Very cool product. I’m still puzzled why nobody has really put together a good Web 2.0 eBay platform that’s flourished. Tagging, cheaper prices, simple user interface, and RSS feeds of items listed. I’m not into handmade items, but will definitely be sharing the site.

Sincerely,
Jason L. Baptiste
CEO of Viral Ventures Inc.

Use your mouse scroll-wheel in the Time Machine to move backward and forward…

Jared Tarbell (one of the Etsy guys) makes amazing art: http://www.levitated.net

I understand optimism and enthusiasm (and I love Etsy), but isn’t techcrunch getting a bit hyperbolic? I mean, it does nothing to improve the notion that Web 2.0 isn’t just hype when TechCrunch is constantly amping up things that really don’t deserve/need it. Zoozio shouldn’t have made the homepage.

A bit more critical analysis would be a huge benefit I think. I don’t mean to dismis you guys (as you know, you’re in my RSS reader, I send links to people I know, etc) but a good dose of questioning and less hyperbolic statements would go a long way toward difusing the notion of Web 2.0 being nothing but a bubble in the making.

My wife has an etsy shop and absolutely loves it. She’s sold several items and has found it very easy to maintain and update. I agree–there is a TON of potential in the idea and the developers are doing an excellent job.

It’s probably not Ebay 2.0, but there are definitely more innovations coming out of Etsy than any other e-commerce site has produced over the last couple years.

It’s going to be hard to compete with ebay as it is a formidable company. I can careless about Flashy stuff when it comes to online trading. I’ve been burnt really bad by shady people and so have many other people. Credibility is key!

Etsy will need to demonstrate that they can screen seller/buyers better than eBay and response more agressive to complaints. If they can do that, they will capitalize on an ebay weakness no one else dare to take on.

“Side note: there is a huge market waiting out there if someone would create an independent third party feedback system with open data and APIs”

Mike, I was working on something like this a few months back, but other projects have since taken priority. I guess I could get back to it now - I’d be interested in your views.

Pete.

Nifty site but there is a lot of form over function going on. Examples…In the color and geo areas, you pick something and all the items returned overlap each other, it’s a real pain to pick something or see what’s available. The site has a lot of nifty “real” features but they need to dump some of the funky Flash. It’s a case of “developers gone wild”. Just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should.
An aside: I tend to agree with poster #3 to a certain degree.

>>>“Side note: there is a huge market waiting out there if someone would create an independent third party feedback system with open data and APIs”

Doesn’t iKarma.com do this?

Etsy is Ebay 2.0 ? …Come on , dont you think you are going a little too overboard here

Gary,

No - iKarma is not open in the way Mike describes. Did you take a look at his review of iKarma a while back?…

http://www.techcrunch.com/2005.....o-be-huge/

Thank you so much for pointing out this place, I have been looking for a place to sell my jewelry!

Ethan, I disagree with some of what you say. I’m definitely hard on companies I think aren’t innovating. Listen to my podcast with Steve Gillmore at http://attentiontech.podshow.com/?p=10 where I slam companies, including many that I’ve written about, for inferior products. My headline on Zoozio, which you mentioned, was sarcastic - Hey, another Ajax desktop! (like we need another one).

See also my recent rants against Inform.com and Odeo.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2005.....om-doesnt/
http://www.techcrunch.com/2005.....sappoints/

There are other examples as well - the Google reader for instance. In general I try to see the positive but I don’t hesitate to slam companies when they deserve it. And, by the way, slamming companies is a much better way to gain readers and links.

Etsy is a generation further along. Forget the flash stuff, the dynamic taxonomy is a true web 2.0 feature and needs to be talked about.

Will Etsy take over ebay? Unlikely since ebay has a network effect and it would take something really disruptive to unseat them. But I do applaud companies that innovate and evolve current thinking. Etsy did that.

Mike

I know you’ve been critical, so I wasn’t trying to make a blanket statement, just that seeing hyperbolic headlines (even if with an element of truth) make me cringe. I agree with innovation, but innvoation also supplants version iteration.

Saying something is ________ version 2.0 I think is degrading to its own innovation. Its much more prudent to judge things in situ rather than in relation all the time. It’s part of the reason that while I use and abuse the Web 2.0 moniker, I don’t necessarily think that it works well.

I’d much rather say that Etsy is a morphological shift in shopping experience (which it is) rather than that its EBay 2.0 (which it isn’t).

Oh, and morphological is such a better word than paradigm

Ethan, Ok, upon reflection I agree with you on the title issue. I’ve changed it. Thanks for taking the time to comment. If you are thinking something then lots of others are too. It’s good to get feedback like this.

Changing the title of the post is historical revisionism. Admit you are wrong in the comments (if you have to!), but don’t change the original post. I’d expect as much out of the Bush administration, but not our lovely TechCrunch!

Historical Revisionism? I change stuff all the time on TechCrunch. That’s what the “edit” button is for, right?

can someoneplease explain this
‘create an independent third party feedback system with open data and APIs)to me so that I can get working on it.

Rich - see my ikarma profile (link in no 15 above). I lay out the changes that should be made, including an open API.

1) the time machine (spiral) has a clock. the idea is that when you click it, the most recently posted item is shown, and as you go back in time it will show you a list of ALL the items LISTED in reverse time order, and the clock on the top will tell you have far back you’ve gone. Very nifty.

2) I doubt the geolocator and the color search functions are meant to be practical, thats what the tags are for. I think it’s just to show off their talent, and give people another alternative if they know they want SOMETHING but aren’t sure what… it gives them a neat way to find something unexpected.

3) for all things handmade, it’s better, cheaper, easier, and more fun than eBay… for handmade goods why go anywhere else?

I give etsy a 9/10… (they don’t get the perfect 10 because they didn’t want to give me a job!)… jerks! haha

Looking over the comments in reaction to this article I think I have to point out that the “flashiness” of the Etsy site is probably geared towards the creative personality that this website attracts. Its a little more intuitive.. a little more fun.. which is what is sorely lacking in most websites in my opinion.
In contrast to Ebay.. where you log on.. find what you wanna buy and log off.. in Etsy you CAN do just that.. but its also a tight community and a place that encourages you to spend some time exploring.. which can only boost sales.
Fun, approachable, intuitive… I think this is the future of internet business.

I’ve noticed in E-bay; the homemade jewellery is going to cheap, (little profit).
Esty - people who visit don’t mind paying the right price, (which still can be cheaper then ‘real’ shops).

“We require a credit card because we also use it to verify your identity and address. However, we may be adding PayPal as a means for this in the near future. A discussion about this issue may be found in the Ideas forum.”

Hopefully soon!!

The flash is pretty cool. Although, I agree, the color chart isn’t that helpful!

I’ve just joined Etsy.

PerfumedLace.etsy.com

The great thing about Etsy, is that it isn’t trying to take over Ebay, you can’t sell anything and everything there, and no one is kidding themselves into thinking they can made their entire living off selling on Etsy, it is just a great venue for artisans to showcase their work, sell to a different audience. Also, we’re sharing our audiences with each other, and while it’s not juried(which i’m grateful for), quality is expected. The big question is, is Etsy going to be capable of maintaining the crowd it wants to draw, will it be able to NOT become Ebay.

jared tarbell is genius. have you seen town hall, the multi-user interface for the etsy community? check it out!

Umm, “architected” in not a word. How about created, constructed, built. Just to name a few. But otherwise, yes, Etsy.com is the best thing out there right now.

Cooqy (http://www.cooqy.com) is eBay done Web 2.0-style.

I have been selling my original art online for some time now, and I would like to share that Etsy is my new wonderful home! I was selling on ebay for a few years, which had it’s highs and lows, and I’ll always be grateful for it. But for the category I was in, “self representing artists”, the market became flooded, and the overwhelming fees were taking too much out of my profits. Also, in the world of fine art, ebay was rather frowned upon (although I continue to see nothing wrong with an artist finding any medium possible to share their craft). “Bargain” buys were so frequent, that it drove the market value of truly excellent contemporary art down - a trend that continues to threaten and question the market at large.

Etsy is something unique, new, and wonderful for artists and craftsmen. I would hate for them to expand beyond their “handmade” criteria, because buyers of art are particular, and this site seems to cater to that. It has been an affordable, professional, user friendly site that I am happy to now call home. I should also note, that as a new user of ebay, it took me months and lots of investment $ to get any attention at all. In the first few days of being a member on Etsy, I had a handful of sales. That says it all.

http://www.livefunky.etsy.com

We also have set up shop on etsy. It allows us to cater to the kind of audience that appreciates and values the work that goes into handmade products. In just a few weeks on etsy, we are starting to get noticed and have brought in a few sales. Etsy is a great add-on to our other marketing venues and is user-friendly. The community is close and supportive and they also buy from and promote each other. I certainly prefer the kind of shopper that etsy attracts as opposed to some of the bargain basement shoppers found on ebay.

I make exclusive handknit and crochet clothing and houswares and I’ve been looking for a home for my online store for a year. In my search, I considered having an individual store and using eBay. The first was prohibitive in cost and too difficult to market. eBay was much easier to do and less expensive, but in m category the quality of items was variable and volume was formidable. I was afraid I wouldn’t have an educated buyership who appreciated finer handiwork and would wade through the junk to find it. I found Etsy by accident while shopping for yarn, and kept going back to it because it was easy to use (as buyer) and had such an amazing variety of artists. Still, because it was new and obscure, I was not convinced until recently that it was the place to sell.
Two weeks ago I opened my store. It took only one day of preparation and store building and a handful of change to list my first 60 items. I sold pieces within the first few days. Because of the community that uses Etsy, my funkier items and my eco-friendly items have the right exposure and I have a group of fellow craftspeople that is accessible and like-minded. Further, the energetic owners have the right idea about marketing creativity-based products and are being fairly aggressive about it.

http://www.essiewb.etsy.com

Etsy is a great niche but so far it doesn’t market itself like eBay does. I am not sure that it should but just pointing it out.

I am afraid that many of the people who buy on etsy are also sellers on etsy and most of my friends have never heard of it. You can’t really compare them yet. I am a seller on etsy and you have to promote yourself, just being part of etsy gets you nowhere. On my ebay sales, I never I had to do any promoting of myself, people easily found me through searches.

some interesting sites on etsy:
Studio AK
The Devil’s Cloth
Recy