Shop Handmade - Rewarding Creativity

What do we think about Etsy?

Sometimes we're asked that question at ShopHandmade. It's a reasonable question, since we're competitors and competitors are supposed to hate each other, right?

Well, we actually like Etsy. They have a pleasing web site, a lot of users, and they promote Handmade crafting. Those are all good things.

Etsy and our Sponsoring Companies are inherently compatible

Many of our sponsor's customers have bought items and sold handmade goods on ETSY. So there is a natural synergy between our companies.

Our sponsors have about as many customers as Etsy has. The companies are similarly sized. We're both independent of the big mass-market big-box chains. We both promote crafting and handmade goods. And, we have a natural and compatible affinity. So we have a different view from many competitors: Etsy is a good thing, too.

Working together with Etsy

Before ShopHandmade existed our Sponsors thought it would be a good idea to cooperate with Etsy in some strategic way. Perhaps we could share technology since we had some nifty searching and eCommerce capabilities. It certainly made sense to do some cooperative and cross-marketing.

So we picked up the phone and called them. But they were too busy to return our phone calls. So we wrote to them and sent the letter overnight express. We never heard back. So we then contacted their executive staff through a mutual acquaintence. But Etsy had no interest in opening up a discussion.

We exist because of Etsy.

Our sponsors really believe in handmade goods. And, as our sponsors has nearly a million visitors from 150 countries we wanted to have a channel for our customers to sell their handmade goods. We thought that we could build Etsy's customer base, too. It seemed like a natural fit for cross-promotion.

When it was clear that Etsy was not interested in even talking to us, we pondered.

We decided that creative people like creative options and choices. We decided that the market was big enough to support several companies. And, we decided that the real competition was eBay.

So we started talking to our customers to see what they wanted.

They didn't want their products to be buried 100 pages deep after just one day.
They wanted a GREAT search engine that was fast and interactive.
They wanted to sell items with a lower selling cost.
They wanted a safe, non-cliquish, professional marketplace.
They wanted to feel that their creations were helping the world be a better place.

We were born in 60 days

Our Sponsors do eCommerce: they have technology that can process thousands of new items and can handle hundreds of thousands of transactions a month. So they told us to put something together. They handed us some money and their nifty eCommerce platform.

We decided to "go green" because our founder believes in rainforest preservation and in saving energy. (It's real stuff, not a marketing spin.) We decided to tap our Sponsors to pay most of the costs of the system so that listings could be free. We decided to let our stores pick their own commissions. (Even if they picked 0%.) We decided to build a better search engine. And to also build an attractive interface. And, we decided to not have forums--there are enough of those out there.

Well, in 60 days we were born (from first idea to our soft opening.) As we said, this stuff isn't exactly difficult. (You could say that we run on recycled software!)

And our sponsors are committed to providing ongoing funding and cross-marketing support.

Which store should customers choose?

Why, both, of course!

We're a great marketplace. But it is only wise to sell through severel channels. If a product doesn't sell on one then list it on the other because the buyers aren't the same people. Each site appeals to a different audience.

We still like Etsy

We still think Etsy is a great marketplace. We would still like to work with them. They are still invited to return our phone calls and emails and letters. And we wish them well in their own quest.

Meanwhile, we will dance to a slightly different drummer, we'll do things a little different, and we'll have fun, too!

ThinkHandmade. LiveHandmade. (Two other of our domain names:)