Etsy

One sentence overview: Etsy is an E-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies.

Etsy Ticker : ETSY     

5/29/2020 Stock Price : $80.98

5/29/2020 Market Cap : $9.61B

Total Shares Outstanding Recent Quarterly Report : 123 million shares

Etsy Investor Relations Page

https://investors.etsy.com/home/default.aspx

Etsy SEC Page

https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?CIK=etsy&Find=Search&owner=exclude&action=getcompany

Etsy Glassdoor Ratings

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Etsy-Reviews-E42751.htm

Etsy Overview

Etsy is an American e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. These items fall under a wide range of categories, including jewelry, bags, clothing, home décor and furniture, toys, art, as well as craft supplies and tools. All vintage items must be at least 20 years old. The site follows in the tradition of open craft fairs, giving sellers personal storefronts where they list their goods for a fee of $0.20 per item.

Buying and Selling On Etsy

Creating a shop on Etsy is free; however, each listing that is posted in the shop costs $0.20. Each listing will remain on the shop’s page for a maximum of 4 months, or until someone buys the product. The prices of products are set by the shop owner, but Etsy claims 5% of the final sale price of each listing. Shop owners are sent a bill at the end of every month detailing the fees Etsy has charged them, and they have until the 15th of the following month to pay the fees. Sellers can choose which payment options to offer buyers, including credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal, among others.

On the Etsy homepage, potential buyers can type a “product description” into the search bar, or, alternatively, they can “browse” through a list of options on the left side of the homepage, which includes Art, Home & Living, Jewelry, Women, Men, Kids, Vintage, Weddings, Craft Supplies, Trending Items, Gift Ideas, Mobile Accessories, and more. Furthermore, buyers may choose from a list of categories by clicking on the “categories” link under “More Ways to Shop”. This will bring the user to a page of over 30 categories, each containing subcategories.

When a buyer views a product, they can choose to view the positive percentage feedback of each seller to determine the reliability of the shop. Once a buyer finds a product they would like to buy, they click “Add to Cart”, and that product is added to their virtual “Shopping Cart”. The buyer may then either continue shopping, or purchase the selected item. In order to purchase items, buyers do not have to have an account with Etsy, and can instead register with a Facebook or Google account.

Etsy is popular as a side-business, as well as a place to buy goods made from recycled and upcycled materials, along with less expensive or more unusual versions of mass-produced items. The unique nature of many of the items for sale is part of their appeal to some shoppers. Product photos on Etsy tend to be editorial or artistic instead of commercial catalog style. Sellers can add tags to their products to help buyers find them, and buyers can choose to search for items available locally. Etsy staffers publish lists of featured items.

Most sellers are women, who tend to be college-educated and in their twenties and thirties. Individual Etsy sellers decide which payment options to offer buyers; these options may include credit card, cheque, money order, PayPal, bank transfer, and Etsy gift card.

Etsy sellers range from hobbyists to professional artists who use the site to make a living. According to artists who have developed their Etsy stores into their primary jobs, scaling up production of handmade items can require more than full-time work, especially during the holiday shopping season.

Business and Financial Drivers

Competition

Etsy competitors include EBay and Amazon. In addition, if an Etsy wants to avoid the listing fees associated with Etsy they could leave and set up a website on Shopify.

Future Outlook

Disclaimer: I do not have any formal recommendation for or against this stock, so don’t buy or sell stocks based solely on what you read.

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