Etsy meets with small sellers and creative community of Kolkata

• Etsy reaches to local artisans and small sellers through #TheEtsyCollective
• Aims to promote creative entrepreneurship in the city

Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY), the global marketplace for unique, handmade and creative goods, hosted ‘TheEtsyCollective’- in Kolkata to promote micro-entrepreneurship and spirit of artisans in the city.

 

#TheEtsyCollective is an interactive and informative session which brings together people who share a common passion for craft and creativity. 

The event started with an interactive session with Kolkata-based Etsy seller and women entrepreneur, Dithi, Mystical painter who runs a fascinating shop on Etsy called ‘StudioAnahata’. This was followed by an opportunity for the participants to interact with representatives from the Etsy to answer any queries related to selling online and opening their Etsy shops. 

To celebrate the spirit of creativity and craftsmanship, the event ended with a DIY workshop by local artist, Pramitafrom ‘blue_grass_journals’, who helped the participants in learning the Vintage collage cards making. 

Commenting on the Etsy Collective, Himanshu Wardhan, Managing Director for India, Etsy, said, “As we believe in taking the grassroots approach in India to promote artisans community and local small sellers, Etsy collective is the best medium to personally engage with them. Etsy collective help these creative people to explore the scope in digital space and help them out in learning more about selling online. As the global platform focussed on small makers, we aim to encourage every creative person - whether it is a homemaker in Kolkata or an artist, to become an entrepreneur on their terms. I am very impressed with interest in handicraft in Kolkata.”

The event saw a great turn-out, particularly women who formed the majority of the audience. Co-incidentally, 87% of sellers on Etsy are women and 97% of people operate their creative business from their homes. Globally, Etsy has 2.1 million sellers, with 39.4 million buyers from more than 80 countries around the world. 

The Etsy Collective also aims to recognise the existing seller base from India and help them share their experience with the larger creative community in India. The Etsy Collective started in 2018 and close to 40 such Collectives have been hosted across India, which includes tier 1 and tier 2 cities. Some of the cities where the Etsy Collective has travelled to - Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Kolkata, Puducherry, Jammu, Chennai, Kochi, Pune, Guwahati, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, to name a few.