Happy 10th birthday to Etsy, happy Weekiversary to us!
(heres a nifty treat)
In honor of the 10th anniversary of Etsys launch, and our first week, we have a special treat: a glimpse of Etsys past.
We found this link in the Wayback Machine at Archive.Org (https://web.archive.org/) and spent a happy hour or so wandering around an Etsy so wet-behind-the-ears, that even Etsy didnt know what Etsy was. This is what Etsy looked like when it was just over one week old (just like BeesWax is, today)
Check out all the mysterious, flash-based, and Saturnic navigation featured in the lefthand sidebar of the homepage.
Some things actually seemed to be pretty great about Etsy. Part of their value proposition at the time, was that they claimed to have a better”Advanced search function” than Ebay or Amazon, and it seems like they actually did.
Interestingly, 10 years later and a few months post-IPO, theres no advanced search function on Etsy anymore. There hasnt been for quite a while. It just quietly disappeared somewhere along the way, as Etsy evolved into something bigger and more vibrant than its humble roots might have suggested.
Supposedly better AI-driven searches are supposed to take some of the pain out of having to do advanced searches, but theres something comforting about being able to specify”No, I meant orange the fruit, not orange the color.“
What else has changed? Well, the logo really hasnt—although you may notice it got about one shade lighter in its current version (barely perceptible, really). Terms of service have definitely changed. Etsy now accepts way more non-handmade and semi-handmade stuff in its platform. Over the years, its grown into a bustling marketplace boasting a variety of non-handmade things: Supplies, vintage, and...ahem...a few occasional things from a certain Chinese ecommerce giant who, like Lord Voldemort, will not be named.
It used to cost slightly less to list an item ($.10), but the 3.5% flat transaction fee has never changed. Of course they didnt have direct checkout back in the day...
Also notably different about little baby Etsy was its tiny, humble scale. 78 listings for all of jewelry? Today there are more than 33,000 listings for polymer clay earrings alone.
In conclusion, as we wish Etsy a happy 10th birthday and many happy returns, lets marvel in the”trees,” and even the”forests” that do sometimes grow from the”smallest of seeds.”