E-commerce artisan marketplace Etsy is at a crossroads as it tries to balance declining gross merchandise sales, a tumbling stock price and high inflation with the needs of its 7 million sellers. Etsy CEO Josh Silverman attributed the tough quarter to consumers' continued reduction in discretionary spending. The Covid pandemic brought Etsy new customers and a massive sales boost; its stock price reached an all-time high of $296.91 on Nov. 24, 2021. The number of active users on Etsy's platform has increased almost 70% since 2019, but purchases haven't followed. As of the first quarter, the site had 91.6 million active buyers and 7 million active sellers.

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Persons: Jason Helfstein, Etsy's, Josh Silverman, Chiarra Lohr Organizations: Oppenheimer, Co, GMS, Indie Sellers