Etsy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Etsy is a website which focuses primarily on providing the general public with a way to buy and sell handmade items. Many have compared the site to a wide open craft fair, because it grants sellers their own personal storefronts where they may list items for a small fee and showcase their handcrafted goods.
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[edit] History
The site was launched in June of 2005 by iospace, a small company composed of Robert Kalin, Chris Maguire and Haim Schoppik. Later on Jared Tarbell joined the team, followed by Matthew Stinchcomb (formerly of the French Kicks).
Since its launch on June 18, 2005, Etsy has grown significantly to tens of thousands of sellers and quadruple that in buyer accounts. The programmers frequently add new tools and functionality to the site to help sellers gain exposure and traffic.
Etsy passed $1M in sales on June 15th, 2006.
The administrators recently upgraded the site from "Etsy beta" to "Etsy v.2", which contains many site improvements such as categories within shops and a sitewide shopping cart. Etsy is no longer in beta, and most of the initial v.2 bugs have been worked out. Etsy now has permanent offices (called the "Etsy Labs")in Brooklyn, NY.
[edit] Flash Browsing Tools
One of Etsy's primary draws is its Macromedia Flash tools for browsing products, which were created by generative artist Jared Tarbell. These tools include:
- Geolocator: allows users to choose locations on the world map by which to find sellers and browse products.
- Shop By Color: a tool where users choose a particular color and the closest matching items are displayed to the user.
- Time Machine: shows the most recent additions to Etsy in reverse chronological order. There are now two different versions this module.
- Sampler: always displays the top sellers, top items, most recent 100 sales, 100 random sellers, and 100 random items.
- Hearts/Favorites: the system of tracking favorites has several flash modules
- Hearts Me: an interactive way to view the list of people who have marked a particular seller as a favorite seller. This module can be found in the side bar on a seller's store.
- Favorite Connections: a tool that picks a random sampling of items from a specific user's list of favorite items. Once one of these items is clicked on by the user, a sample is done of 2 other users who have marked the same item as a favorite, and five of their favorited items are displayed as well. Thus, this module can be used to 'jump' to the favorite connections of other sellers. This module can be found in the side bar on a seller's store.
- Suggestions: a tool that generates a list of product recommendations based on a random sampling of items a user has added to his own favorites list. This module can be found in the 'Favorites' section under "Your Account" when logged in.
These tools are unique and very new to online shopping, but prove to be very useful when shoppers just want to browse seemingly at random based on a few ideas, colors, or thoughts. They provide an alternative means of browsing than the typical text-based searches found in most online shopping sites.
[edit] Alchemy
Alchemy is a feature that allows users to request made-to-order items from the Etsy sellers. Once an Alchemy listing has been created, any seller on the site can bid on the job. The buyer picks a winning bid, and a conversation is automatically created between the two parties so they can handle the particulars of the transaction.
There is a subsection of alchemy that allows you to request custom items from one specific seller rather than from the entire Etsy community. This part of alchemy is found on individual Etsy seller pages through a link that reads 'request an item from this seller through Alchemy'.
Alchemy is a fairly new addition to the site, and is still seen by some as a buggy and over-complicated process. Others work with it and make a large percentage of their sales through it.
Currently, this feature is being refurbished. See note on the site's Alchemy page.
[edit] Etsicon (Popular Terminology)
- Hearting
- When a user marks a seller or a particular product as a "favorite." list of users who "heart" any item can be viewed by clicking the "See who hearts this item" link on that items page.
- Etsyian
- A citizen of the Etsy community, either seller or buyer.
- Favorites
- An Etsy member tool used for marking "favorite" sellers and items. The list of one's favorites can be found under "Your Account" when logged into Etsy.
- Favoriting
- The act of marking a seller or item as a "favorite" in one's account. To add a favorite item, click the link "Add item to favorites" when viewing that items page. To mark a favorite seller, click the link "Add seller to favorites" when viewing any item page belonging to that seller, or when viewing their shop homepage.
- Frell
- A substitution made by the Etsy forum and chat filtering system, replacing the "F-word." Its usage has become popular in the forums and has also spawned products for sale on Etsy. "Frell" was originally used in the science fiction television show, Farscape.
- PIF
- Stands for Pay it forward--a seller-created program by which sellers post an item for $0.20 (minimum price) in order to build good "karma."
The program fell under scrutiny after some sellers adopted the practice of listing large numbers of PIF items in order to increase their feedback status and their standing on the "Top Seller's" list. This practice is largely regarded by the community as paid advertising, and is seen as going against the original intent of the program.
- Pimp, Pimping
- To promote an item from one's own shop (generally a newly-listed item) in the chatroom.
- Convo
- Short-hand text for "conversation," which is the name of a tool to send private messages (or site-based email) on Etsy.
- Item of the Day
- A specialty thread started by sellers in the "Sellers" forum, where shops can post 1 item that they flag as a "special" item for that day.
- Street Team
- The viral marketing program, where iospace employee Matt encourages volunteer Etsy sellers--organized by region--to help promote Etsy at craft fairs and public events.
- Manflesh
- Term for a male significant other. Has been picked up by frequenters of the chat rooms and sometimes is used when referencing any man, particularly the male administrators of Etsy.
- Minion
- A young child.
- NORM!!!
- The greeting used in the Etsy Member chatrooms for regulars in the chatroom. Based on the television show Cheers
