Etsy's New Wholesale Platform: A Crafter's Friend or Foe?

This summer, craft-focused retailer Etsy.com will expand into Etsy Wholesale. Instead of merchants simply selling to consumers, the commerce platform will now allow and support vendors who are producing and selling extremely large quantities of goods. The move signals a significant pivot from Etsy's handmade, small-scale origins. According to new rules, companies on Etsy Wholesale can hire merchandisers to make products for wholesale distribution. Best-case scenario: the woman you buy your hand-drawn stationery from lands a deal with Anthropologie. Worst-case scenario: those "handmade" items you'd buy for wholesale distribution are actually being produced en mass in factories.