Check out this Etsy review and see if this e-commerce platform suits you.
Today, people use the Internet to buy almost anything. There are countless websites one can buy from. Some companies, like Panini, have websites where they directly sell their products to the masses. Some websites do not sell a particular product. Rather, they bring together sellers and buyers and facilitate their sales transactions. These websites are called “online marketplaces.”
EBay is the go-to online marketplace for those who like to auction off items and make bids. However, Etsy is an online marketplace for selling or buying handmade products and vintage items.
What Is Etsy?
The Etsy website is a global marketplace designed for creative and unique products. Here, one can buy handcrafted or vintage items.
Etsy has been online since 2005. It has more than 2,000,000 sellers and more than 40,000,000 buyers. Currently, it has around 60,000,000 products listed for sale.
What Problems Does Etsy Solve?
Etsy solves the following problems:
- Lack of human connection in e-commerce brought about by automation – Etsy tries to solve this problem by nurturing its community of sellers and connecting them with buyers – maintaining the human touch throughout.
- The gap between the people who create or possess special goods and those who want to buy special goods – Etsy helps creative entrepreneurs to find buyers worldwide. In 2021 alone, Etsy was able to generate almost $4 billion of income for its sellers.
Creative people looking for ways to make money from their craft can establish a small business by signing up for an Etsy account. On Etsy, a seller can start offering his products to millions of buyers worldwide for as low as 20 cents.
What Makes Etsy Different?
In this Etsy review, we’ve listed the things that set Etsy apart from its competitors. Etsy is unique because it focuses on two specific groups of products: handmade and vintage. The website divides these products into the following categories:
- Vintage – There are roughly 9 million vintage items available on this website.
- Clothing and Shoes – This is further divided into four categories: women’s, men’s, kids’ and baby, and bags and purses.
- Jewelry and Accessories – Handcrafted hats, headbands, bracelets, and other similar items are available here.
- Wedding and Party – Unique wedding gifts, decorations, and invitations can be bought from Etsy.
- Home and Living – The website offers various home décor, pet supplies, and similar items.
- Art and Collectibles – One can buy dolls, miniatures, sculptures, and collectibles here.
- Toys and Entertainment – This category covers books, musical instruments, stuffed animals, action figures, etc.
- Craft Supplies and Tools – There are many products for those who are into papercraft, sewing, and similar activities.
In addition, Etsy considers the environment while doing business. Etsy offsets 100% of the carbon emissions from packaging and shipping for each delivery. It is the first major online marketplace to do so.
Etsy has partnered with another company to provide sellers with reasonably priced, recyclable, and responsibly sourced packaging materials. Thus, selling special products online becomes more sustainable not just for the sellers but also for the environment.
Also, Etsy is committed to helping independent creators. There are no Etsy warehouses where the products are kept. Instead, Etsy connects the buyers directly to the sellers while making the transactions easy, private, and secure.
These factors separate Etsy from other online marketplaces available today.
Who Is This Platform For?
Etsy is ideal for:
- Creative entrepreneurs who want to sell their products – Etsy makes it easy for sellers to set up shop and earn money.
- People who love handmade products and vintage treasures – If you want special items, try browsing the Etsy website. Etsy has millions of special products that can be bought straight from the individuals who make them.
Integrations
Etsy sellers can enhance the functions of their shops by integrating third-party tools. Integrating these tools can be easily done through the Shop Manager page of the Etsy website. Here are the most popular integrations for Etsy:
- Shopify – By integrating Shopify with Etsy, sellers can synchronize their listings and inventories across different online marketplaces. Thus, sellers can easily track their inventory and consistently present their products across multiple websites.
- WooCommerce – This integration can help sellers copy product information onto different platforms.
- QuickBooks Online – Sellers can create invoices for their Etsy Orders through QuickBooks Online.
Are you finding this Etsy review informative so far? Keep on reading…
Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of using Etsy from the perspective of sellers and buyers:
For Sellers:
- Pros
- The system is easy and simple – Sellers can easily set up and maintain their online shops. No technical skills are required.
- Great community – Etsy has an excellent community of sellers willing to help newcomers.
- Built-in analytics – The website has a dashboard that presents useful information to sellers. Some information displayed are the traffic to the seller’s page, the number of orders received, and the revenue for every item listed in the shop.
- Cons
- Transaction and listing fees – Etsy charges considerable fees for every transaction.
- Only vintage and handmade items are allowed – Sellers who offer factory-made items are not allowed to post their products on Etsy.
For Buyers:
- Pros
- Buyers can easily contact the people they are buying from – Etsy has a messaging feature that connects buyers and sellers.
- Buyers can directly purchase items from artisans – People who love handcrafted items can directly support those who make such products.
- Buyers can easily request personalized and customized items – Thanks to Etsy’s messaging feature, a buyer can request customizing or personalizing the purchased items.
- Wide range of items to choose from – There are millions of unique and special items one can buy. And the sellers are from different parts of the world.
- Cons
- Etsy’s search engine shows unrelated results – The search engine of this online marketplace is not as accurate as Google’s. Users often get search results that are unrelated to the keywords entered.
- Some sellers make false claims – Some sellers falsely claim that their products are handmade.
- Scams – Some unscrupulous people scam people by not filling out orders after receiving the payment.
- Return policies vary from one shop to another – Buyers deal with different sellers, and each seller has a separate return policy.
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Pricing
For Buyers:
- The products are sold at a higher price since they are handmade or vintage.
- The pricing differs based on the product and the seller.
For Sellers:
- Listing fees: Each listing costs $0.20. The listing will expire after 4 months, meaning the seller will have to pay $0.20 again.
- Shipping labels – The cost depends on the choices made when buying shipping labels.
- Transaction Fee – 6.5% of the total order amount.
- Square – Sellers can sell items in person using Square integration. If the items are not synced with the Etsy shop inventory, there will be a fee of $0.20 per transaction. This is on top of the fees charged by Square.
- Payment Processing Fee – Depends on the total sale price, including the shipping fee.
- Deposit fees – This only applies to sellers from certain countries.
- Currency conversion – 2.5% of the amount converted to another currency.
- Regulatory Operating Fee – Based on the order total. Only applicable to sellers in the UK, Spain, France, Italy, and Turkey.
Conclusion
Etsy is a unique online marketplace that caters to the needs of sellers and buyers of handmade or vintage items. It is a website where people can buy gifts and handcrafted items from anywhere in the world and have them personalized before delivery. It is also a company that supports creative entrepreneurs who want to earn from their craft. With Etsy’s unique characteristics and item listings, it is not surprising that it is considered one of the best online marketplaces today.
We hope you found this Etsy review helpful.
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