Hello everyone. 

For anyone who I haven't yet had a chance to speak with yet on the forums, I am Christine, a new admin and member of the product team.  I bring you tidings of great joy, for the holiday season is soon approaching and we are ready to add a great number of categories and subcategories to the site in order to better represent the growing variety of items that are currently being sold on Etsy.  You can expect to see these category additions over the course of the next two weeks, and if you still feel there isn't an appropriate section to post your items after the update, I will be more than happy to accept any further ideas and suggestions.

At a later date, the structure and layout of Etsy's categories and subcategories will be undergoing a much needed overhaul. Our goal is to launch in early 2008.  We have spent the last several months researching and developing a new category structure that will benefit both buyers and sellers.  

As the amount of Etsy users has increased, the variety of items being sold on the site has grown right along with it.  A top priority within the category redesign has been to find new ways to organize items as well as provide a better representation of items being offered by sellers.  In addition, the new system will provide buyers with fun new ways to browse and search more specifically within each category.

Within the new structure, every item will ideally fit into only one main level category, and each item will be organized among several specific sections, such as, who it's for, where and when it's used, as well as what materials, tools and methods which were used to make it.

As a result of this new category structure, step two of the seller's listing process will undergo several changes which will make tagging an item easier and more consistent.  Instead of filling in random words off the top of your head, the tagging process will feature a list of questions where sellers fill in specific answers that pertain to the item they are listing.  This will create a more consistent tagging system throughout the site, and allow buyers to shop for items based on how & where items were made, who it's for, when and where it's most commonly used and what tools, methods and materials where used to make it.  Buyers will also finally be able to search by size, color and price range within each category, as well as find jewelry which is made from a certain stone or metal, a necklace which is a specific length, food that is strictly vegan or a notebook made of recycled paper.

Since this new category structure will involve sellers making changes to the way they list their items, we have decided to hold off until after the holidays to unveil the new layout. We hope in the meantime you will all be happy with the additional sections that are added to the current category layout and wish you lots of luck with your holiday sales and shopping.

NOTE: You can follow the discussion here on the forums.  We'll keep you posted with further developments too.