Amazon Is Working On New Marketplace For Handmade Goods, Will This Kill Etsy?

Amazon is reportedly currently working on a marketplace for handmade goods and they are already recruiting sellers to join the site. Amazon's "Amazon Handmade" is the proposed competitor for Etsy and will be in a direct competition with the company once the service pushes through.

According to a report by Wall Street Journal, the Seattle-based Web retailer is already working on the marketplace for artisan goods and it will be called "Amazon Handmade." Sellers from Etsy reportedly received invites from Amazon urging them to transfer to the company and leave Etsy.

The email reportedly states that Amazon offers the sellers the privilege to see the new marketplace before it rolls out but no additional information as to when it will be available to the public or how much the fee would be for the artisans.

Amazon Handmade might have 11 categories like apparel, pet supplies, jewelry, home and kitchen, baby items and many more. When Amazon was asked about the report, they declined to give further comments regarding the said new marketplace for handmade products.

Although experts are saying that Amazon has a Prime loyalty program and oversees a shipping network to speed up deliveries, which Etsy does not have, Etsy still has a lower listing fee and only a 3.5% commission. This is much lower than what Amazon might ask for their cut from the sellers.

Last week, artisans from Etsy already begun posting notes about the emails of Amazon on the online forum of Etsy although the decade-old company did not yet comment on the various reports about Amazon Handmade. Etsy only has 1.4 million active sellers and they get their revenue from the fees they collect from the artisans.  

The New York-based company has around 20.8 million active buyers while Amazon has 278 million so it remains unknown if Etsy will indeed be terminated by the marketing giant. Amazon Handmade could greatly affect Etsy and will be the biggest competition as of date.