Alt Marketplace News Roundup, July 16, 2023

Here’s a roundup of news from alternative marketplaces for July 16, 2023, including information about a new handmade marketplace.

Michaels retail chain launches handmade marketplace – should Etsy be worried?
Arts-and-crafts retail chain is launching a handmade marketplace called MakerPlace. That follows the launch of its marketplace for supplies, which we wrote about in March.

Abby Glassenberg, co-founder and president of Craft Industry Alliance, wrote about its new handmade marketplace on Friday. She delved into the costs for sellers, noting: “The fees for Michaels MakerPlace add up to 7.5% of gross sales + .20. In comparison, Etsy fees in the US add up to 9% + .45, so sellers can save 1.5% + .25 per transaction if they choose MakerPlace.” Some sellers are excited to have an alternative to Etsy, others are more wary, she reported.

Mercari launches its version of eBay Standard Envelope for trading cards.
After teasing a new shipping option for sellers in March, Mercari notified sellers on Friday it was now available.

Mercari USPS First-Class Envelope offers an affordable way to ship lightweight, flat items through standard paper business envelopes with limited tracking. The prepaid shipping labels are available exclusively for Trading Cards with limited tracking through Mercari included directly on sellers’ Order Status page. Just like eBay Standard Envelope, Mercari notes, “Tracking information is not available on the USPS website.”

A seller who forwarded the email said if they expanded the offering to postcards and stamps, “it could be a game changer for listing those on Mercari.”

Bonanza updates listings to USPS Ground Advantage for sellers.
The same seller forwarded an email they received from another alternative marketplace: “Bonanza has automatically updated USPS Retail Ground, Parcel Select Ground, and First-Class Package Services to Ground Advantage in seller account shipping settings. If your listings used any of those services, there is no action that you need to take to update them.”

Note to readers: You are our best source of information on what marketplaces and services are up to – forward tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.