It seems that Amazon is all set to challenge Etsy in the growing handmade goods marketplace. It has launched a new marketplace, called Handmade at Amazon and it opened this Thursday with over 80,000 items from 5,000 sellers in over 60 countries. The marketplace lets artisans sell their handmade wares easily and reach a global market.
Etsy has been around since 2005 and has annual sales of over $2 billion, which shows that there is a growingmarket for upscale pet furniture, handmade merchandise and knitted clothing. Amazon is an e-commerce giant, which rakes in about $75 billion in annual sales and is now looking to take advantage of that market. Amazon had already started to send out invitations to artisans, even those on Etsy to join their marketplace in order to sell their crafts.
A New Horizon Looming for Amazon
What sets handmade items on Amazon apart from Etsy is that Amazon can help artists reach a global audience easily, which is something Etsy is unable to provide anymore. The numbers and appeal of Amazon easily dwarf that of Etsy’s as can be seen by the company’s annual profit margins, which have increased steadily over time and propelled it past Walmart with sales figures of over $250 billion.
Amazon is going to providing 6 main categories on Handmade, which will include:
- Home
- Jewelry
- Artwork
- Stationary & party supplies
- Dining & kitchen
- Baby
Amazon clearly has a global appeal, with over 285 million active customers, which dwarfs Etsy’s 22 million in a big way. This provides the artisans with more customers and more traffic, while Amazon also offers its logistics backing to the sellers, which allows them to ship their products all over the world.
A Bigger Payday for Amazon
With all the unique capabilities that Amazon is offering the vendors, it is highly plausible that most sellers will not hesitate in giving Amazon a larger cut of their sales. Currently, Etsy is charging its vendors a 20-cent fee for every item that a seller has listed on the website and they will take around 3.5 percent in terms of the sales cut. Amazon is currently not charging any listing fee, but is going to take 12 percent sales cut from sellers. This includes all the costs for services offered by Amazon to sellers, which includes fraud and marketing protection, and the payment processing.
The author of ‘The Handmade Entrepreneur’ and the chief executive of Handmade Seller magazine, Dani Marie, stated that Amazon has got all the capabilities to make this program a resounding success for themselves. They have a global appeal and have all marketing prowess in the world, which is enticing for all sellers, since they are going to get more consumer exposure, which will mean more sales. Therefore, they will not hesitate in giving Amazon a bigger payday, since they are getting so much more!
The challenge has been laid down by Amazon to Etsy, and it seems that with more resources and a global reach Amazon is all set to dominate the handmade crafts market with Handmade on Amazon.
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