Legacy sellers are unsure how to feel about Etsy becoming a publicly traded company. Will the site retain the luster and attention of being a “handmade” marketplace or will the site start to migrate towards selling brand name products? Remember when eBay was known as the auction site? How quickly eBay followed Amazon to change their format towards brand new, fixed price items from eBay’s catalog. Antique selling seems to be a thing of eBay’s past and now is on Etsy’s channel. What will become a thing of Etsy’s past due to this IPO?

Etsy Users

Founded in 2005 in Brooklyn, NY, Etsy currently has 53.9 million users and 1.2 million active shops. This IPO may draw publicity to the site but the question is if it will draw sellers and buyers. I believe it will increase awareness to buyers but still unsure if it would increase sellers who hand make their goods. This is where I believe there will be a shift with Etsy’s focus to include other services.

Future of Etsy

Already, Etsy has released the ability to work with a manufacturer to build your designs, similar to how Quirky gives you the ability to design electronics and gadgets with other influence and outsourced manufacturing. Will Etsy go down the road of utilizing crowdsourcing influence towards product development?

Managing Sales and Inventory

SureDone has already integrated with Etsy, making it simple to manage your listings regardless of the direction Etsy decides to go. Manage your listings on other channels or shopping carts in addition to Etsy. SureDone can help you expand during this changing time of Etsy. Contact us to find out if SureDone is the right partner to help you meet your selling goals.