Fostering real-world relationships

Teams bring Etsy to life for our community. Etsy Teams are community-run groups of sellers that come together around a shared interest or location. Sellers join these groups to share information about running a business, get advice from experienced members, connect with peers, and activate their communities. In 2015, Etsy Teams led educational activities to strengthen members’ businesses, ran social media and marketing campaigns, and organized pop-up shops and markets. "There is a strong sense within the group in empowering each other to succeed," says Jo Chan of One Busy Sloth, who is a leader of Handmade Cooperative, a team that has brought together 70 Australian makers and Etsy sellers who create handmade children's goods.

Etsy New York Team pop up market
Photo by Jen Hsieh
Etsy Teams in 2015

At the end of 2015, there were more than 12,000 Etsy Teams around the world, with approximately 21% of active sellers participating in them.

  • More than 1,900 sellers belong to “Captains’ Quarters,” a team designed to offer a place for captains and leaders of Etsy Teams to share leadership advice and support.
  • For the third year, our international community teams hosted Etsy Team captain summits in Germany, France, the UK, Canada, and Australia. Over the course of these events, over 150 of our most engaged community leaders came together to learn from each other and get inspired.
  • Etsy supported 78 team-led craft markets around the world.
  • 326 captains and leaders took part in Etsy’s long-standing Team Fellowship Program, a community for standout captains and leaders from around the globe.
    Spotlight: Team-led Etsy markets

    Through Etsy Teams, sellers band together to lead initiatives that champion their shared success, like hosting markets in their local communities. Etsy supported 78 team-led markets in the US, the UK, the EU, Australia, and Canada. All told, these events connected Etsy sellers to over 300,000 people browsing for unique goods. In 2015, Etsy supported our largest campaign of local, team-led markets: Made in Canada. On a single day in September, Etsy Teams hosted pop-up markets in 32 cities across the country, featuring a total of fifteen hundred sellers and drawing in 80,000 visitors. The Cheerfully Made Etsy Team added a philanthropic component to their market, raising $27,000 for Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centres from admissions fees.