4 ms·

Could Etsy be cleaned by restricting number and quantity of products sold per vendor?

marcinzm 7y ago
a) Etsy doesn't want that since they want to maximize their own revenue b) Preventing people from seeing a path to this being a full time job makes Etsy less appealing even to small time sellers
- smolder 7y ago
  I don't see the logic in removing what made them unique and worth visiting for the sake of increasing revenue. To me, this seems like just one more example of how relentless pursuit of growth destroys good things. IMHO they should have let Etsy stay as small as it needed to to maintain it's charm, and focused on building on other things, even another market place site, if they wanted more revenue.
  - marcinzm 7y ago
    Who is they? Etsy managed to grow by taking on VC money which comes with strings attached. It then went public, to satisfy the VCs, which also comes with strings attached. Moreover, if not for VC money then they probably wouldn't have taken over the market compared to a better funded competitor. So, to me, the they here is the whole VC ecosystem.
    - smolder 7y ago
      Leadership. I don't know if it was Etsy executives, hired strategists, or shareholders that prioritized growth of their marketplace over its quality, but it was, in retrospect, not a good way to handle the brand. The other possible ways they could have grown their company are innumerable even if they aren't obvious. You may be right it's the VCs that are to blame.
ineedasername 7y ago
It would make Etsy less money, so they wouldn't do it, but there are also plenty of sellers that are legitimately making handmade items and have ~1000 listings. They play the long tail game, and also list similar items multiple times, like in different colors, because it allows them to show options without making someone click through to a listing.
dspillett 7y ago
Drop-ship vendors would just create multiple profiles to get around that. Given they aren't managing to police that sort of thing as well as people want already, inviting more of it would be unhelpful.

a) Etsy doesn't want that since they want to maximize their own revenue b) Preventing people from seeing a path to this being a full time job makes Etsy less appealing even to small time sellers

smolder 7y ago
I don't see the logic in removing what made them unique and worth visiting for the sake of increasing revenue. To me, this seems like just one more example of how relentless pursuit of growth destroys good things. IMHO they should have let Etsy stay as small as it needed to to maintain it's charm, and focused on building on other things, even another market place site, if they wanted more revenue.
- marcinzm 7y ago
  Who is they? Etsy managed to grow by taking on VC money which comes with strings attached. It then went public, to satisfy the VCs, which also comes with strings attached. Moreover, if not for VC money then they probably wouldn't have taken over the market compared to a better funded competitor. So, to me, the they here is the whole VC ecosystem.
  - smolder 7y ago
    Leadership. I don't know if it was Etsy executives, hired strategists, or shareholders that prioritized growth of their marketplace over its quality, but it was, in retrospect, not a good way to handle the brand. The other possible ways they could have grown their company are innumerable even if they aren't obvious. You may be right it's the VCs that are to blame.

ineedasername 7y ago

It would make Etsy less money, so they wouldn't do it, but there are also plenty of sellers that are legitimately making handmade items and have ~1000 listings. They play the long tail game, and also list similar items multiple times, like in different colors, because it allows them to show options without making someone click through to a listing.

dspillett 7y ago

Drop-ship vendors would just create multiple profiles to get around that. Given they aren't managing to police that sort of thing as well as people want already, inviting more of it would be unhelpful.