announcement-new-roles-at-etsy-inc/2268/ | accessdate=2008-07-28] . Investors include Union Square Ventures and founders of Flickr and del.icio.uscite web | first=Fred last=Wilson | authorlink= Fred Wilson (financier) | title=Etsy | date=2006-06-05 | url=http://www.unionsquareventures.com/2006/06/etsy_1.html | accessdate=2007-12-19] .

Etsy has grown significantly to tens of thousands of sellers and five times that in buyer accounts. The engineers frequently add new tools and functionality to the site to help sellers gain exposure and traffic, including Adobe Flash-based visualizations and a taxonomy of categories with tagscite web | first = Michael | last = Arrington | authorlink = Michael Arrington | title = Etsy - P2P Commerce with Tagging | publisher = Techcrunch | date = 2005-11-08 | url = http://www.techcrunch.com/2005/11/08/etsy-is-ebay-20/ | accessdate = 2007-12-19] . Etsy passed $1.7M in sales in May 2007.cite news | first= Melena | last= Ryzik | title= Where the Crafts Babes and D.I.Y. Dudes Are | date= 2007-06-24 | publisher= New York Times | url= http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/fashion/24renegade.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=style&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin | accessdate=2007-12-19 ] On July 29, Etsy had its one-millionth sale and anticipated its two-millionth sale would occur mid-December 2007. In November 2007, buyers spent $4.3 million purchasing 300,000 items for sale on Etsy, an increase of 43 percent from October 2007. In June 2007 it expected to be profitable by the fall, but in December 2007 it was not a profitable company cite news | first= Rob last= Walker |title= Craft capitalism: Just do it yourself |date= 2007-12-15 |publisher= International Herald Tribune |url= http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/14/business/wbcraft.php |accessdate= 2007-12-19 ] . In January 2008, Etsy received an additional $27 million dollars in funding from Union Square Ventures, Hubert Burda Media, and Jim Breyercite web | first = Caroline | last = McCarthy | title = Crafty commerce site Etsy gets $27 million in funding | publisher = The Social, a CNET News blog | date = 2008-01-30 | url = http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9861216-36.html | accessdate = 2008-02-27] .

In February, trouble at eBay, including a strike by some dissatisfied sellers, brought speculation that Etsy could be an increasing competitor [cite web | title = Ebay, After Meg | publisher = Knowledge@Wharton | date = 2008-02-19 | url = http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurstechnology/2008/02/19/ebay-google-amazon-ent-tech-cx_kw_0219whartonebay.html | accessdate = 2008-02-27] . At the same time, however, some Etsy sellers expressed unhappiness with how Etsy was handling complaints about stores [cite web | first = Meg | last = Marco | title = Sellers Growing Increasingly Unhappy With Lack Of Professionalism At Etsy | publisher = Consumerist | date = 2008-02-26 | url = http://consumerist.com/360889/sellers-growing-increasingly-unhappy-with-lack-of-professionalism-at-etsy | accessdate = 2008-02-27] . A comparison of the two websites included complaints that on Etsy, items are difficult to find, the interface "feels slow", and the buying and selling process is United States-centric cite news | first= Jack | last= Schofield | title= Arts and crafts for the space age | date= 2008-02-18 | publisher= Guardian.co.uk | url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/18/etsy.crafts | work = Netbytes | accessdate=2008-02-27 ] .

Operations

Etsy makes money by charging a listing fee of 20 cents for each item and getting 3.5 percent of every sale,cite news | first = Fred | last = Marion | title = Etsy may be the coolest, most feel-good way to shop | date= 2006-08-08 | publisher= Cox News Service | url = http://www.azcentral.com/home/crafty/articles/0808etsy0808.html | accessdate = 2007-12-19 ] with the average sale about $15 or $20 and mostly sold by womencite news | first=Kerry | last=Miller | title=Etsy: A Site for Artisans Takes Off | date=2007-06-12 | publisher=BusinessWeek | url=http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2007/sb20070611_488723.htm | accessdate=2007-12-19 ] .

Etsy has a permanent office called the "Etsy Labs" in Brooklyn, New York. The site's customer support, marketing/PR, business and communications teams operate out of this office. Additionally, Etsy Labs has a community workspace that provides equipment and donated materials where Labs members gather to make items, take and teach workshops, and attend special events. Etsy also supports "street teams", groups of Etsy sellers affiliated by location or interest that work together to promote their team members. Etsy is one of the main members of the [http://buyhandmade.org/ Handmade Consortium] , a 2007 effort to encourage buying handmade holiday gifts.

References

External links

* [http://www.etsy.com Etsy]