Etsy’s Evolution Strains Sellers

When it set up digital shop in 2005, Etsy felt like the antithesis of eBay. Back then, online shopping was still very new, and with its offerings of vintage clothing, handmade jewelry, and crafted goods, Etsy’s boutique chic contrasted well against the auction site, which dominated peer-to-peer selling but felt more like a cluttered yard sale. Now, two and a half years after a lackluster IPO, Etsy looks and feels much different, with one former Etsy loyalist, who used to rely on the site for every gift-giving occasion (and, disclosure, my personal friend), calling it “a slightly more curated eBay.” With 65-page threads in seller forums chronicling this year’s declining sales, which many blame on Etsy’s search algorithms and the fact that mass-produced goods are clogging results, it’s clear that long-term sellers are noticing massive shifts. “Etsy has grown bigger than I think anyone expected,” says Staci Egan, who joined in 2007 with her shop Contempo Jewelry and has been selling handmade earrings and necklaces full time for six years. She calls many of the discussions about the site’s changes, held in Etsy forums and Facebook groups, “exhausting” because they’re “like talking politics, there are always people with different views.” Read more at Racked.