course material

1. (Mt) – JJC Business Analysis Etsy Manufacturing Company Paper
The clock ticked by, each second counting down the time CEO Josh Silverman had left. In
one week he was to deliver his pitch to the board of directors on his innovative strategy and
implementation plan for continuing Etsy’s growth. He scrolled through the Etsy website,
admiring the unique handcrafted goods thousands of artists sold through his company’s
platform. As he contemplated the situation at hand, he thought of Milk and Honey Luxuries,
a recent Etsy success story. Founder Sarah Parker started Mile and Honey Luxuries in 2011
to sell customized handmade silverware, coffee mugs, and cutting boards. It was originally a
side project while Parker completed her undergraduate degree towards becoming an
anesthesiologist, but Milk and Honey Luxuries quickly became so successful that she and
her husband continued with the business full-time. Since then, Milk and Honey Luxuries had
been featured nationwide in Nordstrom, People Magazine, and on the Ellen DeGeneres
Show. With more than 81,000 sales since 2011, Milk and Honey Luxuries was nothing short
of a major success. With this success story in mind, Silverman’s mind wandered to the
problems at hand and the situation Etsy was currently facing. Etsy Overview Etsy was one
of the world’s leading global marketplaces for handmade and manufactured goods. It was
known as the champion for entrepreneurs, operating as a peer-to-peer (P2P) online
platform for entrepreneurs, artists, and artisans to sell goods to a vast audience of nearly 40
million active buyers. Sellers could add an item for just 20 cents, and buyers could find an
item with a click of the search button. 1 Etsy prided itself on connecting sellers and buyers
for all occasions (see Exhibit 1). As a relatively young company, founded in 2005, Etsy had
successfully grown at a rapid pace. However, with quick success came challenges. Within its
niche marketplace of P2P platforms for handmade items, Etsy had experienced much
success due to its forward-thinking abilities and often being a first or early mover. For
example, Etsy was one of the first platforms of its kind to launch back in 2005. Due to the
few competitors at the time, Etsy was able to gain a large customer base very quickly.
Relating to this, Etsy invested early in improving its mobile capabilities, meaning by the
time the majority of the population was making purchases on their phones, Etsy was
already one of the industry leaders in this category. As an early mover, Etsy saw its revenue
increase year-over-year (see Exhibit 2). However, given the success of Etsy and the low
barriers to entry, the industry was becoming saturated with competition. A quick Google
search revealed more than twenty viable competitors. A few of the larger sites included
Shopify, Big Cartel, eBay, and Amazon Handmade. These competitors often competed with
Etsy by catering to one specific niche of the marketplace instead of to all types of artisans

2. and artists as Etsy did.i Etsy was experiencing in the P2P e-commerce industry what Blue
Apron and Ipsy had experienced in the subscription box industry. While they previously had
the largest shares of the industry due to being early movers, their success and the ease of
entry caused a plethora of competitors to enter leading to an over-crowded marketplace.ii
Etsy had reached a key point in its strategy development. The company’s financials had
never looked better and were expected to continue positive growth both domestically and
internationally. In 2018, Etsy earned its largest gross merchandise sales to date of $3.93
billion, contributed by its 39.4 million active buyers and 2.1 million active sellers. However,
Etsy had always been a differentiator and an early mover, and it was poised to look for the
“next big thing.”iii Silverman contemplated this and how he could develop a strategy that
addressed all of the issues at hand. He thought of Etsy’s history and pondered if anything in
Etsy’s past could help him with the problem at hand. 2 History of Etsy A Brooklyn
Apartment (2005 – 2007) Etsy’s humble beginnings started in 2005 when Rob Kalin, Chris
Maguire, and Haim Schoppik cofounded Etsy in a Brooklyn apartment. They noted the
staying power of the internet and the growing presence of e-commerce and thus established
their goal: create an online platform for artists and craftsmen to gain exposure and sell their
goods. The name Etsy came from the Italian word, “etsi,” which people often said to mean
“oh, yes.” Kalin stated, “I wanted a nonsense word because I wanted to build the brand from
scratch.”iv By 2007, Etsy was well on its way to becoming the powerhouse it is known as
today. It had recruited nearly 450,000 registered sellers garnering $26 million in sales. By
its second birthday, Etsy had achieved its one-millionth sale and raised more than $3
million in venture funding. However, the dream trio of cofounders Kalin, Maguire, and
Schoppik was short-lived. An Executive Shift (2008 – 2011) Maguire and Schoppik quickly
grew frustrated with Kalin as he was noted for being “more of a dreamer than an executer,”
causing Maguire and Schoppik to put in more hours than they were happy with. In August
2008, they left the company, leaving Kalin and Etsy as a whole in desperate need of new
leadership. In stepped Chad Dickerson, formerly the Senior Director of Product at Yahoo,
and the force that would propel Etsy to the widely used platform it is today. At the same
time Kalin hired Dickerson as CTO, he also stepped away from the day-to-day operations. By
2011, Dickerson had replaced Kalin as CEO, so for the the first time Etsy was completely
without any of its three original cofounders, marking a key culture shift in the company.
Under Dickerson’s leadership, Etsy created People Search, a social networking platform that
connected buyers and sellers with one another so they could become friends. This was part
of Dickerson’s “re-imagination of commerce” which introduced a lot of innovative new tools
to Etsy’s website.v To Mobile and Beyond (2012 – 2014) In 2012, Etsy announced it would
become a B-Corporation. This emphasized Etsy’s commitment to balancing the triple
bottom line which set itself apart from competitors. Around the same time, Etsy announced
it had raised $40 million in Series F funding to use for international expansion into
Australia, France, and Germany. Later that year in May, Etsy acquired Trunkt as a way to sell
artisanal goods wholesale. These three key changes of becoming a B-Corporation,
expanding internationally, and acquiring Trunkt epitomized Dickerson’s determination to
make Etsy more financially viable. During this time period, a new consumer trend caused
Dickerson to start making another key addition to Etsy: a mobile application. In fact, two

3. different apps were being developed; one for buyers and one for sellers. Etsy acquired
Lascaux Co. in 2013 which developed mobile social networking applications. In addition,
2014 saw the hire of Mike Grishaver who was formerly Senior Vice President of Product at
Pandora where he helped develop Pandora’s mobile user experience. These two key moves
by Dickerson combined with the vast resources poured into making Etsy more user friendly
was critical in keeping Etsy as an early mover in the P2P e-commerce industry. However,
under Dickerson’s leadership, more shakeups were happening around this time. Etsy was
founded as being the champion for entrepreneurs and artists so only handmade items could
be sold on Etsy. In 2013, this policy was changed. Along with other shifts in company
policies and values, sellers could now start selling manufactured items. This caused a major
uproar. Sellers and buyers were furious at this change because “this was a stark shift” away
from grassroots idealism Etsy was founded on.vi Because of this some sellers moved to
smaller competitors such as Shopify, Big Cartel, Zibbet, and Amazon Handmade.vii
However, gross merchandise sales increased from $895 million to $1.34 billion that year. By
2014, this had once again grown to a healthy $1.93 billion. 3 Etsy’s IPO (2015 – Present)
Ten years after launching in a Brooklyn apartment, Etsy announced in March 2015 that it
had filed for a $100 million IPO. On April 16, Etsy officially went public with a $1.8 billion
valuation, raising $237 million. In 2016, Etsy acquired AI software company Blackbird
Technologies which it used to enhance the searching and shopping facets of Etsy’s platform.
While this contributed well to Etsy’s growth, 2017 saw a stark change in Etsy’s
personnel.viii On May 3, 2017, newly-appointed CEO Josh Silverman spoke to a roomful of
shocked Etsy employees a day after former CEO Chad Dickerson and 80 other employees
had been let go in Etsy’s first-ever large layoffs. A couple months later, another 140
employees were laid off. This all came about because earlier in 2017 there were fears of a
takeover after private equity firms began buying a plethora of shares. Later that year, Etsy
gave up its status as a B-Corporation due to the complexity of maintaining that within its
current corporate structure. However, Etsy also achieved its goal of running zero waste
operations globally in 2018. Since then, Etsy has thrived financially under Silverman’s
leadership and the culture shock within the company has subsided. In 2018, Etsy earned its
largest gross merchandise sales to date of $3.93 billion, contributing to its $604 million in
revenue. Etsy’s earnings are one of the key contributing factors to its rising stock price
which broke $70 at the end of its second quarter for 2019. See Exhibit 3 for a history of
Etsy’s stock price. As of December 31, 2018, Etsy had 39.4 million active buyers and 2.1
million active sellers, 86% of whom were women.ix Silverman noted Etsy’s past as being of
major importance to the company. Even though Etsy changed since its launch in 2005, its
foundation remained the same. Given the industry Etsy operated within, this was vital to its
success. Industry Overview An E-commerce Boom Etsy operated primarily within the e-
commerce and online auction industry, specifically the peer-to-peer platform sector of this.
As e-commerce increased in popularity (see Exhibit 7), having a presence online was
increasingly more important for artists and artisans. Etsy founders noticed this back in
2005, and it continued to stay ahead of trends as the e-commerce industry boomed. Overall,
this $546 billion industry was flourishing, and revenue was expected to increase each year.
Due to the increasing number of customers looking to increase the convenience of shopping

4. while reducing the time spent on it, this industry was expected to continue its rapid growth.
From 2020 to 2025, the industry in the US was expected to grow at an annual rate of 10% as
shown in Exhibit 8. A key contributor to this increase was the growth of consumer spending
due to increased discretionary income over the past few years. This meant even more niche
marketplaces would continue to pop up online. However, the low barriers to entry and
increasing competition presented a threat to Etsy that would only get worse as this industry
did well. It would be even more important than ever for Etsy to differentiate itself. In
addition, as internet access continued to grow in developing countries, there was even more
opportunity for international expansion. Internet was becoming more widespread, so those
previously without access to the internet were suddenly online. So, while the e-commerce
and online auction industry continued to thrive in the growth stage of many developed
countries, there was also a chance for Etsy to continue capitalizing on developing countries
as they entered the introductory phase of the life cycle.x 4 The Rise of Entrepreneurship As
shown in the growing number of Etsy sellers, entrepreneurship was flourishing in the US
and many countries across the world including Switzerland, Canada, the Netherlands, and
the UK to name a few. Around the world, 1 in 18 people owned their own business and this
was expected to increase. Entrepreneurship had been on the rise in the past decade which
contributed to many competing P2P online platforms forming. Because brick-and-mortar
locations were less popular, entrepreneurs needed a place to sell their goods online.
However, creating an entire online storefront from scratch was much more difficult and
expensive for entrepreneurs and artists than creating an online storefront on an existing
platform. With the number of entrepreneurs growing, specifically artists and artisans, these
platforms would be in very high demand, leading to even more competition.xi Going Green
Sustainability and a focus on the triple bottom line were increasingly less of a competitive
advantage for companies and more of an expectation. The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement
and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals showed many countries’ dedication
to healing the planet. Many companies noticed this trend and began to focus efforts on
reducing emissions, reusing recyclable products, and shifting towards using electronics
instead of paper. Some companies did this without much public knowledge, while others
placed it upfront in their advertisements. Some companies, such as Etsy at one point in time,
even became a B-Corporation where they were legally required to report on and balance
the social, environmental, and economic impacts they had. Collectively, this showed the rise
of “green” companies and the importance stakeholders placed on them.xii With the e-
commerce and online auction industry booming, the number of entrepreneurs continuing to
rise, and companies focusing more on going green, Etsy had a lot of potential opportunities
and threats in need of being addressed. However, Silverman noted a careful evaluation of
Etsy’s main competitors would enhance this external analysis even further, helping him to
make a better analyzed decision on Etsy’s future. Etsy’s Competitors Amazon Handmade
Amazon was the world’s largest publicly traded online retailer with the ability to purchase
almost any good. Noting the massive demand for handmade goods, this multinational giant
used its platform and influence to develop Amazon Handmade, a microsite within Amazon
that was an artisan-only community for selling handmade goods using Fulfillment by
Amazon. Amazon Handmade operated in more than 80 countries and had millions of

5. shoppers use it. As a means for ensuring authenticity, to sell on Amazon Handmade sellers
had to apply to ensure their product was handmade, and Amazon would take a 15% referral
fee upon completion of a sale. This allowed buyers to assure they were getting high-quality
handmade goods. While Amazon also had millions of sellers for non-artisanal products on
its main site, Amazon Handmade presented direct competition for Etsy’s original platform
of buying and selling handcrafted goods.xiii Big Cartel Priding themselves on being 100%
independent and only offering handmade products, Big Cartel was started in 2005 to
compete with Etsy. While it did not have the same brand power Etsy had, Big Cartel still
helped nearly one million sellers make more than $2.5 billion across the world. All users
had to do to sell on Big Cartel is purchase a plan ranging from $9.99 to $29.99 a month. One
of Big Cartel’s main competitive advantages was its continuous alignment with its core
values of only selling handmade items by artists. It had seen a lot of success with this and
was even named one of America’s best small 5 companies by Forbes in 2018. Because of its
commitment to being a platform solely for handmade goods, it had seen sellers and users
upset by Etsy’s changes in policies shift to its platform, making it a notable competitor.xiv
eBay As the world’s leading online auction website, eBay had more than 171 million active
buyers. What made eBay stand out was its bidding platform which allowed a product to be
first offered at a base price, and then let potential buyers try and outbid each other during a
set period of time. Users could sell almost any item they had, whether used or newly
handmade with two varying fees of insertion fees and final value fees. While Etsy did not
offer users the ability to sell used items, they directly competed with eBay’s unique bidding
platform when it came to newly manufactured or handmade goods. Because eBay users sold
so many different and unique products, they had a massive 171 million active buyers which
presented Etsy with some competitive challenges.xv Shopify Shopify was a publicly traded
and Canadian-based e-commerce website. It offered a platform to small retailers and artists
alike. It was similar to Amazon Marketplace as both manufactured and handmade goods
could be sold here by purchasing monthly plans ranging from $29 to $299 a month. What
made this such large competition for Etsy was that Etsy users could now sell both
manufactured and handmade items just like Shopify users. Whereas Etsy was founded as an
online selling platform for handmade goods, Shopify was founded to sell snowboard
equipment online and had grown to multiple different products being sold. Currently,
Shopify had more than 800,000 active online sellers worth $100 billion in sales. Because
Etsy was currently shifting more towards Shopify’s business model of being a platform for
both manufactured and handmade goods, Shopify would become an increasingly more
important competitor for Etsy to address if they continued with their current strategy.xvi
Etsy’s Current Strategy “Keep commerce human.” Etsy focused on differentiating itself
through this mission and its five accompanying values: • • • • • Commit to our craft
Minimize waste Embrace differences Dig deeper Lead with optimism As shown within its
mission and values, Etsy had placed an emphasis on its stakeholders: its employees, its
users (both sellers and buyers), and its shareholders. Its founding strategy was to provide
an amazing platform that allowed artists and artisans to increase their own brands and sell
online. In 2019, this strategy had expanded to Etsy providing a platform for both
manufactured and handmade goods to be sold to millions of people around the world. Etsy

6. continued to create value for its users through its state-of-theart platform and large
customer base, increasing the number of sales its sellers made each year, and providing
more product options for buyers year-over-year. Etsy had primarily grown through
acquisitions and innovative changes made by the executive team including allowing
manufactured items to be sold and going mobile sooner than competitors. These improved
Etsy’s capabilities quicker than developing them on its own, allowing it to grow faster than a
lot of its competition. This allowed it to differentiate in key areas including its large seller
and user base, its distinguished software, and its commitment to more than just the bottom
line.xvii 6 One of Etsy’s main competitive advantages was its vast number of users. In 2018,
2.1 million sellers sold to 39.4 million buyers on Etsy. Exhibit 4 shows the trajectory in Etsy
sellers, exhibiting a trend of continuous improvement and growth. These statistics
epitomize the diverse product offerings Etsy had which attracted all its users from across
six continents and almost every country.xviii This growth translated into revenue
improvements each year and in 2018 was just under $604 million. While cost of revenue
continued to increase each year as expected from a growing company, revenue was growing
at a faster rate leading to an increasingly higher operating profit. In 2017 and 2018 Etsy
also witnessed the first two years it turned a net profit (see Exhibit 5).xix Overall, the
largest contributor to this strong financial performance had been Etsy’s continuous growth
in gross merchandise sales. As shown in Exhibit 6, it improved to $3.93 billion in 2018, up
from $3.25 billion in 2017. Relating to this, Etsy’s mobile prominence accounted for nearly
half of its sales. Etsy’s forward-thinking ability allowed it to invest in mobile accessibility
early on, allowing it to hone its software capabilities in this area. Combine this with its state-
of-the-art online platform and Etsy had established itself as a very reliable P2P online
platform with very few notable issues in the past decade. This instilled trust in all users,
allowing Etsy the capability to continue growing with ease, including into international
markets. While Etsy had experienced some success internationally, sales in comparison to
the United States marketplace were subpar. Of the $3.93 billion in 2018 gross merchandise
sales, only 35% came from international sales, showing just how important the United
States market was for Etsy. Currently, Etsy’s top five foreign markets from largest down
were: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, and France. With Etsy being in so
many countries in addition to these six, having 65% of gross merchandise sales come from
the United States alone showed an over-reliance on this domestic marketplace. One of the
reasons for this could be Etsy expanded too quickly into some foreign markets in the past
few years, but nonetheless it was struggling to balance its worldwide market
management.xx Overall, Etsy’s strategy had been working, but it was far from perfect. As a
differentiator and early mover, Etsy needed to identify future trends before its competitors
to stay successful. With a growing number of viable competitors this was increasingly
difficult to do. As CEO of Etsy, Silverman knew all these ins and outs of the company very
well, including its unique operations. Operations Etsy operated as a middleman between
sellers and buyers of manufactured and handcrafted goods. Etsy’s online and mobile
platforms allowed buyers and sellers to connect for business transactions and to
communicate about their crafts. Given the wide-ranging services Etsy offered, revenues
came from multiple sources. Broken down, Etsy’s revenues came from four primary

7. categories: • • • • Fees charged to sellers to list items on Etsy ($0.20) Fees charged for
transactions between sellers and buyers (5% of displayed product price) Revenue from use
of Etsy Payments by sellers to process payments Revenue from Seller Services (optional
services) including Promoted Listings, Etsy Shipping Labels, Pattern, and Etsy Plus In each
of these four categories, revenues were increasing.xxi However, there were two issues of
note within Etsy’s operations. These included Etsy’s tarnished culture and lackluster
international sales. Due to many executive changes over time, policies from top
management kept changing and according to some sellers Etsy “lost their indie cred years
ago”.xxii In addition, the company had recently experienced a mass layoff of more than 200
employees in 2017 which caused many employees to feel upset. Some employees even
released a public petition stating, “We believe these changes represent a move away from
Etsy’s mission and values, and we are feeling uncertain about what the future holds for us as
Etsy employees and 7 for Etsy’s community of creative entrepreneurs.”xxiii In addition,
while Etsy operated on six continents and in nearly every country, only 35% of sales came
from international markets which showed how much Etsy still relied on the United States
marketplace for its revenues. Silverman knew Etsy’s operations still had issues despite its
continuous improvement since he took over as CEO. He took note of this and all the
information he had reviewed about Etsy’s current situation as he sat pondering what the
future of Etsy could hold. The Future of Etsy Etsy was in a position to continue thriving.
Stock prices remained high, revenues were reaching unprecedented levels, and there were
opportunities for Etsy to grow. However, many questions remained. Could (or should) Etsy
continue to move in the direction of being a differentiator and early mover? How could Etsy
position itself for future growth despite the increasing number of competitors? Etsy was at
a crucial point in deciding what its future strategy would entail and how it could implement
this. Silverman’s decision would forever alter the course of Etsy and all of this ran through
his head as he sat at his desk. The clicking of Silverman’s clock seemed even louder now as
time slipped away. Reflecting on the recent success story of Sarah Parker’s Milk and Honey
Luxuries, Silverman wondered how Etsy could better support similar entrepreneurs and
artists. The decision was becoming complex and difficult to navigate, perhaps a professional
consultation would provide helpful insight into next steps. With a long sigh, Silverman
reached for his phone and dialed the number for the consultants. They would have an
answer to Etsy’s future. 8 Exhibit 1: Etsy connects buyers and sellers for occasions
throughout the year Source: 2018 Annual Report of Etsy xxiv 9 Exhibit 2: Etsy’s year-end
revenue (2014 – 2018) Revenue (in millions) 700 Revenue (in millions) 600 500 400 300
200 100 0 2014 2015 2016 Year Source: Mergent Online Financial Report xxv Exhibit 3:
Number of active Etsy sellers (2012 – 2018) Source: Statista xxvi 10 2017 2018 Exhibit 4:
Etsy’s stock price (April 2015 launch to August 2019) Source: Google Finance xxvii 11
Exhibit 5: Etsy’s 2017 and 2018 income statements Source: Mergent Online Financial
Report xxviii 12 Exhibit 6: Etsy’s gross merchandise sales (2015 – 2018) Source: 2018
Annual Report of Etsy xxix Exhibit 7: E-commerce share of total global retail sales (2015 –
2021) Source: Adrian’s Future of Ecommerce in 2019 xxx 13 Exhibit 8: E-commerce and
online auction industry revenue outlook Source: IBISWorld Industry Report xxxi 14 i
Campbell, K. (2019, August 6). The 9 best Etsy alternatives for creative entrepreneurs.

8. Retrieved from https://www.fundera.com/blog/etsy-alternatives ii Cheng, A. (2018, May
30). The subscription box industry is getting more crowded than ever. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andriacheng/2018/05/30/the-subscription-box-industry-
is-gettingmore-crowded-than-ever/#e60c3933a39e iii Etsy. (2019). About. Retrieved from
https://www.etsy.com/about iv Lammle, R. (2011, April 22). How Etsy, eBay, Reddit got
their names. Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/04/22/website.name.origins.mf/index.html v Reader,
R. (2015, March 5). A brief history of Etsy, from 2005 Brooklyn launch to 2015 IPO.
Retrieved from https://venturebeat.com/2015/03/05/a-brief-history-of-etsy-from-2005-
brooklyn-launch-to-2015ipo/ vi Reader, R. (2015, March 5). A brief history of Etsy, from
2005 Brooklyn launch to 2015 IPO. Retrieved from
https://venturebeat.com/2015/03/05/a-brief-history-of-etsy-from-2005-brooklyn-launch-
to-2015ipo/ vii Campbell, K. (2019, August 6). The 9 best Etsy alternatives for creative
entrepreneurs. Retrieved from https://www.fundera.com/blog/etsy-alternatives viii
Majewski, T. (2015, November 5). A brief history of Etsy on its 10th anniversary. Retrieved
from https://www.builtinnyc.com/2015/11/04/brief-history-etsy ix Home Stratosphere.
(2018). The history and evolution of Etsy. Retrieved from
https://www.homestratosphere.com/etsy-history/ x Spitzer, D. (2019, July). E-Commerce
& Online Auctions in the US. IBISWorld Industry Report 45411a. Retrieved from IBISWorld
database. xi Leadem, R. (2016, November 13). 46 facts you should know about
entrepreneurship (infographic). Retriseved from
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/285079 xii Makower, J. (2018, January 16). The
state of green business, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.greenbiz.com/article/state-
green-business-2018 xiii Amazon Services. (2019). Handmade. Retrieved from
https://services.amazon.com/handmade/handmade.html.html.html.html.html.html xiv Big
Cartel. (2019). About. Retrieved from https://www.bigcartel.com/about xv eBay. (2019).
Out History. Retrieved from https://www.ebayinc.com/company/our-history/ xvi Shopify.
(2019). About. Retrieved from https://www.shopify.com/abouts xvii Etsy. (2018). 2018
annual report of Etsy. Retrieved from http://2018annualreport.etsy.com/home xviii
Clement, J. (2019, August 9). Number of active sellers from 2012 to 2018 (in 1,000).
Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/409374/etsy-active-sellers/ xix “Etsy
Inc.” (2019, July). Etsy Inc (NMS: ETSY). Mergent Online Financial Report. Retrieved from
Mergent Online database. xx Etsy. (2018). 2018 annual report of Etsy. Retrieved from
http://2018annualreport.etsy.com/home xxi Etsy. (2019, February 25). Etsy, Inc. reports
fourth quarter and full year 2018 financial results. Retrieved from
https://investors.etsy.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2019/Etsy-IncReports-
Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2018-Financial-Results/default.aspx xxii Dobush, G. (2015,
February 19). How Etsy alienated its crafters and lost its soul. Retrieved from
https://www.wired.com/2015/02/etsy-not-good-for-crafters/ 15 xxiii O’Donovan, C.
(2017, August 4). Some Etsy employees aren’t happy about the company’s more corporate
direction. Retrieved from
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/asetsys-new-leadership-
celebrates-earnings-some-employees xxiv Etsy. (2018). 2018 annual report of Etsy.

9. Retrieved from http://2018annualreport.etsy.com/home xxv “Etsy Inc.” (2019, July). Etsy
Inc (NMS: ETSY). Mergent Online Financial Report. Retrieved from Mergent Online
database. xxvi Clement, J. (2019, August 9). Number of active sellers from 2012 to 2018 (in
1,000). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/409374/etsy-active-sellers/
xxvii Google Finance. (2019, August 15). NASDAQ: ETSY. Retrieved from Google Finance
xxviii “Etsy Inc.” (2019, July). Etsy Inc (NMS: ETSY). Mergent Online Financial Report.
Retrieved from Mergent Online database. xxix Etsy. (2018). 2018 annual report of Etsy.
Retrieved from http://2018annualreport.etsy.com/home xxx Adrian. (2019). Future of
ecommerce in 2019: 10 international growth trends. Retrieved from
https://beeketing.com/blog/future-ecommerce-2019/ xxxi Spitzer, D. (2019, July). E-
Commerce & Online Auctions in the US. IBISWorld Industry Report 45411a. Retrieved from
IBISWorld database 16