The mood was cheery as more than 50 New York City small business owners gathered at a party last week at the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side.
“Our mission is to re-imagine commerce,” Chad Dickerson, the CEO of Brooklyn-based e-commerce website Etsy told the crowd.
The group, mostly sellers on Etsy, could relate: Many were supplementing income or even supporting their families by operating shops on the site.
Launched in 2005, Etsy is a thriving online marketplace that matches sellers of handmade and vintage products with a global marketplace of 24 million members.
The Internet company is helping redefine entrepreneurship by creating what Dickerson calls a “people powered economy” where designers, artisans and craftsman can launch microbusinesses at a low cost. They pay a 20 cent listing fee per item and a 3.5% commission.
There are more than 17,500 Etsy sellers in New York – Brooklyn has the most. Since 2005, they have sold more than $50 million worth of goods.
Lately Etsy’s impact on the local economy has been getting some facetime.
A new city-sponsored ad campaign promoting New York’s rising digital industry features Dickerson, who employs 300 in the city.
The Etsy boss was recently invited to Capital Hill by Sen. Charles Schumer where he talked about Etsy’s community of entreprenuers.
The following are profiles of three New York based-microbusinesses that have turned Etsy shops into money-makers.
pfurman@nydailynews.com
AHeirloom
Location: Brooklyn Navy Yard
What they make: Quirky cutting boards
Amy Stringer-Mowat, 38 and her husband Bill Mowat, 38, carved out a business niche on Etsy – literally.
The Brooklyn couple came up with the idea of making customized bamboo cutting boards in the shape of the 50 states. Now they’re among the most successful New York-based sellers on the e-commerce site.
The Mowats, both architecture school grads, originally created the state-shaped boards to showcase the cheese served at their own wedding in 2010.
Unemployed at the time, Stringer-Mowat opened a shop on Etsy, which gave the kitchen tools prominent display.
Key mentions in influential media outlets like Real Simple magazine soon followed. The business, dubbed AHeirloom, was off to a fast start. “We sold 5,000 units that holiday season,” Stringer-Mowat said.
With retailers like Amazon.com stocking AHeirloom items, sales are now in the seven figures.
The couple has sold around 30,000 cutting boards to date, with Texas and California among the most popular shapes.
The Mowats are relocating their home-based business to a manufacturing space at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. They’re looking to hire a full time production assistant and are starting to develop a line of customized cocktail skewers.
The cost of setting up an e-commerce business without Etsy would have been prohibitive, Stringer-Mowat said. “They are giving large scale exposure to small scale businesses.”
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Goose Grease
Location: Williamsburg
What they make: Wooden cake toppers
Having a flexible work life is a priority for many young mothers. Artist Anna Donado, 29, found that and a real business as an Etsy seller.
She’s not alone. Some 75% of Etsy shop owners are women who like the idea of running a microbusiness on their terms.
“It allows me to work from home and stay with our daughter,” said Donado, whose daughter Simone is three years old.
Donado and her Colombian-born husband Juan, 33, own Goose Grease, a startup that sells hand-painted wooden cake toppers and do-it-yourself kits.
The whimsical miniature dolls are hand chiselled in Colombia, and painted here by Anna.
What started out as a twist on wedding cake toppers has turned into serious income for the family. Last year Goose Grease’s sales reached $80,000.
With retailers knocking on their doors, the Donados are positioning themselves to expand into wholesale. Goose Grease just received a license from the Colombian government that will allow the couple to import large quantities of dolls.
“We are hoping to push those dolls and ourselves in a new direction,” Anna said.
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Metalicious
Location: Chelsea
What they make: Modern engagement and wedding rings
Stephanie Maslow-Blackman, who spent years working for a large mass market wholesale jewelry company, knows how tough it is to launch a jewelry business.
“Not everyone can be the ‘it jewelry,'” the jewelry designer said. “I had to find another way – and I did.”
Two years ago, Maslow-Blackman, 40, got serious about ramping up Metalicious, her line of modern wedding bands and gemstone engagement rings, handcrafted in New York and sold primarily on Etsy.
The mother of two had just undergone emergency back surgery and needed to raise extra cash.
She made a key change, expanding her product line and offering brides more options to customize their rings, an important priority for Etsy customers.
“Buyers who come to Etsy want something beautiful and handmade, but they also want to put their mark on it,” Maslow-Blackman said.
The jewelry designer purchased a better camera to post more enticing product shots and took a course offered by Etsy on strategies for improving online visibility.
The upshot: Metalicious’ sales crossed the six figure mark last year.
“In New York, it’s a small sum,” said Maslow-Blackman, who recently moved her business out of her Chelsea home and into a nearby studio. “For me and my family, it was a huge deal.”
