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Ask HN: Lets talk about Etsy

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Re: Ask HN: Lets talk about Etsy

#31

Post by jacquesm »

cyen wrote: post #26
parkern wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does Etsy determine what people can sell and can't sell on the site? I know its all hand made, but how do they draw the line?

AFAICT, there's not much line-drawing happening. In terms of handmade vs retail, I've seen people essentially buy retail items, paint a little something on it, then sell the "customized" items... but it doesn't seem like it hurts Etsy much for people to do that. And in terms of controlling quality, there definitely isn't much... :) http://www.regretsy.com/

hehe: http://images.regretsy.com/mswood.jpg

That one is quite funny.

Re: Ask HN: Lets talk about Etsy

#32

Post by petervandijck »

s_mennen wrote: post #3

Etsy has three revenue sources: a 20 cent listing fee, a 3.5% sales fee, and an in-site ad system named Showcase. Their board is Jim Breyer, Fred Wilson, Caterina Fake and Rob Kalin (founder, CEO). They are profitable as of earlier this year, founded in 2005, based in Brooklyn, and put on a good show fo' sho'.

So it took them 5 years to be profitable? Does that mean they've made back the investment, or just that they make more money than they spend?

Re: Ask HN: Lets talk about Etsy

#33

Post by petervandijck »

julio_the_squid wrote: post #17
natgordon wrote: post #5

Etsy does really creative product search - it might be the best site out there. http://www.etsy.com/buy.php . It's a really fun site to navigate. They probably get less attention in the tech space because their user base is mostly women.

Are you sure? The general consensus among sellers is that the search tools are lacking. They are great at finding fairly random collections of items, and some of the tools are fun toys, but it's not the best if you're actually looking for something specific. About half of the sections on the page are fairly useless for serious shopping. The number of items on Etsy has increased by 100 times in the past few years, but…

I remember they got some good buzz going with the information architects and UX people with their browsing tools early on.

Re: Ask HN: Lets talk about Etsy

#34

Post by julio_the_squid »

petervandijck wrote: post #33
julio_the_squid wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure? The general consensus among sellers is that the search tools are lacking. They are great at finding fairly random collections of items, and some of the tools are fun toys, but it's not the best if you're actually looking for something specific. About half of the sections on the page are fairly useless for serious shopping. The number of items on Etsy has increased by 100 times in the past few years, but…

I remember they got some good buzz going with the information architects and UX people with their browsing tools early on.

Yeah, the creative flash tools drew good attention and may have engaged people early on. I think now though, with the overwhelming wealth and variety of items for sale on the site, and with the large number of experienced shoppers, the interest of most people is in efficiently sifting through the items. I've heard more than a few people say they were turned away by seemingly random search results, and that they have grown tired of playing with the color search and whatnot.

Re: Ask HN: Lets talk about Etsy

#35

Post by MichaelSalib »

cyen wrote: post #26
parkern wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does Etsy determine what people can sell and can't sell on the site? I know its all hand made, but how do they draw the line?

AFAICT, there's not much line-drawing happening. In terms of handmade vs retail, I've seen people essentially buy retail items, paint a little something on it, then sell the "customized" items... but it doesn't seem like it hurts Etsy much for people to do that. And in terms of controlling quality, there definitely isn't much... :) http://www.regretsy.com/

And in terms of controlling quality, there definitely isn't much...

In some cases, that goes for safety as well. My wife (a EE) noticed that there are a lot of sellers on Etsy selling jewelry made from recycled printed circuit boards (earrings, necklaces, bracelets, etc). Unfortunately, a lot of the sellers don't know that PCBs are full of heavy metals that should not be exposed to the skin without some sort of varnish coating. Especially since some sellers like to remove components and sand the boards down so they look cooler.

Lead poisoning FTW!

Re: Ask HN: Lets talk about Etsy

#36

Post by marilyn »

One interesting tidbit about Etsy is that the most successful sellers are the ones selling supplies to the crafters.

As an aside, if you are in the market for an external hard drive, this is the most beautiful one I have ever seen: http://www.etsy.com/listing/47397822/walnut-and-maple-wood-e... (I'm not affiliated with that seller in anyway, I just dig his product).

Re: Ask HN: Lets talk about Etsy

#37

Post by parkern »

joshu wrote: post #29
akkartik wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did you like about the way they built the site and community? What don't you like, if anything? Is there one lesson in particular people can take away from Etsy?

It was more the novel marketplace I think.

Hey Josh,

I have kinda asked this to the group, but thought I would direct it at you. Do you think other sub-markets of eBay could flourish as a separate entity? Or was Etsy just able to find a really good balance of a good market with a good audience?

Re: Ask HN: Lets talk about Etsy

#39

Post by joshu »

parkern wrote: post #37
joshu wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was more the novel marketplace I think.

Hey Josh, I have kinda asked this to the group, but thought I would direct it at you. Do you think other sub-markets of eBay could flourish as a separate entity? Or was Etsy just able to find a really good balance of a good market with a good audience?

I don't think Etsy was really a sub-market of eBay. This didn't occur to me at the time, anyway. I just thought that "handmade goods" are probably an aggregate multibillion dollar business.

I actually invested in another company that directly targets another eBay segment.

So yes, I strongly believe that other sub-markets of eBay are interesting to compete with.

Re: Ask HN: Lets talk about Etsy

#40

Post by bdickason »

I would argue that Etsy didn't identify an underserved market inside of eBay but rather intelligently saw a need to service the 'flea market' circuit. Based out of Brooklyn, there's no doubt that Etsy's founders frequent places like the Brooklyn Flea and other places where jewelers, knitters, and other small time crafters hock their goods on weekends to escape their day jobs.

This, to me, was the win, not going after a piece of eBay's pie.

Rather than asking "Other markets that could flourish by being spun out of ebay," I would search for more organizations helping 'micro-entrepreneurs' (i.e. from the bedroom to a small booth rental) make their living.

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