Last year Etsy, the marketplace for hand crafted goods, was powering ahead with 22 million members in nearly 200 countries and had passed the $895 million mark for sales in 2012 (compared to $525 million for all of 2011). By the end of the year, over 100 million items had been sold in Etsy’s history. And as she explains in this video shot at the recent DLD conference in Munich, now Europe is a big opportunity according to Caroline Drucker, Etsy’s country manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Although it faces local competitors like DaWanda, it appars there remains plenty of room for growth.
Indeed, for international expansion Etsy has raised $40 million in funding last May from Accel Partners, Index Ventures, and Union Square Ventures. It also acquired the team behind Mixel, the iOS app for creating photo collages.
Since its launch in June 2005, Etsy, which focuses on allowing makers to sell handmade and vintage items, as well as art and craft supplies. The items include art, photography, clothing, jewelry, edibles, quilts, and toys. Etsy is modeled after open craft fairs that give sellers personal storefronts where they can list their goods. The company charges users a flat listing fee (of 20 cents per items), and takes a commission of 3.5% off all items sold.
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