Etsy CEO Josh Silverman voiced his commitment to vintage goods on the Etsy marketplace, which is generally better known for its handmade goods.
Silverman and Kruti Patel Goyal, General Manager of Seller Services, answered seller questions on a November 13 podcast focused on holiday marketing.
A seller of vintage goods had submitted the question, “Will you be actively promoting vintage in any of your advertising?” The question echoes concerns of many sellers who feel Etsy places the majority of its focus on handmade goods, some believe to the detriment of vintage.
Silverman replied in the affirmative and said he was a fan of vintage goods. He called vintage a “real treasure within Etsy” and said he wanted to invest and grow in that area.
He noted that shoppers who come to Etsy don’t come to with the intent to buy vintage goods. Rather, they come for a certain item like home furnishings or clothing, and find that they love vintage. Silverman called it a “differentiator.”
“As they learn to navigate for it, they learn to navigate for it within a mission to find home furnishings, clothing, jewelry or some other category, rather than as their starting point.”
Goyal added that Etsy would be featuring vintage items in the company’s marketing during the holidays. She noted that Etsy has a gift guide each year featuring vintage. “We’ll also be highlighting vintage items in our performance marketing, so those are all ways we’re going to continue to show our commitment to vintage,” she said.
You can read the transcript of the podcast session on holiday marketing on the Etsy Seller Handbook.
Sounds like a good forked tongue reply to pacify the troops.
Ya, he should be committed O.K.
Just spoke to a person about Etsy.
The first thing they said was,”Oh, I’ve bought some junk on Etsy”, referring to jewelry….
Way to go Silverman.
QUEUE the New “American Hand Made Crafters” venue !
One perceived problem remains: There is still no dedicated antique site. Etsy is great if you want to glue seashells together and sell them but I don’t see them emerging as the go-to site for antique collectible historic stuff. There is a void.
Etsy STOLE money from me under the term “Shipping Labels”.
I NEVER use their labels. I have Stamps.com
Is an authority going to STOP THIS ?
RETRACTION : Etsy din’t steal money (directly) from me.
Turns out, when Etsy first added “Purchase Labels” to the layout,
they craftily hid the option of using my own source for shipping.
It gave me the impression the Only Place to get my labels was from them.
So, I used them ’til I figured out the Secret. The hidden truth. The public scam.
Too bad they resort to this kind of tactic to skim even more money from unwary artists.
GO TO : “Orders and Shipping”, click on the order to be shipped, at the top left — click on the “New” tab next to the “more actions” tab. Click on “Mark Complete”. Select the shipping service, enter the tracking number in the window, edit the “note to buyer”…I always put the tracking number in there as well….hit save. Then down at the bottom right, hit “mark order complete”. DONE !
Etsy should have made this routine the DEFAULT. But they decided to be sneaks and hide it in the background.
So they only snookered me for a little while. Now, I save a TON of money NOT using their labels.
Hahahaha! Does this explain why sellers of GENUINE vintage get harassed by the semi literate muppets in “marketplace integrity” (none of whom know anything about vintage)
when some spineless snitch or a jealous competitor flags an item in their shop?
Meantime there are stores fully stocked with fake vintage direct from Ali Express which are allowed to trade unchecked.
Antique category, = No feedback, No returns 25 yrs old or >. it is understood items older than 25 years require servicing! Either Etsy or eBay needs to wake Up!