Etsy is an American online platform that sells handmade goods. The service is very popular in the United States and today the number of registered users exceeds 20 million.

Content:
1. Etsy Brand History
2. Interesting facts about Etsy

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Despite the large number of marketplaces selling various goods, hand-made products have always remained in the shadows, but the emergence of the Etsy online platform has changed everything. With its help, creative people can sell goods made by themselves. To date, the platform has more than 800 thousand created online stores, and the product range is more than 15 million items. Before becoming a successful project, Etsy has come a long way with its victories and failures.

Etsy Brand History

The project was created in 2005 by artist and photographer Rob Kalin. At that time, there were no sites on the market where creative people could sell handmade goods. Rob shared his idea with two friends who later became his partners.

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The idea was really original due to the fact that the niche was free. None of the three partners was particularly versed in the field of IT, and there was no clear idea how to make money on it either.

After the first version of the platform was ready, it was called Etsy.

For the first two years, the Etsy project developed very slowly, its interface was not very user-friendly. To fix this problem, the development team put in a lot of effort. At the same time, it was decided how to monetize the project. Etsy charged $0.20 per item listed on the site. If within 4 months the goods were not sold, they had to pay for it again. In addition, each seller paid a 3.5% commission on each item sold.

Etsy official web-site


Over time, hand-made products have become not the only product on the site. A new round of development was marked by the emergence of the opportunity to trade vintage goods. But there was one important condition: the vintage item must be at least 20 years old.

Interesting facts about Etsy

  • In 2007, the site sold the one millionth item. The total amount of purchases on the site amounted to $4.3 million;
  • In 2008, the pace of site development increased significantly, as a result, investors paid attention to Etsy - $ 27 million was invested in the development of the company. In the same year, founder Rob Kalin stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Maria Thomas. In the same year, two other founders, Chris Maguire and Chaim Skoppik, left the company. The project became independent and began to turn into a familiar e-commerce platform;
  • In 2009, the average monthly sales amounted to $13 million, and the audience growth did not stop;
  • In 2010, the trade turnover exceeded $314 million, and a year later this amount already exceeded half a billion;
  • In 2011, a new option appeared on the site - a search system for sellers with the ability to add them to "Favorites";
  • In 2012, 600 thousand users register on the site per month;
  • In 2015, Etsy grew to an IPO, raising $267 million with a capitalization of $3 billion.

The main advantage of the project is a narrow niche, but this is also its disadvantage. The company cannot reach the income level of marketplaces with a wider product range. Therefore, Etsy is not aimed at conquering global markets.

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