Etsy has landed in India, placing a small team on the ground there, and is expanding in Germany and Central Europe through a deal with DaWanda. The online marketplace announced the geographical expansions in a press release and blog post on Saturday.
DaWanda, a privately-held marketplace for handmade and vintage goods based in Berlin, Germany, is closing down on August 30, 2018. Through a “referral agreement,” it will encourage its community of 70,000 active sellers and 2 million active buyers to migrate to Etsy.
As spokesperson told EcommerceBytes the agreement was not an acquisition and said Etsy is not disclosing terms of the deal. “This is a great opportunity for us to grow our base of buyers and sellers in Germany and Central Europe.”
DaWanda’s seller and buyer bases in Germany, Poland, Austria, and Switzerland are complementary to Etsy’s, creating an opportunity for Etsy to expand and enhance its footprint in the region, the company explained in its announcement.
Etsy CEO Josh Silverman was quoted: “Germany has long been one of Etsy’s core geographic markets, and we have nurtured our community there through investments in marketing, technology, community events, and talent in our Berlin office. This agreement expands our reach within Germany and Central Europe, and we’re delighted to welcome DaWanda sellers and buyers as we continue to make significant investments to drive global growth of the Etsy platform. Etsy’s existing marketplace of 35 million active buyers creates exciting new opportunities for DaWanda sellers to grow their businesses, and their buyers will now have access to our more than 50 million listings.”
Beginning the week of July 2, DaWanda sellers will be able to easily import their shops and listings to Etsy free of charge. Etsy will invest in other key areas to support a successful migration, including increased marketing in the region, additional German and Polish customer support, full translation of its website to Polish, and expanded payment options in Germany through a new partnership with Klarna.
Etsy will not acquire any of DaWanda’s assets, liabilities, or employees as part of the agreement.
The spokesperson told us Etsy’s international GMS (Gross Merchandise Sales) has grown 20% for the past three quarters. “In addition to the agreement with DaWanda, we are exploring new opportunities in India, entering new partnerships that make payments and shipping easier for sellers around the world, and increasing its marketing spend in its core geographies.”
And in Saturday’s blog post, Etsy’s Chief Operating Officer Linda Kozlowski said Etsy was continuing to invest in its core markets, writing, “We remain firmly committed to nurturing our five core geographies outside of the US: the UK, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany. A key part of building communities in these countries is making investments that bring new buyers. In 2018, we plan to increase our direct marketing spend by at least 40% compared to 2017, and our international markets will also benefit from this incremental investment. We also continue to leverage our localization and translation expertise to create user experiences that attract and engage local users.”
The press release is located here.
The blog post is located here.
Oh great! More shops open for products from India. Not like they purchase much from the US on Etsy.
Sadly, I have to agree. Never have I ever sold a product to India or China, but many times I have had to file cease and desist orders on Chinese sellers ripping off my photos and watching prices dive through the floor when inexpensive cheap made in India goods are resold as “handmade” or “handcrafted”. More often than not, the quality just isn’t there. I stepped off the Etsy Go Round years ago because it went from a marketplace of strong buyers looking for quality, to drowning in mass produced junk.