Etsy to test crowdfunding
Online arts and crafts marketplace Etsy has launched a two-month pilot programme that will enable sellers to raise money through crowdfunding to fund production of new products.
“By funding a campaign, buyers can participate in a new product’s journey from initial concept to their front door while forging even more meaningful relationships with Etsy sellers they care about,” explained Joe Lallouz, product manager at Etsy.
Etsy has more than 1.4m active sellers and gets a 3.5pc share of each transaction.
Fund on Etsy, as the crowdfunding feature will be known, will be launched as a US-only pilot from 16 June to 16 August and a limited number of sellers have been selected to take part.
The Etsy economy
“Fund on Etsy is a way to expand the Etsy Economy, where creative entrepreneurs find meaningful work and thoughtful consumers discover and buy unique goods while building relationships with the people who sell to them.
“Over 10 years, we have learned how sellers work from beginning to end to bring products to market, and have developed products to serve their needs along the business spectrum, including tools to create and manage listings and payments, promote items, track orders and expand into new channels like wholesale.
“Fund on Etsy is intended to address another need — financing and product development — and fits in seamlessly with sellers’ business lifecycles.”
Arts and crafts image via Shutterstock
