Web Log: Amazon Handmade battles Etsy for cutesy crafts market

Watch out, Etsy! Online shopping juggernaut Amazon has its sights set on the handcrafted, artisanal products market. Those beautiful side tables made from reclaimed wood? Hand-stitched smartphone covers made from vegan leather? Cheesy greeting cards made on 100% tree-free cotton paper (see above)? They're all on Amazon Homemade.

Etsy is very much a growing company with a boutique hipster mentality: founded a decade ago in Brooklyn, it remains headquartered there (there’s an office in Dublin, too) but now employs more than 750 people. In 2013 it changed the terms of service and began to allow mass manufactured items to be sold alongside items made by hand. Hmm.

Big, bad Amazon already has the mass-produced items market and has decided to allow only handcrafted items on to Handmade, ostensibly making it easier to ensure you are buying from the craftsperson. In the battle for authenticity it’s probably six of one and half a dozen of the other.

www.amazon.com.handmade