Etsy

Etsy, American e-commerce company, founded in 2005 by entrepreneur Rob Kalin and partners Chris Maguire and Haim Schoppik, that provides a global Internet marketplace for handmade and other wares. The company’s headquarters are in Brooklyn, New York.

Sellers create personal shops through the Etsy Web site, which is collectively searched by buyers. There are three broad categories of goods that may be sold: handmade items that are made or designed by the seller, such as hand-beaded jewelry, hand-knit scarves, handmade soaps and candies, and sculptures and wall-hangings; vintage items 20 years or older, such as premade and resold clothing and antiques; and craft supplies, such as buttons, feathers, and crafting patterns. Items that cannot be classified into these categories are prohibited.

Many of the goods for sale are unique creations, and many sellers provide the option of creating custom pieces. Etsy gives users the ability to organize items for sale into “Treasury” lists, often collections from a variety of shops that all have a common theme, such as color, material, or aesthetic. Users may also search for items by color or location (to facilitate buying locally made items) or by “Taste Test,” a function that allows the user to choose an image that suits the user’s own personal taste and browse similar items.

The company collects listing fees and a percentage of the sale cost. Though the site does not sell advertising space to outside vendors, additional revenue is earned from “showcase” ad spots sold to Etsy sellers. In late 2009 it was announced that the company had started turning a profit, and by late 2011 Etsy had more than 10 million members with some 800,000 active shops.

In addition to its popular Web site, Etsy also operates Etsy Labs, spaces used for regular educational crafting workshops and events that are open to the arts communities in Brooklyn and in Berlin, Germany.