Etsy Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/) is a place where designers, collectors, thinkers, and doers may interact. This online e-commerce Web site focuses on handcrafted pieces in addition to art and craft supplies, including art, photographs, clothes, jewelry, edibles, bath & makeup, toys, and knick-knacks. The shop continues in the style of brick-and-mortar artisan stores, offering designers a venue to offer their wares for a price of $0.20 plus a sales commission of 3.5% for each piece. Etsy has been described as a crafty cross between Amazon and eBay," to "your grandma's basement and as one of the largest, most chaotic flea markets the world has ever known." Etsy says its mission is to empower people to change the way the global economy works. We see a world in which very-very small businesses have much-much more sway in shaping the economy, local living economies are thriving everywhere, and people value authorship and provenance as much as price and convenience. We are bringing heart to commerce and making the world fairer, more sustainable, and more fun." Etsy is headquartered in DUMBO, Brooklyn, and also has offices in Hudson, New York, San Francisco, CA, and Berlin, Germany. The Hudson, New York location is an old cannonball factory housing Etsy's call center and Web site design facilities for Etsy's CEO. The goal is to treat Etsy sellers with the same level of attention that Zappos lavishes on shoe buyers. Etsy's head office in Brooklyn houses the company's technology, customer support, public relations, business, and communications teams as well as "Etsy Labs," where employees can experiment with handmade projects themselves. It also features a Monday craft night where Etsy Labs are open to the public. In 2015, Etsy has over 800 employees and 55 million members. About 1.5 million active shops sell on Etsy, and in 2014, these sellers moved $1.93 billion worth of merchandise. Etsy offers multiple options for paying for items, including credit card, money order, and PayPal. Very few of these sellers make a living solely through Etsy. Perhaps a thousand sellers make $30,000 a year or more, and a only mere handful who make more than $100,000 annually. sellers make $30,000 a year or more, and a only mere handful who make more than $100,000 annually. Most sellers use Etsy as a part-time source of income. Etsy requires that all new products listed on the site be made by the people selling them- the use of mass production is prohibited. According to Etsy, about 30% of Etsy entrepreneurs sell creative goods as their sole occupation, while around 45% use their earnings to cover household expense. "Etsy has made it possible for a lot of small businesses to get off the ground," says Dale Dougherty, the publisher of Make magazine, which covers the do- it-yourself economy. But even the most successful crafters run up against the limits of their own labor. Handmade can be a limited idea. That means that the most successful Etsy sellers are in an awkward position: They must stay small and offer only handmade goods or abandon Etsy. In addition, the site continues expanding its functionality. For starters, Etsy also allows consumers to socially network in a similar manner to Facebook allowing them to make friends and maintain track of their friends' favorite shops and purchases. There's also a new gift service, which looks at the Facebook accounts of your mates and recommends products they would enjoy, and something called Taste Test, which allows you to score a smattering of random items and then suggests stuff to purchase. It's also your duty to post the feedback with your mates on Facebook and Twitter, as well as with other Etsy users, to inspire them to join. Etsy's creator and former CEO Rob Kalin hopes that these moves will inspire customers to discover innovative items, but he also sees them as part of a strengthening of Etsy's vision that goes beyond purchasing and selling. {Modified from Source: Laudon et al.} 5. What's Etsy's company sales model? How does Etsy's Brooklyn headquarters represent the company's culture and values? Discuss whether the Omani handcraft industry will adopt the same Etsy business model? If yes Why, and If not why not? 6. How important is "community" at Etsy? Visit Etsy's Web site and describe all of its community-building features