Etsy.com is a arts and crafts marketplace in which people can buy and sell handmade or vintage items. I have been on Etsy since 2011 and have both bought and sold on the site. They just announced that they are going public as an IPO. I would really like to purchase a few stocks, but not sure if it is a wise choice or not, so I thought I would ask you all. What do you think?
I have never heard of them before, but if you have been with them since 2011, I would say it is worth taking a try, you never know it might be the place, there is no investment that gives us 100 percent guarantee that it will be worth it, so I say take a shot at it.
Well they will need to release financials before we can really say anything. However at these times a lot of all sorts of companies are doing IPOs, simply because the market is high and this way the old owners can get a MUCH better price from other investors. A lot of these companies don't really need to be public, it's just the owners cashing in now that the time is right for it. How do they generate profit? Do they take a commission for each sale/listing?
Yep, I feel that they charge commissions, but I am not really sure how it works. A lot of people use the etsy sites though, it's a growing community.
I have never been on site although i have heard about it various times...maybe the timing to visit the site has always been elusive...so they are doing IPO?...i'll check it out later {the site}...thanks for the heads up
In that case it might be a well functioning business idea. I've heard about it before and seems it's popular... and if they can really get a bit out of every sale then it might just work. But as I said earlier, most likely will be overpriced and listed just to pull investors money into the owners pockets.
I like the idea of Etsy - a central marketplace for people to sell handmade items on the web. It's business model is a lot like eBay, but in a niche market. I haven't seen their financials, and can't make a comment on their growth and profitability, but for niche companies like Etsy there's always the possibility a bigger company like eBay or Amazon could eventually buy them out at a premium. That may even be their angle with talking about going public. For IPO's in general, I would stay away until the dust settles after the first few months of trading. Companies usually do an IPO when they feel the market will over-price their stock, not under-price it.
They charge a small commission on each sale you make through their site and there is a 20 cent listing fee for every item that you post. It is a lot like eBay without the auction piece. Everything is buy it now, and customers can actually do custom sales with you.
Ok so 20 cents per item listed and on top of that a small percentage (?) of the total price? Seems like quite a decent concept as long as they get enough people actively using the website. Are there any other revenue streams apart from the above that you know of?
According to CNN money, they had a $15 million loss last year, and are looking to raise $100 mil with the IPO. I personally don't think they're quite there yet for me to invest, but we'll see how it goes.
