In This Article:
Etsy knows its consumers’ preferences might be changing—and it’s making changes to its user experience to help sellers capitalize on buyers’ interest in domestic transactions.
Josh Silverman, Etsy’s CEO, shared a blog post late last week announcing that Etsy will help customers shop domestically by adding labels and categorization to its site to help users better understand where items ship from.
More from Sourcing Journal
That announcement comes in the face of a complicated trade environment; much of the uncertainty brewing in global economies and trade lanes is attributable to U.S. President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff strategy. While nearly all countries—with the exception of China—are currently in a holding period while leaders negotiate with the Trump administration during the 90-day pause Trump set, it remains uncertain how final tariffs will fall.
According to the blog, Etsy offers more than 60 million items that ship domestically in the U.S. It also has more than 800,000 sellers in the United Kingdom and more than 300,000 sellers in Canada. Canadians, who have made it clear they plan to vote with their wallets if Trump imposes tariffs on the U.S.’s neighbor to the north, may be inclined to use Etsy’s categorization.
Silverman said other consumers may soon have a vested interest in purchasing only from domestic sellers.
“While we continue to nurture and enable cross-border trade on Etsy, we understand that people are increasingly interested in shopping domestically,” Silverman wrote in the blog post.
According to the marketplace’s own data, nearly nine in 10 Etsy sellers “are businesses of one.” Silverman said he believes their strategies could help safeguard their businesses from uncertainty and changing trade regulations.
“The average seller works from home—without complex overseas production lines and fulfillment requirements—and the vast majority source supplies domestically, which can help them remain agile and resilient even when there are shifts to global supply chains,” Silverman wrote.
He further noted that Etsy has shared guidance with sellers on tariffs and their impacts and said the company will “advocate for public policies that reflect the unique needs of small businesses.”
Etsy isn’t the only company capitalizing on sellers that have a domestic supply chain. American resale companies have also noted that they believe incoming tariffs and the collapse of de minimis could stand to benefit their businesses, particularly against the backdrop of a price-sensitive consumer.