An IPO Could Put Etsy Idealism in Jeopardy

by: DrStrangegoods

The obvious concern is the danger of Etsy becoming just another Amazon want-to-be like eBay. One would hope they would realize that market is saturated and keep true to their original business mission.

Putting that concern aside, Etsy is in an excellent position for growth. Many small vintage sellers are disgruntled with eBay and looking for a viable alternative. Vintage sales are starting to get some traction on Etsy and if Etsy plays their cards correctly they can take a large share of eBay's small sellers. First though, Etsy has a number of issues which should be addressed before they even consider an IPO:

- Lack of proper categories for most vintage items
- No shipping calculator
- No mechanism for management of larger inventories
- No blocked buyer list
- Insufficient store sections for vintage items
- Limited number of pictures per item
- Overall lack of exposure for site
- Too many items listed which violate copyright, or are just plain illegal to sell
- Too many resellers with Chinese made products posing as hand crafts
- Strange search behavior
- Lack of alternatives to Paypal for payments
- Heavy emphasis on handmade tends to neglect needs of vintage sellers
- Etsy front page does not have a coherent message

I am sure I could think of more but this would be good for starters.

by: BetterThingsToDo

People you are living in a dream world. If Etsy goes to an IPO of course they will start charging for a range of services.

Since when does business do anything for free??? Do you really think that any department or grocery store doesn't get charged for selling things.

They pay interest, upkeep, gas, electric etc. All you people must think this stuff is free.

The days of the free rides are coming to a close as these companies need to start making money and the sellers are going to start paying more, like it or not its going to happen.

by: Nan

@Better: Listing on Etsy is not free.  There is an insertion fee and a FVF.  And of course the PP fee when something sells.

But if they go public, I can see the fees going up.  They are fairly low.  

by: Digmen1

According to the charts that Ina publishes once a month from etsy, they are enjoying very good growth in members and sales.

So why would they want to risk that by making major changes. "Just so that they can employee some new talent" - Come on.

by: Ming the Merciless

To either delay or eliminate the possibility of Etsy eventually becoming another ebay for vintage goods, sellers should hold them accountable the first time unfavorable changes begin to occur.

Etsy can't recruit the big boxes so when the anti seller, pro Wall Street changes start happening, stop selling. Do it the first time, the second time, the third time and so on until these arrogant, greedy jerks get the message that their little marketplace will fail unless it works hand in hand with its customers, the SELLERS.

Sellers hold the key to their Etsy post IPO success. Use the leverage you have becuase, if you don't, all you have to do is to look at ebay to see what your fate will be.

by: Stockmiser

But Ming, they won't care.  After the IPO, all the owners and investors will be so filthy rich that they won't need to care.

Do you think Omidyar cared after he cashed in all those BILLIONS?   No, he went and hired ole Meg whos sole purpose was to pump up the company so her stock options would make her BILLIONS.  Then she cashed out.  Now we have Donahue....poor John.  No billions for him.  Milked that cow one time too many.

It's hard to keep your online service "ideals" when you become so unfathomably wealthy that you can do things that might actually help the world at large.  

My guess is they IPO, and get a board and a new CEO dedicated to squeezing every last dollar out of the biz so they can cash in those stock options.

Dickerson will still blog about his ideals from his yacht on the way to  some charity event...

by: mindelec

i don't sell there, but one only needs to look at ebay to see what will happen.  after a company goes public their entire focus changes from pleasing their customers (i.e. sellers and buyers) to pleasing their stockholders.  stockholders are only pleased by financial growth, which isn't always the best thing for the original customers of the company.

ebay's start downhill was when the founders cashed out in the IPO.

by: Ming the Merciless

Initially, a few select people will indeed be quite rich.

But if Etsy can't sustain their seller base, the stock eventually goes down.

Stock options are the only reason Donahoe still has his job. Ebay, ebay execs, and members of their BoD control a huge percentage of the stock and don't care whether they receive dividends because they're all about the cash in price and what The Ho can do to increase it.

In 2002 when Meg began initiating anti seller policies, had most sellers really understood what she was doing and taken appropriate action, ebay could be a very different place today.

Corporations are typically organized entities while sellers aren't. Etsy has competitors; list on them.

You could even organize a day or week to boycott Etsy before the IPO to demonstrate the result.

We sellers could control these marketplaces if we recognize evil when it begin and if we would only understand how to wield the power properly.

It does NOT have to be all about stock price and satisfying the Wall Street vultures. Spend a few minutes and read the highly successful Southwest Airlines and Costco business models.

by: Patricia

Losing Etsy would be no big thing for me.  At this point I can take or leave it.

by: Digmen1

If someone found out how to organise a decent boycott, then they would be a hero.

Its never going to happen, cos you don't have everyones email address, and people like/need to keep selling and making money.