Friday, October 9, 2015

Handmade at Amazon - Thank you

I am so happy to see this and happier for my crafting friends who will be selling through Amazon.

  At launch, Handmade at Amazon will include about 5,000 sellers from 50 states and 60 countries offering 80,000 items. Amazon takes a 12 percent fee from overall sales made by Handmade at Amazon sellers and includes payment processing, discounted shipping and access to other Amazon services. There’s no listing fee or monthly fee to start. In contrast, New York-based Etsy has 1.5 million sellers and 21.7 million buyers as of June 30. It takes a 3.5 percent fee on overall sales and a 20 cent listing fee per item listed. They also differ in terms of manufacturing policy. Amazon says sellers have to fill out an online application to be approved to sell on the site and all items sold on the site must be “factory-free” and not made by manufacturers. New York-based Etsy, on the other hand, started letting some merchants apply to use manufacturers for some products in 2013 [and this is where Etsy screwed up by going for large profits]. In September, Etsy said it was creating a new Etsy manufacturing marketplace to make it easier for its sellers to find “responsible production assistance.” Manufacturers can apply to be part of the program and Etsy approves them based on certain criteria.
   http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/08/amazon-challenges-etsy-with-handmade-at-amazon/