Are you looking for a one-stop destination to buy handmade and unique products? Etsy is the best place for you!! Though there are thousands of e-commerce platforms available online, Etsy is the go-to place to buy handicraft products. Almost over 15 years, Etsy stood as the best solution for personalized goods. The platform is offering high-quality products at pocket-friendly prices.
Etsy is the best marketplace that helps to connect both sellers and buyers under one roof. Simply put, Etsy is the most reliable place to sell personalized, art, craft and handmade products.
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What is Etsy?
Etsy is the best place where sellers can connect with customers. Did you know, sellers at Etsy sell a wide range of vintage and handcrafted products. The categories are ranging from jewellery, clothing, games, art, collectables, craft, vintage, home and living. Vintage products must be more than 20 years to get listed on Etsy.
Etsy is an amazing e-commerce marketplace that truly focuses on selling vintage products. There are few websites such as Amazon and eBay sell products from various categories. But, Etsy sells handmade, vintage and antique products.
Remarkable Features of Etsy
The e-commerce website Etsy is completely based on “marketplace model”. It means sells handcrafted items and earn commission on every purchase. With the simplest business model, the platform is having attractive features to discuss
- The website list only handmade, unique and vintage category. No other categories are encouraged on Etsy.
- The vintage and handcrafted items are listed that are at least 20 years old.
- Within a few simple clicks, sellers can create their online e-commerce store at Etsy.
- The best feature of Etsy is, the platform offers to ship around the world.
- The feedback help buyers to make their purchase decisions wisely.
- Customers have multiple payment options. This can be preferred by sellers.
- Over 67% of women sellers are selling their products on Etsy. It is more popular and beneficial among women.
Etsy Business Model
Etsy is a popular e-commerce marketplace. The place enables sellers to sell their personalized and unique items to interested customers across the globe. Let’s discuss the Etsy business model. It is almost similar to popular e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and eBay. But, Etsy provides great value to sellers and buyers. The platform Etsy especially concentrate on selling handcrafted items. “Etsy is home to a universe of special and vintage items”. On the other hand, websites such as Amazon is the place where it sells almost anything and everything.
Etsy is “two-sided marketplace” for handcrafted and creative products. Etsy makes money in the straight forward way. Let’s keep simple, Etsy earns income through transaction charges on the products sold on its a platform.
As mentioned earlier the platform is a two-sided marketplace. Etsy has two major players such as
Seller – Sellers are an individual or small business that are manufacturing handcrafted products. Other words, sellers are the owners of unique and vintages items. Etsy caters to such sellers who are planning to sell their unique crafts.
Buyer – Buyers or customers are the people who are planning to buy unique and handcrafted products. These buyers are only interested in purchasing vintage items.
- With the positive interaction among buyers and sellers that is how Etsy business model is ruling the e-commerce world.
- The team is specifically focusing on making its platform user-friendly and attractive to both sellers and buyers.
- On the other hand, Etsy is making its platform by encouraging more number of sellers to promote their unique crafts. This way many buyers are attracted to place an order at Etsy.
- Hereby enabling the interaction between seller and buyers, with the transaction generated by these parties, which becomes a commission that Etsy collects for listing items on its the platform.
How does Etsy works?
Etsy is a global marketplace that helps sellers to connect with interested buyers. The real people get connected, the platform allows sellers to promote their products and help customers to find what they’re looking for.
Since the marketplace is attracting sellers of handcrafted products to get connected with interested customers, it’s straightforward that when more sellers promote their products, the more buyers will purchase and this way Etsy make more money.
Etsy’s operating model
Let’s have a look at Etsy’s operating model. As mentioned earlier, Etsy work similar to other e-commerce websites. It provides an attractive and well-organized place for sellers to promote their products. Buyers can simply find-out handcrafted products without hassles.
The platform work in a simple manner
- Sellers need to create a “Seller Account” and list their unique products for sale.
- Customers will browse items and purchase the best one. Etsy enables transactions to be generated within a single platform.
- Customers can rate or review the purchased product from Etsy.
How does Etsy make money?
Want to know how Etsy is making money? Yes!!! Let’s discuss it now. Etsy’s earn review almost similar to other e-commerce websites such as Amazon and eBay. The platform makes money from several fees.
Listing fees
Sellers need to list their products on Etsy. In this process, sellers need to pay $0.20 to list handcrafted products on the platform. Though $0.20 might be a small amount, when you display thousands of unique items, the amount will be increased. The listing will be active for just 4 months or until the items get sold out.
Sales commission
Here’s where the real game starts. Apart from earning money through listing the items on Etsy, the platform charges a commission on every referred sale. It means the seller needs to pay 3.5% as commission on every sold item.
Advertisements
Advertisement is a well-known technique that brings more number of sales to sellers. Etsy enables the sellers to advertise handcrafted items for a certain fee. There are several advertisement methods are available at Etsy
- Paid advertising: Etsy displayed the seller’s products on its home page or category page. It works as a cost-per-click payout model. Whenever a customer or buyer clicks on the ad, a certain amount of commission is generated for Etsy.
- Shopping engine ads: The popular shopping engines are Google Shopping, Facebook, Bing and more. Etsy gets paid for listing the seller’s items on these shopping platforms.
It’s clear that Etsy earns good revenue through paid advertising. When the ads are displayed on Etsy. Also, these ads will generate more sales.
Subscriptions
It’s clear that Etsy offers an outstanding free suite of tools to sellers. These tools help sellers to manage their list, products and transactions on Etsy. The platform is offering “Etsy Plus”, it’s an excellent subscription service that offers great tools for sellers to enhance their experience at Etsy. Sellers need to pay $10 per month to activate the Etsy Plus account.
Currency conversion
Did you know Etsy charges on currency conversion? Yes, you’ve heard it right. Sellers need to pay 2.5% of the complete transaction as the currency conversion charges. This is used when sellers need to exchange currency value during global transactions.
Etsy’s net worth
According to a recent analysis, Etsy’s revenue is $15.71 billion in 2020. Etsy has more than 2.5 million sellers with more than 4.2 million customers across the world. The revenue graph is growing from the past few years. Etsy’s revenue was $2 in 2015. As it is clearly mentioned, Etsy is making good income every year.
How does Etsy become successful?
The secret success of Etsy market platform is due to its unique business model. Etsy stands out from the competition, there are thousands of e-commerce websites such as Amazon, Flipkart and eBay, these sites are offering products from a wide range of categories that are ranging from electronic goods to fashion accessories. On the other hand, Etsy focuses on a specific niche i.e handcrafts, customized, crafts and arts. There is no doubt, Etsy stood as the best platform in this segment. Let’s discuss how Etsy is successful.
Let’s have a look at eBay and Amazon, these platforms also display products on their website. The same way, Etsy displays the list of items on its a website with a special value, it means Etsy attracts sellers and customers. With easy-to-use dashboard and best tools for sellers and effective searching feature for buyers.
Word-of-mouth advertising
It’s no surprise that Etsy is one of the best websites that catered handcrafted products. Also, it stood as the best e-commerce marketplace in its niche. The great thing about Etsy is that it has more than 67% sellers as women. The primary reason for Etsy’s successful growth is word-of-mouth in women’s circles.
Extended API’s
The online e-commerce marketplace has its own extended API’s. These applications are built by professional developers, they build powerful applications for websites, desktop, mobile and other devices. Many businesses have already approached this strategy to sell their items to customers.
Offline help and support to sellers
Etsy is the one-stop solution for the one who sells their crafts and arts locally. As the platform is providing loans to the sellers. This way it is extending it’s support and service to sellers. Also, their team will work round the clock and provide good advice to grow your business.
Conclusion
Etsy is a popular e-commerce marketplace available in the market. It connects thousands of artists and sellers under one roof. At Etsy, sellers and buyers are the key players. Artists can sell their unique and handcrafted items to interested customers across the globe. Etsy is generating good revenue every year. There are multiple revenue streams. Etsy charges a listing fee of $0.20 on every item for four months. 3.5% of commission is generated on every refereed sale. A good commission is earned by advertising sellers’ products on its site.
