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How much demand is there truly for handmade products from independent creators? It is possible that Etsy has decided that is no longer a market that is worth p

by slg 5y ago

How much demand is there truly for handmade products from independent creators? It is possible that Etsy has decided that is no longer a market that is worth pursuing and they would rather try to compete with Amazon and AliExpress. It is often better to have a small piece of a huge pie than the majority of a tiny pie.

TigeriusKirk 5y ago
There's more than enough demand to support a good-sized business mediating such sales. However, there's not enough to demand to keep the shareholders of an IPO'ed company happy. And there's the problem.
- JAlexoid 5y ago
  Considering that the strike is complaining about hike in fees - it doesn't seem like there is enough demand. Is Etsy such a good aggregator, that setting up a storefront with Square is that hard?
  - dangrossman 5y ago
    Etsy has somewhere on the order of 100 million active buyers, searching Etsy for goods to buy every month. If you set up a storefront on Square, you start out with 0 active buyers, searching your storefront 0 times every month. Marketplaces bring tremendous value to small sellers.
    - JAlexoid 5y ago
      So... Let me get this straight - they get a lot of customers off other people's work, but aren't willing to pay for the increased costs of providing them those extra customers. These Etsy people sound like entitled brats.
naravara 5y ago
The pattern with these sorts of Web 2.0 companies is grimly familiar now. They start promising more access and reach for small creators. They get a lot of small creators in the door with the ease of use and cutting out of the old middle-men. Then they implement a bunch of mechanisms to foster lock-in and fleece the small creators in ways that aren't much better than the old middle-men (though, admittedly, with more reach). It's like one of those fish traps you put in a current where the fish swim in but can't turn around to get away.

by slg 5y ago

TigeriusKirk 5y ago

There's more than enough demand to support a good-sized business mediating such sales. However, there's not enough to demand to keep the shareholders of an IPO'ed company happy. And there's the problem.

JAlexoid 5y ago
Considering that the strike is complaining about hike in fees - it doesn't seem like there is enough demand. Is Etsy such a good aggregator, that setting up a storefront with Square is that hard?
- dangrossman 5y ago
  Etsy has somewhere on the order of 100 million active buyers, searching Etsy for goods to buy every month. If you set up a storefront on Square, you start out with 0 active buyers, searching your storefront 0 times every month. Marketplaces bring tremendous value to small sellers.
  - JAlexoid 5y ago
    So... Let me get this straight - they get a lot of customers off other people's work, but aren't willing to pay for the increased costs of providing them those extra customers. These Etsy people sound like entitled brats.

naravara 5y ago

The pattern with these sorts of Web 2.0 companies is grimly familiar now. They start promising more access and reach for small creators. They get a lot of small creators in the door with the ease of use and cutting out of the old middle-men. Then they implement a bunch of mechanisms to foster lock-in and fleece the small creators in ways that aren't much better than the old middle-men (though, admittedly, with more reach). It's like one of those fish traps you put in a current where the fish swim in but can't turn around to get away.