Ms. One Million: dorothywyn

2008-06-13T15:00:00-05:00

On June 10th, 2008, Etsy had its 1 millionth registration. Needless to say, this milestone has symbolic value to us and we're so excited about it! But it led admin and the community alike to wonder about the person behind that big, round number. Who is she?

We are happy to welcome dorothywyn to the Etsy community. She is a seller based in Hong Kong, and she makes cute, quilted cellphone coozies, as well as crocheted items.

dorothywyn initially found Etsy through a Google search, when she was looking for Japanese fabrics. In fact, if you search "Japanese fabrics" in quotes today, Tokyo-based supplies seller Matatabi.etsy.com comes up on the first page of results, a search engine optimization feat that makes Eric aka likeomg very, very happy. (Eric is our Etsy admin who works on SEO. Read more about SEO and Etsy here.)

When I asked her what drew her to Etsy, dorothywyn said that it's "a great place for handmade lovers. Interface is good and users friendly." Her favorite site feature so far is Time Machine. And perhaps most importantly, she seems excited to be part of a community that "encourages creativity and personal style." Here here!

And while dorothywyn is just one in a million registrations,* I think it's interesting to consider how her profile reflects what's going on at Etsy more generally. Etsy is attracting more and more international members like dorothywyn. We have begun thinking longer-term about how to create a truly international marketplace to serve makers and buyers. At some stage, we hope to call upon our "early-adopters” outside the U.S. for their input. If you have thoughts or ideas on internationalizing Etsy, please share them in the comments.

And, another aspect to consider: dorothywyn found Etsy through a search for supplies. (We have recently changed the way search works to make it easier to parse searches through the drop-down menu in Etsy's main navigation bar). The Supplies Category continues to be important to the growth of our marketplace. In this case, the supply was "Japanese fabric" — which I think points to the continuing cultural flow in our global marketplace. Increasingly, trends, fashion, and creative impulses do not heed national boundaries. This may have always been the case, but technology allows these global connections to be made very rapidly through grassroots, user-generated sharing of information and content.

Etsy is striving to bring more meaning to commerce by connecting makers and buyers globally. Thank you to dorothywyn and the other 999,999 other Etsy registrations for helping Etsy get closer to its vision.

*(That number includes multiple accounts from one member as well as accounts that may have been closed. In other words, members have gone completely through the registration process 1 million times.)

Please join us in giving our Ms. 1 Million a warm welcome in the comments below!

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Ms. One Million: dorothywyn