Why do Women Love Etsy?
Fifty-year-old Vilma Silveira Farrell, a mother of two, is the owner of the shop Lampada on Etsy, a popular e-commerce site. A successful journalist from Brazil, Vilma is now a stay-at-home mom and businesswoman, with more than 900 followers on Etsy. Vilma handcrafts lampshades and home décor with the unlikeliest material — used coffee filters.
Vilma makes her lampshades when her daughters are at school, efficiently juggling her housework and her business with self-assurance and enthusiasm. Etsy’s intuitiveness attracted Vilma when she started her shop, and while she says she finds it challenging to stand out from the millions of Etsy sellers, she also proudly states that she has not seen anyone selling lampshades made out of recycled products. Vilma is clearly passionate about her work, and says that inspiration for her “earth-friendly original work of art” comes from Brazil, the land of coffee. Vilma talks about why she started an Etsy store, how she makes her aesthetic, decorative lampshades and how she misses journalism.
Etsy has come as a welcome break for women like Vilma, who try to juggle housework, childcare and a career. Etsy, a one-stop shop for attractive handmade greeting cards, jewelry, wreaths, keychains, collectibles, and much more, has come a long way since its launch in 2005 in Brooklyn. With more than 1.5 million sellers worldwide as of 2015, a whopping portion of whom are women, it is a robust business.
Etsy statistics are in stark contrast with general business startup activity by women in the US. (But, good news is that women-owned businesses are growing in number and are likely to increase further in the coming years.)
So, what is the reason behind Etsy’s overwhelming appeal for women? Women have traditionally shied away from entrepreneurship for various reasons — difficulty in procuring capital, family responsibilities, lack of proper education, difficulty in making a mark in a heavily male-dominated sphere and lack of encouragement, to name a few. Etsy has attempted to address some of those shortcomings.
Opening a shop on Etsy is easy. Most Etsy sellers work from home and very few of them have taken loans to start their businesses. Ellie Grin, a successful lawyer from Russia, is now an upcoming Etsy seller in New York City. When she moved to the US four years ago, she decided not to pursue law. Inspired by the dynamism of New York City and wanting to take advantage of it, she attends art school and is the owner of EllieGrinArt on Etsy.
Ellie, hand-painting on glass and creating quirky, attractive and unique wall art, is enjoying converting her hobby to a business. And she loves the fact that Etsy is so easy to handle.
“Etsy is user-friendly. I don’t have to know anything about web development. And you can start your Etsy store with just your pocket money.”
Etsy’s user-friendliness definitely attracts a lot of women. But Etsy’s popularity and the rise in the number of women entrepreneurs could also stem from increasing job insecurity and decreasing job satisfaction. Average median income of an Etsy seller (as of 2013) was $44,900 according to an Etsy’s survey, 10 % lower than the national average income. However, in a Gallup survey, women said they value job satisfaction and flexibility more than money. US Department of Labor statistics show many women also prefer part time work. Etsy shops give sellers flexible hours and an opportunity to pursue their hobby and express their creativity while generating income.
While a lot of women on Etsy are motivated by workforce troubles and the advantages Etsy offers in terms of flexibility, a significant section of women sellers is driven by passion for their art. For some of them, like Miri Qianru Chen, working on art full time and running an online store to promote art is the preferred choice.
Miri, a graduate in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in New York City, is the owner of the Noristudio on Etsy that sells needle-felted animal figurines, brooches, purses and key chains.
While Miri had the option of taking up a full-time job, she has opted to devote her full time to running her Etsy store, encouraged by her friends and customers who adore her work. Miri acknowledges that turning her hobby to a business is challenging, but she knows that her animal figurines have the capability of spreading happiness and that is what drives her.
The video gives more insight into Miri’s art work.
Cynthia Koo is another seller who is on Etsy purely for the love of art. Owner of the shop, WontonInAMillion, she makes cute dim sum-inspired stickers, cards, scrapbooking material, bags and clothing.
With more than 5000 sales in just over a year, Cynthia has been tremendously successful on Etsy. Cynthia is the lead designer in a finance technology startup in New York City and works full time, but she hopes to focus all her energy and attention on art and her store in the future. Her passion for art is evident when she says she devotes about 40 hours a week to her store, while working full time. Cynthia talks about how she got into Etsy, why she prefers Etsy to having her own website and her love for art.
While Etsy is a great platform that offers prodigious potential to combine passion and earn a living, it is not always easy. With more than a million sellers, it can be difficult to make a mark. But help is available. The Etsy forum is extremely active and always abounding with questions ranging from “Are my pictures good?” to “How can I improve my sales?” from freshers. It is encouraging and refreshing to see experienced Etsy sellers going out of their way to help newcomers. Cynthia talks about the support she got from other Etsy sellers.
Etsy has been a great platform for women. It has encouraged women to start businesses and has allowed them to explore and express their tremendous talent. Etsy has also enabled many stay-at-home moms to have a productive pastime and a career. By giving an opportunity to develop business acumen, marketing, social media, networking and packaging skills, Etsy has made women realize their capabilities.
However, a significant section of Etsy sellers has given up successful careers as journalists, attorneys and engineers to start a store. Many Etsy sellers are young, with children (according to an Etsy report in 2015) and they find Etsy attractive because it gives them an opportunity to balance family obligations and a career.
In a survey by the Pew Research Center, nearly 75 % of respondents feel that it is best for children if the mother stays at home or works part time. So Etsy’s popularity among women is not surprising.
Listen to what New Yorkers have to say about mothers working full time.
While Etsy’s positive effects are unquestionable and enormous, has Etsy also inadvertently helped further gender stereotypes? Probably. Every rose has its thorn.