Etsy News: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Marimello loves Etsy. Correction, Marimello wastes countless hours trawling Etsy for the new and unusual. Etsy is a great place to hook up with makers and crafters who share a similar goal of making consumerism more interesting to put it simply. If you want to talk about buying Indie and the handmade movement, Etsy is a goldmine.

But we're not trying to make selling there our day job and plenty of people are. One of the more important things Etsy has allowed crafters and maker to do is to participate in the creation of a new business model. (And for that, Marimello tips her NaikFur hat!)

Alas, that's just the big picture. For those of us keeping up with Unofficial Etsy News lately, it's no surprise that there is a bit of distention among the Etsian ranks. The Unofficial Etsy News blog is, of course, unrelated to the actual business of Etsy:

"UEN’s editors are NOT employed by Etsy or affiliated with Etsy; we just care about the community."

And the, um, goal of the site is stated thusly:

"If/when an Etsy-sanctioned news and announcements vehicle becomes available, this site will no longer be needed. At that point, it may continue in a limited capacity, change directions, or be no more! We’ll see, but until then, many thanks for reading."

So it is exactly zero surprise the Etsy, while providing the most crafty-user friendly site out there, leaves users with something to be desired. But it was a bit of a surprise however that this news hit the Consumerist yesterday. You can read the Consumerist's post here to get the gist of the gripe.

It reminds Marimello of a couple of real life jobs though. The head honchos start the wheels of restructuring, but in order to keep the momentum of the business, information about the details of the plan must be handled delicately. It raises the question of how much information about company structuring is too much information to be distributed and, more importantly, in the webby world of Etsy, where do the buyers and sellers factor into the chain of information dissemination?


[Image about is Clare Boothe Luce. And no offense Dorothy Parker, but when won't Clare's quote come in handy?]

Big Etsy News

Etsy just announced in the Storque that they have accepted a $27 million investment. What does that mean? Says Rob:

"This means that we now have the resources to extend Etsy's reach in this world, to enable so many more people to make a living making things. We want Etsy to exist for hundreds of years. Our goal is for Etsy to be an independent, publicly traded company, focused on all things handmade. Throughout Etsy's growth, we have been very careful when raising money. We run the company as a democracy, meaning no one party has the power to act unilaterally. This new investment preserves these values, and adds to what we can do."

What else does it mean? Etsy will be able to grow...big time. Aside from wanting to add lots of features for buyers and seller, they've been wanting to expand European sales, but only support US dollars. This will help them overcome that. They will also be able to support more languages.

Another interesting point to look at is the current economic climate. As the article points out, some people are running businesses from their Etsy shops. Pre-investment, Etsy ran off fees collected. With sales of just about everything dropping, one could assume that the handmade market will be no different. Seeking and accepting an investment is a survival tactic on Etsy's part. If Etsy chugs through the recession, then presumably so will the indie shops and their owners.

But if this sounds like selling out, then maybe it is. We'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the Etsy investment and you can be sure we'll be keeping our ears to the ground in the forums. Rob has a promised a town hall and it will no doubt be a big one.

Go read the whole article here. For other reports check out CNET and TechCrunch.

Famouser than Famous

The Witch Fire Project has been getting a lot of press lately, and we think that's super cool. But, but, what about Marimello? Well it was only a matter of time, before we got our due. In fact, Marimello has been in the news quite a bit this week.

First the interview with Ravelry, was finally published on SuperNaturale, which lead to the post on CRAFT's blog yesterday. Whee! On other fronts, our presence at the super wonderful Craft Republic Fair, drew some attention and an observation that within a minute of talking to us, we are obviously a blogger. Whaaaaat? Is that curious gleem in our eye so noticeable?

And speaking of gleam...Naikfur just posted a cute picture on her blog. Which is especially cool, because we will be meeting Amy in person for dinner next week. We are so excited.

Take that Witch Fire. You are always welcome to tell people you knew us when.

Old Mother Leary Left the Lantern in the Shed

And when the cow kicked it over, Marimello shrieked and said, GOOD GOD it's a hot time in the old town tonight.

OK not to pound it into your heads crafty friends, but it is still crazy here and it is a wonder that the poor little elves can type as you dear editatrix dictates. Their poor little eyes are swollen so, but you know we can't be bothered with typing ourselves with this washcloth over our eyes.

Speaking of washcloths! The Witch Fire shop is open for business and the donations are rolling in. Obviously it's time to put the red eyed elves to work photographing this luxurious stuff. So if you haven't already, roll on over to the shop on Etsy. And keep rolling back for more new stuff. The word has gone out to the fashionista friends of Marimello and we expect great things to be coming our way!

Check out the shop on the right over there and see what's happening. If you want to donate and get some FREE PRESS, head on over to the blog or give us an e-jingle.

Show Etsy Some Love

Ellen has been in the news a lot these last couple of days. Let's just say we wouldn't be sad if she'd go into retreat for a while. But whatever, we'll let her live a little bit longer if it means we can get a slot on her show. We mean ETSY on her show. Go fill out the form, and if you slip up and, say, put in your favorite blogger we won't tell.

Did Etsy Just Get Better

If you haven't already heard, Etsy retired the Etsy Garden Blog earlier this week and debuted the Storque. We think this is a much more interesting way of presenting the goings on of Etsy, and we're happy to see so many Etsians who can write their way out of a paper bag. But what do you think? Will this format fly? On an internet that is absolutely swamped with online mags, does the Storque still reflect the innovation we normally associate with the web design behind Etsy?
As always, Marimello if obsessing over new marketing tools, so we're interested to see what you think of this infant Storque. Leave a comment, or contact us directly and let us know what you think.

Stitch Applications are due Today

From our Friends over at Naughty Secretary Club and the Austin Craft Mafia:


If you have been debating whether of not to show your clothing line on the runway or sell you handmade goodies in the craft bazaar on Nov 10th, debate no longer. Stitch must have your application in today as we are choosing the designers and vendors on Thursday.
Application here.
We are also still interested in swapping sponsorship packages for tote bags. If you want your tote bags in the hands of 500 Austinites email Jennifer at info [at] naughtysecretaryclub [dot] com We ask that the bags be large enough to hold magazines and that you can donate at least 10. Tote bags must be received by October 1st.
Want to sponsor Stitch? Join companies like Simplicity, Etsy, Duncan, Sublime Stitching, Dremel, Bust Magazine, Sakura, Baby Lock and more by supporting Austin’s largest independent fashion show and craft bazaar. We have packages for as low as $100! Email Jennifer at info [at] naughtysecretaryclub [dot] com if you are interested. This is a great way to spread the word about your business! We’ll see you at Stitch Nov 10th at the Austin Convention Center.

Speaking of Charity Crafting

You don't necessarily have to send out a million afghans to make a difference. As our friend Renee of Wolfie and the Sneak points out, "Living a passionate existence doesn't seem to coincide with a well-insured one." More often than not, there is a crafty individual in need of our help.
The Wyman benefit over at Wonderland Retreat will be wrapping up on September 15th and there are plenty of items left in the shop. So go on over to Etsy and take a peek.
Renee also alerted us to a couple of other benefits that are happening.
If you're a crafty sort, there's little doubt you've heard of mymy, an indie shopping dream.
perhaps you also keep up with Taryn's blog well enough to know her sister is in the hospital?
Jenifer, a single mother who works 2 jobs AND pitches in over at mymy.
Well, the ever-so-lovely Trisha combs has decided to step up and help out; she's looking for goodies to fill a basket for a raffle to benefit Jenifer's hospital bills.
Check out all the details here.

Crafting the Business of Etsy: Size Does Matter

If you haven’t already (it was posted almost a week and a half ago) go read in entirety Rob’s post on the Etsy blog here. It’ll bring a tear to your eye. Or not. It might just bring a little lust to your heart to read about the inner machinations of the increasingly popular craft selling site. Sure, everyone in the craft would knows and adores Etsy, but on the outside, as we like to call it, Etsy is the regular folks are starting to take notice of Etsy and its business practices. From the business world’s perspective, Etsy is an overnight sensation compared to the era (eons?) of trial and error that much larger, more well-known sites went through. Sure they had to wait for us all to get used to buying things online and that took time, but consider also the amazing community that has developed with in Etsy. That can’t be said for some other site where users sold their wares in the past.

Perhaps a better post would look more at what Etsy has learned, rather than marvel at how it works. But here’s an excerpt anyway. Find a similar passage from a larger company and the Marimello team will sit down to a meal of crochet hooks. Our hats are too precious.

From Rob’s post:

These are some particular challenges we’ve faced:

Having a consistent message vs. letting humans be human. There is no “Etsy” in the monolithic sense of a single identity or being. Etsy is the several dozen employees of Etsy, Inc. and even more, the several hundred thousand members of the community.

As I see it, large corporations try to sanitize all their outgoing messages for the sake of keeping face. It is very easy to identify this kind of behavior. Whenever you read something and it sounds like a series of pre-made phrases strung together, instead of a human being speaking, this is sanitized communication. To me, this stuff sounds inhuman.

I want Etsy to stay human. This means allowing each person’s voice to be heard, even if it’s squeaky or loud or soft. I will not put a glossy layer of PR over what we do. If we trip, let us learn from it instead of trying to hide it; when we leap, let’s show others how to leap. Hence the title of this whole blog post: Open Etsy.

We’ve got a ways to go. It’s 2:34am and I have to get back to polishing the new screen designs for Alchemy. To everyone out there, it’s been a good ride so far, and I’m looking forward to the next couple years more than anything.