3 ms·

Doing that would decrease their sales and ability to grow drastically. Hand made does not scale.

anigbrowl 10y ago
Scale isn't everything. first if you're a good marketplace you attract more and more diverse vendors, each of whom does low volume. Besides, when the point of the site was unique handcrafted items, selling manufactured stuff undercuts the one thing that makes you different from your competitors. I can't understand the argument you're trying to make. It's like saying that fine art doesn't scale because painters are so slow, so art galleries should postcards instead. Perhaps that would indeed be more profitable, but then you're not an art gallery any more, are you?
- pembrook 10y ago
  I agree, re-selling mass produced Chinese crap goes directly against the entire concept of Etsy and everything they supposedly stand for. However they've sold a classic Silicon Valley "high growth" story to investors that they're now beholden to as a publicly traded company. That growth story can't be delivered on grandma's handicrafts. Hence the site being slowly transformed into yet another generic online marketplace for drop-shipped junk. It's ultimately a giant recipe for failure. The company DNA and core brand are at odds with the investor expectations around tech companies.
  - lmm 10y ago
    > they've sold a classic Silicon Valley "high growth" story to investors that they're now beholden to as a publicly traded company. Less so than most - they're a B corp (is that the term?) with higher priorities than shareholder value.
    - anigbrowl 10y ago
      Interesting detail, thanks for that.
lightedman 10y ago
"Hand made does not scale." It most certainly can if you have the proper equipment. You can facet two or three stones by hand on flat grinding surfaces, or you can get a rotary lap wheel and spend a day making ten stones, then you can get a mechanical precision arm for the rotary lap and now you can pump out 20-25 high-quality stones per day that sell for good money. It all depends upon your tooling and experience.

Scale isn't everything. first if you're a good marketplace you attract more and more diverse vendors, each of whom does low volume. Besides, when the point of the site was unique handcrafted items, selling manufactured stuff undercuts the one thing that makes you different from your competitors. I can't understand the argument you're trying to make. It's like saying that fine art doesn't scale because painters are so slow, so art galleries should postcards instead. Perhaps that would indeed be more profitable, but then you're not an art gallery any more, are you?

pembrook 10y ago
I agree, re-selling mass produced Chinese crap goes directly against the entire concept of Etsy and everything they supposedly stand for. However they've sold a classic Silicon Valley "high growth" story to investors that they're now beholden to as a publicly traded company. That growth story can't be delivered on grandma's handicrafts. Hence the site being slowly transformed into yet another generic online marketplace for drop-shipped junk. It's ultimately a giant recipe for failure. The company DNA and core brand are at odds with the investor expectations around tech companies.
- lmm 10y ago
  > they've sold a classic Silicon Valley "high growth" story to investors that they're now beholden to as a publicly traded company. Less so than most - they're a B corp (is that the term?) with higher priorities than shareholder value.
  - anigbrowl 10y ago
    Interesting detail, thanks for that.

lightedman 10y ago

"Hand made does not scale." It most certainly can if you have the proper equipment. You can facet two or three stones by hand on flat grinding surfaces, or you can get a rotary lap wheel and spend a day making ten stones, then you can get a mechanical precision arm for the rotary lap and now you can pump out 20-25 high-quality stones per day that sell for good money. It all depends upon your tooling and experience.