Search results (tags) for: "etsy news"

Etsy's New Old Young CEO

2009-12-21T14:27:00-05:00

Rob Kalin, a.k.a. Rokali, is an Etsy founder.

As 2010 begins, I will return to Etsy as CEO, and Maria will leave the company.

Maria joined Etsy in the middle of 2008 and led Etsy through an important foundational phase. We are a profitable company now, and Maria helped us reach this major milestone. She worked day and night, weekday and weekend; she traveled around the globe meeting up with hundreds of Etsy folks. Her long experience and business skills were hugely helpful.

As Fred Wilson, an Etsy investor and board member, says: "Maria took the helm at Etsy nearly two years ago and has led the company through a critical period of retrenching, rebuilding and significant growth. Beyond the financial, Maria worked tirelessly to right the ship and to focus the company on being true to its founding vision and values."

Jim Breyer, also an investor and board member, adds: "Maria made important contributions to building the operations of the company during her tenure, and we appreciate it."

From all of us at Etsy, a big Thank You! and a friendly embrace, Maria. We are grateful for your dedication.

I will be sharing much more with everyone in the near year. I look forward to seeing familiar faces again, and all the new ones, too.

Rob

————————————————————————————

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

When I came to Etsy nearly two years ago, we were a young start-up with grand ambitions and great potential. Today, Etsy is a thriving, global community fueled by millions of buyers and hundreds of thousands of sellers.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of Etsy’s remarkable employees, we’ve created a vibrant marketplace and a brand that’s on the leading edge of a cultural movement. I am so proud of the progress we’ve made since early in 2008. We’ve overcome incredible challenges…from our honest beginnings dealing with departing colleagues, endless technical challenges, and broken elevators, we’ve persevered to welcome new members to the team, shore up the technical infrastructure, celebrate our new office space, and – most importantly – to deliver more services to our customers. I want to thank all of you for the opportunity to work together and for teaching me so many things about this extraordinary community.

Etsy is a now profitable company; in the last two years, revenue has increased seven-fold. In the past month alone, around 11 million visitors have stopped in to be inspired, to shop, and to connect. Last week, we announced our first major acquisition and in January, Etsy will open its doors in Berlin. In many ways, the journey is just beginning.

I want to communicate heartfelt thanks to Etsy sellers and shoppers. I have had the privilege of personally meeting or interacting with thousands of you from New York to Vancouver to Minneapolis and Paris and all across the globe. The spirit of craftsmanship is present in your varied and beautiful work and in your collective pride to do a job well, always adding a personal touch. It was incredibly motivating to hear your stories of hope, confidence and economic empowerment. It is this sense of humanity and connectivity that attracted me to work at Etsy in the first place. You reinforced for me the importance of Etsy honoring personal, individual connections even as business blossoms.

I will continue to shop on Etsy and look forward to watching it grow. And, I hope to continue learning from the difficulties and possibilities inherent in all our crafts.

Thank you and I wish you all a joyous and productive 2010.

Maria

___________________________________________________________

There will be a Town Hall meeting with Rob in Etsy's Virtual Labs in the New Year that will be recorded for those who cannot attend. For now, happy holidays!

Handcrafting Etsy

2009-12-17T09:15:00-05:00

I recently heard Professor Richard Sennett, author of The Craftsman, speak and was pleased to hear him connect traditional crafting cultures to the culture of computer programming. Here at Etsy, we think of software coding as a craft and fully embrace one of Sennett’s central ideas: namely that craftsmanship, by combining skill, commitment and judgment, establishes a close relationship between head and hand, man and machine.

Against that backdrop, I am thrilled to introduce the newest additions to the Etsy team: Jason, Greg, Isaac, Matt and Stefan. They are the team behind Adtuitive, a New York-based company which yesterday became part of Etsy. These are five highly-skilled craftsmen with deep technical expertise in algorithmic search, machine learning and data interpretation, and advertising infrastructure. In other words, five really smart guys who can help Etsy accelerate progress towards our longer-term goals. All five members of the Adtuitive team will immediately join the Etsy team.

Etsy bought Adtuitive, the company, but ultimately companies are made up of people. This team of crafty coders – with their deep knowledge, experience of working together, and fit with the Etsy culture – will help us to more quickly and successfully serve our sellers and delight our buyers. They will work on key initiatives for 2010: improving Etsy’s search algorithms and expanding Etsy’s Showcase advertising system with an eye to improving the overall user experience on the site.

Please join me in warmly welcoming Jason, Greg, Isaac, Matt and Stefan to the Etsy community.

Winter Fashion & Accessories Showcase: On Sale Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET

2009-12-16T14:57:00-05:00

Brr! The talented Mr. Jack Frost has officially taken up an artist's residency on my windowsills, which means it's time for my tender digits to burrow down into soft and woolen winter accessories. Take heart by scooping up some adorable cold weather cover, be it a fashionable leather bag, popcorn crochet mittens or a toasty hood. The Winter Fashion & Accessories Showcase is sure to be stocked with an abominable snowman size selection of fuzzy fashion.

Info for Sellers

If you are a maker of jewelry, scarves, gloves, hats, bags, sweaters, jackets or anything else that is ideal for the winter, we're looking for you! In order to keep the Showcase on-point thematically, the tool will only pull items placed in the following categories: Accesories (top-level tag being "accessories"), Bags and Purses, Clothing, Crochet, Jewelry, Knitting, Vintage.

The Winter Fashion & Accesories Showcase goes on sale Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET.
Go to the Showcase Gateway to purchase a spot.
This Showcase will run from Monday, December 21, 2009 12 a.m. ET until Sunday, January 3, 2009, 11:59 p.m. ET.
For $15 USD, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24-hour spot, which will be linked from a prominent banner on Etsy's home page.
Sellers determine which item will be featured in your Showcase slot. Sellers must use the tool in Your Etsy > Promote > Showcase. Learn more about this process here.

Future Showcases

If you are thinking about planning for other Showcases that may be more appropriate for your items, here are some of the front page Showcases we will be highlighting:

Cozy Home and Attire Showcase: On sale Thursday, December 31, 2009; the Showcase will be live from Monday, January 4, 2010 to Sunday, January 10, 2009.
- Think about all the great items that make hanging out at home such a pleasant experience: luxurious lap blankets, snuggly sweaters, comfy pillows and the like.

What is this Showcase thing? For a general introduction to Showcase, read Matt's Storque article 13.5 Questions about the Showcase, and for deeper thoughts on figuring out if Showcase is right for you, see Beth's Showcase Deconstructed article.

The Second Etsy Community Council

2009-12-14T16:00:00-05:00

UPDATE: The application process for our second Etsy Seller Community Council is now closed; we'll announce the new members in about two weeks. Thank you to everyone who applied for the first Community Council and for this one!

The Etsy Seller Community Council is a group of members who volunteer to meet with Etsy Admin at least once a month for a period of six months to discuss marketplace enhancements and community offerings. The meetings are held in the Virtual Lab and ongoing communications are facilitated through Google Groups.

We want you to get involved! We are opening up the applications for our Second Community Council today. If you applied for the first round but weren't picked, not to worry. We'll be including those applicants in addition to new ones in the selection process.

Thanks to everyone who applied!

As we did with the first round, we will be selecting the next set of 25 artists by choosing a diverse group of sellers who cover a wide range of success, history, and geography. We will not have access to usernames when going through the selection process. Once selected, we contact each member to confirm that they are still interested.

A huge thank you goes out to the members of our First Community Council, whose tenure just ended! We learned so much from these members and are grateful for the insightful and honest feedback they provided. They're a talented group too! See the items below for some of their work.

Seller Handbook | Handmade Video Portraits

Holidays: Last Minute Gifts Showcase: On Sale Thursday, December 10, 2009 12 p.m. ET

2009-12-09T10:30:00-05:00

I'm always so pleased with myself weeks and weeks before the holidays, checking everyone off my gift list, hoarding pretty little boxes in secret drawers of my bedroom, smugly avoiding the season of midtown madness. Pleased, that is, until I realize at the last minute that the great aunts will be in town, and oh goodness, is my sister's fiance joining us this year as well, and did I manage to forget about my friend who now lives across the country? The Last Minute Gifts Showcase will preempt my panic attack with a bevy of unusual and beautiful gifts, all with the glorious option of expedited shipping.

Info for Sellers
Get your items ready! Think gifts for that hard to buy for person, that last person on people's lists. These items must also be available for expedited shipping. For more information about expedited shipping check out USPS Express Mail Overnight, UPS or FedEx.

The Holidays: Last Minute Gifts (Expedited Shipping) Showcase goes on sale Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET.
Go to the Showcase Gateway to purchase a spot.
This Showcase will run from Monday, December 14, 2009 12 a.m. ET until Sunday, December 20, 2009, 11:59 p.m. ET.
For $15 USD, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24-hour spot, which will be linked from a prominent banner on Etsy's home page.
Sellers determine which item will be featured in your Showcase slot. Sellers must use the tool in Your Etsy > Promote > Showcase. Learn more about this process here.

Future Showcases

If you are thinking about planning for other Showcases that may be more appropriate for your items, here are some of the front page Showcases we will be highlighting:

Winter Fashion & Accessories Showcase: On sale Thursday, December 17, 2009; the Showcase will be live from December 21, 2009 to January 3, 2010.
- Think cold weather clothing and accessories, like gloves, scarves, sweaters, and jackets.

Etsy Statistics: November 2009 Weather Report

2009-12-07T12:29:00-05:00

Etsy's holiday shopping season sprung into full effect during November of 2009. We'd like to share these encouraging numbers with you.

Here are the stats:

$21.9 million of goods were sold by our community in November, roughly 24% higher than October's $18 million.
That represents 1,297,964 items sold for the month, 22% higher than October’s 1,065,475.
1,931,988 new items were listed in the month, 16.4% higher than October's 1,659,220.
246,230 new members joined the Etsy community in the month, up 43,218, or 21% from October.
680,742,203 page views were recorded on the site this month.

(Sources: Etsy and Google Analytics.)

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Etsy community in November!

Curious about how other months and last year compare? Check out our past Weather Reports for more statistics.

Holiday Gifts for Her Showcase: On Sale Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET

2009-12-02T10:00:00-05:00

Still have a few ladies left on your holiday gift list? The Gifts for Her Holiday Showcase may be the perfect place to find meaningful presents for the special woman in your life. This Showcase will have a wide variety of handmade and vintage items for women: think jewelry, clothing, accessories, bath and beauty, home decor, artwork, or something you think she'd love, but would never buy herself.

Info for Sellers

Get your items ready! We encourage sellers to add items that would make great unique gifts for any woman — wife, daughter, sister, mom, cousin, coworker — this holiday season.

The Holidays: Gifts for Her Showcase goes on sale Thursday, December 3, 2009 12 p.m. ET.
Go to the Showcase Gateway to purchase a spot.
This Showcase will run from Monday, December 7, 2009 12 a.m. ET until Sunday, December 13, 2009, 11:59 p.m. ET.
For $15 USD, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24-hour spot, which will be linked from a prominent banner on Etsy's home page.
Sellers determine which item will be featured in your Showcase slot. Sellers must use the tool in Your Etsy > Promote > Showcase. Learn more about this process here.

Future Showcases

If you are thinking about planning for other Showcases that may be more appropriate for your items, here are some of the front page Showcases we will be highlighting:

Last Minute Holiday Gifts Showcase: On sale Thursday, December 10, 2009; the Showcase will be live from December 14, 2009 to December 20, 2009.
- Think gifts with expedited shipping. Expedited shipping is the criteria for this Showcase.
Winter Fashion & Accessories Showcase: On sale Thursday, December 17, 2009; the Showcase will be live from December 21, 2009 to January 3, 2010.
- Think cold weather clothing and accessories that pack a fashionable punch, like gloves, scarves, sweaters and jackets.

Tech Update: Google Product Search Syndication

2009-11-25T15:05:00-05:00

UPDATE 12/1/09: The initial rollout of Google Product Search Syndication to Etsy sellers with active individual Google Merchant Center accounts has been completed. A gradual rollout of this feature to the remainder of the Etsy seller community will now begin. Questions and comments welcome in this discussion thread.

Sellers,

We're excited to announce that Etsy is partnering with Google as a participant in the Google Product Search Marketplace Partner Program.

Etsy's Google Product Search Syndication feature will allow Etsy sellers to have their items automatically submitted frequently and with all relevant attributes to Google Product Search. You can find Google Product Search via the "Shopping" link at the top of most Google search pages.

As a Google Product Search Marketplace Partner, participating Etsy sellers' items will appear in Google Product Search with the associated Etsy shop name and shop feedback visible and searchable.

This feature is being rolled out gradually to the Etsy seller community. Beta testing has been underway and we are now gradually activating this feature for Etsy sellers who currently use their shop feed to submit items to Google Product Search. No action is required from sellers. A gradual rollout to the remainder of the Etsy seller community will follow.

Participating sellers will see a link called Syndication under the Promote section inside Your Etsy when signed in. This Syndication page lists the partner websites Etsy is working with to help you maximize your shop's exposure. More partner websites will be added in the future.

Google Product Search Syndication will be enabled by default for participating sellers. Sellers can opt out of this service at any time.

We'd like to thank all the beta testers for their ongoing valuable feedback.

Please visit Etsy's Help site to learn more details about using Google Product Search Syndication.

Other Tips for Your Etsy Shop in the Seller Handbook

Join the Etsy Facebook Community: New Etsy Fan Page & My Etsy Application

2009-11-19T15:20:00-05:00

More Etsy fun on Facebook! Become a fan of our Facebook page and install the new My Etsy application.

Show Some Love for Our Brand New Facebook Page
Check it out here and click the Become a Fan button. If you're already a fan, well then hey, aren't you too cool for school! We redesigned the page to give new visitors a better sense of what Etsy is all about.

We'll be featuring lots of gorgeous items on there, plus you can get a snapshot of what's going on at Etsy through blog feeds, videos and lots of other enticing bits.

Stay up-to-date about special promotions.
Find out about events and get reminders.
Share photos with us.
Join the lively discussions on our Facebook wall.

Get the New My Etsy Facebook Application
Install the new application called My Etsy, which automatically feeds in your most recent 21 Etsy Favorites and 5 favorite sellers to a special tab on your Facebook profile or your fan page. It's a great way to support handmade and share your good taste. You don't have to have an Etsy shop; the app can tell if your Etsy account is shopping-only and will default to your faves.

Here are some ideas for fun ways to share your picks by using this app:

Load your Favorites up with your holiday wishlist and share it with your friends and family.
Transform your Favorites into a Treasury list — along a theme or color palette. We might even feature your list on the home page of Etsy, our Community Hub or The Storque.
Fill your Favorites with some items you think a friend would like and share it with her.
Bloggers, with the new My Etsy app, you can pull in an RSS feed of your blog to your My Etsy tab, a great way to share your blog and your favorite Etsy items together.

We want to see what you love! Once you've added the tab, link to your page or profile on Etsy's wall here. We'll be searching for fresh items for a special Gift Guide, so use the app to show us your picks.

Here's a sample of what the app looks like:

If you're a seller, check out this how-to with tips for using the new My Etsy Facebook app to promote your business: Seller How-To: Plug in the My Etsy Facebook Application. Here are some reasons why you should install the app:

Get notified if your item is featured on Etsy's home page or in a Gift Guide.
Build out your business' fan page with your latest items automatically.

More Options for Facebook
The new My Etsy Facebook application joins our suite of options for sharing the Etsy experience on Facebook:

Use Facebook Connect to post your newly listed items and Favorites to your Facebook News Feed.
Look for the Share link on item listing pages, shop pages and public Favorites pages for an easy way to post to Facebook and other sites.
You can also use the original Etsy Shop Facebook application to show off your items or Favorites and see a sampling of the Etsy items your Facebook friends are adding to their Favorites.

The application updates about once an hour, so if your Favorites or listings don't appear immediately, that's why. If you're having other technical difficulties, make sure to check out our Help section.

What are you waiting for? Get set up!

More Social Networking Posts

John Allspaw Joins the Etsy Team

2009-11-19T00:27:00-05:00

One day in early 2005, I got a call from a friend and former colleague asking for career advice. My friend was considering a role running site operations at a fledgling Internet company that was creating a whole new way of connecting people on the Internet. They were a small but inspired operation running in a data center in Vancouver and the site was starting to really ramp up. The company needed his unique blend of good humor, playfulness, creative spark, world-class technical chops, and unmatched ability to get things done. I was already an early adopter and major fan of the company he was considering and told him it seemed like a solid bet. The company was Flickr, and the friend was John Allspaw.

Fast forward to the present, and after five very successful years at Flickr, John and I talked recently about another career move, but this time it was a little closer to home: John will be joining the engineering team at Etsy as VP of Technical Operations, responsible for the site operations, database, and quality assurance teams. I think his reasoning for making the move from Flickr to Etsy illustrates just what a great fit John is for Etsy:

“The reason I stayed here for five years wasn't for the vesting or the accolades. It was because I worked with people who *care* about building something that people *care* about. This also happens to be the same reason why I chose my next step: Etsy. They care, and it shows.“

I couldn’t be more excited for someone with John’s incredible experience to be joining Etsy. Before Flickr, John and I worked together at Salon.com and IDG/InfoWorld. He then went on to Friendster, one of the earliest social networking sites. Once he got to Flickr, John built site operations from 20 servers in a small Vancouver data center into a cultural phenomenon spread across six data centers around the world, with 40,000 photos being served per second and four billion photos being managed. Over four years, traffic to the site grew 40x while the number of users grew tenfold. All the while, John and the excellent team he built were the ones turning the knobs and pulling the levers to make it all work along with the developers at Flickr.

John recorded his hard-earned knowledge in a well-regarded book about capacity planning for web sites (The Art of Capacity Planning) and became a favorite speaker at technical conferences – when you’re successful, everyone wants to know the formula. With all of that happening, he also found time to play guitar in an itinerant bluegrass band, filing in the gaps between the washboard and the banjo. And have two kids!

John will joining us officially in late January, bringing his know-how to help us make Etsy better. I can’t wait to work with John again. Without further ado, please join me in welcoming John to Etsy!

About Us series | Tech Updates

Holiday Kids & Toys Showcase: On Sale Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET

2009-11-18T10:30:00-05:00

Have your little ones finished composing their wishlists for the North Pole? Discover gifts that will set their wee minds alight with creativity. The Holiday Kids & Toys Showcase will be a wonderland of imaginative play.

Info for Sellers
Get your items ready! Think fun things for kids to do, play with or wear. In order to keep the Showcase on point thematically, items in the Showcase can only be from the following Categories: Bath & Beauty (e.g., top-level tag being "bath & beauty"), Books and Zines, Children, Clothing, Crochet, Knitting, Paper Goods, Toys, Vintage and Woodworking.

The Holidays: Kids & Toys Showcase goes on sale Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET.
Go to the Showcase Gateway to purchase a spot.
This Showcase will run from Monday, November 23, 2009 12 a.m. ET until Sunday, November 29, 2009, 11:59 p.m. ET.
For $15 USD, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24-hour spot, which will be linked from a prominent banner on Etsy's home page.
Sellers determine which item will be featured in your Showcase slot. Sellers must use the tool in Your Etsy > Promote > Showcase. Learn more about this process here.

Future Showcases

If you are thinking about planning for other Showcases that may be more appropriate for your items, here are some of the front page Showcases we will be highlighting:

Holidays Parties and Celebrations. On sale Tuesday, November 24, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 30, 2009 to December 6, 2009.
- Think upcoming celebrations and festive decor, glitz and fun attire for these events.
Holiday Gifts for Her. On sale Thursday, December 3, 2009; the Showcase will be live from December 7, 2009 to December 13, 2009.
- Think jewelry, accessories, clothing, artwork, and bath & body products for women of all ages.

Holiday Last Minute Gifts Showcase: On sale Thursday, December 10, 2009; the Showcase will be live from December 14, 2009 to December 20, 2009.
- Think gifts with expedited shipping. Expedited shipping is the criteria for this Showcase.

Customer Care: Improving Etsy Support

2009-11-12T12:30:00-05:00

Etsy's Support Team is committed to providing the best possible service to the Etsy community. We are delighted to announce that we are launching a brand new Help section and a new set of internal tools for Etsy's Support Team.

As we have with other recent features, we are going to roll out use of the new Help system over the next few days instead of all at once. We appreciate your patience and participation as we get the new Help system up and running.

Here are the highlights:

Searchable Help. Wave goodbye to those long, clunky, list-style Help pages. For the first time, Etsy's Frequently Asked Questions knowledge base (FAQs) is searchable! View FAQs by topic on Help Home, or quickly find answers by searching for a keyword or phase.

Contact Etsy Support. The new Help site allows you to contact Etsy's Support Team via a web form, instead of leaving Etsy to use email. Super convenient! (Note: You must be signed in to your Etsy account to use this feature, and we're gradually rolling this out to members. Until you your account comes up in the queue, this section will direct to the old FAQ.)

Help History. You can view and update your questions to Etsy's Support Team — and see our responses — right from the Help site using the My Help History page. In addition, a copy of the response from Etsy's Support Team will be sent to the email address on file in Your Etsy > Account Info. (Note: You must be signed in to your Etsy account to access My Help History, and we're gradually rolling this out to members. Until you your account comes up in the queue, this section will direct to the old FAQ.)

Submit a Suggestion. Have an idea to make Etsy even better? Want to offer us your point of view about Etsy? Use this handy form to let us know. (Note: You can alternatively discuss your ideas with other members in the community Ideas Forum.)

Teach Etsy How to Help. The new Help site allows members to rate the helpfulness of each FAQ. This provides us with valuable information so we can continually improve our resources for you. The Help site "learns" which FAQs are the most popular and automatically keeps these near the top for easier access.

Better Admin Tools. Etsy's Support Team has a new set of internal tools that integrate directly with the Help site to better serve our community. Every message sent to Etsy's Support Team is read and responded to by a real person. This human touch is vital to provide personalized assistance to every member who needs help. As we ramp up to full speed with these new tools, we have the ever-present goal in mind of improving the quality and timeliness of our customer support.

You may notice this week that emails you receive from Etsy's Support Team will look a little different. You can now easily see both your question to Support and our reply as a discussion thread. In addition, you will receive a reference number for your issue to improve correspondence tracking.

If you've recently sent an email to Etsy's Support Team, don't worry! You do not need to resubmit your question through the new Help site. We will respond as usual. Currently, you can still contact Etsy's Support Team by email to support@etsy.com, abuse@etsy.com, billng@etsy.com or content@etsy.com. We will forward emails to these addresses into our new Help system. (Be sure to send your message from the email address on file in Your Etsy > Account Info.) Over time, we will phase out the use of these email addresses and transition to using the Contact Etsy Support web form to contact the different areas of Etsy's Support Team.

P.S. If you would like to receive breaking, vital Etsy news as it happens — delivered straight to your email inbox — then sign up for Etsy News Alerts emails. Read more about it here. Expect this as an Etsy Alert email in your inbox if you already subscribe to the list.

You can also get an RSS feed of all TechUpdates here.

Etsy International: We're Visiting Europe...Again!

2009-11-12T10:00:00-05:00

UPDATE: Just a friendly reminder!

[The following was originally published on October 31, 2009.]

Etsy International: We're visiting Europe...again! Nous retournons visiter l'Europe! Wir kommen zurück nach Europa!

English

I'm happy to announce that Matt and I will be making a quick trip to Europe this November 16-24. As you may have heard, later this fall we'll be launching localized blogs in Germany, France and the UK.

As part of this trip, we of course hope to meet with many of you. We'll be holding some informal open meetings, similar to what Maria and I did last spring, where people can come to learn more about our 2010 plans, share ideas, ask questions, offer suggestions, and enjoy some time with other Etsy members.

The basic information is below and we'll update it as specific details become available — for now just save the dates!

Berlin: Wednesday, November 18, 18:00-20:00 / Cafe Morgenland (note the day is now the 18th!)

Paris: Thursday, November 19, 18:30-20:30 / Cafe La place verte 105 rue Oberkampf

London: Monday, November 23, 18:00-20:00 / Columbia Hotel

Hope to see you on the road!

Français

Je suis heureuse de vous annoncer que Matt et moi allons faire un petit voyage en Europe du 16 au 24 Novembre. Comme vous en avez peut-être déjà entendu parler, nous lancerons plus tard dans l'automne des blogs locaux en Allemagne, en France et en Grande-Bretagne.

Nous espérons évidemment vous rencontrer nombreux pendant ce séjour. Nous tiendrons des rencontres ouvertes et informelles, similaires à ce que moi et Maria avons fait le printemps dernier, où les gens pourront venir en apprendre un peu plus sur nos projets de 2010, partager des idées, poser des questions, offrir des suggestions et profiter d'un moment passé en compagnie d'autres Etsiens.

Vous trouverez les informations essentielles ci-dessous et nous les mettrons à jour dès que nous disposerons de détails plus spécifiques. Pour le moment, vous pouvez noter les dates!

Berlin: Mercredi 18 Novembre, 18:00-20:00 / Cafe Morgenland

Paris: Jeudi 19 Novembre, Cafe La place verte 105 rue Oberkampf

London: Lundi 23 Novembre, 18:00-20:00 / Columbia Hotel

En espérant vous croiser sur notre route!

Deutsch

Ich freue mich Ihnen mitteilen zu können, dass Matt und ich vom 16. November bis 24. November in Europa sein werden. Wie Sie vielleicht schon wissen, haben wir vor gegen Ende des Jahres blogs in Deutschland, Frankreich und Großbritannien zu veröffentlichen.

Als Teil dieser Reise hoffen wir natürlich viele von Ihnen zu treffen. Wir werden ein paar informelle Meetings abhalten, ähnlich denen von Maria und mir letzten Frühling. Kommen Sie einfach vorbei und erfahren Sie mehr von unseren Plänen für 2010. Es wird auch möglich sein Fragen zu stellen, Ideen mit uns zu teilen, Vorschläge zu machen oder einfach etwas Zeit mit anderen Etsianern zu verbringen. Die wichtigtsten Informationen finden Sie etwas weiter unten. Wir werden gegebenenfalls weitere Details hinzufügen, aber merken Sie sich erst einmal diese Daten.

Berlin: Mittwoch, 18. November, 18:00-20:00 / Cafe Morgenland

Paris: Donnerstag, 19. November, Cafe La place verte 105 rue Oberkampf

London: Montag, 23. November, 18:00-20:00 / Columbia Hotel

Man sieht sich bald!

UPDATED Friday, November 13, 12:00 p.m.

Etsy International Posts | Multi-Lingual Posts

Holiday Stocking Stuffers Showcase: On Sale Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET

2009-11-11T14:00:00-05:00

Before the stockings can be hung with care beside the fireplace's comforting glow, tiny gifts must be found to fill their depths. The Holiday Stocking Stuffers Showcase will provide an ample supply of pocket-sized gift ideas for everyone on your list.

Info for Sellers
Get your items ready! Think festive and unique items to fill those holiday stockings.

The Holidays: Stocking Stuffers Showcase goes on sale Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET.
Go to the Showcase Gateway to purchase a spot.
This Showcase will run from Monday, November 16, 2009 12 a.m. ET until Sunday, November 22, 2009, 11:59 p.m. ET.
For $15 USD, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24-hour spot, which will be linked from a prominent banner on Etsy's home page.
Sellers determine which item will be featured in your Showcase slot. Sellers must use the tool in Your Etsy > Promote > Showcase. Learn more about this process here.

Future Showcases

If you are thinking about planning for other Showcases that may be more appropriate for your items, here are some of the front page Showcases we will be highlighting:

Holiday Kids and Toys Showcase: On sale Thursday, November 19, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 23, 2009 to November 29, 2009.
- Think fun holiday gifts for children of all ages.
Holiday Parties and Celebrations. On sale Tuesday, November 24, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 30, 2009 to December 6, 2009.
- Think fun holiday gifts for children of all ages.
Holiday Gifts for Her: On sale Thursday, December 3, 2009; the Showcase will be live from December 7, 2009 to December 13, 2009.
- Think jewelry, accessories, clothing, artwork, bath & body for women of all ages.

Etsy Statistics: October 2009 Weather Report

2009-11-10T16:00:00-05:00

Here are some facts and figures for our marketplace during the month of October 2009.

The stats:

$17.7 million of goods were sold by our community in October; roughly 11% higher than September's $16 million.
That represents 1,065,475 items sold for the month, 10% higher than September’s 967,037.
1,659,220 new items were listed in the month, 8.6% higher than September's 1,527,969.
203,012 new members joined the Etsy community in the month, up 13,210, or 7% from September.
610,284,313 page views were recorded on the site this month.

(Sources: Etsy and Google Analytics.)

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Etsy community in October!

Curious about how other months compare? Check out our past Weather Reports for more statistics.

DIY Wedding Crafts Contest Winner and Finalists

2009-11-04T14:00:00-05:00

Thanks to all who entered and voted in the DIY Wedding Crafts Contest with Etsy and Martha Stewart Weddings.

After carefully reviewing more than 3200 beautiful entries, a panel of judges from both Etsy Admin and the editors of Martha Stewart Weddings completed a secret ballot judging to select one winner and an additional 19 finalists. The winner and finalists are featured in an exclusive slideshow on Martha Stewart Weddings.

Congratulations to The DIY Wedding Crafts Contest winner, Ashley Anna Brown from fernanimals.etsy.com with her patchwork bird toppers, as seen above.

However, choosing a winner was no easy feat! Here are but a few of the talented finalists.

Better Together Wedding Topper by lollipopworkshop.etsy.com

Handmade Felt Bouquet by nestings.etsy.com

Wedding Sixpence Book by sweetscarlett.etsy.com

Bird House Boutonniere by HeartFelted.etsy.com

To see entries from the rest of the finalists, check out the DIY Wedding Crafts Contest slideshow on Martha Stewart Weddings. Thanks again to all who participated!

Looking for more Handmade Weddings posts? Check out our archive!

Wedding Invites and Favors Guide | Weddings Category | Wedding Attire Guide

Holiday Gifts for Him Showcase: On Sale Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET

2009-11-04T10:25:00-05:00

Do the men in your life pose the ultimate gift-giving challenge? The Holiday Gifts for Him Showcase will be the go-to resource for innovative feats of masculinity. Dudes will be delighted to receive creative, out-of-the-box alternatives to the standard fare.

Info for Sellers
Get your items ready! Think cufflinks, geekery, artwork, woodworking, screen printed tees, jackets, and bags — anything appropriate for the men on our shopping lists.

The Holidays: Gifts for Him Showcase goes on sale Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET.
Go to the Showcase Gateway to purchase a spot.
This Showcase will run from Monday, November 9, 2009 12 a.m. ET until Sunday, November 15, 2009, 11:59 p.m. ET.
For $15 USD, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24-hour spot, which will be linked from a prominent banner on Etsy's home page.
Sellers determine which item will be featured in your Showcase slot. Sellers must use the tool in Your Etsy > Promote > Showcase. Learn more about this process here.

Future Showcases

If you are thinking about planning for other Showcases that may be more appropriate for your items, here are some of the front page Showcases we will be highlighting:

Holidays: Stocking Stuffer Showcase: On sale November 12, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 16, 2009 to November 22, 2009. .
- Think about all the smaller items that can fit into a holiday stocking.
Holidays: Kids and Toys Showcase: On sale Thursday, November 19, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 23, 2009 to November 29, 2009.
- Think fun holiday gifts for children of all ages.
Holidays: Parties and Celebrations. On sale Tuesday, November 24, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 30, 2009 to December 6, 2009.
- Think upcoming celebrations and the festive decor, glitz and fun attire for these events.

Talking Product: An Update on 2009 Site Feature Priorities

2009-11-02T15:00:00-05:00

Hi friends,

Welcome to the latest installment of Talking Product. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these posts, they are part of a regular series from my colleagues and me. Our CEO, Maria, started this series last year with her Talking Shop posts. In 2009, we’ve offered more posts by disciplines: Talking Product, Talking Marketing and Talking Tech. In June, all of us got together for a talkfest that we offered up as an audio podcast to more personally communicate with all of you about what’s happening at Etsy.

I am excited to offer you this latest update that covers the last few months. It also presents an overview of our priorities for the remainder of this year and into early next year, as well as a few general Product Team updates.

As a reminder from my previous updates, our first and foremost priority in recent months has been improving the shopping experience. We believe that among the most valuable things Etsy can do for sellers is attract buyers to the site, get them shopping and keep them coming back. While there is much work ahead and this will be a constant focus for us, we’re excited about some of the changes we’ve made so far and about the upcoming features we have in the queue.

So, what we have been up to lately?

Search

As I’ve indicated in past updates, improving the search and discovery experience on Etsy has been our top priority. We’ve made important strides in our efforts to improve Etsy's searching and shopping experience. Here are a few highlights:

Now when you perform a search on Etsy, you will often see links for recent popular related searches above your results. These related searches are actual searches recently performed by Etsy shoppers. They serve as suggestions for shoppers to refine their initial search or to stimulate ideas for successful similar searches. Related searches also offer sellers ideas to effectively tag items.
We made improvements to the way subcategories are suggested during the item listing process. Now, only those subcategories relevant to an item's top-level Category are suggested as item tags. This adjustment is helping to make the Category browsing experience more relevant.
We gave shoppers the ability to filter their search results by Category. This new feature provides shoppers a quick and easy way to narrow and refine their search results. Many Etsians tell us that this enhancement makes finding just the right item on Etsy easier and faster.

Checkout

We continued to work on making Checkout as smooth as possible, especially for new buyers. Our A/B testing framework allows us to test Checkout changes with a small percentage of shoppers, to make sure the changes will be understood and actually improve the user experience, before rolling the changes out to all shoppers.

We enabled new buyers to register on Etsy as a part of the regular Checkout flow. This was an important change since previously new buyers were required to leave Etsy.com in the middle of the Checkout flow in order to complete registration. The old process often resulted in buyer confusion.
We're currently A/B testing removing non-essential elements from the header of Checkout pages to focus shoppers on completing the Checkout process.

Seller Tools

Over the past few months, our new shipping tool with regional shipping options and the ability to rearrange items in your shop moved from the beta testing phase to full launch.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In the last couple of months, we’ve devoted a fair amount of attention to SEO. With the help of our friends at SEOmoz, Etsy developed a stronger SEO strategy and implementation plan. The most significant changes of the last few months are:

Giving sellers more control over your shop page title, Item listing page titles, and Section page titles
Canonical tags for improved search engine ranking for these pages
Updating shop URLs to be more search-engine friendly as well as changing to 301 redirects

We focused on shop and item listing page SEO and launched improvements, including tools to help sellers preview how their shop home pages and item listings will appear in Google search results. We believe that these changes are, in part, responsible for the continued strong traffic to Etsy.com.   In partnership with SEOmoz, Etsy also created the Etsy Guide to SEO.

SEO is an ongoing effort, and we'll continue to make improvements. We are grateful to Etsy sellers who actively participated in our Virtual Labs sessions on this topic and to those who are diligently using the guide to improve traffic to their Etsy shops.

Community

We recently launched a redesign of the Community Hub. The goal with this redesign was to provide clear, more immediate access to information for the Etsy community about important news, events and activities occurring on Etsy.

Many of you have asked us to communicate frequently and with as much relevant information as we can. Prior to the launch of the new Community Hub, Etsy had only one blog, The Storque. To date, The Storque has served as a resource for Etsy buyers, sellers, staff, and the general public. It showcases a lot of terrific content and information, but the content that’s most relevant to Etsy sellers is not always easily accessible. The Community Hub is a step in the direction of focusing our communications on distinct audiences. We appreciate your patience and your feedback along the way and hope that you find the new Community Hub useful.

What is in store for the remainder of 2009 and early 2010?

As the year winds down our main focus is on keeping the site stable for holiday shoppers. Starting mid-November and going through December, we will go into a bit of a code lockdown so as not to disrupt the buying and selling experience on Etsy. During this period we will only release changes that will not risk the performance and user experience of the site. This is a common practice for most ecommerce sites and one that we believe is critical. With that in mind, some of the updates below will launch before this lockdown while others will launch early next year. Also, some of the changes might only launch to a small subset of users, and then over time we’ll expand to all users. We’ll provide updates on the specific timing and plans for each of these items via the Forums, Community Hub, and The Storque as we get closer to each launch.

Search and Discovery

Many shoppers, especially those new to Etsy, don’t know what they’re looking for when they arrive at the site. Maybe they are searching for a gift, or they know they’re going to find something they love at Etsy, but they’re not sure what. In addition, some Etsy shoppers describe their search experience on the site as “overwhelming” while others describe it as “addictive.” We’re looking to convert those who may feel overwhelmed into addicts. We believe a key to that lies in enabling shoppers to refine search results in various ways.

To that end, many of the features currently in development will be designed to give visitors a better view into the kinds of unique items available on Etsy and help them more easily refine the results displayed. We know that shoppers who perform a search on Etsy are significantly more likely to buy something than those who do not use the search function.

One feature in development is what we call Search Suggestions. This means that we'll suggest relevant search queries as site visitors begin to type a query into the search bar. These suggestions will be specific to Handmade, Vintage, Supplies, All Items or the Category page from which you search. The suggestions will be derived from Etsy’s search logs and will be displayed in a dropdown box as is the practice on many heavily trafficked ecommerce sites. We believe this functionality will help shoppers more quickly and easily discover items of interest on Etsy.   We're also dedicated to improving the overall search experience by focusing on improved handling of misspelled search terms, the page shoppers see when they perform a search with no results, and more.

Checkout

We remain focused on making Checkout as easy as possible for all Etsy buyers, especially new buyers. We're working on a project we call Guest Checkout, which will enable new buyers to check out on Etsy without first choosing a username and registering on the site. This type of functionality exists on many ecommerce sites and is generally an expected option for shoppers. By introducing it on Etsy, we intend to remove hurdles in the Etsy Checkout process.

International

Many buyers and sellers have asked for an easier way to communicate prices in currencies other than U.S. dollars. We plan to introduce a currency calculator on item pages so that shoppers can quickly (and without leaving the page) calculate prices in currencies other than U.S. dollars. The actual transactions will still occur in U.S. dollars.

Google Product Search

Many Etsy sellers use their Etsy shop RSS feed to schedule uploads of their items to Google Merchant Center, for placement in Google Product Search.

Later this year, Google is changing how sellers on marketplaces like Etsy upload items for placement in Google Product Search, and we're working with Google on a solution that will allow Etsy to automatically upload items from your shops into Google Base if you choose to opt in to the program. This functionality will be launched in beta form to a small group of sellers and will gradually roll out to the entire Etsy seller community. More details on this initiative will be announced soon.

Help

As mentioned in my last update, we have been working to launch a new Help site to make it easier for our members to find information more quickly along with a new set of internal tools for Etsy's Support Team. We’re pleased to report that this is about ready to launch. Please stay tuned to Etsy’s blog, The Storque, the new Community Hub, and to the Forums for further details.

Updates From the Etsy Product Team

We’re delighted to welcome Michael Craig to the team. Michael joins us as our design director focusing on user experience design. Among other things, he will focus on creating design standards for the site. Welcome, Michael, a.k.a. mcraig71!

We’re also thrilled to welcome two new babies to the team. Congrats to Beth, a.k.a. bethela, on the birth of her very cute son, Rowan! (MCR, who heads up Etsy's Sys Ops Team, and his wife also had a boy!)

We love to hear from you. You can find the Product Team on Etsy:

Sean is sean11
Tom is kutty
Eric is ericds
Beth is bethela
Amy is amydec
KC is okaysee
Jen is jendoo
Michael is mcraig71
And I’m saralouhicks

Lastly, but most importantly, we appreciate all of your input that you provide in the Forums, Storque blog comments, and in emails to Etsy’s Support Team regarding improvements and suggestions for the site. We take the suggestions from our community as one of the greatest considerations in determining our product roadmap, and we’re personally committed to make progress against them. We understand that it may seem that many long-requested features have not been prioritized, but we want to stress that we are listening, we appreciate your suggestions, and we are making progress.

There’s more ahead so please stay tuned. I’ll be back at the beginning of the year with another Talking Product post that provides an overview of our priorities for 2010. As always, your feedback is important, so I look forward to a continued dialogue around our priorities.   Thanks!

Etsy Cooperative Advertising Program: BUST Magazine February/March 2010 Issue

2009-11-02T13:30:00-05:00

Next up in the Etsy Cooperative Advertising Program: BUST Magazine!

In case you're not familiar with this program, here are the important details:

Etsy will purchase ad space in various magazines, cover half of the cost, and design the ads.
Etsy sellers are able to purchase spots in the ad at the discounted rate.
You will get to display your shop name, an image of one item, its price, and its Category.
The limit is one spot per seller, per advertisement.

This ad will be in the February/March issue of BUST Magazine.

30 spots will be available to sellers at a price of $96 each.
Spots will go on sale on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 1 p.m. ET. (Find out what time this is on a world clock here.)
Spots are purchased in the same manner as a Showcase.
If you successfully buy a cooperative ad spot through Showcase, your item photo and information must be sent to adam@etsy.com no later than 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

About BUST:

Total Circulation is 93,500.
BUST is published six times annually.
The February/March issue hits newsstands on January 20, 2010.

BUST is a groundbreaking women's lifestyle magazine that is unique in its ability to connect with bright, cutting-edge young women. With an attitude that is fierce, funny, and proud to be female, BUST's revolutionary editorial mix addresses a refreshing variety of women's interests, including pop culture, music, crafting, fashion, sex, news, and celebrity interviews. Hip, humorous, and honest, BUST is a cheeky celebration of all things female and a trusted authority on up-and-coming trends among young women.

98% of the readers are women.
Average income is $69,000.
Median age is 27.
80% of readers refer to BUST for fashion.
91% say BUST is their favorite magazine.
68% purchased from BUST advertisers last year.

FAQ

1. What is the Cooperative Advertising Program?

By purchasing a spot in a Cooperative Advertising Program, Etsy sellers can show off their items in an Etsy-branded magazine advertisement, reach new buyers, and help boost their sales and shop awareness. Print ads in popular magazines are often priced out of reach of small entrepreneurs. Etsy is able to purchase larger ads for more impact, and let sellers buy into the ads.

2. How does it work?

Etsy reduces costs to sellers by subsidizing the ads. We pay half of the cost. The cost to you is the remaining amount, divided by the number of spots for sale.
Sellers get to display one image of an item from their shop, its price, its main category and their shop name. The appearance of the ad is similar to our homepage. Click here for an example.

3. How do I purchase a spot?

1: Go to the Showcase Gateway.
2: Choose "Cooperative Ads - Bust Magazine February/March Showcase." There will only be one date to choose from.
3: Hit the "Purchase" button. The fee will be added to your normal Etsy bill.

*Note: The items that appear in the Showcase section of "Your Etsy" will not affect this purchase. The item photo that you send in via email to adam@etsy.com will be what appears in the ad. There is no online Showcase associated with this purchase!

**Also note: If your shop is currently in Vacation Mode, you will not be able to purchase a spot. You must turn Vacation Mode off in order to participate.

4. What do I do next?

You will receive an email from Adam (adam@etsy.com) with details, and we will need the following from you:

Your shop name.
The price of the item.
The main category that the item is listed under.
A high-resolution photograph of your item (300 dpi).

If you need help with photo issues, please ask, and Adam will send you detailed instructions. If you already have a photo that you like, great! If not, check out some of our photography tips.

We will need your image by 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 to give us time to lay out the ad and meet our deadline.

5. How many spots can I reserve?

You can purchase one spot per advertisement.

6. Can I cancel a spot after I've made a reservation? Is the fee refunded?

We will only cancel and refund spots under very special circumstances. Deciding you are no longer interested in your spot does not count. If you feel like you really have a valid case please email adam@etsy.com.

7. How do I know if the current Cooperative Ad is right for me?

Do some research! We'll provide helpful info for each ad as it becomes available (see above). It may be helpful to visit your local bookstore or newsstand to see if they carry the magazine. Remember, there will be more of these Cooperative Advertising opportunities available in the future. If you don't feel like this magazine is perfect for you, there will be other opportunities...

See our posts on upcoming Showcase opportunities as well!

Tech Update: Upcoming SEO Improvements for Shop Home Pages

2009-10-30T19:40:00-05:00

UPDATE: We have completed the SEO improvements for shop pages, including the 302 to 301 redirect changes for username.etsy.com URLs.

[The following was originally posted on October 30, 2009.]

UPDATE: We're happy to announce that all the search engine optimization (SEO) changes described in the post below are now live on Etsy, except for the 302 to 301 redirect change for username.etsy.com URLs, which will roll out over the next 24 hours.

[The following was originally posted on October 28, 2009.]

As part of our ongoing initiative to increase SEO effectiveness on Etsy.com, we will be releasing an update within the next 24-48 hours that is designed to improve page rankings on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.

Search engines look at the number of links into a web page, such as a seller’s shop or product listing page, and the quality of those links to determine the relevancy of that page in response to a search query. Our change will ensure that ALL incoming links to Etsy pages are counted by the search engines.

Prior to this change, all links to your shop URL (username.etsy.com) were 302 redirects to www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=123456, which many search engines viewed as temporary and therefore did not count in their algorithms. From a technical perspective, we changed 302 temporary redirects to permanent 301 redirects, which are counted.

In the process, we’ve also updated the current shop page URL (www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=123456) from a format that uses a numerical “user_id” to one that is SEO-enhancing as well as shopper-friendly: www.etsy.com/shop/username.

We anticipate that you’ll have questions and hope to address the majority of them below:

Do I need to make changes to all the current links to my site?
No, you do not need to make any changes to your current site references — whether you’re using username.etsy.com or www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=123456. Both will be automatically redirected to www.etsy.com/shop/username. In the future, if you’re embedding the link to your shop page on another site, please use http://www.etsy.com/shop/username. If you’re marketing your site and need a URL that’s easy to remember, continue to use username.etsy.com in your marketing materials.

When I create a new shop, what URL will be generated?
When a new shop is created on Etsy.com, two URLs will be generated: username.etsy.com and www.etsy.com/shop/username. Etsy will automatically assign www.etsy.com/shop/username to the page URL. Shop owners can continue to use username.etsy.com for marketing purposes — this will be automatically redirected to www.etsy.com/shop/username.

When can I expect to see the results of these changes?
Once changes are made on any site, it takes search engines a few weeks to recognize that change and reflect it in page rankings. Search engines crawl Etsy.com more frequently than most websites because of its size, number of inbound links and frequency of change.

Tell me more about 302 vs. 301 redirects.
On the Internet, there are different types of redirects used for different purposes by the search engines. The redirect from username.etsy.com to www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=123456 was a 302 redirect. Search engines assume 302 redirects are temporary and therefore do not count links to 302 redirects towards the number of links to a page. In contrast, 301 redirects are seen as permanent, and do count towards the number of links to a page. We're changing the 302 temporary redirect to a 301 permanent redirect to make sure all links to username.etsy.com are counted by search engines.

We’d like to recognize and thank our partners at SEOmoz – Rand, Lindsay, and Jen – for their involvement in our initiative. SEO is an ongoing process and as we continue to roll out enhancements, we will communicate them on The Storque. If you have questions or comments, please join us in this discussion thread in the Forums. We’d love to hear from you.

P.S. If you want to get the breaking, vital Etsy news as it happens — delivered straight to your email inbox, then sign up for Etsy News Alerts emails. Read more about it here. Expect this as an Etsy Alert email in your inbox if you already subscribe to the list.

You can also get an RSS feed of all TechUpdates here.

Holiday Gift Ideas Showcase: On Sale Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET

2009-10-28T11:00:00-05:00

The holiday season is just around the corner, and the search for unique, heartfelt gifts need not wait until the last minute. The Holidays: Gift Ideas Showcase will exhibit interesting, expertly handcrafted items that you won't find at your local mall. Make this holiday season an affair to remember with gifts only Etsy could provide.

Info for Sellers
Get your items ready! There are no restrictions for this Showcase, but please highlight unique holiday gifts, especially for those hard to please individuals on everyone's lists.

The Holiday Gift Ideas Showcase goes on sale Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET.
Go to the Showcase Gateway to purchase a spot.
This Showcase will run from Monday, November 2, 2009 12 a.m. ET until Sunday, November 8, 2009, 11:59 p.m. ET.
For $15 USD, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24-hour spot, which will be linked from a prominent banner on Etsy's home page.
Sellers determine which item will be featured in your Showcase slot. Sellers must use the tool in Your Etsy > Promote > Showcase. Learn more about this process here.

Future Showcases

If you are thinking about planning for other Showcases that may be more appropriate for your items, here are some of the front page Showcases we will be highlighting:

Holiday Gifts for Him Showcase: On sale November 5, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 9, 2009 to November 15, 2009.
- Think accessories, cuff links, geekery, artwork — anything appropriate for the men on our shopping lists.

Holiday Stocking Stuffer Showcase: On sale November 12, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 16, 2009 to November 22, 2009.
- Think about all the smaller items that can fit into a holiday stocking.

Holiday Kids and Toys Showcase: On sale Thursday, November 19, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 23, 2009 to November 29, 2009.
- Think fun holiday gifts for children of all ages.

Clarifications and Changes: Updates to Etsy's Site Policies

2009-10-27T18:45:00-05:00

Last week we let the Etsy community in on a "sneak peek" preview of the proposed updates to our site policies in the DOs & DON'Ts of Etsy. During this preview week, we received lots of feedback and discussed the policies in the Forums, by Conversations and email with members of the Etsy community. After a rather positive reception and a few tweaks, we're ready to put the updated DOs & DONTs into effect today. In addition, we have updated the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy to complement the revised DOs & DON'Ts. These are important changes that every Etsy member should review, so we're sending out an email notification to all members (with millions of members in our community, it may take a few weeks for the emails to reach everyone).

For the most part, the core of the policies are still the same. Our aim was to address concerns expressed by members over the past year, and we made several clarifications and a few additions to the policies. For your convenience, we've summarized the highlights below, but we expect every member to read through the updated DOs & DON'Ts and Terms of Use in their entirety.   The updates below will look familiar to those who participated in the preview last week. Please follow the links to see the specific sections where these policies are defined.

Membership: A few notable policies that apply to all members have been moved up to the Membership section, like our policy for linking from a shop or profile to another selling venue. Collectives (seller accounts involving multiple people) have been further defined with the categories of Collaboration, Sharing a Shop and Shop Management Help. We clarified our rules for younger Etsians; collectives that include minors under the age of 18 may not utilize community features unless otherwise stated by Etsy.

Conversations: You may not use Conversations to interfere with a transaction (with details on this in the Transactions section, too). We've also elaborated on the definition of "spam" as it relates to Etsy Convos.

Transactions: We’ve added information to the Transactions section, describing the roles of the seller, the buyer and Etsy in a transaction. Keep in mind that in addition to these basic expectations for a transaction, each seller has their own Shop Policies and the policies of third-party services (for example: PayPal, shipping services) may be a factor. Additionally, we’ve outlined in detail various concerns or scenarios in which a transaction may be disputed, including: non-payment, non-delivery, refusal of service, dissatisfaction and interference. We’ve clarified the circumstances in which a transaction may be canceled. In general, the additions to this section outline in greater detail the processes and policies already in place for transactions.

Feedback: To better accommodate custom orders and international transactions, we will be increasing the time frame for submitting feedback from 90 days to 120 days. Additionally, we’ve clarified the circumstances in which Etsy will review feedback for removal, and we've lifted the 30-day limitation to requesting review of feedback for a policy violation.

Shops and listings: Formerly called “Selling,” this section has been expanded to include detailed policies about shop set-up, listing items, tagging and specific rules for handmade items, vintage goods and supplies. The section on Tagging is entirely new to the DOs & DON’Ts, but most of this information was available on Etsy’s Help site or through guides posted on Etsy’s blog, The Storque. Expanded sections of rules for handmade, vintage and supplies items should help sellers understand what can be sold on Etsy and how to list items for sale.

Charitable shops and listings: Etsy appreciates the spirit of giving back. Due to some laws and the existence of unsavory individuals who may try to take advantage of this spirit, we have added some policies for shops and listings that use charitable fundraising as a promotional tool. Etsy does not intend to limit your ability to donate to the charity of your choice; these rules merely apply to members who wish to promote or advertise charitable giving as a reason to purchase from their Etsy shops.

Prohibited Items: In response to a variety of community concerns, we have clarified our prohibited items list. These items — though they may be handmade, vintage or a crafting supply — are not allowed to be listed for sale on Etsy.

Showcase and Treasury: Making a first time appearance in the DOs & DON'Ts are specific sections for participation in the Showcase and the Treasury. We have gathered information from other areas of the site about these interactive features to formalize as policies in the DOs & DON'Ts.

Terms of Use: In general, the Terms of Use and DOs & DON'Ts complement one another. Notably, we added an arbitration clause and an idea submission clause. To explain the idea submission clause in plain language: if you submit an idea to improve Etsy, Etsy may use the suggestion to better the site. If you have a secret idea to improve Etsy, simply do not share it with Etsy, on the community spaces or via email. We truly appreciate all members and your feedback to improve the site. Both Etsy and the community benefit from these ideas.

The policies are live and in effect as of today, October 27, 2009; therefore, all your activities or content on Etsy from today forward must be in line with these new policies. As we mentioned in the post about the sneak peek, we are allowing all members a grace period to bring their existing content (for example: account information, shops, listings) up to speed with any changes in the policies. We also wanted to take into account the timing with the busy holiday season. All members have until the end of the day on December 31, 2009 to edit their content created prior to today's date (October 27, 2009).

Thank you for your input over the past year and during the policy preview week. By keeping our policies clear and up-to-date, we help preserve the integrity of Etsy.

If you have questions or comments about Etsy's updated policies, please join the discussion in this Forum thread or email support@etsy.com.

Holidays: Kids & Toys Showcase: On Sale Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET

2009-10-21T14:06:00-05:00

The holidays are a thrilling season for all, but the true excitement is reserved for the kids. Memories of opening that much-anticipated toy truck or stuffed animal are sure to be treasured for years to come. The Holidays: Kids & Toys Showcase will provide ample opportunities to discover fun stocking stuffers, enticing toys and stimulating products for babies and children.

Info for Sellers
Get your items ready! Think fun things for kids to do or wear this holiday season. In order to keep the Showcase on point thematically, items in the Showcase can only be from the following categories: Bath & Beauty (e.g., top-level tag being "Bath & Beauty"), Books and Zines, Children, Clothing, Crochet, Holidays, Knitting, Paper Goods, Toys, Vintage and Woodworking.

The Holidays: Kids & Toys Showcase goes on sale Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET.
Go to the Showcase Gateway to purchase a spot.
This Showcase will run from Monday, October 26, 2009 12 a.m. ET until Sunday, November 1, 2009, 11:59 p.m. ET.
For $15 USD, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24-hour spot, which will be linked from a prominent banner on Etsy's home page.
Sellers determine which item will be featured in your Showcase slot. Sellers must use the tool in Your Etsy > Promote > Showcase. Learn more about this process here.

Future Showcases

If you are thinking about planning for other Showcases that may be more appropriate for your items, here are some of the front page Showcases we will be highlighting:

Holidays: Gift Ideas Showcase: On sale October 29, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 2, 2009 to November 8, 2009.
- Think gifts for the hard to buy for person on your list.
Holidays: Gifts for Him Showcase: On sale November 5, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 9, 2009 to November 15, 2009.
- Think accessories, cuff links, geekery, artwork — anything appropriate for the man on your shopping list.
Holidays: Stocking Stuffer Showcase: On sale November 12, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 16, 2009 to November 22, 2009.
- Think about all the smaller items that can fit into a holiday stocking.

Not-So-Top-Secret: Policy Sneak Peek

2009-10-20T10:32:00-05:00

Psst ... Secret Squirrels! You may not know this, but for the past few months, a special task force at Etsy has been locked away in a tiny conference room, buckling down to polish up Etsy's site policies. I've just smuggled some highly classified documents out of the heavily-guarded, steel-doored Lawyer Hole over at Etsy HQ. I think you'll want to take a look at this file — it contains proposed revisions to the DOs & DON'Ts of Etsy.*

It’s been over a year since we last updated the DOs & DON'Ts of Etsy. During that time, the team has received feedback on our existing policies from the Etsy community — through the Forums, emails, Virtual Labs and in-person meet ups. Thank you for your input! Keeping our policies clear and up-to-date is one way we can help preserve the integrity of the site. We want to continue working with the community to better our services and our marketplace. This sneak peek preview provides another way for us to improve the site together. The revised DOs & DON’Ts will be posted on a special page for about a week to offer the opportunity to read through the document and respond with your thoughts about the proposed changes. If necessary, we may make final tweaks before we go live with the new DOs & DON'Ts. Our other policy documents, as well as Help content, will be updated to reflect the revisions to the DOs & DON’Ts at that time.

We understand that the changes may have a direct impact on some members and shops. Once we go live with the new policies, we will institute a grace period of several weeks to allow all members to edit existing account information, shops and listings as needed.

Visit this special page to see the preview of the revised DOs & DON'Ts of Etsy.

As you will see, most policies remain the same. In many areas, we've just clarified existing information or elaborated upon current practices to include these items formally in the DOs & DON'Ts document. Below I’ll highlight the changes, but be sure you preview the updated DOs & DON'Ts in their entirety.

Membership: A few notable policies that apply to all members have been moved up to the Membership section, like our policy for linking from a shop or profile to another selling venue. Collectives (seller accounts involving multiple people) have been further defined with the categories of Collaboration, Sharing a Shop and Shop Management Help. We clarified our rules for younger Etsians; collectives that include minors under the age of 18 may not utilize community features unless otherwise stated.

Conversations: You may not use Conversations to interfere with a transaction (with details on this in the Transactions section, too). We've also elaborated on the definition of "spam" as it relates to Etsy Convos.

Transactions: We’ve added information to the Transactions section, describing the roles of the seller, the buyer and Etsy in a transaction. Additionally, we’ve detailed various concerns or scenarios in which a transaction may be disputed, including: non-payment, non-delivery, refusal of service, dissatisfaction and interference. We’ve also clarified the circumstances in which a transaction may be canceled. In general, the additions to this section outline in greater detail the processes and policies already in place for transactions.

Feedback: To better accommodate custom orders and international transactions, we will be increasing the timeframe for submitting feedback from 90 days to 120 days. (This will go into effect when the policies are "live.") Additionally, we’ve clarified the circumstances in which Etsy will review feedback for removal, and we've lifted the 30-day limitation to requesting a feedback review for policy violation.

Shops and Listings: Formerly called “Selling,” this section has been expanded to include detailed policies about shop set-up, listing items, tagging and specific rules for handmade items, vintage goods and supplies. The section on Tagging is entirely new to the DOs & DON’Ts, but most of this information was available in Etsy’s Help section or through guides posted on Etsy’s blog, The Storque. Expanded sections on rules for handmade, vintage and supplies items should help sellers understand what can be sold on Etsy and how to list items for sale.

Charitable Shops and Listings: Etsy appreciates the spirit of giving back. Due to some laws and the existence of unsavory individuals who may try to take advantage of this spirit, we have added a section for charitable shops and listings.

Prohibited Items: In response to a variety of community concerns, we have clarified our prohibited items list. These items — though they may be handmade, vintage or a crafting supply — are not allowed to be listed for sale on Etsy.

The DOs & DON'Ts of Etsy, Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy and the Help site all will be updated for consistency. Once we gather your feedback and make any changes, we will launch the final versions of everything together. At that time, we will send an email notice to all members. As stated above, we will also allow a grace period for all members to edit their existing content to comply with any changed policies.

*OK, so I admit it. I'm a lousy spy and a loyal Etsy employee. I totally made sure I had permission from the head honcho before I released this not-so-top-secret sneak peek of our new policies to you, the Etsy community. Truth is that we really want your feedback. Be sure to read the preview of the entire revised DOs & DON'Ts to provide us with the most accurate feedback, and then join us for discussion in this Forum thread.

Handmade Moment Contest: We Have a Winner

2009-10-14T16:00:00-05:00

(Extended drum roll...) The winner of the Handmade Moment Video Contest is "Handmade Moments are Everywhere" by Daniel Kwan! Daniel's outstanding animation gets across the playful spirit of Etsy. Our judges and the community were all drawn to the cute characters. While the piece is fantastical, it also outlines the Etsy shopping experience. We think this video entices people and makes them want to learn more about Etsy. Congratulations to Daniel, who will be hearing from our chief bean-counter Sinohe who will be presenting Dan with a giant $3250 check (designed by our own Pete).

Daniel, in his own words: "I am a student at Emerson College studying film production, but this has the potential to change instantly as I am the inventor of the sport Gazeball-Z, a lover of children's TV programming, and an experimental seamstress. For now I spend most of my days in front of the computer animating nonsensical whatevers, but hope to one day retire and spend my days writing children's books because I refuse to live in a society where people stop telling their kids stories about magical purple crayons and bears with missing buttons."

Thanks to all who joined us in cheering the winners in our live awards ceremony in the Virtual Labs this afternoon. Here's Tara's behind-the-scenes look at the judging process from the other night:

Our three runners-up also win big today. They will be receiving giant checks for $1250 each. Give them a huge round of (virtual) applause!

2nd Place is "Robot Gets Its Wings" by Norma Toraya, a.k.a. Crankbunny. This was also the Community Favorite!

3rd Place is "Painting the Girl" by Estelle VanderHeide, a.k.a. estellelle.

Estelle, we apologize for the rude interruption from Lori "Kanye" 40, who thought that Beyonce should have won.

4th Place Mr. Squid's Handmade Moment by Hine Mizushima, a.k.a. hine.

Please take a moment of silence for the great loss to the creative community this year: Mr. Patrick Swayze. Sarah Rockstarpoli, Beug, and Matt serenaded us with a musical tribute, while Jesse and Danielle created a visual montage in his honor. We all "had the time of our lives."

They also warmed up the crowd with a live rendition of Beug's original music composed for the contest. Dee-dah-dee-da-dit-dit!

The six other finalists get $500 each. These really are all winners! They're all in this playlist below:

A huge thank you goes out to everyone who entered and to all of our voters. We all had our favorites! We'll be using the top videos in upcoming marketing campaigns, so stay tuned.

See more posts about the Handmade Moment Video Contest.

See more photos from the awards ceremony on our Flickr stream.

Holidays: Home Decor Showcase: On Sale Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET

2009-10-14T14:08:00-05:00

The holidays are approaching and many of us are looking for fun and inviting ways to decorate our homes in celebration of the season. The Holidays: Home Decor Showcase will be the place to start looking for festive items that spread good cheer, such as wreaths, table runners, menorahs, snowflakes, ornaments and dishes for all of those great baked goods.

Info for Sellers

If you are a maker of household and decorating items ideal for the holiday season, we're looking for you! In order to keep the Showcase on-point thematically, the tool will only pull items placed in the following categories: Art, (e.g., top-level tag being "Art"), Bath And Beauty, Books & Zines, Candles, Ceramics & Pottery, Furniture, Glass, Housewares, Quilts, Vintage, Woodworking and Holidays.

The Holidays: Home Decor Showcase goes on sale Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET.
Go to the Showcase Gateway to purchase a spot.
This Showcase will run from Monday, October 19, 2009 12 a.m. ET until Sunday, October 25, 2009, 11:59 p.m. ET.
For $15 USD, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24-hour spot, which will be linked from a prominent banner on Etsy's home page.
Sellers determine which item will be featured in your Showcase slot. Sellers must use the tool in Your Etsy > Promote > Showcase. Learn more about this process here.

Future Showcases

If you are thinking about planning for other Showcases that may be more appropriate for your items, here are some of the front page Showcases we will be highlighting:

Holidays: Kids & Toys Showcase: On sale October 22, 2009; the Showcase will be live from October 26, 2009 to November 1, 2009
- Think fun holiday gifts for kids of all ages
Holidays: Gift Ideas Showcase: On sale October 29, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 2, 2009 to November 8, 2009
- Think gifts for the hard to buy for person on your list.
Holidays: Gifts for Him Showcase: On sale November 5, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 9, 2009 to November 15, 2009.
- Think accessories, cuff links, geekery, artwork — anything appropriate for the man on your shopping list.

Etsy Statistics: September 2009 Weather Report

2009-10-12T15:16:00-05:00

In this month's edition of the Etsy Weather Report, we share some September 2009 figures with you.

The stats:

$16 million of goods were sold; roughly 7% higher than August's $15 million.
That represents 967,037 items sold for the month, 7% higher than August’s 905,492.
1,527,969 new items were listed in the month, 5% higher than August's 1,454,017.
189,802 new members joined the Etsy community in the month, up 3,865, or 2% from August.
560,495,644 page views were recorded on the site this month.

(Sources: Etsy and Google Analytics.)

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Etsy community in September! We're keeping close watch on the site as we move into the holiday shopping season.

Curious about how other months compare?
Check out our past Weather Reports for more statistics.

All About Etsy FAQ: Welcome to the Community Hub

2009-10-09T16:00:00-05:00

Today we're excited to unveil your new Community Hub!

There's a lot going on in the Etsy community on any given day — at any given moment. This page is designed to gather together the main streams of activity so you can see the latest at a glance. You can participate in any way you want. We hope you'll join us!

The Community Hub is linked in the main Etsy top navigation bar found on every page on our site — just click on Community. If you want to bookmark it, use this url: http://community.etsy.com

From the Community Hub you can:

get quick updates about goings-on
access the Forums and Chat (there's also a "From the Forums" feed with some of the latest topics)
pop into the Virtual Labs for real-time, interactive events
reach the Teams pages on Etsy, where groups of members self-organize
jump to The Storque, Etsy's blog, where we post content ranging from shopping to seller how-to's
check out the Resources pages for helpful tools and graphics
join in community shopping polls with the Voter

Social networking has taken off in the Etsy community, so we're streaming in our Twitter feed. We're also providing you with the links to our other social networking pages, such as Facebook, and our media feeds, such as YouTube, Flickr, and iTunes (coming soon). There's much to explore, so dive in!

For upcoming events, check out the calendar embedded on the page.

Stay tuned for more improvements to some of these pages. We'd love to hear your feedback, so please share your thoughts in the comments below.

UPDATE: Due to some limitations we had to remove the top links from the new Community Hub (e.g. Cart, Sign In, Favorites, Conversations, etc.). If you are Signed In to Etsy when you visit the Community Hub you will still be Signed In even without the top links. We understand that this is a confusing experience and longer term we hope to find a solution to improve this. In the meantime, you can always go to www.etsy.com to view your top links.

Read more posts in the All about Etsy FAQ Series | Visit the Community Hub

Handmade Moment Contest: Judgement Day

2009-10-08T14:25:00-05:00

Live Etsy.TV Handmade Moment Awards Ceremony

Join us Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 3:30 p.m. ET in the Virtual Labs. We'll be announcing the winner and runners-up live!

Yesterday was a day of reckoning.
Our Handmade Moment judges buckled down last night at the Etsy Labs for an intense evening of video watching. We pored over each of the ten finalists on etsy.tv. Andrew Wagner, editor-in-chief of ReadyMade magazine, got the conversation flowing. (See his post about judging here.) Casey Safron from the School of Visual Arts' animation department and Animation Block Party, had an interesting take on character development.

Corinne Leigh, of ThreadBanger.com, is already really familiar with DIY and got right to the heart of the Etsiness of each video. The Bretts, of The Donnas and of directing fame, phoned in from California, and Olivia Wilde will be sending her picks soon since she was on a shoot (so Hollywood!). Each judge offered up their strong opinions and thoughtful insights. It was a show in and of itself!

The whole process is a bit more reminiscent of high school exams than we expected — but still a lot of fun.

After the judging we watched some of the trailers for Mark Elijah Rosenberg' Roof top Films program. We loved the one where it's a single shot of a miniature cityscape set they built from scrap cardboard and clay models.

Maria, Etsy's CEO, was there as a proctor of sorts, making sure we stayed true to the judging criteria and the Etsy brand.

Now Jesse is tallying all the results from the panel of judges and the popular vote.

May the tension mount til Wednesday!

Holidays: Gifts, Cards & Wrap Showcase: On Sale Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 12 p.m. ET

2009-10-07T10:45:00-05:00

Looking for gifts and all the wrapping, cards and trim that transform a great gift into an exceptional gift? Once you find that present, why not add something extra to make the package even more special? Beyond the gift ideas you'll find, think beautiful handmade holiday cards, carefully designed tags and bows, screen printed wrapping paper — elements that create that handmade, thoughtful touch. These are some of the items you will expect to find in the Holidays: Gifts, Cards & Wrap Showcase.

Info for Sellers

We encourage sellers to add items that would make unique holiday gifts, as well as cards, gift wrap, bows and tags and anything that will make packaging a gift exceptional. This is a great way to start promoting your items and shop through the holiday season. There are no Category restrictions to this showcase.

The Holidays: Gifts, Cards & Wrap Showcase goes on sale Thursday, October 8, 2009 12 p.m. ET.
Go to the Showcase Gateway to purchase a spot.
This Showcase will run from Monday, October 12, 2009, 12 a.m. ET until Sunday, October 18, 2009, 11:59 p.m. ET.
For $15 USD, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24-hour spot, which will be linked from a prominent banner on Etsy's homepage.
Sellers determine which item will be featured in your Showcase slot. Sellers must use the tool in Your Etsy > Promote > Showcase. Learn more about this process here.

Future Showcases

If you are thinking about planning for other Showcases that may be more appropriate for your items, here are some of the front page Showcases we will be highlighting:

Holidays: Home Decor Showcase: On Sale October 15, 2009; the Showcase will be live from October 19, 2009 to October 25, 2009.
- Think all things to decorate for the holidays: for the home, the tree, your walkway, to entertain, etc.

Holidays: Kids & Toys Showcase: On Sale October 22, 2009; the Showcase will be live from October 26, 2009 to November 1, 2009.
- Think fun holiday gifts for kids of all ages.
Holidays: Gift Ideas Showcase: On Sale October 29, 2009; the Showcase will be live from November 2, 2009 to November 8, 2009.
- Think gifts for the person on your list who seemingly has everything.