Etsy grows up: Quirky marketplace Etsy has made a big acquisition, and quietly become a huge company in its own right

This week Etsy, the online marketplace for homemade and vintage gifts and crafts, acquired Depop, the British social shopping app, for $1.6bn.

‍Sup, fellow kids

‍Etsy has managed to turn a relative small e-commerce platform for homemade trinkets and unique gifts into a multi-billion dollar e-commerce giant, which last year grew its revenues 111%, while making $350m of net profit. Fresh off of that growth bump from the pandemic, Etsy clearly wants to get a foothold with the younger generation — which is something that buying Depop gives them overnight, considering that 90% of Depop's 30 million strong userbase is under the age of 26.

With Gen Z consumers more focused on sustainability and the environmental impact of their shopping habits, Etsy is, on the surface at least, a good home for Depop.

‍Social shopping‍

‍Depop's user interface and individual profiles look remarkably similar to Instagram. Square photos, 3 x 3 grids, follower counts, double-tap for likes and many other features make Depop look more like a social media platform than a shopping website. The best complement you can pay a business idea is that, in hindsight, it looked so obvious. Depop fits that description perfectly. Social shopping? Duh.