Etsy – the online marketplace where people set up shops to sell handmade goods – is a global word of mouth phenomenon according to the company’s 2009 International Seller Survey results and highlighted by Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb.
When international sellers were asked how they first heard about Etsy, an overwhelming 57% cited word of mouth and blogs.
In addition to using word of mouth to find Etsy, the vast majority of sellers use it to help people find their stuff. The study found that 85% of sellers use social networking to promote their Etsy shops, with the most popular tools being their own blogs, followed by Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace.
