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Amazon is launching an Etsy killer
(The Guardian) Amazon's vast distribution network is a big leg up over the competition.
Amazon is introducing Amazon Handmade, a marketplace for handmade goods, aimed directly at competing with Etsy, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.
The way that Amazon is recruiting sellers for Amazon Handmade is typically aggressive: Select Etsy sellers are recieving targeted emails urging them to come over to Amazon.
"We’re offering artisans like you a first peek at Handmade, a new marketplace for handcrafted goods,” the emails say, per that Wall Street Journal report.
The news comes just days after Etsy shares tanked 24% after reporting earnings — its first-ever earnings report as a public company — at a net loss of 84 cents per share.
While Etsy has 20.8 million "active buyers," the company says, analysts believe its growth is hampered by the spread of mass manufactured and counterfeit goods, as well as items that infringe on intellectual property.
Meanwhile, Amazon has a bunch of legs up over Etsy here, including access to its vast Amazon Prime shipping and distribution network and 278 million active accounts.
One important thing we don't know yet: the commission structure for Amazon Homemade. Etsy takes 3.5% of the price and a flat 20 cents per listing, but Amazon charges its own 3rd-party sellers a 15% commission. If Amazon sticks to that structure, it'll have trouble luring Etsy sellers away.
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