Etsy, founded in 2005, is a popular online retailer that focuses on handmade, vintage, and other artisan products. It is a latter day eBay: “Etsy is a marketplace where people around the world connect to buy and sell unique goods. Our mission is to re-imagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world.”

In 2013, Estsy facilitated $1.35 billion worldwide in sales transactions. It has more than 30 million members and more than 1 million active shops, and it has listed more than 20 million different items.

Now, Etsy has decided to move further into wholesaling as part of its business portfolio. Is this a good idea?

According to Elizabeth A. Harris, writing for the New York Times:

“Although Internet retailing is a growing market, more than 90 percent of retail commerce still takes place in physical stores, and like many retailers that started online, Etsy wants a piece of that action. Instead of opening locations, Etsy wants its sellers to take wholesale orders, so that through them, Etsy can be in thousands of stores at once without ever cutting a rent check.”

“After spending a year in beta, Etsy plans to make its role as a wholesaler official. Etsy will charge a 3.5 percent commission on each wholesale transaction, the same cut it takes on its retail Web site, and substantially lower than a standard wholesale markup. Etsy will start charging for wholesale in August.”

Its wholesale site URL is https://www.etsy.com/wholesale.

To see a NY Times’ video, click here.

To read more of Harris’ story, click the image below.