Etsy Featured Shop

What Is Etsy? Etsy Is The Online Hub for People Who Love Handmade and Vintage Items

In Business Marketing, Ecommerce Marketing, Making Money Online, Social Media, Social Media Business Tools, Social Media For Ecommerce, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking by Mark GuertinLeave a Comment

What Is Etsy?

Etsy Is The Online Hub for People Who Love Handmade and Vintage Items

Whether you like making or buying crafts and vintage items, no place on the Internet makes you feel more at home than Etsy. It’s an online hub that does exactly what it’s supposed to do: attract creatives from all over the globe to show off their talent and help them earn money.

The site is also an enticing place for those who love arts and crafts as it’s a haven for browsing through so many creative items in various categories.

The array of items found on Etsy is wide ranging. They include art, clothing, food, jewelry, photography, and bath and beauty products. The site also features some knick-knacks, toys and quilts, as well as craft supplies such as beads, jewelry-making tools, and wire.

Browse Etsy Categories

Browse Etsy Categories

Etsy has a category for everyone

As of August 2013, there were 30 million registered users. Now, let’s see why the site enamored a lot of users and continues to attract more.

A little Etsy history

The site was launched on June 18, 2005 by ioSpace, which is a small company comprised of Chris Maguire, Haim Schoppik, and Robert Kalin. This team was later joined by Jared Tarbell. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.

According to Kalin, the site was named Etsy because he “wanted a nonsense word” as he was building from scratch. Well, picking a peculiar word for a brand name almost always garners attention.

Etsy counts Sean Meenan, Spencer and Judson Ain, Union Square Ventures, and co-founders of Flickr and Delicious as their investors.

The site attracted a lot of attention in the first year of its existence thanks to the frequent addition of tools and functionality that helped sellers gain exposure and traffic. Some of the additions during this time were Flash-based visualizations and a taxonomy of categories based on tags.

On October 1, 2013, Etsy started allowing factory-made goods to be sold on the site under certain conditions such as letting sellers design the items themselves.

How Etsy operates

Basically, the site functions like a flea market where there are lots of shops selling different kinds of products. But unlike eBay, which has similar functions, Etsy only focuses on handmade or vintage – they need to be at least 20 years old – items, and now factory-made goods. It’s very niche-based, so to speak.

On the site, you can either be a seller or a buyer. If you choose the former, you set up a shop with a customized name and logo, create shop sections for easy browsing of goods, and add product listings so buyers can see and read what you’re selling. If you’re buying, you can pay through PayPal or credit card.

Features

  • Featured Shops

Etsy has featured shops that you can browse to view many hand-crafted items. The shop featured in the picture below offers beautiful custom hand-made pillows and other items.

Etsy Featured Shop

Etsy Featured Shop

An Etsy featured shop

  • Stores

The building blocks on Etsy. This is a seller’s home that lists all the products they have which they can organize in categories. The items sold are provided with pictures and descriptions, as well as customer reviews and ratings.

Etsy Stores

Etsy Stores

Etsy Stores are easy to discover

  • Shopping carts

Yet another building block on Etsy. When you like a certain item, this is where you would add it then process how you’re going to pay for it.

Etsy Shopping Cart

Etsy Shopping Cart

Full featured shopping cart

  • Favorites

Just like Pinterest, Etsy items can be ‘favorited’ by users for later reference.

Etsy Favorites

Etsy Favorites

Etsy organizes all your favorites

  • Lists

Just like boards in Pinterest, Etsy allows users to favorite an item then organize them into specific lists.

Etsy Lists

Etsy Lists

Etsy lists keep you organized

  • Facebook connection

Shop owners can connect the Facebook page of their business on Etsy. It’s an added way to get new customers and keep existing ones updated on what’s new on your shop.

  • People Search

This allows users to search for people on the site and filter them by sellers and non-sellers. This feature also makes it easier for people to add fellow Etsy members into their Circles.

Etsy Search Box

Etsy Search Box

Etsy search finds anything

  • Circles and Activity Feeds

The former basically refers to the people you’re following, while the latter refers to the stream of activity from the people you follow. In short, it basically works the same way Facebook’s Newsfeed works.

Etsy Activity Feed

Etsy Activity Feed

Etsy activity feed keeps you up to date

Why do people love Etsy?

The answer is quite simple really, it’s an online hub where creatives meet to buy and sell handcrafted and vintage items. Basically, Etsy is home to people who love to create.

So, if you love making crafts and want to make a living out of it, join Etsy and start building your shop. If you want to purchase handmade goods, sign up with the site and be spoiled with the variety of choices that awaits you.

You can visit Etsy on the web at: http://etsy.com/

You can also connect with us at Etsy by visiting https://www.etsy.com/people/ImpactSocialMedia

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