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Can Etsy Scale?

inc.com

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Re: Can Etsy Scale?

#21

Post by tmountain »

leftnode wrote: post #6

Can a business ever just reach a natural size and say to themselves, "this is as large as we're going to get, we're profitable, having a good time, and everyone is happy." I realize they have funding and thus a responsibility to maximize their investments, but I'd love to build a company that feels like it has a natural size.

There's a fantastic hamburger place down the street from my house. They make a fixed number of patties every day and when they run out, they close for the day. The owners are constantly asked why they don't buy more patties or expand to more locations around town. They've repeatedly stated that they're doing just fine with where they are and have no desire to push things further. There's a certain beauty here that's hard to quantify.

Re: Can Etsy Scale?

#22

Post by [deleted] »

earl wrote: post #19
shizcakes wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. My point isn't that Allspaw can add servers and whatnot, but that he's a VP at the company. At some point, you stop thinking about computers and start thinking about how the business grows, and I think that he can help in that regard.

The article's thesis seems to be that you can't actually -- or it's very difficult -- to run a successful business on etsy, particularly given etsy's requirement that everything be handmade. This in turn is bad for etsy, since sellers will eventually give up once they realize how little they're earning. I'm at a complete loss to see how your comments have anything to do with the article...?

[deleted]

Re: Can Etsy Scale?

#23

Post by pdaviesa »

I love etsy but this article brings up many good points. I wonder if etsy needs to look at related but new businesses in order to truly scale. Perhaps they need to look more at the physical side of their business, e.g. running custom manufacturing for their clients, supply chain mgmt for their more successful clients who have outgrown the etsy marketplace, etc.

Re: Can Etsy Scale?

#24

Post by cowpewter »

slapshot wrote: post #4

Etsy has a huge UI challenge right now: as the volume of listings increase, it becomes harder to find things that I'm interested in. Even text search is quickly overwhelming, because it's hard to describe new and quirky objects that are Etsy's biggest draw (for me). If Etsy could create a good "we see you've bought quirky post-industrial greeting cards, maybe you'd be interested in ____" function (much like Netflix,…

Yeah, their "You might like" on the front page is pretty terrible. It seems to just pick random items from shops you've favorited/favorited an item in - to the point where it quite frequently recommends me items I've already marked as a favorite!

I already know I like that item. That's why I favorited it. I want to see things I didn't already know existed.

Re: Can Etsy Scale?

#25

Post by yesimahuman »

CoreyLoose wrote: post #20
slapshot wrote: post #4

Etsy has a huge UI challenge right now: as the volume of listings increase, it becomes harder to find things that I'm interested in. Even text search is quickly overwhelming, because it's hard to describe new and quirky objects that are Etsy's biggest draw (for me). If Etsy could create a good "we see you've bought quirky post-industrial greeting cards, maybe you'd be interested in ____" function (much like Netflix,…

I've taken a shot at this very problem - curious what you think about it. http://brainsy.net

Was just about to post this. Great work!

Re: Can Etsy Scale?

#27

Post by [deleted] »

slapshot wrote: post #4

Etsy has a huge UI challenge right now: as the volume of listings increase, it becomes harder to find things that I'm interested in. Even text search is quickly overwhelming, because it's hard to describe new and quirky objects that are Etsy's biggest draw (for me). If Etsy could create a good "we see you've bought quirky post-industrial greeting cards, maybe you'd be interested in ____" function (much like Netflix,…

[deleted]

Re: Can Etsy Scale?

#28

Post by mikecarlucci »

tomkarlo wrote: post #11

The best part of this article may be the reference to Regretsy. http://www.regretsy.com/

I haven't laughed so hard in months. The clay portraits and taxidermy rat simply amazing.

That said, I bought a poster on etsy of the 500 most common passwords, it's not all creepy.

Re: Can Etsy Scale?

#29

Post by bifrost »

As someone who's spent time scaling sites, the problem isn't going to be if they can scale, its going to be will the management make it happen. Developers rarely do it right, and they'll need good management and oversight to pull it off. The ETSY devs I've met were pretty sharp, so I get the feeling they'll do better than most, but everyone needs a shove in the right direction.

Re: Can Etsy Scale?

#30

Post by callmeed »

slapshot wrote: post #4

Etsy has a huge UI challenge right now: as the volume of listings increase, it becomes harder to find things that I'm interested in. Even text search is quickly overwhelming, because it's hard to describe new and quirky objects that are Etsy's biggest draw (for me). If Etsy could create a good "we see you've bought quirky post-industrial greeting cards, maybe you'd be interested in ____" function (much like Netflix,…

Maybe its not a UI problem ... maybe it's a gatekeeping problem.

This might sound harsh, but what I tend to see is a lot of beginner or wannabe crafters selling the only thing they can make: generic knit beanies or a cheap bag with some felt shapes cut out and glued on.

For every truly artistic, quirky item or piece of jewelry created by a skilled artisan there are ~20 simple, cheap things that (I'm guessing) almost no one buys.

Why does Etsy have to let everyone and anyone in? Is it wrong to consider some type of approval process or "hey we noticed you haven't sold anything in 6 months" filter?

Edit: to add to that, one area I think Etsy should increase their focus on is in fine art (photography, paintings, prints). Sites like 20x200 are doing well and I think it would be good for Etsy to have an area of their site dedicated to getting good, curated art on the walls of people's homes.

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