Amazon.com announced in a press release that it has launched Handmade at Amazon, a new store that features genuinely handmade items that are crafted and sold directly from artisans.
The new store provides customers with a store to buy genuinely handcrafted items and for artisans to feature them.
Amazon said in the press release that the Handmade at Amazon store will feature a variety of product categories, such as jewelry, home décor, artwork, stationery, party supplies, kitchen and dining, and furniture.
The online retail giant will be featuring handcrafted items made by artisans all over the world.
Peter Faircy, the vice president of Amazon Marketplace, said in the press release that Handmade at Amazon will offer more than 80,000 "quality handcrafted items from around the world, and over 30 percent of them can be personalized by artisans."
"We have designed a custom shopping experience for customers looking for handmade items by bringing together many of the best artisans in the world, and they're adding thousands of items daily," he said. "Knowing an item has a unique story behind it creates a personal experience that customers have told us makes owning handmade items special."
Newsweek adds that Amazon's announcement is an offensive against Etsy, an online artisan bazaar.
The announcement was instantly felt by Etsy, which went public in April, as its stock price dropped by seven percent when the market opened on Thursday morning.
Newsweek adds, though, that artisans looking to sell their work will see a difference between Etsy and Handmade at Amazon.
Etsy charges 20 cents for every item listed on Etsy and a 3.5 percent selling fee while Handmade at Amazon won't be charging a listing fee, but will charge a 12 percent selling fee in exchange for processing, marketing, and protection.
Amazon said in the press release that every page in Handmade at Amazon will contain a location icon that will identify where the artisan is from and a link to the artisan's profile.
