Couples looking for more bespoke or personalized wedding gifts will have the ability to create a registry on Etsy.
Couples can now make Etsy wedding registries
Wedding registries can include vintage, handmade, and custom items for sale on Etsy.
Wedding registries can include vintage, handmade, and custom items for sale on Etsy.
Image: Etsy
is features writer with five years of experience covering the companies that shape technology and the people who use their tools.
The platform known for handmade and vintage items has added a wedding registry option, available to users starting today. Couples can create and add items to their list, and guests will be able to search for and purchase gifts off of registries on Etsy.
In addition to handmade and vintage items for sale on the platform, couples will also be able to add custom gifts to their registries and specify customizations — names, colors, designs, or other personalization that sellers offer.
On the seller end, the process of fulfilling registry orders will be the same as others, but sellers will see a badge signaling it was purchased from a registry. Friends and family shopping off of a registry who don’t have an Etsy account will need to make one.
Etsy wedding registries make a lot of sense — it’s surprising that this wasn’t already a feature on the platform. Everything from embroidered bridal party gifts and neon signs to lockets with human hair is for sale on Etsy, much of which buyers can get customized for gifts. It’s also a popular place to buy wedding decor, including invitations and wedding favors.
Though Etsy originated as a place for weird and quirky items made by artisans, the platform now offers items you’d see in other big-box retailers after initial policies were relaxed to allow mass-produced goods. Etsy’s handmade policy still requires sellers to have a hand in the design or production process, however.
That policy change opened the door for print-on-demand and drop-shipped items to be sold on Etsy — perhaps popular with shoppers but a thorn in the side of some sellers. Last spring, after the company announced a seller transaction fee increase, thousands of Etsy shops went on strike to protest policies, including what kind of items are allowed on the marketplace. Following the strike, some shop owners who participated in the action went on to form the Indie Sellers Guild, a nonprofit advocacy group for anyone who sells handmade, vintage, or craft items.
Update May 10th 9:50AM ET: Added clarification on Etsy’s handmade policy.
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