The New York Times has a monster, seven page article on Etsy this weekend.
Sellers mentioned include RareBeasts, loranscruggs, Clayflower22, Simply Soaps, Circa Ceramics, and Black Apple.
The article also contains sales figures and more details about Etsy’s founders and first days.
December 27th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
After reading all posts here, one point was missed - that Etsy admits is has concentrated pretty much only on getting sellers who post tons of listings as their main revenue stream, while ignoring the structure/rules/original mission which has dessimated the site. Every marketing “tool” and “addition” to Etsy (Showcases galore + Gift Guides) have only done 1 thing = increased revenues for Etsy. They may be spending it all on superfluous employees, but they have also increased their “unattractiveness” as a viable company (to be purchased by another corporation) because they have created a site that bites the hands that feed it.
Every “tool” added to Etsy in the last 12 months has put sellers in direct competition for attention with all other sellers AND the little select group of Etsy employees who continue to pick their favorites for the Front Page, GG’s, Storque features, Featured Sellers, Etsy Emails etc.
None of it makes any marketing sense. But, if I had one wish, and Etsy could be sold to a company that would follow some of the tried and true online retail rules (for a change!) is that:
Employees who keep running amok and injecting their own personal opinions, making arbitrary decisions about who gets dinged and punished, and muted, and you know the whole list of silly scolding that goes on with Etsy and sellers they do not like personally. Enough of the constant unprofessional behavior of employees who are running amok while the CEO gives interviews and reinforces that whole ego thing again and again,