Starting an online marketplace for unique handmade items: The story of weDIY

The online handmade products industry in Germany has grown dramatically over the last two decades recording a significant boost in revenue generation. For instance, the eCommerce revenue in the DIY sector in Germany grew from €393 million in 2006 to an estimated €4.3 billion in 2020, according to Statista. The boom in the handmade industry is a result of creative DIY online marketplaces like Etsy and weDIY.

About weDIY

Powered by Yo!Kart, weDIY is an online community marketplace for creative designers or sellers in Germany to market their unique handmade items directly to the consumer. There are separate storefronts for individual sellers to personalize and list/sell their handcrafted items in the marketplace.

How the idea was born?

Erkan Eroglu, the founder of weDIY had an idea to develop a meeting place or an online platform where designers, artists, and creative people can exchange their ideas with other like-minded people, interact with the sellers behind the products, rate & buy their products, and get inspired. 

He wanted a platform that acts as a bridge between creative people and buyers who are enthusiastic about purchasing handmade products and duly appreciate the benefits (like environmentally sustainable, high-quality products, and more) that come alongside.

weDIY: Dream and Mission

At weDIY, members (buyers/sellers) with common interests could form regular groups to interact, advertise products (for free), and even start campaigns with other shops. 

As illustrated on the website, the dream and mission behind the marketplace are “With weDIY, Germany’s creative do-it-yourselfers are offered a handmade platform on which they can present their lovingly made products to a curious, large audience.” The platform caters to hundreds of products either directly from weDIY or curated designers/creative individuals. Some of these products are even vintage, i.e. at least 20 years old.

Fulfilled by Yo!Kart

Erkan’s vision of creating an online handmade products marketplace led him to our team as we delivered a customized platform, just as expected. And, here are a few words from the client “Erkan” about his experience of using Yo!Kart multi-vendor platform:

Source: Capterra

Not only this, the buyers at weDIY were in awe of the marketplace. Here is a capture of one such buyer’s review on TrustPilot.

While it’s our goal to deliver the best experiences to our clients, it inspires and motivates us to pursue further excellence when they get such fantastic feedback from their customers.