Amazon Handmade – Is It Worse Than Etsy?

1 June, 2018

As a follow up to my recent Dark Side of New Technology article, I discovered an older article from Lucky Break Consulting detailing hers and others experiences dealing with Amazon Handmade versus Etsy.

The whole article is worth a read, along with many of the subsequent comments from craftsmen selling on Etsy and other sites. It also poses a clear example of the kind of weak negotiating position online retail platform users frequently find themselves within when they opt to join these large platforms.

After Etsy’s recent controversies over the past few years, Amazon Handmade correctly identified a gap in the market for online craft retailers. These craftsmen need a way of reaching more customers, and at first glance, it seems logical that Amazon’s reach and size would make for the ideal middleman. Upon closer inspection, however, it seems their company’s business model is not a solution which would foster the growth of small craft businesses.

Perhaps this means the handmade community is now very much in need of an entirely new model for an online sales community (rather than a sales platform).