I started checking out Etsy’s new developer API yesterday, and I’m feeling pretty good about what I’ve seen. My original intent with creating Patron’s shops is to develop the entire system in house. That approach gives us a lot of control over what the shop does and does not do. The downside is it eats up a lot development time. Development time that I’d love to spend working on some other cool features to make Patron even easier to use.
There is definitely some overlap between our audience and Etsy’s audience, but in case you aren’t already familiar with Etsy the simplest way I can think to describe it is an hip, stylish version of Ebay that caters to crafters. Etsy is focused on creating a site and service, and they nail it. One of the areas they aren’t focusing on, though, is allowing their users to create unique sites to show off their personal style. Sound like anyone you know? That’s why we think Patron and Etsy compliment each other beautifully.
So the great news here is that you’ll be able to pull the items from your Etsy store directly into your Patron site. Etsy takes care of the payment processing, the security certificate, and all the other logistics of the sale. Changing the approach does mean that the shops going live is getting pushed back a few weeks. Expect to see a roll out in July, though.
What if I don’t want an Etsy account?
We are still planning on developing an independent shop system into Patron that will not rely on any third-parties. We expect the option to use Etsy will remain available, but in the future you’ll have the alternative of a proprietary shop. By using Etsy’s API right now, though, we can give you the opportunity to sell your art on your Patron site, while we continue to add the killer features we’re excited about.
