To help craft businesses grow, Etsy, a listing website for artisan and social enterprise products, will now scout for manufacturers to partner with its sellers.
Shifting from its previous practice of marketing products solely done by sellers, Etsy now aims to create opportunities for small-scale manufacturers and freelance seamstresses, woodworkers, and other skilled individuals.
Etsy Manufacturing is an upcoming marketplace for designers and manufacturers seeking to build responsible partnerships.
According to the New York Times, Etsy's Chief Executive Chad Dickerson says Etsy Manufacturing is not about encouraging extensive outsourcing or mass production for the sake of growth. Instead, he said, it is a way for local artisans and small manufacturers to find one another. And it is a logical extension, he said, of Etsy's personal, small-scale approach to business.
"We're already changing the way things are bought and sold, and we believe we can do the same for manufacturing," Mr. Dickerson said.
To guide sellers in assessing if outsourcing is ideal for them, Etsy has provided a seller handbook. Etsy currently supports printing, apparel and textile, machining and fabrication, and jewelry and metalwork.
Etsy is accepting applications from manufacturers seeking to create lasting partnerships with growing small businesses, have flexible minimums, produce items in house, and enjoy sharing their company story and information about their processes to the online community.
Launching at the end of 2015, Etsy Manufacturing beta will be connecting designers and manufacturers for free.
During the beta program, Etsy will accept applications from manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada. Etsy seeks to provide opportunities for small American and Canadian manufacturers who were displaced when businesses started outsourcing labor from other countries.
International manufacturers are still encouraged to apply. Etsy will be in touch with them when the marketplace becomes available outside North America.
In 2016, designers and manufacturers will be able to transact with each other for an associated fee which will be announced later.
Designers and their manufacturing partners may engage via Etsy convos.
