Comments on: Etsy http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/ There are those who experiment and those who follow the formula Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:59:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Etsy Part II | Bronte Media http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-31648 Etsy Part II | Bronte Media Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:33:34 +0000 http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-31648 [...] readers know that I am in love with Etsy, a marketplace for handmade goods. The CEO, Rob Kalin, is even more [...] […] readers know that I am in love with Etsy, a marketplace for handmade goods. The CEO, Rob Kalin, is even more […]

]]> By: a. http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-28808 a. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 21:30:04 +0000 http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-28808 Etsy really dug their own pit by ever putting Etsy into the same sentence with eBay. But at that time, Etsy were pioneers, the online handmade/indie designers scene just barely out of the basements (in regards to better designed websites and blogging), and no one would have gotten the concept if worded different. I think your own analogy fits better with what Etsy really is (that's the way they should have considered). For once, because eBay is an auction site, Etsy isn't; for another, handmade products are sold by the artists themselves, not by third party retailers. I have the feeling that people often prefer the eBay analogy over using words such as "retail classifieds" (which Etsy is, and much more in addition, only that it doesn't look like a conventional classifieds site). Honestly, I don't know what's better or worse. The internet is reshaping ways to shop, and often our standardized marketing terms hardly manage to make facts and expectations meet. Usability - this certainly lies in the eyes of the beholder. Could you give some examples for why Etsy is one of the best sites in regards to usability? What are they doing better than others, when we keep an average internet shopper in mind with average internet skills and an averagely good computer? Etsy really dug their own pit by ever putting Etsy into the same sentence with eBay. But at that time, Etsy were pioneers, the online handmade/indie designers scene just barely out of the basements (in regards to better designed websites and blogging), and no one would have gotten the concept if worded different.
I think your own analogy fits better with what Etsy really is (that’s the way they should have considered). For once, because eBay is an auction site, Etsy isn’t; for another, handmade products are sold by the artists themselves, not by third party retailers.

I have the feeling that people often prefer the eBay analogy over using words such as “retail classifieds” (which Etsy is, and much more in addition, only that it doesn’t look like a conventional classifieds site). Honestly, I don’t know what’s better or worse. The internet is reshaping ways to shop, and often our standardized marketing terms hardly manage to make facts and expectations meet.

Usability - this certainly lies in the eyes of the beholder. Could you give some examples for why Etsy is one of the best sites in regards to usability? What are they doing better than others, when we keep an average internet shopper in mind with average internet skills and an averagely good computer?

]]> By: nikiscevak http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-27728 nikiscevak Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:44:27 +0000 http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-27728 Steve, how about the truth? :) Steve, how about the truth? :)

]]> By: Steve http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-27694 Steve Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:34:25 +0000 http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-27694 "one of the best examples of usability on the web" - Etsy? What's in that glass you're drinking from Niki? “one of the best examples of usability on the web” - Etsy? What’s in that glass you’re drinking from Niki?

]]> By: nikiscevak http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-27630 nikiscevak Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:34:21 +0000 http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-27630 Honestly Paul, having seen the 'value' added by adult supervision like Eric Schmidt at Google, that is the worst thing the company can do. By driving off a cliff, what exactly are you faulting him for? Costs seem under control, revenue and usage are growing like a hockey stick, etc. Honestly Paul, having seen the ‘value’ added by adult supervision like Eric Schmidt at Google, that is the worst thing the company can do.

By driving off a cliff, what exactly are you faulting him for? Costs seem under control, revenue and usage are growing like a hockey stick, etc.

]]> By: Paul Sweeney http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-27613 Paul Sweeney Tue, 18 Dec 2007 10:55:56 +0000 http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-27613 I saw that guy at FOWA as well, and I can tell you, if I was an investor I'd be reaching for my address book to find a CEO that I could put in front of investors a la Google. I know this thing might sound a bit like craiglist in terms of its radical approach (and its hard to get more radical than saying the profit motive does not drive this business), but without some frameworks this guy will drive the whole company off a cliff. I am sure, in his heart of hearts, that he knows it too. They just have to find the right framework for him to operate within. Just an opinion. I saw that guy at FOWA as well, and I can tell you, if I was an investor I’d be reaching for my address book to find a CEO that I could put in front of investors a la Google. I know this thing might sound a bit like craiglist in terms of its radical approach (and its hard to get more radical than saying the profit motive does not drive this business), but without some frameworks this guy will drive the whole company off a cliff. I am sure, in his heart of hearts, that he knows it too. They just have to find the right framework for him to operate within. Just an opinion.

]]> By: Deck Design http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-27612 Deck Design Tue, 18 Dec 2007 10:12:17 +0000 http://brontemedia.com/2007/12/17/etsy/#comment-27612 [...] Etsy [...] […] Etsy […]

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