Etsy sent a team to craft shows nearly every weekend to recruit makers

Etsy launched in June 2005 as an online market for handmade goods. A former employee says a team went to art and craft shows across the US and Canada almost every weekend. The team courted crafters with sway in the handmade world, expecting others to follow if those makers did well. By the end of its first year, Etsy had roughly 9,000 sellers and 22,000 buyers.

By Race to Scale Desk, edited by Lila Odinaev. Published 24 Oct 2026. How we work

What they ran

Etsy launched on June 18, 2005 as an online market for handmade goods. Its founders built the first version from a Brooklyn apartment in two and a half months. A former employee, quoted in Alexander Jarvis's write-up on Etsy, says a team went to art and craft shows in the US and Canada almost every weekend. The team courted crafters with sway in the handmade world, betting that others would follow if those makers did well.

What happened

The same write-up says Etsy ended its first year with roughly 9,000 sellers and 22,000 buyers. It reports 1.4 million active sellers, 19.8 million active buyers and $1.93 billion in gross merchandise sales at the 2015 IPO. Etsy's about page now calls it a global market for creative goods.

What the account does not show

The craft show story comes from one former employee, quoted in a blog. The blog names no source for its first-year or IPO numbers. It does not say how many sellers came from the shows, so the counts cannot be credited to the tactic. The outreach is not dated, and there is no baseline to compare against. The IPO figures come a decade after launch and reflect many other efforts.

Questions

How did Etsy get its first sellers?

A former employee says a team attended art and craft shows across the US and Canada nearly every weekend to sign up makers. They focused on crafters who had influence in the handmade world.

Why did Etsy target influential crafters first?

The team expected that if well-known makers opened shops and succeeded, other crafters would follow them onto the site.

How many sellers did Etsy have after its first year?

A secondary blog reports about 9,000 sellers and 22,000 buyers by the end of Etsy's first year, without naming a source for the figures.