The Marketplace Designed by Sellers, for Sellers
- Feb 11
- 2 min read
By Rebecca Shaw
Three weeks ago, my husband Johnny and I made the boldest business decision of our lives and it didn’t happen in a boardroom or after months of planning. It happened at our dining table, surrounded by laptops, cold tea and the kind of silence that only comes from shock.
Overnight, three of our Etsy shops were suspended without warning.
No explanation.
No support.
No human contact.
For us, it wasn’t just inconvenient, it was devastating. These shops are how we support our children, how we built financial stability and how we helped others do the same. As a coach who spends every day helping Etsy sellers navigate the platform, I’ve witnessed hundreds of people face this exact situation, unexplained suspensions, automated replies and a complete lack of accountability. But this time, it was us.
In that moment, clarity hit hard.
Johnny looked up from his screen and said the sentence that changed everything:
“How hard would it be to build our own platform?”
For five seconds we laughed, because it sounded ridiculous.
We quickly realised it wasn’t ridiculous, it was overdue.
We knew exactly what sellers wanted because we are sellers.
We’ve packed the orders, handled the disputes, rebuilt after suspensions and I’ve supported thousands of sellers through the same challenges we’ve lived ourselves. And we knew the truth no one was saying out loud:
Creators don’t need another corporate marketplace. They need a platform that treats their livelihood with respect.
That was the moment Better Than Etsy was born. Not as a catchy name or clever branding but as a direct response to the problems real sellers face every day.
Our mission is simple:
Transparent, fair fees
Human support instead of automated responses
Stability without fear of unexplained account loss
Visibility for handmade over mass-produced imports
Leadership from people who genuinely understand the seller experience
We didn’t want to wait for a billion dollar corporation to fix a system that wasn’t designed for sellers in the first place. So we chose to build the alternative sellers have been asking for.
Launching a competitive, multi-vendor marketplace as a self funded family business is risky. We stepped into a billion dollar space with nothing but lived experience, determination and a mission grounded in community. Our biggest surprise has been how quickly sellers rallied behind the idea.
Before we’ve even launched, founding sellers anre asking to join. Our waitlist is growing organically. Instead of trying to build an audience, we found ourselves building a movement.
Better Than Etsy wasn’t created out of ambition; it was created out of necessity. A platform born from real frustration, real stories and real people who deserve better than automated suspensions, rising fees and a total lack of transparency.
We’re building this platform to protect the kind of people we are, small business owners who rely on their shops to support their families. And we’re building it for every seller who has ever felt ignored, dismissed or powerless on a platform they depended on.
Real change never starts with a policy update.
It starts with people who are willing to build what’s missing.
And that’s exactly what we’re doing.
Connect With Rebecca
TikTok: @betterthanetsy
Instagram: @betterthanetsyofficial
Pinterest: @betterthanetsy
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