Amazon is launching a new section on its website today, Handmade at Amazon, which is a specialized storefront promoting exclusively handcrafted goods sold directly from artisans. Using the new marketplace, customers can discover artisans from around the world, as well as shop local from those based in their community, all while retaining the Amazon format that customers have grown accustomed to.
"We have designed a custom shopping experience for customers looking for handmade items by bringing together many of the best artisans in the world, and they're adding thousands of items daily," said Amazon Marketplace VP Peter Faricy, according to Business Wire. "Knowing an item has a unique story behind it creates a personal experience that customers have told us makes owning handmade items special. Handmade at Amazon offers customers more than 80,000 quality handcrafted items from around the world, and over 30 percent can be personalized by artisans to delight customers."
Amazon's release of Handmade is aimed squarely at Etsy, which has a 10-year head start on the artisanal goods retailer business, even going so far as to recruit potential sellers to Handmade directly from Etsy.
Despite the head start, however, Etsy's shares dropped 53 percent since its first day of trading as artists using the site express frustration over Etsy's counterfeiting issue and its move to allow sellers to mass produce items, according Yahoo News.
Now, with the release of Handmade at Amazon, artists have a sizable online alternative to Etsy.
Many sellers are excited about Handmade, but still intend to stay with Etsy.
"This is a great opportunity to maybe reach new customers," said Laura Owens of Placerville, Calif., according to the Wall Street Journal. "I will not quit Etsy, though, as it is a force to be reckoned with and is also a proven selling platform."
A spokesman for Amazon said Handmade will start with a handful of categories: home, jewelry, artwork, party supplies, kitchen and dining, stationery and furniture. The immediate goal will be to expand into more categories.
