Amazon Handmade and What It Means for Artisans

October 20, 2015

Howdy, #TechTuesday-ers! We trust you’re doing well and enjoying the crispness of the fall season.

Something about the autumn season feels so… well, so darn craftsy. Maybe it’s simply the approach of Halloween and the prospect of pumpkin carving and painting, or the larger decorative implications of the overall holiday season, or perhaps it’s something altogether deeper — one of those true mysteries of the universe. But we have crafts on our mind, and hey, turns out, so does Amazon.

There’s a new kid on the block to challenge the preeminent online crafts selling marketplace of Etsy, and that fresh-faced fella is Amazon Handmade. What is Amazon Handmade, you ask? Let’s take a gander in the very creatively titled article section we call, “What is Amazon Handmade?”

What is Amazon Handmade?

Amazon Handmade is Amazon’s response to Etsy, the current king of all things craftsy online. Sure, Amazon has their main, wickedly-well-established online marketplace, but that’s for those monolithic-sized companies that mass produce stuff out the wazoo. Handmade is aimed at the independent-seller marketplace that Etsy dominates.

So, what makes Amazon Handmade different than Etsy? Cue up our next creatively titled article section…

What Makes Amazon Handmade Different Than Etsy?

In a phrase, we can sum it up thusly: Amazon Handmade isn’t just “craftsy” like Etsy, it’s more craftsy. And if you’re a devotee of creating art of any kind with your hands, that could honestly make a very significant difference to you, and act as a highly attractive distinction, whether you’re a seller or a buyer.

You see, unlike Etsy, which allows their sellers to work with outside manufacturers, Amazon Handmade is only for handmade items created by true blue, dyed-in-the-wool do-it-your-selfers. They’re serious about it, and there’s an entire FAQ that explains the requirements, an application that gathers all pertinent information from a prospective seller, and an in-house review team that pores over said application to ensure your products meet their handmade definition before you are allowed to sell on the site.

In sum, Amazon is saying that Handmade is the ultimate site for artisans.

There’s a 12% referral fee on Handmade — which includes payment processing, discounted shipping, marketing, and fraud protection — and no monthly fee. Listings are free. This compares to a 3.5% transaction fee, 3% (plus 25 cents) processing fee, and a 20 cent-per-listing fee on Etsy.

Interestingly, despite the stated focus on handmade-only items, Amazon doesn’t let the opportunity to plug their main marketplace go to waste. When you search for an item on Handmade, options come up similarly to Etsy, except all items of course are in no way manufactured. However, unlike Etsy, if you keep scrolling, there will be a “sponsored links” section under the end of the handmade items, after which there is an otherwise seamless shift into the mass produced fare that links buyers back to Amazon. It’s sort of sneaky and we could see sellers wrinkling their noses at this trick, but from both Amazon’s and perhaps their buyers’ standpoints, it makes some sense.

Aside from the focus on handmade-only, factory free items, the larger Amazon integration, and the seller fee differences, Amazon Handmade and Etsy have a host of things in common. However, keep in mind that Etsy’s headstart and more lax view on what is truly a craft item gives them an advantage in selection.

Wrap-Up

If you’re into making and selling handmade items, you may have less overall reach by posting your items to Handmade versus Etsy right now, but it’s also likely that your crafts will stand out more due to a lack of manufactured items crowding that marketplace/“cramping your style” (if you overlook Amazon’s larger marketplace integration beneath all search results).

Whether you choose to go with the creative entrepreneur marketplace veteran in Etsy or Amazon’s slick new service, it’s fantastic that artisans now have more options. After all, you can always choose to utilize both marketplaces!

Until next time, #TechTuesday-ers!

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